Well, I clayed they car and then waxed it. 1st time ever waxing this car, I normally pay someone to do it. And the 1st time EVER clay baring it.

The clay bar was ok, IMHO. It was not the "greatest thing ever" like I have heard. Now, I may not get the FULL benifit form it, being the 1st time me using it. It may have done more than I think. The bar was dirty.

It did clean out my door handles and they have NEVER been this clean since I bought the car.

Also did the headlights and winshield.


I used Joy dish soap to get all the BS off the paint. Then clayed, then waxed.

Anyway on to the pics....

 

And THEN..

 

And THEN...

 

AND LAST...

 

Thoughts?

Likes/Dislikes?

Area's for improvement?

 

Looks very good, bags.

The only thing you might want to try is to polish before you use the wax. That would remove any swirl marks and minor scratches you might have. There looks to be a long scratch in your second pic. If it is, that may need a more agressive polish.

 

Good job, Bags.

The thing with the clay bar is that if you see crud on it, the bar is doing its job. Another way to tell is by gently stroking the finish after the bar. you will notice that it's very smooth. The reason the bar looked like that is it removed all of the embedded contamination in the paint.


The first time I clayed the Maxima (my '94), it took longer because I was getting familiar with the process and how to achieve the results I desired. If you keep hanging around here, you'll pick up on a few tricks here and there to make the white pop.

However, as Blues pointed out, another polish before you applied the NXT would make things pop a little more.

 

Very nice Kirk! I bought clay bar etc like 2 years ago but never got around using it. How long did the whole process take?

As other said above, trying polishing before you wax. Wax by itself is nothing but a protection for your polish :-)

I might find a day when I am not busy and clay the heck out of the max.

-OS

 

looks great man, i just clayed mine yesterday and i agree with u, i thought it would be better than it was but it still did work good so im not gona complain.

 

Looks great ! Nice job !

 

looks good man, are u supposed to keep turning the clay bar around as u go?

 

trey: Actually, you knead the clay until you find a clean spot and resume claying.

gto: The claying is part of the process to get the end result.

 

I saw that, and no scratch on the car..

I was going to polish it, but I wanted to learn 1 thing at a time..lol


Prinz- Yeah it took about 3 hrs, I found spraying the bar with the "solution" was best for me. And the paint felt smooth before, it was hard to tell in some spots if I had even clayed it. The ROOF was a different story. BTW, I used the NXT basied on a thread on a SVT board. The write up said as good of a shine as zanio, but less effort. SO I am lazy, and jumped on it. Have you heard anything good or bad about it? I found it EASY to remove after letting it dry for an hr.

Oss- Yeah I know..lol.. Thanks

gto400no1- I'm not complaining, lol, but your right. I did however look at some pics I had from a few months ago and the paint is whiter than it was. so that's good

SilverBelle04- thanks

trey- Yeah, I followed the directions, you just fold it or make it into a ball and flatten it out again. I will only use this clay bar 1 more time. It's says 5 uses, I am doing 2.

 

I have heard pretty good things about NXT as far as shine/reflectivity/gloss. However, I am hearing mixed results as far as durability is concerned.

As far as claying's concerned, I have usually sprayed the lube on the sufrace to be clayed as opposed to the bar. However, I found that using the water from the final rinse is also an effective way to clay (and saves a drastic amount of time).

BTW, Bags, did you clay the rims?

 

That won't bother me. I really don't try to find ANY info on ANY product. I was going to use zanio, but like I said , I was on a SVT forum and this guy did his blue cobra and it looked awesome.

And I might clay the bar again around Aug. so I can just reapply then for the winter.

And I don't have a buffer, so I remove by hand. Which I hear is harder with zanio.

I have not even looked up top at the stickies about products.

It seemed like there was either to much lube or not enough. ( always the case huh ) That's why I ended up spraying the bar.

And I did not do the rims this time. I broke the bar in half, thank god. Cause I dropped it in the first 10 minutes. So I used that bar for the headlights and windows.

I am going to use the dropped bar for the rims next time I wash it.

I tried 2001 wheel cleaner and it SUCKED. I had eagle oneor AZ1 ( something..lol ) and it worked pretty good.

I use this little tire brush and it does a great job.

If I have time, I am going to remove the wheels and clay them 1 at a time off the car

 

Looks great, bags.
I mean, white does not usually shine like that.

You cannot go wrong with Meguiar's, IMO. I don't know about that particular product, but they have treated me good over the years.

Like the others said, just use some Meguiars polish on there and when you put that wax on there, you will seal in even more of a shine.

Great job though.

 

I've been trying to get my hands on some NXT but I can't find stores around in Queens that carry it. Does anyone know an online store i can get that crap from...I've been wanting to top it over my AIO n SG.

Thanks

 

What local stores carry clay? Or is it something you can only get at a detailing shop?

 

you can pick some up at autozone or strauss discount auto. those two store will usually carry either the mothers clay bar package or the clay magic one.

 

autozone that's cool thanx!

 

i used clay magic today. it was my first time claying, and it was a pain to keep mushing and folding the little clay bar, and my hands were all sticky. BUT my car is super clean now, i am impressed on how much dirt it picks up after u wash ur car. I am sold, Claying for life!!!!

 

http://www.premiumautocare.com/menxtge.html
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/meg-g-12718.html
http://store.yahoo.com/minicarcare/meg-g-12718.html

AUTOZONE 155-05 NORTHERN BL FLUSHING NY 11354 7189616102

STRAUSS 62-05 CROCHERON AVE. FLUSHING NY 11358 (718) 939-9870

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TARGET 13505 20TH AVENUE FLUSHING NY 11356 (718) 661-4346

K-MART 6111188TH STREET FRESH MEADOWS NY 11365

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STRAUSS 79-25 QUEENS BLVD. ELMHURST NY 11373 (718) 478-2440

TARGET 8801 QUEENS BLVD ELMHURST NY 11373 (718) 760-5656

AUTOZONE 9501 NORTHERN BLVD FLUSHING NY 11372 7185657107

STRAUSS 1652 BRUCKNER BLVD. BRONX NY 10473 (718) 617-7100

STRAUSS 5500 BROADWAY BRONX NY 10473 (718) 562-6000

STRAUSS 48-02 QUEENS BLVD. ELMHURST NY 11377 (718) 478-7774

AUTO BARN 64-04 QUEENS BLVE. WOODSIDE NY 11377 (718) 205-5552

STRAUSS 61-20 FRESH POND RD. MIDDLE VILLAGE NY 11379 (718) 366-9601



dunno if the prices are more expensive or not though theyre all about 14.95. got bored and just searched it up..and i searched up all the stores by the meguiars dealer locator. just helping out maxima community =]

 

For what it's worth, when I use the clay bar I tear off a small piece. Then sqeeze it into a small patty. It ends up about half dollar size and about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. That way the bar lasts a long time and if you drop it it's no big deal. Just remember to keep turning and kneading it. 3 or 4 pieces like that will do the whole car. I keep the rest of thr bar in a ziplock bag.

 

looks good, u should get rid of that pin stripe, its not too hard, i did it and im a loser!

 

looks sweet. i have been thinking of using the liquid wax. does it leave swirl marks???

 

Thanks, and I may get rid of the pin stripe one day, but I keep on cause everyone tells me to pull it off

dba- white is HARD to see swirl marks, but I don't have any from what I can see

 

I recently clayed my car too, for the first time. I found it was easiest with a nice amount of water, but not too much, I'd lightly spray the area. When i used the quick detail stuff as lube, it was a big pain, because i then had to rub it all in to get rid of the weird streaks it leaves. Water is easiest to me. Question, I've read that a claybar is good for about 5 cars or so, is this true? I'm using pinnacle claybar.

 

i clayed mine and it doesn't look any different..

 

Looks great! Hard to make white reflect.

 

I need to find a huge bar of clay for my car anyone know if any other clay will work?

Take a look!

 

nice man......the bling bling. Pearl white is the stuff... I just did mine this past weekend. Its like a mirror shine. Good job man.