the fretking

Revs,

Before you do ANYTHING with polish, you absolutely have to clay bar the paint. I can't stress this enough!!! All of that grit you feel must be removed BEFORE you polish, otherwise you will scratch the hell out of your finish. What you are feeling when you run your hand over the finish are imbedded particles of metallic brake lining, superhardened asphalt, metallic rail dust, and all manner of crud that is abrasive! Mothers makes a pretty good clay bar kit, though on a car that has never treated you will go through a couple of bars easily. Trust me on this. It is a step that is crucial to preserving your paint. Once you do it, you WILL understand why it is so important. A couple of tips: Do this in your socks. You heard me right. What I do is, after I have washed the car TWICE with Dawn to strip the old wax, and then dried it, I roll out 36" wide brown craft paper (or 24", whichever is available, or newspapers taped together) in my garage and pull the car over the paper, just where the tires are touching the paper, with most of the paper sticking out along the sides of the car. This is to catch the clay bar when you drop it, and you WILL DROP IT FROM TIME TO TIME. iF YOU DROP IT ON BARE CONCRETE, YOU MUST THROW IT AWAY because it will pick up grit that would then be rubbed on your paint, so use the paper to save the clay. Roll out paper along the front and back bumpers too. Dont wear shoes and you won't track dirt onto the paper. You will not regret going to all the trouble.

Mark

the fretking

Revs,

Zaino Brothers web site has excellent all-in-one kits for finish restoration. I highly recommend their products. Whether you choose to get their stuff, or someone else's, don't skip the clay bar step! With regards to fluids, I like Mobil 1 for the motor oil. i use LE 607 in the diff, and GM friction modified in the tranny. Both can be had at www.hardtopguy.com. Also, get an ample supply of crush washers for the fill and drain plugs. They are dirt cheap and Honda recommends replacing them each time they are used. Some people on this site ignore Honda on this, but the parts are so cheap it makes sense to replace them at the specified interval. hardtopguy has these as well. Get the Super Blue ATE brake fluid too, and flush and bleed your brakes and clutch. Suck out as much old fluid from the reservoir as possible, then add the new. The blue color allows you to see when the new stuff has displaced the old during the flushing process. At the following interval, get the Super Gold. It's the same as the blue except it's gold.

Mark

Revs9k 01

Thanx alot for all the info but i just wanna see if i got everything right,

first i clean the car real good (i usually use meguiyars car wash, should i use something else?)

then i bar the car

then i polish (which i think is the swirl remover also right?)

then i wax...............

am i following you guys correctly??????

the fretking

Use Dawn to strip the car of wax, then use the Meguiars after you have put on Zaino or other wax. It will clean your car without stripping it. I use the Meguiars too. If mixed properly, it is very mild. As to the order of steps, you have it right but I'll lay it out in the manner I would most likely proceed.
1. Wash 2X with Dawn.
2. Dry car using whatever method suits you. I use a chamois and leaf blower (electric only).
3. Lay down the paper and position car.
4. Go to work with the clay bar, working small sections, until you can't feel or see any more grit. Sometimes you can't feel it, but if you can see small spots, keep rubbing till they go away and use lots of detail spray or whichever lubricant your kit specifies!
5. Take your time with the bar and take breaks, cause it's a long process the first time. To make it easier, I put the car up on jack stands as high as I feel comfortable with, remove the wheels and go to town with the bar on the sides first. I lower the car to do the rest. Once you have taken the time to do this the first time, you can clay bar an S2000 in about 30 minutes. It's a HELL of a lot easier the second time around!
6. Proceed to the polishing/swirl removal stage and beyond. Again, follow the recommendations of your particular kit if you buy one.

Good luck and let me know how the clay bar works for you.

mark

Revs9k 01

thanks alot fretking im goin to get the zaino set that cost 80 bucks and im goin for it all day on sunday ill get some pics up after i finish.....