The ALL Florida Online Corvette Club








Corvette Top Sites

Go Back   The ALL Florida Online Corvette Club > General Corvette Forums > Detailing

      Photo Gallery Screen Saver!      

Detailing The art of having gleam and sparkle in your ride and pride. From fixing an abused finish to keeping your perfect one that way.

Reply
Thread Tools Display Modes
Unread 03-09-2006, 12:11 PM   #1
Rich Z
Internet Sanitation Engineer
 
Rich Z's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Crawfordville, FL
Posts: 15,123
Name : Rich Zuchowski
Rich Z will become famous soon enoughRich Z will become famous soon enough
Default Clay bar use from a previously virgin user

I got my Zaino package a while back and have been reading up on the voodoo I need to do to get these magic potions making my EB '02 Z06 really sparkle. Prior to looking into this product I have NEVER EVER heard of claying a finish before. I actually thought someone was pulling my leg. You know "Let's see is we can get the newbies to fall for this one and ruin their cars!" sort of thing. But it seemed like there were too many people in on this for it to be that kind of joke.

So I washed down the Z with Dawn to get whatever layers of wax and stuff might have been on the finish. Then I broke out the clay bar, with some significant amount of trepidation, I might add. I mean, let's face it, RUBBING a bar of clay on a painted surface just does not sound logical at all!

So I picked the front bumper area (it kills me that the nose of a vette is called a "bumper" btw) I figured this would be the best place to start because of all the stone dings and stuff, I'm probably going to be spending some time there with the PC (yeah, got one of those too) and I could probably fix any disaster that came about from this clay bar joke. I ran my hand over both sides to get a feel for the finish, then went to work on one side. Now I have heard everything from using the bar lightly to using it "moderately". I have no idea what those terms mean, since it is all relative. So I used the Z7 rinse as Zaino suggested as a lubricant, and applied pressure to the clay bar about as much as I would do rubbing off a layer of wax after it had dried.

When I finished on that one side, I ran my hand over to feel the difference. Holy smoke! There wasn't just a LITTLE difference, there was a WORLD of difference! I mean, I could even see the difference in the way my reflection was on that newly clayed surface. To say I was amazed is a bleak understatement. So heck, I figured I had a good thing here, and went to work to finish the whole car. Which was about an hour or so later. But dang it looked good afterwards! It looked better then, then it had previously right after waxing it. Matter of fact, I think ANYTHING on top of the finish now will just look awesome. I think I could smear Crisco on it and it would look just FINE. Guess I'd better stick with the Zaino regimen, however, as the stuff was not cheap and the wife needs the Crisco for baking.

Anyway, a couple of comments about the clay bar thing.

(1) If you haven't already, DO IT. My finish had probably never had it done before and it made one hell of a difference.

(2) I have to admit I was scared somewhat about the admonition about dropping the clay bar. The instructions say that if your drop it, it is toast and you need to just throw it away. Sheesh. I can't take a shower without dropping the bar of soap at least four times! And sure enough, I did drop the clay bar once. It's a slippery little devil with the lubricant on it, and after rubbing for a while, your fingers do get aching and a little numb feeling. But you know what? All I did was take the hose to it and spray it soundly and as far as I could tell anything that got on it from the ground was blown completely off. I think the trick is to not touch that surface that hit the ground so you don't press the dirt and grit into the clay. Anyway, I continued using the clay bar without a lick of trouble.

(3) I got to the point where I could FEEL the difference in the surface when I started with the clay bar. Surprisingly, the rocker panel areas under the doors felt super slick already and hardly needed any work with the clay bar at all. I guess that means that most of the gunk that the clay bar was pulling off was likely from damage from sunlight on the paint's surface. I guess. I suppose stuff falling from the sky would likely be hitting the same surfaces.... Highly unlikely I will ever find bird poop on those areas below the doors.

Oh well, just a mini report on my first experience using the clay bar. If anyone is feeling the trepidation that I felt beforehand, don't sweat it. It's pretty much a magic wand kind of thing. If your finish is a few years old, try it. I think you'll be impressed......
Rich Z is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-19-2006, 07:18 PM   #2
MADN3SS
Senior Member
 
MADN3SS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Largo, FL
Posts: 1,914
Name :
MADN3SS is on a distinguished road
Default

Rich, I love using the clay bar on my Z! I had heard about it and I finally bought an Absolute Essentials kit from Adam's Polishes. I love the way it feels and looks afterwards. It truly made a world of difference. I will never use another product on my car other than Adam's either. His products are amazing. I'm sure Zaino is probably close or the same, but I'll never know.

Scott
MADN3SS is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-19-2006, 07:21 PM   #3
Rich Z
Internet Sanitation Engineer
 
Rich Z's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Crawfordville, FL
Posts: 15,123
Name : Rich Zuchowski
Rich Z will become famous soon enoughRich Z will become famous soon enough
Default

I actually bought one of the Adam's kits, but have only used the detail spray, which I really like. The wife loves the smell of it. I've been using Zaino and Rejex lately, and both seem to do a really good job.

But Rejex has what might be a fatal flaw for us Florida owners. The instructions say not to use it if the temps are above 85 degrees. Well dang! That's most of the year down here!
Rich Z is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-19-2006, 07:36 PM   #4
IVOZ06
CRAZYME
 
IVOZ06's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: VALRICO
Posts: 323
Name :
IVOZ06 is on a distinguished road
Default

Adam's is the Bomb Diggidy!!
__________________

"When I'm good I'm very good but when I'm bad I'm better."
CLICK FOR MY PICS
2001 Z06 TR/Mod Red 400 rwhp
LIFE IS TOO SHORT, HAVE FUN, NO REGRETS
IVOZ06 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-23-2006, 02:13 AM   #5
gsjack
Member
 
gsjack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Inverness, FL.
Posts: 220
Name :
gsjack is on a distinguished road
Default

The paint on my 75 is 14 years old, just clayed and 2 coats of Zaino, not bad.

__________________


04 Z06 Z16(SOLD)
gsjack is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-24-2006, 01:08 AM   #6
exile
Member
 
exile's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New Port Richey
Posts: 404
Name :
exile is on a distinguished road
Default

Beautiful!!
__________________
Cor·vette : [ kôr-vt ]n. 1. A fast, lightly armed warship, smaller than a destroyer, often armed for antisubmarine operations.
exile is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-24-2006, 11:56 AM   #7
MADN3SS
Senior Member
 
MADN3SS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Largo, FL
Posts: 1,914
Name :
MADN3SS is on a distinguished road
Default

Lookin' good Jack. I do love that car!
__________________


'01 QS Corsa Touring exhaust with Tiger Shark tips. LG LT headers with X-Pipe, Hurricane intake w/ CF HF Power Duct, L.E.D. tail lights and shorty antenna. Lowered on stock bolts. Black Motorsports. FRC TOM tuned. NCM member 36741
MADN3SS is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-24-2006, 12:08 PM   #8
Rich Z
Internet Sanitation Engineer
 
Rich Z's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Crawfordville, FL
Posts: 15,123
Name : Rich Zuchowski
Rich Z will become famous soon enoughRich Z will become famous soon enough
Default

Yeah! Real purty! Do you use Zaino Z2 or Z5?
Rich Z is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-24-2006, 06:32 PM   #9
gsjack
Member
 
gsjack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Inverness, FL.
Posts: 220
Name :
gsjack is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich Z
Yeah! Real purty! Do you use Zaino Z2 or Z5?
Z2 followed up with a quick shot of spray enhancer Rich.

Jack
__________________


04 Z06 Z16(SOLD)
gsjack is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 04-24-2006, 10:35 PM   #10
SteveGel
Member
 
SteveGel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Gainesville,Fl
Posts: 57
Name :
SteveGel has disabled reputation
Default

Where can i buy this? I need to do this asap!
SteveGel is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:53 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Page generated in 0.05594707 seconds with 10 queries
All material copyrighted by CorvetteFlorida.com and
the respective owners of the material posted.