Make It Shine: Three Mazda3s....56K TKO

[kaval]

Hey everyone!



First up is a Silver Mazda3 Hatch. This car was heavily contaminated and required extensive claying. I spent about 5 hours claying alone.



Process:

- Pretreat with Citrus Degreaser to entire vehicle

- Wash - Optimum Car Wash + Double Buckets w/ Grit guards & Sheepskin wool mitts

- Tires cleaned with EO All Wheel & Tire Cleaner

- Rims cleaned w/OCW, various brushes

- Clayed with Riccardo Clay including rims



Menzerna was acting very finicky, which is no surprised to me as lately I haven't been able to use any of their products without them gumming or something, so polishing was done with Optimum Polish + Sonus 6" white pad at 1600rpm.



Following this, an IPA wipedown was performed and 2 coats of Opti-Seal were applied with 45 minutes in between each coat.



- Tires dressed with EO

- Rims sealed with Opti-Seal

- Interior vacuumed, wiped down and dressed with 303.

- Windows cleaned with IG + Dehydrator Mini towels.



Pictures:

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Continued on next post.....

 

[kaval]

This Mazda3 received the same treatment as above, except the LSP was Victoria Concours Red applied by hand. This wax smells so good, I could eat it! haha



On to the pictures:

During polishing:

1 hour after Victoria's Red Application:

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[kaval]

Last but not least is a maintenance detail from a regular client of mine. Previously, this client had received the Klasse Twins with 2 coats of SG, so this time was a maintenance detail. His vehicles are parked outside 100% of the time, so an accelerated level of contamination was present.



Process:

- Wash with Optimum Car Wash, double bucket method

- Sheet-dry, then spot dry with WW MFs

- Clay on all horizontal faces of the vehicle with Riccardo Clay & ONR diluted to Clay Lube

- Klasse SG x2

- Tires dressed with EO

- Interior Vacuum, Wipedown, dressed with 303.

- Windows cleaned with IG



Anyways, here are the pictures. I apologize in advance for the variance in pictures, as I continue to get used to the camera I just purchased. The sun was playing games as well, lol.

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Thanks for taking the time to look!



Kaval

 

[CWM3]

Looks great! I have an 07 Mazda 3 and love their looks.

 

[jeteast99]

Why did it take 5 hours of claying, couldn't you have used a more aggressive clay?

 

[imported_Picus]

Hey Kaval - nice work. I had a thought about the menzernas gumming on you; they tend to gum when there is something on the paint. Is it possible there is a product you're using prior to polishing that is causing them to gum up? Just a thought. I do have it happen to me too, but it's rare.

 

[kaval]

Looks great! I have an 07 Mazda 3 and love their looks.

Thanks! They sure look great!

Why did it take 5 hours of claying, couldn't you have used a more aggressive clay?

Currently seeking out a more aggressive clay. Any recommendations? I made a thread about it as well.

Hey Kaval - nice work. I had a thought about the menzernas gumming on you; they tend to gum when there is something on the paint. Is it possible there is a product you're using prior to polishing that is causing them to gum up? Just a thought. I do have it happen to me too, but it's rare.

Thanks for your comments Kevin! The last product I use before polishing would be ONR diluted to clay lube. I have tried to do an IPA wipedown after the ONR but I still get the gumming problem, even if the pad is brand new. Maybe I should come check out your process one of these days. It sucks having some amazing products just sitting there

 

[imported_Picus]

It is possible you're just getting unlucky... I can't verify this but it seems to me when my SIP/106ff gum up it's on cars that go through touchless washes a lot. I dunno, shot in the dark.