Need some advice (wasting clay bars!)

J

JBs

New member
so i have this Cadillac to do, and it is in completly godawful shape.



the car itself is a mess, wheels are torn apart etc.



Now this is where everything is getting tricky.



I had washed/degreased everything (paint consistently sheeted brown water for some reason), and when i started to clay, i wasted an entire clay bar on just the trunk alone.



i washed the car for an hour and a half, with very strong degreasers mixed in with the wash concentrate hoping to rid the paint off all the dirt that has accumulated.



BTW, the paint is matte b/c of how many swirls are in it (think scotchbrite pad EVERYWHERE).



What do i need to restore the paint on this car (i'm not expecting a full recovery)? Can i skip the claying process and go straight to XMT4 compound since the paint is awful already?



it's an 89 cadillac i think (white).



Please, i am usually really good at this stuff, but i need your help on this one!



Thanks! :waxing:
 
do i have to clay the car though?



i'm thinking with 2passes XMT4 Orange, 1 pass XMT3 Orange, 1 Pass XMT2 White it wont really matter if i clay it.... i may be wrong though.
 
Answer to your question might be simple as long as you accept paint will need to be polished out afterwards. Search for threads that mention Hi-Tech or Elastrofoam.



... and from my experience, when I tried to skip "claying" on battered car that contamination was affecting my polishing, dirt was getting sucked into pad, etc, it was a headache.
 
yea that's what i was worried about.



1 brand new clay bar only lasted 1/2 the trunk. it was the most ridiculous thing i have ever seen
 
Keep washing it till you don't see any more "brown" water coming off. Maybe try a strong wash, like dawn.



You could also mix some APC with your car wash soap.
 
The Hi Tech sponge aka Elastrofoam is just what you're looking for. It will make much shorter work of that paint cleaning AND will cost you a lot less to get it done. Something that I would do is take a chemical paint cleaner and work it by hand with a terry towel. That will get a good amount of the gunk off and you can work from there.
 
When things get really bad, you can even try kerosene on a car like that followed by a heavy rinse on each panel and a wash.
 
Might be an improvement! :) In the horrible washing thread one guy puts gasoline on his tires and lights it for that "wet" effect
 
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