The weather was warn enough to inspect paint condition of my new/used kizashi. The car has been kept very well by the previous owner, but it was instantly apparent that the car had never been detailed or had the factory paint corrected. After shampooing the car I clayed the entire car with an 80 gram clay bar. The amount of paint contaminates was enough that by the end the entire clay bar was brown and had to be trashed. I usually can use the same clay bar for 7 plus applications so needless to say I was impressed with how much build up there was and also how darn effective my clay routine was. Once the car was totally smooth as glass I was able to apply my swirl and scratch remove and then move on to a quick carnuba spray wax since time didn't permit for a solid hand waxing. I noticed in the new years thread that someone also wanted to clay their car. I use the pinnacle clay and pinnacle clay lube. Never wax a car without claying it first! You will mash all of those contaminants into y our clear coat and scratch your car. Waxing does more harm than good if you don't clay first. No matter how well you shampoo/wash your car it will need to be clayed everytime.
2011 6spd. Kizashi Sport SLS. Azure Gray Metallic.
The weather was warn enough to inspect paint condition of my new/used kizashi. The car has been kept very well by the previous owner, but it was instantly apparent that the car had never been detailed or had the factory paint corrected. After shampooing the car I clayed the entire car with an 80 gram clay bar. The amount of paint contaminates was enough that by the end the entire clay bar was brown and had to be trashed. I usually can use the same clay bar for 7 plus applications so needless to say I was impressed with how much build up there was and also how darn effective my clay routine was. Once the car was totally smooth as glass I was able to apply my swirl and scratch remove and then move on to a quick carnuba spray wax since time didn't permit for a solid hand waxing. I noticed in the new years thread that someone also wanted to clay their car. I use the pinnacle clay and pinnacle clay lube. Never wax a car without claying it first! You will mash all of those contaminants into y our clear coat and scratch your car. Waxing does more harm than good if you don't clay first. No matter how well you shampoo/wash your car it will need to be clayed everytime.
2011 6spd. Kizashi Sport SLS. Azure Gray Metallic.
Previous cars I only had to clay every couple of times I waxed them. The Kizashi is every time, and more frequently. I swear this paint is not as "hard" as any other car I have owned. Gets contaminated very easily.
Agreed with the paint not being thatt hard. That must be why there was a whole bars worth of contaminats. I also noticed while inspecting the paint that the thicknesses of the clear coat varies greatly at differentt points on the car. This car also has tiny chips on the hood right where it meets thegrill. I have seen this on every used kizashi I have looked at. The paint on this car is just poorly executed compared to other cars I have properly detailed. Its a shame though because just a slightly more heavy application of a carnuba and a sealant would have prevented at least half of those rock chips.
2011 6spd. Kizashi Sport SLS. Azure Gray Metallic.
Ehibb034 wrote:Agreed with the paint not being thatt hard. That must be why there was a whole bars worth of contaminats. I also noticed while inspecting the paint that the thicknesses of the clear coat varies greatly at differentt points on the car. This car also has tiny chips on the hood right where it meets thegrill. I have seen this on every used kizashi I have looked at. The paint on this car is just poorly executed compared to other cars I have properly detailed. Its a shame though because just a slightly more heavy application of a carnuba and a sealant would have prevented at least half of those rock chips.
Any pictures of the results? I swear my Kizashi gets swirl marks from the wind
Swirl marks are definitely a pain in the butt. How do you wash your car? If you're using anythibg besides a two bucket system and a micro fiber or boars hair tool, washing your car is giving you the swirls. If you can't get the micro fiber/boars hair tool then at least use the two bucket method; one to rinse and one with soap. If you don't have a rinse bucket then basically you are rubbing all the dirt and debris that are picked up by your clith right into your cars clearcoat. A decent swirl remover should dothe trick but use a foam pad applicator and not a cloth or rag.
2011 6spd. Kizashi Sport SLS. Azure Gray Metallic.
Two bucket method with a lambskin mitt. I've already gone over the car with a DA polisher (yellow polishing pads) and cleaner wax but that wasn't aggressive enough to remove all of the swirls. I'm assuming most of it is from the lot boys that washed it prior to purchase.
I'm thinking about getting Swirl X and hitting the car with the DA again.