[hillbilly bimme]

I have used Imperial hand glaze on my 330 ci with great results. How does clay differ and do either clay or glaze have abrasives that will harm your paint over a long period of time?

 

[Guest84]

Clays are for removing "high spots", contaminents, or paint overspray that adhere to the paint. They're basically a first stage prep before polishing or applying a "glaze" or paint cleaner.

I'm not too familiar with the "Imperial hand glaze " but I'm assuming that is is a sort of paint cleaner that hides swirls marks, thus filling any small swirl marks or light scratches.

Clay simply prepares the surface your about to work on.

Here is a good example of what the clay bar will pull off a car that had been washed twice prior to using clay, supplied by Johnlew:

 

[alee]

I'm not too familiar with the "Imperial hand glaze " but I'm assuming that is is a sort of paint cleaner that hides swirls marks, thus filling any small swirl marks or light scratches.

Yep, just your regular old swirl filler. :thumb:

 

[Nat Brown]

I have used Imperial hand glaze on my 330 ci with great results. How does clay differ and do either clay or glaze have abrasives that will harm your paint over a long period of time?

Note that 3M IHG has no abrasives and acts only as a filler. If you use a polymer system, you can't use 3M IHG before the polymer, you must have a clean surface. So ideally, here's what you would do:

POLYMER: Clay bar to clean the paint, polish process.
WAX: Clay bar to clean the paint, 3M IHG or other product to fill swirls, carnauba wax.

The ability to use filler is a big advantage for those who use carnauba wax. Those of us who use polymers must take extra care with our surface, using clay to clean it properly, swirl mark remover to remove swirls (can't fill them) and only then using polymer to protect the surface.

Towels and applicators which scratch the surface can be hidden with filler using a wax system, but you can't hide them with polymer, so polymer users also should take extra care to use pure cotton towels (use the burn test). Better yet, polymer users should invest in microfiber towels and applicators (Yosteve.com is a good source, Griot's is not).

--gary

 

[Guest84]

Just wanted to add to Garys post that you could use a machine polish (With an orbital buffer) to prep the surface prior to the application of a polymer I believe. This will level the clear coat (essentially "removing" a microthin layer of it ).

 

[Nat Brown]

Just wanted to add to Garys post that you could use a machine polish (With an orbital buffer) to prep the surface prior to the application of a polymer I believe. This will level the clear coat (essentially "removing" a microthin layer of it ).

Yep, just used some McGuires #9 Swirl Mark Remover over the weekend before I Zainoed. That was more of a repair though than general paint preparation. My car is still new, so I have very few swirls or scratches.

--gary

 

[Guest84]

Great looking website Gary!

Say, that Zymol Seal, you like the product? I may try that for my door seals.

 

[Nat Brown]

Great looking website Gary!

Say, that Zymol Seal, you like the product? I may try that for my door seals.

I used it A LOT with my 540i, which had squeaky door seals. It quiets them down for a couple weeks. The stuff smells like coconut, as if you were applying suntan lotion to your car. Smells great, feels kinda weird!

The new 330i has no noises, but I don't know how long that will last.

--gary

 

[Guest84]

I used it A LOT with my 540i, which had squeaky door seals. It quiets them down for a couple weeks. The stuff smells like coconut, as if you were applying suntan lotion to your car. Smells great, feels kinda weird!

The new 330i has no noises, but I don't know how long that will last.

--gary

Thks. I have no noises either but was thinking "maintenance" ...on second though, not sure if I should bother..., when I hit 15k and bring it in for service, I'm going to have them replace the door seals with the new ones. :dunno:

 

[Intermezzo]

IHG and claying are two very different things. Although IHG does have some mild solvent cleaners in it, it's primarily a pure polish.....i.e. something that's used to enhance the shine of your paint.

A claybar, like Ripsnort said, is used to remove embedded paint contaminants like rail dust, brake dust & industrial fallout (pollution) which cannot be removed with regular polish/cleaners. These embedded particles will start to rust and hurt your clearcoat. A claybar will pull these contaminants right off. After washing your car, gently slide your fingers over a horizontal panel on your car. If it doesn't feel glassy smooth, then you have contaminants embedded on your paint. No polymer or wax will provide protection strong enough to negate the need to clay your car every once in a while.

 

[Guest84]

"No polymer or wax will provide protection strong enough to negate the need to clay your car every once in a while."

Bravo! Well said!

 

[Guest84]

Incidently, here's a related thread, take special note of JPinTO's ref. picture about 1/2 down the thread.
http://www.beemerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=45330#post45330

 

[Intermezzo]

Wow, thanks Ripsnort! That truly means a lot coming from someone with your level of knowledge and experience!

Nice post JPinto!