Paintwork - How to Clay.

Nice job John i'll pm you my address for my lil f now that your an expert cheers mate :beer:

I will gladly supervise and offer encouragement from the comfort of my deckchair Paul. My consultancy rates are 20 Bensons and 4 Stella per hour.

:lol: Mint job John. :broon:

I'll be pinching those pics later to update the claying guide. Got any more? :yesnod:

Very nice job, John. You've got almost exactly the same combination as us although in our case my wife's X-Type is an Estate.

Was your X-Type made in Coventry? I thought they were all built up on Merseyside in the plant that now makes the Freelander 2 and Evoke. I joke about having two great British cars both made in the "wrong" place.

Yep, one of the last Coventry models.

Leigh: Wish I'd known you wanted more pics! I did try before and after pics, but although the difference was plain visually, I couldn't get the effect on camera. If you have any specific questions let me know. I'm sure there are folk on here with more experience, but my 'learn as you go' experience may be handy!

Tip: A mixture of rainwater (no shortage of) and detailing spray works well while barring!
The main difference I noted was that the metallic finishes of both cars shines through now.
Also easier to leather to a streak free finish. (........sounds like a JML advert!!)

And of course, this morning.....it's peeing down with mega-puddles everywhere. :bang:

well done john.


nothing more therapeutic than a bar of clay

Sat here waiting for some nice weather to give Mr monty his holiday clean, he is one swine of a colour to keep looking nice

Having had the car repainted recently iam happy with the finish to a degree but would love a deeper shine would clay bar help with this,the cars silver and i maybe wrong doesnt seem to be the best colour to get the finish darker colours get.When the car is cleaned and polished it feels smooth to the touch which i thought that was the idea of clay to get a smooth surface?

Clay bar removes build ups of wax and any crap trapped under and in it. If the respray is recent there probably wouldnt be a lot of advantage. On our blue ,etallic cars, the metallic effect was much better after claying.

I'd suggest maybe do a wing or a door with clay, apply a good wax and then check out against other body panels to see if there is a noticable difference.

Have you seen this? How to achieve a polished 'Wet Look'.

Its hard to judge from pictures but I would think for one min that you would need to clay bar a new paint job. If you paint job doesn't compare to other cars of same or near same colour maybe the finish isn't as good as it could be. Get an independent opinion on it and they may even give you some advice on what's best to use.

cp53 wrote: Having had the car repainted recently iam happy with the finish to a degree but would love a deeper shine would clay bar help with this,the cars silver and i maybe wrong doesnt seem to be the best colour to get the finish darker colours get.When the car is cleaned and polished it feels smooth to the touch which i thought that was the idea of clay to get a smooth surface?

Mirror Glaze gives a good shine, but for a deep one you need to wax wax and wax and build it up :broon:

Wow that car shines,so how much waxing has that taken to get a finish like that ?