Help as soon as possible!

[Tassadar]

I am detailing a black car, but the paint has brown streaks on it from the clay bar. I tried washing it again, but the streaks just came back!

I plan to do a 3 step setup, Megs #9 SMR, Megs #6 Cleaner Wax, Megs #26 Hi_Tech Yellow Wax. This is the first black car I have done, but these streaks wont go away! How do I get them to go? Will the SMR take care of them?

[Anthony O.]

Dan,

I have heard others talking about their clay streaking also but personaly I have never had this happen to me.

I am guessing that a paint cleaner should take care of the streaking, something like AIO, DACP or Pinnacle Cleansing Lotion.

Sorry I could not be of more help, you may want to check out the clay itself. Perhaps try another brand.

Anthony

[The Fuzz]

Are you sure the streaking is from the clay? They could be dried water smears from the last time they let it dry in the sun. Try something like AIO to clean that off with. I`ve tried abrasives on water smears like that and they don`t work as well for some reason. I`m starting to like this AIO stuff.

[Tassadar]

Megs #9 got rid of it. BTW, what is DACP?

This SUV is absolutely a pain the butt. I hate black cars now, I really really really do. The only advantage of them is that it is very easy to spread the wax paper thin because it shows up so well, but besides that, EVERYTHING ELSE SHOWS UP!

Aggh!

[Tassadar]

On and BTW Anthony, I might have gotten you some buisness. I recommended you to a friend in Dallas who has a 1999 911 Turbo, I know you can handle that car ;)

[Boss_429]

DACP = Meguiars Dual Action Cleaner Polish

[Tassadar]

Do you happen to know the product number?

I tried Megs #6 Cleaner Wax on this car, and that stuff gave me hell. Litterally, I applied it and let it dry to what I thought was a haze (10 minutes), and it just smeared all over the place. I used a 10:1 mixture of APC to remove it and reprepped the surface with another pass of Megs #9.

[Boss_429]

Meguiar`s #83 is the DACP.

[John Sharp]

Ive had clay make streaks too once a long time ago. It was because I didnt have enough lubrication for the paint. It comes off easily with a paint cleansing lotion or a real mild polish.

If you plan on using a cleaner wax as you stated it should clean it right off.

One thought though is that a good paint cleanser like Meguiars Medallion or P21S lotion is great on a black car followed by a straight wax instead of the cleaner wax routine. Ive used the Meguiars Medallion Paint Cleaner on many black cars with great results everytime. I really like it and you might enjoy trying it on black sometime instead of a cleaner wax which I personally dont care for very much. Just a thought.

I hope your job goes well. Black cars are not as bad as they seem. They can be alot of fun to do. :)


Best regards,
John

[NattyBumppo]

Originally posted by Tassadar
I hate black cars now, I really really really do. The only advantage of them is that it is very easy to spread the wax paper thin because it shows up so well, but besides that, EVERYTHING ELSE SHOWS UP!

Aggh!

Someone over at the other refers to black as graduate school for detailers. I think that about sums it up.

Glad to hear the #9 did the trick. I was gonna suggest AIO or a stronger paint cleaner like Megs Medallion.

Still...hard to believe it was the clay that caused it...never heard of it or seen it before and I`ve done my share of black cars. What brand clay? What did you use for clay lube?

Natty

[Tassadar]

WEll to answer a lot of everything, this car turned otu absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

I spent nearly 10 hours on it, and used barely anything. After the horror with the #6, I just skipped it. I applied #9 all over the car and let it sit for nearly an hour (no sunlight, low 80 degree temps) and then buffed it off rigerously (seriously, I mean regerously) if I had not known that #9 left no protection, I would have left it there. At that time I could see my flagpole clear as day, and the house, lets just see I saw the pimple on my friend`s face through a window 10 meters away. So I applied Megs #26 to seal it up, and of course, it buffed off quite nicely.

Currently, I do not own any AIO, Medallion, or the good ole P21S products.

The clay bar was a clay magic fine grade, it has been used on roughly 3 cars, and was lubricated by Megs Qwik Detailer.

Needless to say, the owner was astonished, and his girlfriend fell in love.

[edschwab1]

Originally posted by Tassadar
On and BTW Anthony, I might have gotten you some buisness. I recommended you to a friend in Dallas who has a 1999 911 Turbo, I know you can handle that car ;)

I think Anthony is located in San Antonio, TX. For the D/FW area I would recommendScott Wax (http://www.scottwax.com).

Glad to hear everything worked out for you.

Eric

[Tassadar]

Yes I was naive of that till just recently. I called the customer today and asked him what he thought about the car once he was able to see it in the day, and he said he actually ate breakfast watching himself in the reflection. He also commented that the money was a good way to spend his fireworks money, because he got planety of fireworks from the girlfriend after he finally gave into having the car detailed. Cant complain with that can you?

[WarrenA]

A black vehicle that is faded can be a real pain I have had several in the couple of months. I am glad that it turned out ok. 10 hours is a lot of time, but I tell my employees that I would rather make 2$ an hour than have a dissatisfied customer.

[Tassadar]

What is irritating is that in 10 hours all I managed was 2 coats. Given the fact that a good 4-5 hours was spent on the inside.

I really need a process perfected.