Color Sanding or Clay Bar? What to do!

[LACRESSIDAGUY]

How's it going. My car is a very rough paint surface. I have a peral white Cressida and I dont think the previous owner took care of the paint, don't get me wrong the paint and body is in good condition and shines, but not like it should. I run my hand againts the paint and some sections feel smooth wherase other are very rough almost like rubbing against sand. The front and rear bumpers appear to be faded as well with the same texture feel. I can't tell if its overspray or dirt/grime. The reason I think overspray is when I park under a street lite I can tell that a section of the hood has nicer smooth shine to it then the rest of the hood. My question is this. Will the clay bar remove this sandy like substance even if its overspray? I also considered taking the car to have it color sanded to bring the shine out. I've done this on another car but as you can imagine its expensive. Will I get the same results or close by using a clay bar myself??
Thanks!

[Pb]

Got any pics? How old is the car?

I'd certainly try clay bar first, and some polish. It can work miracles.

Clay can remove overspray. Polish can also remove overspray if the Clay bar doesn't get all of it.

[LACRESSIDAGUY]

Thanks PB,

I will take your advice and try the clay bar and polish first. I'll pickup the Mother's clay bar product tonight and prepare for my project on Saturday. Hopefully by then I will be able to post some pics of my Cressida.

[LACRESSIDAGUY]

well, i bought a clay bar and detailing lubricant and got to work on my Cressida. Wow!!!!! What a difference. Looks real nice and clean. Now I need to find a good alloy wheel rim clean. My rims weren't taken care and are in poor condition. I've been us 3M alloy rim cleaner but its just okay. Has anyone tried the Mother's ball cleaner for rims? Is it worth the $25 bucks it cost.

[Pb]

Now that your paint is clean are you going to polish or wax it?

The PowerBall can speed up the wheel polishing process, but the same results can be gotten by hand. It just takes a little longer.

I did some wheel polishing in this thread. http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh...07#post2216407

[LACRESSIDAGUY]

I forgot to mention that I polished it with a product called Zymol. I've heard some good comments about this polish, and I was happy with the result.

[Pb]

Originally Posted by LACRESSIDAGUY

I forgot to mention that I polished it with a product called Zymol. I've heard some good comments about this polish, and I was happy with the result.

What kind of Zymol? Zymol makes lots of different detailing products.

[ToyotaJimD.]

Originally Posted by LACRESSIDAGUY

well, i bought a clay bar and detailing lubricant and got to work on my Cressida. Wow!!!!! What a difference. Looks real nice and clean. Now I need to find a good alloy wheel rim clean. My rims weren't taken care and are in poor condition. I've been us 3M alloy rim cleaner but its just okay. Has anyone tried the Mother's ball cleaner for rims? Is it worth the $25 bucks it cost.

If your time is worth anything, the PowerBall can be a real timesaver, but only if the wheels are polishable. So if you'd polish by hand, you generally can polish with a PowerBall or PowerBall Mini. If you're near a Wal-Mart, you can get the ones for your wheels (also handy for headlights) for under 20 bucks.

Remember that Bare "alloy" can be polished using a metal polish, such as the PowerMetal or Mag & Aluminum Polish by Mothers, or you can use just about any polish appropriate for the job, so long as it has some lubricity to it.

If you have factory "alloy" wheels, they are coated with something akin to your paint's clearcoat, and you can polish with a cleaner wax or plastic polish.

Bottom line, be sure you use the right polish for the surface you're polishing, not what the wheels are made of.


I should add that polishing is different than cleaning -- your wheels should be clean before you polish them, and I've had good luck with the Mothers wheel cleaners or the Eagle One All Wheel & Tire.