Do I really have to clay bar?

[garner]

Well I have a charity car show coming up on saturday where I'm trying to place in the 18 and under category this year after not placing at all last year. I'm gonna be giving the truck it's first "detail" and just trying to figure out where to save some time and effort if it's not truly needed, hence me asking if I truly need to clay bar just for a car show.

I'm not doing a full correction and protection detail that most of you guys do, just trying to get it better looking than a normal car wash will.

So far I'm thinking of doing this stuff:
Wash truck
Wash, clay bar, and wax chrome clad wheel covers(they will get popped back on at the show)
Wash wheel wells
Wash out bed
Clean and clay bar windows
Clean trim(bed rails, back bumper step, window trim, vinyl trim between doors)
Polish the shiny stuff(bumpers, grille, exhaust tips, mirrors, door handles)
Clean engine bay(if I have time, it's not judged though)
Cleaner wax the truck to get rid of minor imperfections I may have

So do I really need to clay bar the truck just for a car show?

And is there any way to keep the wheel wells pretty clean(it'll be driven some between the time they get cleaned and the show)? WD40 or something?

 

[Big Boi]

As you may know, clay removes the contaminants embedded in the clear coat, such as iron particles, rail, & brake dust. Claying will give your paint a smooth as glass finish, but will also micro mar the finish in the process. It is best to follow ANY clay with a polish (I use M205) to remove the marring. IPA wipe down, then your choice of wax or sealant.

 

[Big Boi]

If you can get a hold of some IronX, it will cut your clay time to 1/4!

The chemicals in IronX turns the contamination purple, and helps dissolve them.

 

[garner]

Yeah I've heard what it does, just trying to figure out if it's worth the effort of doing it for hours in the heat just for a charity car show. Not gonna order any products either, just using what I have at the house which is pretty much nothing lol(fukken, nupolish, meguiars ultimate compound and cleaner wax, eagle 1 never dull, meguiars hot rims, and meguiars gold class soap, and a little bit of clay bar)

It's a daily driven truck so I'm not huge on keeping it super detailed, a car wash every once in a while is fine for it. But if it gets a lot of swirls while I own it then I'll hit up one of 2 companies I know that do mainly exotics and have them completely detail and correct it it

 

[Big Boi]

Its your ride... Do what you want. I explained the benefits of the procedure. Its up to you. A clayed car vs a non clayed car doesnt look any different IMO.

 

[Chewy]

Iron-X is good stuff, but Adams new Deep Wheel Cleaner is better. It's been tested head to head. Use your forum code for 10% off.

DWC can be used on the paint and IS PH balanced.

Also, if you want to know if it needs clayed, wash it, stick you hand in a plastic grocery bag or the like and rub it on the paint. If you can feel bumps, it needs clayed.

If you're showing the car, I highly recommend a glaze like Adams Brilliant Glaze. It adds depth and hides minor paint imperfections.


Sent from my miniaturizer via tap dancing...

 

[Harrisb]

A clayed car without a polish looks worse in my opinion due to the micro marring. If by wheel covers you mean hub caps I wouldn't clay nor wax those. Don't clay the windows either and if the engine bay isn't judged then skip that. That will free a good bit of time to work the more important parts. If your not doing paint correction you can somewhat fake it.

Clay the car, use a good quality glaze to fill the marring and then wax or seal. For glazes I like poorboys white diamond on light cars and red moose glaze on darks. For wax it's hard to beat souveran or p21s (s100 at the harley dealer) but neither of them last very long.

I see lots of folks on here like Adams products and there are some vendors here I just have a massive cabinet of detailing supplies and haven't added it to the mix yet.

 

[Harrisb]

I guess I was typing when chewy responded, looks like two of us saying to glaze

 

[audio1der]

Meguiars show car glaze (#7) is BONKERS shiny under a good carnauba. A favorite of mine.

 

[Big Boi]

Iron-X is good stuff, but Adams new Deep Wheel Cleaner is better. It's been tested head to head. Use your forum code for 10% off.

DWC can be used on the paint and IS PH balanced.

Also, if you want to know if it needs clayed, wash it, stick you hand in a plastic grocery bag or the like and rub it on the paint. If you can feel bumps, it needs clayed.

If you're showing the car, I highly recommend a glaze like Adams Brilliant Glaze. It adds depth and hides minor paint imperfections.


Sent from my miniaturizer via tap dancing...

I gotta try this Adams stuff one day.

Great point with the baggie test



Bulls eye on the glaze (Any glaze). Makes any paint jon look WET. Just doesnt last more than a week or so.

 

[Harrisb]

Meguiars is one of the better glazes available at almost any auto parts store. It also has some cleaners in it if I remember correctly. I have a bottle sitting in my stash that I may need to pull out again one of these days.

 

[Big Boi]

Meguiars show car glaze (#7) is BONKERS shiny under a good carnauba. A favorite of mine.

THIS

 

[Big Boi]

Well I have a charity car show coming up on saturday where I'm trying to place in the 18 and under category this year after not placing at all last year. I'm gonna be giving the truck it's first "detail" and just trying to figure out where to save some time and effort if it's not truly needed, hence me asking if I truly need to clay bar just for a car show.

I'm not doing a full correction and protection detail that most of you guys do, just trying to get it better looking than a normal car wash will.

So far I'm thinking of doing this stuff:
Wash truck
Wash, clay bar, and wax chrome clad wheel covers(they will get popped back on at the show)
Wash wheel wells
Wash out bed
Clean and clay bar windows
Clean trim(bed rails, back bumper step, window trim, vinyl trim between doors)
Polish the shiny stuff(bumpers, grille, exhaust tips, mirrors, door handles)
Clean engine bay(if I have time, it's not judged though)
Cleaner wax the truck to get rid of minor imperfections I may have

So do I really need to clay bar the truck just for a car show?

And is there any way to keep the wheel wells pretty clean(it'll be driven some between the time they get cleaned and the show)? WD40 or something?

You have Ultimate Compound but what do you use it for? And what do you follow it with?

WD40 will work, I use it
Washed, Dried, WD40'ed

 

[garner]

Well I'm not buying any products, just using what I have at the house. I'll leave the products to the professionals/hobbyist detailers lol. I'm more concerned about whether clay bar will make the truck look better than one that's just washed and cleaner waxed. But it seems like it's more of a paint "preservation" tool rather than a shine/depth/reflection booster, right?

Wheel covers are chrome clad like some of the factory ram wheels have but mine are removable( http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=380376968176) cause the factory polished face wasn't shiny enough for me. I'm gonna clay bar them to get rid of the left over brake dust and all that so they shine better then wax to protect them some since they're on the truck everyday(only taking them off to clean and keep clean till the show)

Engine bay I'm skipping definitely. I don't have time or patience to clean all the mud off in this heat lol



Big Boi- I got the ultimate compound(and the cleaner wax) just a few days ago from a buddy cause he moved on to different products

 

[Big Boi]

Compound will leave marring. Follow it with Ultimate Polish

Wheel covers... Windex and be done with them.

 

[garner]

Btw this is the state of the paint right after washing

 

[garner]

Windex? Hmm never knew that. Definitely gonna try that. Thanks!

 

[Big Boi]

Btw this is the state of the paint right after washing

That pic doesnt show much. But thats due to the light, angle, and camera IMO.

RIDS, swirls, and other maring shows well in the sun, but at the correct angle. Its best seen under bright light (indoors)

Outdoors with a flashlight as well

 

[garner]

Compound will leave marring. Follow it with Ultimate Polish

Wheel covers... Windex and be done with them.

Gotcha. I'll probably just use the ultimate compound on the rough spots of my mom's car(02 PT cruiser) since some of the paint is original and some is 6-7 years old and hasn't been taken care of very much

That pic doesnt show much. But thats due to the light, angle, and camera IMO.

RIDS, swirls, and other maring shows well in the sun, but at the correct angle. Its best seen under bright light (indoors)

Outdoors with a flashlight as well

Yeah I know it's not the best pic for condition of the paint, just thought it was cool how much reflection it had after all I've put it through. Well that was until I realized that paint is only like 6 months old. I definitely have some swirls and marring in my paint though but it's pretty minor I think

 

[garner]

Around 4-5 hours of work. Never again. Skipped clay bar on the paint