Little Help, Please

[jocigar]

since the new truck looked good from the dealer I decided to put a quick coat of wax on my 735i. I do neglect this cars paint (black). Anyway, I gave it a good wash and waxed with meguair clear coat wax.

Problem: the paint still feels rough/dry and a little abrasive to the touch... not the glass like feel it should have. also, there are blemishes that are white in color and look like micro bubbles and they do not rub off, they feel like they are sealed under the paint.

I know that I should have used clay first. Would that solve all of the above and will it hurt the clear coat?

THanks!

[acf]

Should solve most. Won't hurt clear coat.

[99lsguy]

You will be impressed with the clay bar!!

[SW03ES]

The clay bar will help with the roughness, but I fear that the "white bubbles" under the surface are the beginnings of clear coat failure. The only way to repair these if I'm right is a total repaint.

What year is the 735?

[jocigar]

steve, it's a 1990. I am the second owner and it has been very well cared for. the hood was repainted when other owner hit a deer and they did a bad job... it has what look like water marks on the paint that are brown in color. The white bubble blotches are on the trunk area.

Car looks like new from 10', but up close to the paint

I had the parts store deliver the clay from maguires with the spray, water blade and some carnuba wax-cleaner also from maguires. I left the car in the garage at work after I waxed it... should I clay with the spray while it is inside and dirt free or saop it up and clay outside as suggested? how do I cut the clay bar?... the lady at the store said that she would only use clay on light color cars.

thanks!

I will take my camera to work tomorrow maybe I can shoot the blemishes.

[VBdenny]

My brothers black Z-71 GMC pickup looks great an it's a 96. He clayed the paint and put on a couple of coats of #845 and it looks awesome even with almost 200,000 miles and several harsh Syracuse winters.

[jocigar]

I tried the clay this morning and I did make the paint a little smoother, but I had hoped it would have been a little more aggressive.

on another note, I have a no name sealant that I use and it works great on black... it brings out a deeper black than the meg wax-cleaner and leave no haze. The sealer has Dupont Teflon and some resins.

Questions:

when do I apply the sealant? Before I wax or after?

Since I have a coat of wax on the car, should I wash before I clay to remove the wax?

Thanks and sorry for any obvious questions

[SW03ES]

Prosucts with Teflon generally aren't all they're cracked up to be. DupOnt themselves admit that it takes super high temperatures to get anything out of Teflon.

The lady at the store was wrong about the clay ;) The Meguiars clay isn't very good or aggressive, what you may need is the Clay Magic red bar, you can get it from www.premiumautocare.com.

[jocigar]

Ok,

help me finish the job:

I clay

then use meg #9 swirl remover

then use meg clear coat wax/cleaner

then wait for #476 dualcoat to arrive and apply

Right??

[SW03ES]

The Cleaner Wax is a redundent step. Its like combination shampoo conditioner, it does niether particularly well. The #9 is a cleaner. I would clay, #9, some sort of polish like #81 or #7 and then top with the 476.

[jocigar]

Over the last few days I bought the meg #7 from outozone and found a great deal on microfiber towels from costco. Other than wax removal, how else can I use the MF towels?

I hope to finish buffing out the car with #9 and then apply the #7 polish. The collinite 476 should arrive soon after.

I never new that polishes existed much less the how to use them when detailing a car. This car should look great when I am done!... our new lx-470 and old landcruiser are next.

Thanks to all for sharing your knowledge!

[SW03ES]

Make sure those MF towels are good quality and won't scratch. A lot of times MFs that you get from places like Costco aren't very plush.

You can use MF for everything on the car. I really don't use Terry towels for anything anymore. MFs are more absorbent and dry everything faster and better.

[jocigar]

thanks Steve, would you use them to apply armorall to the dash? also, should I use armorall to clean/shine the radio and shifter console, how about the wood trim and leather door panels? Can you give me a rundown of what products to use for the different interior parts.

I still have more to learn :)

[acf]

You'll probably find a 6:1 or so water to Woolite solution is a recommended solution to clean just about everything on your dash. Be wary of spraying anything on your dash though (especially Armor-All) as it can get in/on things that you don't want it on. Apply to cloth then apply.:)

[jocigar]

Thanks for that. I am afraid of the armorall because it seems to erase all the white icon on the turn signals and console.

do you put the woolite in a spray bottle?

how did the collinite 476 work for you?

[SW03ES]

I wouldnt use the MF towels for Armor All

Lovin the 476 ;)

[acf]

For Woolite solution, I just mixed it up in a dish and dipped a towel in it. Guess a spray bottle would work at least as well.

And I too am lovin' that 476.

[SW03ES]

Spray bottle works best simply because it saves work, you wont have to re-mix it every time you want to clean something.