Claying *after* car is sealed?

[maecrispy]

My friend just bought an 02 Acura RL. On advise from her husband, she immediately sealed with AIO/SG.



However, when I saw the car for the first time, it didn`t the look I`d expect from Klasse. Then I got suspicious and rubbed my hand on the paint. Turns out she didn`t clay (says husband never mentioned it.)



1st question: Can I clay the car as is (after a good wash, of course) or do I have to strip the Klasse off?



2nd question: Assuming Klasse has to be stripped, do I just take it off with FP or 1Z? I ask because usually clay is usually done *before* polishing. I`m afraid if I use the above to strip the Klasse, I might be grinding in contaminants already stuck in the paint.



Any advice is appreciated.

[rstype]

Originally posted by maecrispy

My friend just bought an 02 Acura RL. On advise from her husband, she immediately sealed with AIO/SG.



However, when I saw the car for the first time, it didn`t the look I`d expect from Klasse. Then I got suspicious and rubbed my hand on the paint. Turns out she didn`t clay (says husband never mentioned it.)



1st question: Can I clay the car as is (after a good wash, of course) or do I have to strip the Klasse off?



2nd question: Assuming Klasse has to be stripped, do I just take it off with FP or 1Z? I ask because usually clay is usually done *before* polishing. I`m afraid if I use the above to strip the Klasse, I might be grinding in contaminants already stuck in the paint.



Any advice is appreciated.



Just clay and then re-Klasse. No need to strip, as clay will do that.

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by BW

Just clay and then re-Klasse. No need to strip, as clay will do that.



Not to :argue with BW, but I dunno...it`s gonna depend on how well the Klasse was applied and how aggressively you clay. I clay my SGed vehicles all the time and I don`t cut through the SG. I don`t even cut through carnauba when claying. Claying aggressively enough to cut through the SG might cause marring; clay is *supposed* to be non-abrasive, so done "properly", it won`t "cut" through LSPs, it`ll just pick contaminants out of them.



When I did my Uncle`s Subie with Klasse, I had some SG on it when I decided I wanted to do a better prep job (sorta similar situation). I took the Klasse off with rubbing alcohol on a MF. You`re right about (generally) wanting to clay first. If you polish first, besides grinding in contaminants, you could also smooth them enough that the clay will have trouble picking them out of the paint.



Could well be that the car`s gonna need a polishing anyhow, though.

[maecrispy]

Originally posted by Accumulator

Not to :argue with BW, but I dunno...it`s gonna depend on how well the Klasse was applied and how aggressively you clay. I clay my SGed vehicles all the time and I don`t cut through the SG. I don`t even cut through carnauba when claying. Claying aggressively enough to cut through the SG might cause marring; clay is *supposed* to be non-abrasive, so done "properly", it won`t "cut" through LSPs, it`ll just pick contaminants out of them.



When I did my Uncle`s Subie with Klasse, I had some SG on it when I decided I wanted to do a better prep job (sorta similar situation). I took the Klasse off with rubbing alcohol on a MF. You`re right about (generally) wanting to clay first. If you polish first, besides grinding in contaminants, you could also smooth them enough that the clay will have trouble picking them out of the paint.



Could well be that the car`s gonna need a polishing anyhow, though.



I`m going to have to side with Accumulator on this one.



As a test, I tried claying half the hood without removing the SG top layer. The clay did pick up some contaminants. However, when I poured water over both sides of the hood, both beaded up about the same leading me to believe that the SG was still on the side that I had just clayed.



To verify what I suspected, I then went over the clayed half of the hood with 50/50 IPA/water and then re-did the water test. This time, water hardly beaded on the clayed side.



I was surprised that even after removing the AIO/SG with IPA, I still picked up some contaminants with the clay. Apparently, I must not clay very aggressively or the SG is sealing in the contaminants and only it`s removal exposed them enough so that the clay could pick it up.



Ayway, very enlightening. Thanks for the help all!

[Accumulator]

maecrispy - Good test. That claying with IPA/water mix was a good idea :xyxthumbs



Sounds like the vehicle *did* need a good claying.