Need some advice (wasting clay bars!)

[JBs]

so i have this Cadillac to do, and it is in completly godawful shape.



the car itself is a mess, wheels are torn apart etc.



Now this is where everything is getting tricky.



I had washed/degreased everything (paint consistently sheeted brown water for some reason), and when i started to clay, i wasted an entire clay bar on just the trunk alone.



i washed the car for an hour and a half, with very strong degreasers mixed in with the wash concentrate hoping to rid the paint off all the dirt that has accumulated.



BTW, the paint is matte b/c of how many swirls are in it (think scotchbrite pad EVERYWHERE).



What do i need to restore the paint on this car (i`m not expecting a full recovery)? Can i skip the claying process and go straight to XMT4 compound since the paint is awful already?



it`s an 89 cadillac i think (white).



Please, i am usually really good at this stuff, but i need your help on this one!



Thanks! :waxing:

[Mobilejay]

Try a more agressive clay and then proceed to compound/polish

[JBs]

do i have to clay the car though?



i`m thinking with 2passes XMT4 Orange, 1 pass XMT3 Orange, 1 Pass XMT2 White it wont really matter if i clay it.... i may be wrong though.

[ZoranC]

Answer to your question might be simple as long as you accept paint will need to be polished out afterwards. Search for threads that mention Hi-Tech or Elastrofoam.



... and from my experience, when I tried to skip "claying" on battered car that contamination was affecting my polishing, dirt was getting sucked into pad, etc, it was a headache.

[JBs]

yea that`s what i was worried about.



1 brand new clay bar only lasted 1/2 the trunk. it was the most ridiculous thing i have ever seen

[stiffdogg06]

Keep washing it till you don`t see any more "brown" water coming off. Maybe try a strong wash, like dawn.



You could also mix some APC with your car wash soap.

[SpoiledMan]

The Hi Tech sponge aka Elastrofoam is just what you`re looking for. It will make much shorter work of that paint cleaning AND will cost you a lot less to get it done. Something that I would do is take a chemical paint cleaner and work it by hand with a terry towel. That will get a good amount of the gunk off and you can work from there.

[ZoranC]

... or you could try paint decontamination.

[cgage]

When things get really bad, you can even try kerosene on a car like that followed by a heavy rinse on each panel and a wash.

[ZoranC]

When things get really bad, you can even try kerosene on a car like that followed by ...

... as long as it is not followed by a match.

[cgage]

Might be an improvement! :) In the horrible washing thread one guy puts gasoline on his tires and lights it for that "wet" effect