mail906

I read a post here today that talked about a member taking delivery of his new GT and then spending the next day detailing it. I believe he waxed it with Meguilars NXT, and also talked about giving it a 2nd waxing.

I guess I am interested in learning more about this.

I was thinking that when I get mine, it will be new and factory-fresh so I'll wash in delicately, etc. but I was not thinking I'd be waxing it anytime soon.

As always, appreciate the advice. W.

RRRoamer

I spent the next day detailing my car. I went with a good wash (with Dawn because I was using Zaino's) followed up with a clay bar before I sat down to two coats of Z5 and a final coat of Z2.

Was it a lot of work? ABSOLUTELY! Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! Expecially the clay bar. You would be amazed at how much junk gets in your paint between the factory and delivery. Railroad brake dust isn't all that good for your paint... I couldn't believe the difference in how smooth the paint was after the clay bar. I was pretty much thinking like you: "it's brand new, so I don't need to do anything right now because I can't make it better".

And we are wrong. The clay bar smoothed it out like nothing I have seen before. There was a difference visually (minor) and tactically (HUGE!) before and after.

After finishing up with the Zaino's, the Torch Red paint almost glowed. I couldn't beleive how liquid the paint looked. Neither could the folks at the dealer for that matter.

So I'm sold on the Clay Bar + Zaino's. Even on a brand new car.

MY05GT

Protect that paint ASAP. Why be "delicate" your cars protection is as good now as it will ever be. From this point on, all you are doing is slowing down the aging/damage to your car. Give it the best protection you can as soon as you can.

I use Zainos also .... getting ready to dawn, claybar, Z5 also.

ISELLFORD

I concur, did that to my 05 black GT coupe only i clay bar'd and used Mothers. What a difference in the factory finish.

TJKII

Hi, I took delivery of my Satin Silver V6 Pony pkg, IUP in June. It was built in May. I usually claybar all of my new cars. I ran my hand over it and did not hear or feel anything after washing it. So I just waxed it with NXT. I plan on adding another coat soon. My question is should I strip off the NXT with Dawn and start over with a claybar or just claybar in between coats. I have noticed in the past that claybaring in between coats improves the shine and slickness. I would appreciate any info you could give me.

Thanks,
Tom

Ranger

Add me to the list, when I got mine, I did the Dawn, claybar, Zaino thing. Its been almost 18 months and I plan to claybar again in the Fall. Your car will never be as clean as it is now. I had never used Z before and I really like it but from reading alot on this site, Mequires always gets a good rating also. I come from the "Old Fart" days and remember using Blue Corral which took all day for the various steps and you were too tired to do anything afterwards

mail906

Hope I don't sound like a total novice here, but I'm not really familiar with Dawn or claybar.

Is Dawn the dish washing soap? What's claybar and how do you do it?

Thanks.

Ranger

Dawn is a detergent. Suggest you go to the Mequires or Zaino website - they will in detail explain what their various products do and how to use them. Don' sweat it - I didn't know what a claybar was either.

Sonic Boom NH

IMPORTANT!!!!!

That’s just to get your attention. If your going to be picking up a new car that you ordered then I would HIGHLY suggest you give them explicit instructions to NOT wash or detail your vehicle at all, other then taking the plastic off the interior pieces and the plastic they have on the exterior.

The absolute best way to protect your finish from any scratches, even micro scratches is to NEVER EVER let the dealer wash the vehicle. After that the best way is to use a sheep skin wash mitt and wash by hand.

Dawn is the Dawn everyone knows which is a dishwashing soap. The reason it is used prior to Zaino is to clean any possible grease, oil, or wax residue on the exterior of the vehicle. Zaino can NOT be applied to a surface that has any oil, grease or wax on it or it will not bond.

You only need to wash with Dawn prior to the first coat of Zaino. After that you use the Zaino carwash soap because it contains a small amount of polish in the soap. If you were to use Dawn all the time you would be stripping some of the Zaino off as well as degrading the plastic trim pieces.

There is also NO need to wait to polish a new vehicle. No the paint does not need to cure for 30, 60 or 90 days. That is only true when you take your vehicle to a repair shop and they have to repaint. The reason is simple, at the factory the body parts are painted and baked at high temperature to cure the paint.

In an auto body shop the vehicle can not be backed at the high temperature Ford uses because now the vehicle has all the interior and exterior pieces and thus the high heat could damage the plastic etc. Therefore you would have to wait 30, 60 or 90 days for the paint to cure…

flashfearless

Any need to apply a Cleaner (Phase 1) and/or a Polish (Phase II) inbetween the Dawn and the Zaino?

stangster

On the day I got mine I used Meguiars paint cleaner, polish, and then two coats of NXT (in that order). What a shine!

MoonHawk

Ok, so I don't feel so silly now. I bought my new CS a couple of weeks ago and went this weekend and loaded up on product to protect the paint and shine. So here I am in the driveway this morning hand washing (with Dawn), drying, waxing....feels like glass now. You don't realize the difference it makes until you finish and then run your hand over it.

flashfearless

Moon, did you use any Clay bars before wax?