Ok so......

[Maxspeed]

I pressure washed, foam gunned, washed, clayed, re foam gunned and washed my test car today. It's a lot better than it was but not baby *** smooth. I really don't feel like spending more than the 4.5 hours on this process. Will I be good enough to learn how to perfect my Flex technique with my car as it now sits.

[Chewy]

I'm a perfectionist... EVERYTHING I do I do to the best of my abilities.

 

Just think about the pad releasing what ever that bump is and then swirling it around on the paint...

 

Results could lead to POOR!

[Chris@Adams]

Bob, do what Chris says and if you are satisfied, proceed with a 2-foot by 2-foot test area and polish with the flex until you achieve the desired polishing affect.

And don't forget to take pics!

[Maxspeed]

I'm not worried about damaging during claying as your right, I will be fixing the paint. I just spent about 25 minutes in a 12 X 12 spot. I was using enough pressure that the hood was popping and the clay is ingrained in my palm and finger tips and isn't all out after a hard scrub brushing. It is smooth to the bare hand but the baggy test still is slightly rough.

[Maxspeed]

OK, let me ask this. I sprayed tons of detail spray on when I clayed. The surface was rough but eventually felt glass like with the DS on it. Should I use less detail spray when I clay?

 

 

Also I did clay the plastic bumpers, but should I also Flex the bumpers?

[Z71_Denali]

OK, let me ask this. I sprayed tons of detail spray on when I clayed. The surface was rough but eventually felt glass like with the DS on it. Should I use less detail spray when I clay?

 

 

Also I did clay the plastic bumpers, but should I also Flex the bumpers?

 

the more DS, the better IMO! more of it helps prevent micro marring the paint.

 

are the plastic bumpers painted? whatever your answer to that is, is the answer to your question

[Doug123]

You can polish the bumpers if they are painted - I just did the ones on my HHR and they came out great. If they are that chrome looking plastic, I would not.

 

As far as claying, you need to have enough DS on the paint to let the clay glide smoothly without it grabbing the paint. I am not sure that 'excess' DS slows the process down - if there is an excess.

 

I use the baggie test to tell me how well I am claying - your bare finger tips are not as sensitive as they are during the baggie test. If you are going to perfect your technique, do it the way you would on your Camaro so that you have removed any variables in the total procedure. In that way, if the results aren't correct or look odd, you know it won't be a variation in your prep that messed things up.

[Chris@Adams]

When your clay is not sticking to your paint, you will know that you are using enough DS.

[Maxspeed]

 

 

As far as claying, you need to have enough DS on the paint to let the clay glide smoothly without it grabbing the paint. I am not sure that 'excess' DS slows the process down - if there is an excess.

.

 

 

Your Right guys. I used my Adams clay and McQuire detail mist. I sprayed enough DS so that the clay would glide smoothly over the paint. When the clay started to grab I would spray more DS.

 

 

My plastic molding is painted.

 

I will go buy some McQuires Clay. I want to save My adams for my Camaro.

 

So if my clay was gliding smoothly, why do I need to do it again? When it was gliding smoothly I figured the contaminants were removed and the baggy test would be fine.

[Team Adam's]

OK, let me ask this. I sprayed tons of detail spray on when I clayed. The surface was rough but eventually felt glass like with the DS on it. Should I use less detail spray when I clay?

 

Lubrication of your clay is a fine line type thing.... too much and the clay can't make good contact and do its job. Not enough and it drags/mars.

 

You want to spray enough so that it slides easily over the surface. Kind of like polishing it takes a few tests to get the feel. Pick an area to test on, start with 1 spray, see how the clay slides and how long it takes to start to drag/stick to give you an idea.

 

If you clay while wet you'll use more lubrication as the water is diluting the detail spray so keep that in mind.

 

Also I did clay the plastic bumpers, but should I also Flex the bumpers?

 

If they're painted, yes.

[XQIZT]

I also use a bit more pressure while claying. Don't be afraid to push. My thinking is that I would rather do a little bit of marring damage and get all the junk out of the paint instead of pushing too lightly and not getting it all in one (or 2 passes). Remember, you're polishing ANYWAY, so a little bit more "damage" in the claying process is no big deal. IMHO.