Claying ... Taking too long?

[Warez]

How long should it take to clay a four year old car that's never been clayed?

I'm in the process of getting my '02 Trans-Am ready to be sold and I've already spent over 18 hours claying it... and I'm still not done!
It just seems to be taking forever to get all the stuff I see off the paint. Working small areas at a time, even after the roughness/grittiness is gone, I can still see white specks against the black paint. So, I keep working the area until the specks are gone. Honestly, there are some areas where I can still see a few white specks after working at it for some time, but I just give up on that area 'cause it's taking too long.

Should it really be this difficult? Is this just what I get for never claying the car and not washing it too often either?

[Otravez]

Is this just what I get for never claying the car and not washing it too often either?

Yes. Simple answer to a simple question.

That much time claying sounds like alot but it's not impossible depending on the condition of the paint. My first thought about those white specks was that they were rock chips. But if they come off after claying for a long period of time then I don't know. Maybe traffic lane road paint.

Remember, it's in the process and not the products so all this time claying WILL pay off.

[themightytimmah]

18 hours!?!!?!?! I've never spent more than 2.5 and that was a car with overspray. Consider spraying the entire car with a bug/tar remover (tarminator) washing again and then clay it with an aggressive clay (like Meguiars Red Overspray clay).

[toyotaguy]

yeah its taking you way too long....

the most I have spent is 5 hours on a fullsize white truck (shows every dirt spec) with a shell on it...and that is the reason I charge per hour now with clay because I was not paid for those 5 hours at all!

also, get a good clay...if you are using a light duty clay, then you are creating more work for yourself....get an aggressive clay bar like the sonus block clay or the meguiars red clay, or the red clay magic stuff and it will cut your clay time in half....it may leave a little marring, but you are going to polish (at least I hope so) anyway, so you might as well reduce your clay time because the marring left by clay will easily be fixed/removed by polish....good luck

[chml17l]

Uh, yeah--way too long and you're right it's probably from the neglect. Try a paint decontamination system like Autoint or FK1 and try claying during the acidic step.

[Warez]

The clay I'm using is Zaino Z18. I'm using a carwash/water mix for lube, but also tried the Zaino detail spray.
After I work on a section for a little, the roughness is gone and the paint feels very smooth. However, I can still see the little white specks(probably overspray) and this is what's taking all the extra time. I know if the car was a lighter color, I wouldn't even see these at all.

Heck, yesterday I worked on one door, one rear fender, half the trunk lid and half the rear wing/spoiler... just that right there took me over 5 hours!

I'll give the bug/tar remover a shot. I'm not sure if I wanna go with the agressive clay just yet, but I'll definately keep that in mind. Thanks.

Oh, and I'll try and get a pic later today.

[Warez]

As promised, here are a couple of pics.
This is the rear wing/spoiler half-clayed.
The car is otherwise clean... (washed with an MF washmitt, Z7 carwash and dryed with an MF towel.)
(The flash kinda exaggerates the problem a little though... but still...)






Night and Day difference, huh?

[awahl63]

Holy crap...yeah you should buy an aggressive clay bar

[velobard]

Sheesh, was someone spray painting a house near where you parked?!?

[Deviant]

You're gonna have to step up to a more aggressive clay bar. 18 hours, dang!

[gbogh3]

It looks like you are removing all the "speckels" off the fiberglass. OMG! How many clay bars have you gone through?

[nighttraingirl]

That has to be overspray. If you look closely it is in the cracks around the lights and on the lenses also.