Clay bar and wax

[3800Series]

Finally decided to clay bar my car today, I knew what to expect but the end results surprised me and I was more then pleased.

Spent the rest of my morning hand waxing the car. It's not the most beautiful thing in the world but hey its 20 years old.

Bought the car from an elderly lady who kept it up to date on maintenance. Littlerally had folders worth of oil changes and what not.

Can't help but feel its only been hand washed but a few times in it's life and waxed far less then that.

I used Meguiars Ultimate paste and Meguiars clay bar.

Wish the car was darker to get a more mirror like effect but sadly that's not the case. Still pleased with the work and altho it doesn't contribute to the community much I figured I would post it.

Pictures didn't do it much justice but still not bad for a car that probably never seen a garage in it's life time.

 

[mrsilv04]

Those 90's Buicks will be on the road for years to come.

 

[Clevy]

That body style with a 3.8 is one of the best ever built. Good power,fantastic durability,ease of parts availability make them desirable even today.
They had good comfort,lots of room and I had a friend who got 30+mpg highway religiously.
Great cars. Paint still looks decent too.

Nice work

 

[3800Series]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
That body style with a 3.8 is one of the best ever built. Good power,fantastic durability,ease of parts availability make them desirable even today.
They had good comfort,lots of room and I had a friend who got 30+mpg highway religiously.
Great cars. Paint still looks decent too.

Nice work


Yes, its a good car. I went on a 6 hour trip to see my son at his campus, I averaged 31mpg there and back, but it normally sees about 28 which isn't bad at all. Old Bonneville hardly broke 20's.

 

[Lapham3]

Funny thing-when you said 'elderly' I was thinking 'a Buick'=lucky guess? Looks nice

 

[3800Series]

Originally Posted By: Lapham3
Funny thing-when you said 'elderly' I was thinking 'a Buick'=lucky guess? Looks nice


Typically how it goes. I'm the second owner and the previous owner was 66 when she bought it. Older folks love the large GM's and they take care of them. Would buy any car from a elderly lady/gentleman before I would even look at a teen car. Just a lot more pride of ownership.

 

[Cadenza]

Very nice purchase! And now you will enjoy it even more. Good job.

 

[jacky]

looks great, my car is the same color and has really been neglected as far as wash and wax goes

 

[Klutch9]

Looks great! After a good claying, you'll notice that the paint will shine more in general, since all of the contaminants have been removed.

 

[zach1900]

How do you keep the clay from dragging? I want to Clay but it seems I'll just invite scratches?

 

[RISUPERCREWMAN]

Originally Posted By: zach1900
How do you keep the clay from dragging? I want to Clay but it seems I'll just invite scratches?


You use a spray lubricant.

 

[Danh]

Originally Posted By: RISUPERCREWMAN
Originally Posted By: zach1900
How do you keep the clay from dragging? I want to Clay but it seems I'll just invite scratches?


You use a spray lubricant.


Right. And the clay gets turned/kneaded often, capturing the contaminants. But this also means that any clay bar has a pretty limited lifespan.

 

[beast3300]

Car looks great!

 

[Bluestream]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
That body style with a 3.8 is one of the best ever built. Good power,fantastic durability,ease of parts availability make them desirable even today.
They had good comfort,lots of room and I had a friend who got 30+mpg highway religiously.
Great cars. Paint still looks decent too.

Nice work


Yes! That is why the Chinese love Buicks!

 

[fdcg27]

Looks really nice.
Really wide panel gaps, though.
I guess if you can't do accurate quality control, you just design the stampings so that everything will fit together anyway.
Typical GM, with world-class mechanicals and third-world class body and interior design.
You'll be able to drive this beast for as long as you care to with minimal troubles.
I'm a long-time Honda owner, but I'd doubt that any Honda V-6 would last as long as the ancient pushrod design in your car, nor would it be more economical in actual use.
The old 3.8 has very decent power to go along with its outstanding fuel economy as well.
A nice package that I could develop some affection for.
Maybe my next daily driver beater should be a Buick?

 

[SumpChump]

Originally Posted By: zach1900
How do you keep the clay from dragging? I want to Clay but it seems I'll just invite scratches?


Same here. I have a year old car and at 6months before winter I thought I'd clay bar it. Followed the directions, kneading lubricating, oh and I pre washed of course. Still got micro scratches on the trunk lid. That's where I began and ended. I held it lightly glided it across...the whole nine yards. Still micro scratches. I have to beleive that it either takes ALOT OF CLAY to do a burgundy metallic car or I had invisible instantaneous fallout 10 seconds after washing the car. It was smoother feeling indeed but scratched.

 

[3800Series]

Originally Posted By: SumpChump
Originally Posted By: zach1900
How do you keep the clay from dragging? I want to Clay but it seems I'll just invite scratches?


Same here. I have a year old car and at 6months before winter I thought I'd clay bar it. Followed the directions, kneading lubricating, oh and I pre washed of course. Still got micro scratches on the trunk lid. That's where I began and ended. I held it lightly glided it across...the whole nine yards. Still micro scratches. I have to beleive that it either takes ALOT OF CLAY to do a burgundy metallic car or I had invisible instantaneous fallout 10 seconds after washing the car. It was smoother feeling indeed but scratched.


I'm not to worried about light scratches at the moment I do want to get a DA waxer and when I do I'll take some rubbing compound to it.

Bought some ahwile back when I had a noticeable scratch and after 10-15 mins it was completely gone.

 

[3800Series]

Originally Posted By: 3800Series
Originally Posted By: SumpChump
Originally Posted By: zach1900
How do you keep the clay from dragging? I want to Clay but it seems I'll just invite scratches?


Same here. I have a year old car and at 6months before winter I thought I'd clay bar it. Followed the directions, kneading lubricating, oh and I pre washed of course. Still got micro scratches on the trunk lid. That's where I began and ended. I held it lightly glided it across...the whole nine yards. Still micro scratches. I have to beleive that it either takes ALOT OF CLAY to do a burgundy metallic car or I had invisible instantaneous fallout 10 seconds after washing the car. It was smoother feeling indeed but scratched.


I'm not to worried about light scratches (not that I noticed the clay bar adding any) at the moment I do want to get a DA waxer and when I do I'll take some rubbing compound to it.

Bought some ahwile back when I had a noticeable scratch and after 10-15 mins it was completely gone.

 

[3800Series]

Not that I noticed the clay bar adding any scratches. Wasn't looking for it however.

 

[donnyj08]

you can tell that Jenny is from MS it isn't all rusted up like cars that age here. I love Cars from the south. I have a relative in Picayune, MS. I enjoy driving down and going to Cruise on the Coast in the fall.