IPA or Clay First

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charlestek

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I'm a little confused from the information I see in the forums. I have an old car which has weak clearcoat, so I am skipping polishing. I would think I should IPA first then do the claying, but would like to hear other
opinions.

Thanks.
 
What is your reasoning for using IPA, what is it going to accomplish?
 
If it truly has "weak clear coat" I'd skip the clay as well (imo), just glaze & lsp
 
charlestek said:
I have an old car which has weak
clearcoat, so I am skipping polishing.

I would think I should IPA first
then do the claying.
Click to expand...
Usually IPA, and other panel-wipes, are
used for post-polishing paint inspections;
and, for making the paint "squeaky clean"
prior to Coating applications---not before
the claying step.


•However, for your above specific case:
-Since you've already determined that
the CC has been weakened... I wouldn't
perform any clay or IPA processes.

-Instead...(after the vehicle has been
washed/dried)...An AIO that contains
very light abrasives, such as Meguiar's
Cleaner Wax; or 3M Imperial Hand Glaze
followed by a finishing Wax, should suffice.

JMO.


Bob
 
If there is any old wax/chemical contaminants, I wanted to remove them first. This is a older car I am going to get rid of, just wanted to clean and wax as best I could. The AIO should take care of the IPA step, but not sure it will remove any embedded contaminants that the clay would.
 
If the clear is compromised, you run the risk of lifting some up, scratching etc.
 
Ah, I see. The present clear has crows feet and crystalline etch pattern clear marring, not whole scale delamination. I will just go with the AIO. The only AIO I have sitting around is Optimum AIO.
 
This is an old car of mine that I let go for several years due to multiple failed knee surgeries. The lower door panels have a ton of grit. I feel like at least claying those....
 
charlestek said:
Ah, I see. The present clear has crows feet and crystalline etch pattern clear marring, not whole scale delamination. I will just go with the AIO. The only AIO I have sitting around is Optimum AIO.
Click to expand...

If you have old, bad clear, and parts with "crows feet", I wouldn't use an AIO. An AIO contains abrasives and will make it worse. Id get a non-abrasive glaze and wax/seal to cover up as much as possible. Otherwise, that would need a respray to be fixed properly.
 
When I mean "bad" clear, I mean the crows feet and crystalline cracking in a bunch of places. No appreciable large spot delamination.
 
To quote an old western saying:

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink."
 
On old paint with crow's feet and other types of micro cracking one of the best solutions I've found to keep the paint looking its best is an "oily" protectant (think Armor-All or similar products).

The problem with polishing or all-in-ones is that they leave residues in the cracks that turns white and makes the defects even more apparent. The oily nature of the protectant will penetrate those residues and make them less obvious, and it will leave somewhat of a shine on the panel as a whole.

I had a '69 GTO with an original paint job that was lacquer checked on the horizontal panels and I always maintained it with a protectant. Forget the waxes and polishes.

Using a protectant on a painted surface is definitely not a normal process, but when you have compromised paint many normal processes simply don't work very well. Sometimes you've got to think outside of the norms and experiment a little. That's what I did with my GTO.

Try it... you'll be surprised.
 
This is an old car that I'm going to get rid of for next to nothing. I'm only trying to clean up the car and make it reasonably presentable, not trying to fix the finish as dramatically as I can, nor get rid of old swirls at the risk of increasing clearcoat damage. Plus the Maxima has 5th generation rust at the wheel wells as is common for 4th and 5th gen, especially since the original owner seems to have put mudflaps on the back.

That said, I had to use clay on the door panels and below to get the grit out and I used Optimum AIO, which probably doesn't have as much cleaning as most.

If it's one thing I've learned, you detailer's like to think in extremes.....
 
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