Wash, Clay Bar, Compound, Wax, Buff

HammerDown15 · #1 (**permalink**) 01-01-2012, 01:44 PM

I bought this truck used three months ago. The previous owner did not care much about the exterior even though the interior is near perfect. There were several deep scratches and rough areas. After 5 hours of work in the driveway, I got her to shine the best that I could. I started with a good hand wash. I then used Meguiar's Clay Bar kit, followed by Meguiar's Ultimate Compound, then NXT 2.0 Tech Wax, then Quik Wax to really bring out the shine.

See the before and after photos as well as a good flash shot of the tailgate (no swirls)

vntperformance · #2 (**permalink**) 01-01-2012, 02:30 PM

Looks Great.

Did you do it all by hand, or did you use a orbital buffer?

**SuperCrutyPS** · #3 (**permalink**) 01-01-2012, 02:50 PM

Oh sure - I need to do my truck and you go do yours....

Seriously - You did a great job! That color looks good!

strokin_not_cummin · #4 (**permalink**) 01-01-2012, 02:54 PM

well done sir well done

**dr8082** · #5 (**permalink**) 01-01-2012, 02:59 PM

That clay bar kit is $$$$. My truck is red and some of my scratches are down to the primer im guessing because I see white or a gray color in them. Will the clay bar kit work?

Ryan Rønning · #6 (**permalink**) 01-01-2012, 03:24 PM

Looks awesome

HammerDown15 · #7 (**permalink**) 01-01-2012, 03:25 PM

It was all by hand...my arms are feeling it today.

As far as the Clay Bar for scratches goes...it does best at removing surface impurities such as road grime, sap, paint overspray, tar, etc. For scratches, the Ultimate Compound seems to work really well. The scratches under the filler cap were really bad and are barely noticeable now after using the Ultimate Compound. I am sure you can use it as a spot treatment but it does best when you do the entire vehicle and make everything uniform.

Thanks for the positive comments guys.

vntperformance · #8 (**permalink**) 01-01-2012, 06:43 PM

I use Griots Garage's Clay bar kit and Zainos brother's wax on my supra & porsche. Haven't really done a hand wax on the truck yet, been using the easy spray on stuff cause the truck is so big it would be time consuming, but after seeing your pixs I think I'll give it a shot. Great job man!