I'll have pics up soon, but I just turned my dark green 2000 Maxima SE into a mirror.

Used a 4-step process:
1. Mother's California Gold Clay bar kit (clayed the whole car with 1/2 the bar and went through the entire bottle of detailer spray)
2. Meguiar's Step 1 (Deep Crystal System Paint Cleaner)
3. Meguiar's Step 2 (Deep Crystal System Polish)
4. Meguiar's Step 3 (Deep Crystal System Carnauba Wax)

It was looking very good after using Paint Cleaner, the Polish didn't seem to do much, and the Wax gave it that mirror finish. Looks good

Afterwards I "Wet 'n Black"ed the tire sidewalls, cleaned the outer area of the rims with Turtle Wax 2001, then applied some Meguiar's Step 3 (wax) and wiped off on the outer area of the rims.
Now I need to armor-all the plastics in the interior, clean the glass, and condition the leather. I'll do that while visiting the laundromat
Gotta get all this in before this weekend's BBQ meet for the Washington D.C. area group

 

:

 

My dialup modem's being a b*tch trying to upload, so I'll upload 'em from work tomorrow morning (dual T1s == )

 

Here ya go... these are all at 2048x1536

dsc00552.jpg
dsc00553.jpg
dsc00554.jpg
dsc00555.jpg
dsc00556.jpg
dsc00557.jpg
dsc00558.jpg
dsc00559.jpg
dsc00560.jpg

Smaller versions-

small/dsc00552.jpg
small/dsc00553.jpg
small/dsc00554.jpg
small/dsc00555.jpg
small/dsc00556.jpg
small/dsc00557.jpg
small/dsc00558.jpg
small/dsc00559.jpg
small/dsc00560.jpg

 

Nice. How long did it take you to do all of it though?

 

'bout 4 hours. 11-3
Arms & wrists were pretty tired though...

I was impressed with Meguiar's products, especially the wax--it was less viscous than Turtle Wax, and took much less time to wipe off & buff than Turtle Wax. I had used Turtle Wax after a wash a week before. Definitely staying with Meguiar's products, mainly 'cause Autozone carries most of them.

 

How did you take the wax off...
did you use a buffer?
that looks really good i need to do that to my car.
Also how does the clay bar work?
I was afraid to use that to my car
Thanks man...Your car looks awesome

 

Terry cotton towels, by hand. Got a big thing of them at Walmart.

I'm not sure if my clay job was extremely thorough, as I could still "feel" some stuff on the paint afterwards, but it did a great job at removing the caked dirt on the lower panels...

Mother's California Gold clay bar kit--comes with a bar of clay (fairly tough, but definitely shapable/workable), a bottle of detailer spray, and a small thing of carnauba wax (not using it)
Washed the car, then immediately got to work, 1 panel at a time (just like the rest of the polish/wax steps). Sprayed some detailer on the clay and kneaded it, then sprayed detailer spray on a 2'x2' area, rubbed the panel up and down, left to right with about 1/2 of the clay bar. Did that to the next section, etc. I occasionally folded/reshaped the clay so it exposed fresh clay, then smashed/flattened it. Once you go over a really dirty area, you see a lot of that dirt embedded in the clay, so you know it's time to fold it over again. It left a dirty/smeared look after I was done, but the Meguiar's Step 1 (Paint Cleaner) took that right off.

 

Excellent job.

One thing I noticed is that you sprayed the clay with the Showtime Quick Detailer. Generally, I just spray the panel to be clayed. But a slick thing to do is to start claying after the final rinse. Saves time and QD.

If you got clay residue on the car, you can use the QD and a towel to remove that.

 

I did both--sprayed the clay (per the kit's instructions), as well as spray the panel (also helped that I did it immediately after the final rinse, so I didn't need as much Showtime).

 

Very nice job! I really think using a clay bar is imperative to getting a great looking finish. I really like the paint color (What is the green called?)

OT - I noticed you have hyperground listed in your profile. What's your opinion as to how well it works? Where did you get the kit?

 

Hyperground? Umm, probably didn't do squat really... but I haven't taken it off to compare
I made it myself, using some 4ga black ground cable (PhoenixGold, got it from some local audio shop), and 6ga connectors (couldn't find 4ga at the local electronics store), with a big pair of crimping pliers. At first I noticed QUITE a difference, then after plugging up my OBD-II scantool I realized the ECU reset when I disconnected the battery (to run some ground cables near the battery area)... after a week or 2 those "differences" disappeared. I dunno though, maybe it did make a diff and I've become used to it... I'm too lazy to disconnect the wires and see
I've also cleaned the throttle body and MAF sensor since then, and my car does run smoother now than a month or 2 ago.

 

Thanks for the info. I was curious about the grounding wires. I suppose it can't do any harm. I may try it.

 

Yeah, I should disconnect mine and compare. Shouldn't take me too long to do. I'm just lazy

 

I took you advice and went out and got all the stuff and did dthe process on my old car ...practicing for my ne 2004 maxima. i also bought one of those walmart buffers it saves a lot of work and works good with the polish since it really gets it to bond to the paint. The clay bar is awsome and makes the paint feel like a babys a*s.