hi guys

iv just recently bought a black frst shell and it doesnt look like its been polished for a long time as it was sat for ages not doing anything,there are a couple of scratches here and ther ebut overall not bad.other than the scratches when you rub your hand over the car you can feel the paint is rough now i want to get it back to a nice smoothness,
so whats the best way of going about it?

cheers

 

if its rough to the touch clay the car first before polishing.this removes all the crap on it and any tar spots etc leaving a smooth finish then preferable get it machine polished up to a glass finish.dependant on the depth of the scratches you may be able to remove these to.

 

as above mate.

First give the car a good rinse over to get ride of any loose dirt
Then get a washing mit and give it a shampoo
Then re-rinse and towel dry
At this stage I try and remove excess tar spots with a tar remover fluid - you could do this during clay baring but prefer to get it gone and not run the risk of dragging it around on the bar.

Then get a meguires claybar kit (approx £15.00 for the kit includes bar and lubricant).

It is pretty easy, give the bar a flatten out until it is soft and patty shaped and them spray the lubricant onto the panel. Then use the bar in the same way if you were lightly sanding.

You will feel some friction but after a few passes it will glide and you can move onto the next area.

Go gentle, keep lubricated and you will be fine, make sure you dont drop the bar on a dirty floor etc naturally.

The clay bar works by allowing grit to sink into the clay away from the panel unlike normal polishing which leaves you dragging thr grit round in circles as you polish.

Once you have done the whole car wash it again and towel dry.

NOW, you will notice polishing and waxing the car is FAR easier as the paint is griome free and buffs off easily.

Give yourself a good 4 - 5 hours to do it properly, but the results will be worth it, PLUS it will mean future cleans are far easier.

 

Clay bar is probably the way forward mate,once you have run the clay over it,put a food bag over 2 of your fingers and run them over the area clayed,the food bag increases the sensitivity in your finger's,so if you can still feel roughness it needs clayed again,its all in good preparation for cleansing/polishing sealing/waxing

 

Cheers for all the info guys my next question was going to be how do I clay bar but that's been answered now thanks .but also whist claying does it matter if it's in direct sunlight or would it be better done inside?

 

I have clayed in direct sun with no problems mate. Infact it probably helps a little as the clay will be nice and soft and won't mark the paint

 

just keep the lubrication up mate and work a panel/area at a time moving around the car.

 

Also you can put the clay in some warm water before hand to make it more plyable

 

cheers for all the advice chaps