[KingNothing]

Here's a shot of my spoiler and deck lid before I worked on it:

I was ready to re-paint the spoiler, deck lid, and rear quarter panels, but at Bob's (OhioSpyderman) advice I decided to clay bar instead.

I bought a Mother's Clay Bar kit (clay bar, quick detailer, some kind of wax), some Meguiar's Swirl Remover, and some S100 wax to see what I could do. First I tried just the wax - it didn't do much.

A couple weeks later (today), I started off by giving her a good washing. After that I clay barred and noticed some good improvement. Next came three applications of the swirl remover - wow! That made all the difference. Then I waxed with the S100 to protect the bare paint. For applying everything, I bought two Martha Stewart white cotton towels, washed them three times, and cut them into smaller pieces. Here's the after pic:

Since I did the spoiler, I've also done the rear quarter panels, sail panels, and deck lid with the above process (3-5 applications of swirl remover, 2-4 coats of wax) and WOW! I never thought my paint would feel this smooth or look this good! I'll take some more pics in a while - the ones I have of the quarter panels aren't very good.

I'd recommend to everyone to do this or something similiar (Meguiar's three step, Zaino, etc). I was going to Zaino but I didn't really want to spend close to $200 for everything I'd need.

:bigthumb:

 

[TFXP-Zeke01]

Looks good!

 

[KingNothing]

Here's a better after pic:

 

[marius]

hey good job how much did it cost you?

 

[I'm a dork]

thats rather impressive...how much time did that take you?

 

[KingNothing]

Thanks for the compliments.

I spent a little less than three hours doing that.

It paid off though, I think. I'm going to do some more tonight - it's so addictive to turn okay looking paint into paint that feels like glass.

Here are some approximate prices:

Meguiar's Car Wash - $8
Meguiar's Swirl Remover - $8
Mother's Clay Bar Kit - $17
Two towels - $15
S100 wax - $13
Total - $61

You can get the S100 wax from Harley dealerships - apparently it's the exact same formula as some pretty expensive wax that they renamed to sell in smaller quantities for motorcycle owners. It goes on and comes off extremely easy - I like it. I'll comment on how long it lasts when it's been on for a while.

 

[Internexus]

KingNothing on my stealth the quarter panel/sail panel paint is very faded as if the clear coat has completely worn away and the paint is rough right there is this the same description how yours was? If so its obviously time to head to autozone/o'reilly's I was thinking I was going to have to paint those sections of the car! Let me know!
sean

 

[Bluv69k]

park it in the weather and let's see how long it last! It always looks good then we have to go an drive it.

 

[puffe516]

Good job, big improvement

 

[PRODIGY3000]

I love threads like these that prove claybars aren't a gimmick. I've used the Mothers claybar on my car and noticed a HUGE improvement in luster, purity, and feel of the paint.

Looks great King Nothing.

 

[KingNothing]

KingNothing on my stealth the quarter panel/sail panel paint is very faded as if the clear coat has completely worn away and the paint is rough right there is this the same description how yours was? If so its obviously time to head to autozone/o'reilly's I was thinking I was going to have to paint those sections of the car! Let me know!
sean

It was kind of rough feeling and looked as though it had water spots underneath it. It was quite faded too and a little rough. In the after pic you can see a few spots on the spoiler that didn't come out - those still feel rough. The spoiler still doesn't look like the rest of my car, but it's an EXTREME improvement over how it was - the pics don't do it justice.

Bluv -

Unfortunately I do have to park outside - our garage door is broken and has to be lifted by hand. I bring it inside for oil changes and other work, along with the waxing today. I'll let you know how it holds up.

Prodigy - if it weren't for threads like these, I never would have even known about clay bars much less tried one. I wanted to let everyone know how much of an improvement it was - I was even a bit skeptical myself about the clay bar and the swirl remover, but it's definitely not a gimmick and I'm a firm believer now!

Here's a few more pics if anyone is interested - I went ahead and did the passenger side and roof. It took an hour and 45 minutes to do those two parts, but they feel like glass and look like mirrors now. I still need to do the driver side and front of the car - I'll probably do it Wednesday or Thursday.

www.wet-n-juicy.com/img/npr/mycar/wax01.jpg
www.wet-n-juicy.com/img/npr/mycar/wax02.jpg
www.wet-n-juicy.com/img/npr/mycar/wax03.jpg
www.wet-n-juicy.com/img/npr/mycar/wax04.jpg
www.wet-n-juicy.com/img/npr/mycar/wax05.jpg
www.wet-n-juicy.com/img/npr/mycar/wax06.jpg
www.wet-n-juicy.com/img/npr/mycar/wax07.jpg
www.wet-n-juicy.com/img/npr/mycar/wax08.jpg

 

[DjMonnie]

Looks good! I wax (NOT polish) my car every weekend. My paint (red) is fading. Maybe I should do the swirl remover-clay bar-S100 wax thing?

 

[KingNothing]

I don't know if there's anything too special about S100 - all of the improvement came from the clay bar and swirl remover. The clay bar made it very smooth, but the swirl remover did most of the appearance enhancement. I'd do it if I was you - it'll only set you back like $25 if it doesn't work anyways.

 

[DjMonnie]

Thanx..I'm going to do it, hopefuly this weekend.. I just want to protect my paint and for it to look good b/c it is fading; I had one guy call my car "orange" that was the last straw

 

[Maximal]

Take a piece of cellophane, wrap it around your finger, and rub it over the parts of the car you haven't clayed yet. The cellophane will amplify all the crap that's all over the paint, you'll be surprised how much there really is. Then clay that area and do the cellophane thing again. You'll be amazed in the difference. Clay is awesome.

Terry

 

[John M]

KingNothing - I can repaint the black trim areas for ya if you'd like. I've done several now and they look really nice.

 

[wraith]

I had the guy who painted my rear bumper cover and fenders high speed polish the rest of my black car, and it looked better then new. He claimed it took about 5 foam bonnetts on his machine because our black has no clear coat on it. It was amazing to see my sparkly new looking car. If your lazy and want to spend $200 on making your car new again, I recommend this approach to everyone.

Sam

 

[Andrew Caple]

>I was going to Zaino but I didn't really want to spend close to $200 for everything I'd need.

I know Zaino isn't cheap, but I've been using it for 4 years now, and my total expenditures have yet to top $200.

A beginner would need one bottle each of Z1, Z2 or Z3, and Z5, and a clay bar. Total for that is under 50 bucks.

BTW - that bottle of Z1 will last you through multiple bottles of Z2/Z3 and Z5.

 

[KingNothing]

KingNothing - I can repaint the black trim areas for ya if you'd like. I've done several now and they look really nice.

I think I may just have to take you up on that offer.
Is mid December sometime alright with you, or maybe later? I have finals coming up soon for school and a bunch of papers due.

 

[OhioSpyderman]

I hate to say this.......

....but I TOLD YA SO!!!!

Drew, glad to see you took the time to try my suggestion. $61 is peanuts compared to the $$ and time spent repainting. Add to that, once you re-paint (unless you do some outrageously expensive job) almost always DEVALUES the car.

It takes some time and effort, but from what I can tell from the pics, it was WELL WORTH IT!!

Congrats.

Bob.