I detailed my daily beater Civic and I don't think its been detailed. I washed it with DP Rinseless Wash & Gloss ( like the smell over ONR) then I clayed it using Meguiers G1001 clay. I did the trunk and couple other places and the clay was done. I know I need something a little more aggressive, not sure what clay to use. My friend has Griots Garage clay, so I might use that.

What can I do with the old clay? Use it for the windows or wheels?

 

There's a couple pf problems with the Meguiar's clay:

1. Too gentle for most applications - I think there needs to be a balance between a safe clay and effective one. This is one of the gentleset clays on the market, so it took forever to clay a car when I used it a while back to test.

2. The lube for the clay - this is more of a quick detailer than a clay lubricant. The problem here is that most of the time, quick detailers have some sort of wax or silicone that ends up getting in the way of the cutting ability of the clay. I noticed this with the meguiar's clay as the surface of the clay had a slick feel and it beaded up when sprayed with the quick detailer.

Solution: Use a different clay. We use Lumiere Paint Decontamination Clay (Medium) on all the cars we detail. This clay is the original clay formulation from a manufacturer in Japan, the creators of clay. We sometime use the Professional grade clay for really oxidized paints that we will end up machine polishing. But for most new cars and non-oxidized paints, the medium clay works best.

http://www.glisteningperfectionstore...rep/Categories

One container of the Lumiere Clay has 3 clay discs. Each disc will be good for 4-8 applications. So, that's roughly 12-24 clayings of your car. Most clients end up claying their car 2-4 times per year, so that's up to 12 years of clay. As long as the clay is kept in its sealed container, it'll stay fresh.

Hope this helps.

 

Yeah, its not the best but it was on sale; got 6 bars for about 25 bucks. It also doesn't long and is hard to mold. Also I used ONR for clay lube.

I'll try that clay next. Thanks Moe!

 

Griot's garage has a very nice 8 ounce product which along with their speed shine used as a lubricant has worked very well for me for the past couple of years. I can easily do atleast two newer 911s (or three classic 911s) with one bar.

 

Sounds good. You won't be disappointed.

 

Here is a quick picture.

Overall the clay didn't get all the tar build up off from the lower portions. Its needs a detail overall, don't think its even been detail since new. I put a light coat of Dodo Juice Fantastic Wax.

Also don't mind the battle scars, they came with the car

 

Good to see a civic get some TLC. Don't see that too often in this forum. Good job. It's all about loving your car and taking good care of it.

 

I try to take care of all my cars the same way regardless of the make. Makes me appreciate what I have, and when I get my new car (hopefully soon!) I'll treat it the same way.

 

Good for you... And more importantly your car.

 

Great philosophy. It's about the passion, not the car. Glad you're enjoying yourself.