first time claying, first time waxing

[LazyGhost]

Got the Megs clay kit and went to work on my wifes camaro sunday afternoon. It sure looks a lot easier in the videos. Haa! I dropped my first 1/2 bar in the dirt on my first door panel. I took great care with the 2nd half and didnt drop it. I think i did ok for my first time. The camaro has the racing stripes and i avoided them. I did not remove all of the contaminants. I was afraid of over working areas. I did remove a fair share though. What was left was mostly road tar/grime i reckon. I need to find a good product for that. The turtle wax bug tar remover didnt quite cut it. I used a whole bottle of detail spray and then some.

Waxing. Man, that was more work than i thought. More time consuming mostly. Especially the removsl. I used Megs Ultimate wax. It went on good. Never did dry enough to pass the swipe test. But i was running out of daylight and had to get started. Trying to see wax residue on a black vehical at dusk with no light aint easy! I got it though, mostly.
Next time, ill be applying with an orbital wax spreader.

I did ok. Looks pretty good. Next times the charm! ;-)

 

[ihaveacamaro]

Nice! What year Camaro?

Also, since it sounds like you're starting detailing, I hope you don't mind me saying a few things to save you money and time in the long run I wish had AG or someone to tell me this stuff when I started rops:

Instead of spending money on clay bars over and over again, join the clay alternative movement! I love my Speedy Surface Prep Towel!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_kX6RwRgjA]Speedy Surface Prep Towel Review : Clay Alternative - YouTube[/video]

Instead of Turtle Wax Bug and Tar Remover, if you get an APC (all-purpose cleaner), you can do the same job for much cheaper and get much more product too!

For detail spray, try Optimum No Rinse or my personal favorite, Ultima Waterless Wash Plus CONCENTRATE. Just one bottle of UWW+ Concentrate can make 5.5 gallons of detail spray... for ~20 dollars!

When you run out of Megs Liquid Wax (nothing wrong with it, it's a good product), see if you can budget Blackfire Crystal Seal into an order. That stuff is the easiest LSP (last step product) I have ever used. You literally spray on, spread, and walk away. No waiting for it to dry or swipe test! And it lasts a long time too!

 

[Bunky]

Waxing. Man, that was more work than i thought. More time consuming mostly. Especially the removsl.

Removal issues usually go back to applying too much and letting it sit too long or both. You need less than you think. If you rely on sight to decide amount, it will fool you into applying too much. It can take some practice to get proficient to put down a very thin layer.

 

[spiralout462]

Removal issues usually go back to applying too much and letting it sit too long or both. You need less than you think. If you rely on sight to decide amount, it will fool you into applying too much. It can take some practice to get proficient to put down a very thin layer.

:iagree:Every time I've struggled removing wax was due to the fact that I put it on too thick. It seems like I'm getting a little better over the years but it does take some practice. The orbital might be a good idea. You might find that paste waxes are easier to put on thin? Enjoy the shine!:buffing:

 

[LazyGhost]

Thanx for the tips. Thin is in! Its tough to put it on thin when ya hear and feel the foam applicator dry rubbing. Then once i added a little juice and got a nice consistency that looked and felt right, i had to keep adding dabs of product regularly to keep up the consistency. Thin is in! Just harder than it sounds lol. Ill ro better when i do my truck. ;-)

Been lookin at the carpro eraser. Ill get that or the speedy prep towel. I hsvent eatched the video on the towel yet so once i do i may be sold on it. Ill watch it when my youngen gets off the xbox, goes to bed, and frees up my bandwidth.
Thanx!

 

[spiralout462]

You're a smart man! Practice on the Wifeys car hahaha. I have a hard time putting down liquid thin by hand sometimes.

 

[LazyGhost]

Nice! What year Camaro?

Shes got a 2011 RS, black with what i call orange stripes. She had an f150 previously but had been saying for a few years she was gonna get a camaro as her next vehicle. Then she conveniently wrecker her truck last year and had to get another ride so she got what she had been wanting. She shopped around and had that onr shipped in thu carmax. She was using my truck to commute while she was waitin on the car to arrive and the day it arrived, she wrecked my truck on the way to get her car! I drove the truck for a few months and then had to buy another truck for myself. Ahh well.

Anyways, she loves the car even with it being a v6. That things got a ton of power. Compared to my truck, it rides like a wheel wagon though. Haa!

Heres some pics of when she first got it.

 

[ihaveacamaro]

Shes got a 2011 RS, black with what i call orange stripes. She had an f150 previously but had been saying for a few years she was gonna get a camaro as her next vehicle. Then she conveniently wrecker her truck last year and had to get another ride so she got what she had been wanting. She shopped around and had that onr shipped in thu carmax. She was using my truck to commute while she was waitin on the car to arrive and the day it arrived, she wrecked my truck on the way to get her car! I drove the truck for a few months and then had to buy another truck for myself. Ahh well.

Anyways, she loves the car even with it being a v6. That things got a ton of power. Compared to my truck, it rides like a wheel wagon though. Haa!

Heres some pics of when she first got it.

Looks great! The stripes seem to me to be Inferno Orange Metallic... I know what you mean, they look red without sun, and orange in the sun.

Love the interior! If GM offered a white interior, I would've been so happy! Oh well what can you do...

And oh my god dude, without trying to be an a**hole, I think you may want to consider teaching your wife how to drive lol!

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I did not remove all of the contaminants. I was afraid of over working areas. I did remove a fair share though. What was left was mostly road tar/grime i reckon. I need to find a good product for that. The turtle wax bug tar remover didnt quite cut it.

You don't really have to worry about overworking with the clay, you have to worry about grinding contaminants that are stuck in the clay into the finish, so make sure you knead the clay when it gets dirty (I like to wash off the clay surface in a bucket before kneading), but it helps to "decontaminate" the surface first. The TW bug and tar really hasn't been any good since the VOC crackdown started. As noted you can use some APC, etc.

Also, you likely used way too much wax, remember, after it's buffed off it will be molecules thick, so putting any more on that to start with is just a waste. You just want to make sure you're evenly covered.

 

[LazyGhost]

And then! A month after having the car she came upon some deer crossing the road and stopped. Then a doe ran out and ran into the back side of the car. lol. She was sick! She had that all fixed withen a week. Replaced the panel and repaint on the drivers door. All good now. I am scared to ride with her though.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Some women seem to attract the deer. Nice head dent. Must have looked like Rudolph after the Bumble bonked him.

 

[umi000]

From what I've read on MOL, Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid wax is not supposed to dry - in fact, the directions I've read posted there prety much say to apply in a wipe-on, wipe-off manner.

 

[CM8 6MT]

From what I've read on MOL, Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid wax is not supposed to dry - in fact, the directions I've read posted there prety much say to apply in a wipe-on, wipe-off manner.

Your 100% correct.

 

[LazyGhost]

From what I've read on MOL, Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid wax is not supposed to dry - in fact, the directions I've read posted there prety much say to apply in a wipe-on, wipe-off manner.

Interesting! I have two bottles of the ultimate wax. When i got ready to apply, i grabbed a bottle and carefully read the directions. The bottle i happened to grab and use, says plainly to let it dry to a haze. The bottle i didnt use, says the opposite! Blasted!
I apparently didnt get all the residue off either. Ive been busy this week and havent had time to wash it and try and get it cleaned up. Will do saturday.

I took these pics with my phone so theyre not the best. The pic on the left is the wax i opened and used. You can see the directions for use are different. Thats just my luck too! One day ill share with yall some of the misadventures of lazyghost. This is just another page in the never ending story. ;-).

Thanx for pointing that out. This weekend ill use the other bottles directions. And just for good measure ill go ahead and use that bottle as well and throw out the one i already used. Probably older than methusal.

 

[CM8 6MT]

What most likely happened is that too many average joes didnt understand what "dry to a haze" means. They probably left it there to really "dry", and thats where you run into streaking issues & sometimes hard to remove.

They have to really simplify it for consumers, so I can see how they just said screw it remove it in 3-5 min on their newer product labels.

 

[cardaddy]

And then! A month after having the car she came upon some deer crossing the road and stopped. Then a doe ran out and ran into the back side of the car. lol. She was sick! She had that all fixed withen a week. Replaced the panel and repaint on the drivers door. All good now. I am scared to ride with her though.

OUCH! Wow, that reminds me of an old school buddy. He had a deer run into his pickup's passenger door with the window down and almost ended up INSIDE the truck!

From what I've read on MOL, Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid wax is not supposed to dry - in fact, the directions I've read posted there prety much say to apply in a wipe-on, wipe-off manner.

:whs:
The thing about ULW is if you'll put it on with a soft pad by machine you'll get a nice even coat. By the time you get around the car you can take your big thick microfibers and start wiping. Make SURE to turn the towel often, even using two is good. Make the trip back around wiping and you can do the 2nd coat if you like, it'll take even less than before.

Love the orange stripes on the black btw!

 

[mrodgers]

OUCH! Wow, that reminds me of an old school buddy. He had a deer run into his pickup's passenger door with the window down and almost ended up INSIDE the truck!

A coworker had feet come into the back door window where his kids were. Luckily they weren't struck.

I totaled my 88 4Runner hitting a deer but didn't carry insurance on it. Got a front end and welded it on. The same day a year later, another deer.

Driving the wife's 96 Altima, couldn't see more than 4 feet with the headlights on that thing. A deer that was just hit appears in the headlights, nothing I could do. Drove right over it. Had meat hanging off of everything under the car. Tried pressure washing it many times and it stunk forever.

First time taking the family on vacation. 1100 miles to Disneyworld. 2 hours into our 19 hour trip, deer bounds over the jersey barrier. Nail the brakes and almost get stopped in time. Just barely tapped the deer and it's head flops down onto the hood. $1800 to fix, $1600 of that was banging the dent out of the hood and respraying it.

 

[BillE]

One 'strange' thing about Ult Wax Liquid, is as it cures it will look all splotchy and spotty. DON"T play with it! It takes about 12 hours to fully 'cross-link' (like overnight).

If the weather is just right, you can actually watch the stuff change its' appearance...strange indeed.

Bill

 

[cardaddy]

A coworker had feet come into the back door window where his kids were. Luckily they weren't struck.

I totaled my 88 4Runner hitting a deer but didn't carry insurance on it. Got a front end and welded it on. The same day a year later, another deer.

Driving the wife's 96 Altima, couldn't see more than 4 feet with the headlights on that thing. A deer that was just hit appears in the headlights, nothing I could do. Drove right over it. Had meat hanging off of everything under the car. Tried pressure washing it many times and it stunk forever.

First time taking the family on vacation. 1100 miles to Disneyworld. 2 hours into our 19 hour trip, deer bounds over the jersey barrier. Nail the brakes and almost get stopped in time. Just barely tapped the deer and it's head flops down onto the hood. $1800 to fix, $1600 of that was banging the dent out of the hood and respraying it.

Bet that made for a heck of a start to that vacation....
My wife has a close call on average, once a week. May skip a week here and there, but some mornings they'll be 2 ~ 3 jump in front of her. I constantly preach, "hold the wheel straight and NEVER swerve to avoid them". I'd rather her hit a deer than a freaking tree!

It's a wonder I don't hunt dear, because I *really* don't like those invasive sob's! In all my years owning/running a towing business you wouldn't believe the misery I've seen caused by them.

 

[jhodges]

Bet that made for a heck of a start to that vacation....
My wife has a close call on average, once a week. May skip a week here and there, but some mornings they'll be 2 ~ 3 jump in front of her. I constantly preach, "hold the wheel straight and NEVER swerve to avoid them". I'd rather her hit a deer than a freaking tree!

It's a wonder I don't hunt dear, because I *really* don't like those invasive sob's! In all my years owning/running a towing business you wouldn't believe the misery I've seen caused by them.

Once had an insurance guy tell me that, in the lower 48, more people are killed as a result of encounters with deer than with any other animal. As he told it, it's because people swerve trying to avoid killing the deer and end up going into the ditch or on a trip out "through the tules" or out into the other lane into a head-on at speed and ending up getting killed in the impact.

Over the years, I have had 4 encounters with the dreaded mule dear at highway speeds. Once you realize the only safe outcome is to just hold your position and hit the deer, you just hold the steering wheel with both hands and with the car pointing straight down your lane, take your foot off the accelerator and maybe apply the brakes as if you were going to come to a normal stop at a traffic light (if conditions permit). No swerving, not jamming on the brakes, no trip through the "barrow pit".

My two kids, when they were much younger were in the car during one of these encounters. My oldest, a girl about 10 at the time, woke up and asked, "Daddy, did you just kill Bambi?"

Sheesh............ What'cha gonna say???

They count as Comp claims; not Collision claims. It's like you were just sitting there in your car, minding your own business, and the deer ran into you at highway speed and committed suicide.