Fun with Clay

[DnCrs13]

My 68 1600 still wears its original black paint. It has all the usual scratches, dents, latex paint over spray, etc, so it is not perfect by any means. It also had 42 years of oxidation, road grime, dirt, and sap forming what felt like a 180 grit sand paper finish.

Since purchasing the car, I have used an orbital polisher with polishing compound, cleaner waxes, and regular waxes and brought at least some shine back, but I was still not happy. I swear the paint was actually eating my buffer pads! There has to be some way to get this paint smooth without repainting the car.

Upon the suggestion of another Dairyland Datsun member, I purchased a clay bar kit (Mothers) at my local parts store. His paint, although newer, was really smooth and shiny, so I figured what the heck, I'll give it a try (read skeptical).

Per the box, spray small section with lubricant, knead clay bar flat, lightly rub clay over paint until it feels smooth, wipe off excess, re-knead clay and move to next section repeat. I decided I would start with the drivers front fender. I spent maybe 20 minutes doing the entire fender.

Results: OMG!!!! You can literally hear the difference! Sliding my hand across the hood sounds like I am actually rubbing sand paper on it. Then my had hits the fender.......silent! Smooth as glass, shiny and clean. This is what a black car should look like! I spent a few more hours doing the rest of the car. The final step is to wax the entire car with (Mothers) Cleaner wax. WOW! What a beautiful shine. I am completely amazed with this product and highly recommend it. It was about 20 bones at the parts store and worth every penny.

Granted I still have the dents and the scratches, but it did take off a lot of the latex paint and all off the oxidation, grime and dirt. Maybe now I will get a little more respect at the show and shine....wait no, it is still an import.

As an added bonus, you could easily loose 10 pounds doing this on a hot day. I think I went through 3 shirts.

If your paint is rough and in need of some lovin', give the clay bar a try, you will love it!

[notoptoy]

I always wondered how those things worked, I had never tried one. Guess I will have to now. Thanks for a glowing first hand testimonial!

[greydog]

Clay bar is a fantastic product. I've used it to remove tree sap, oxidized paint, overspray from a building being painted nearby and general paint contaminates.
If you follow the directions, you can't damage the paint. I have yet to find a paint job that I couldn't improve with clay bar followed by a good polish and then a coat of good wax.
Dan

[Linda]

I had always heard that clay was the LAST step before wax, or also after wax according to some. The results are nice though.

Linda

[kenw]

Yep, gotta love the clay bar.
I had what I thought were rust spots on my F150, but when I first used the clay bar on it a couple of years ago, the spots came right off. Very impressed with this product. It is amazing how smooth the finish is after using it. Very fool proof, unless you drop the clay.
Yep, you gotta wax after the clay.
Well, wax your car.
What you do in the privacy of your home is left to you. Please don't share! Or if you do, we'll need photos.
Ken

[DnCrs13]

Wax on Wax off?

[greydog]

The purpose of the clay is to remove the contaminants so that the surface is as smooth as possible before applying any other steps.
Procedure is:
Wash car.
Clay bar
Polish if necessary
Wax

[DnCrs13]

Right. That is the order I did minus the polish. I may go back and do another pass over the trunk and hood and also do some polish, but I am pretty darn happy for now. I really should have taken pictures of the run off from the clay bar. I am pretty sure I stained the garage floor with it.

I did find that it removed surface rust as well. I had some surface rust where the hard top used to sit and it took it right off!