Jarrod

Ok. Lets start off.

My stepdad has a 70 Nova SS clone. It's his pride and joy. It's worth more than my life and it rarely moves. We call it a garage ornament.

The car has a paintjob on it that is worth more than my 00 Si. The wetsanding and buffing that has been done to it is more extensive than anything I've ever done as a 'detailer.'

The paint is spotless. Glass is the word to describe it. No swirls or anything. Many can vouch.

Here comes the problem. My brother decided that it'd be perfectly fine to spray paint something in my two car garage. The nova sits in the middle of it hogging both bays(so we have walking room on each side). My stepdad is a n00b to cleaning cars. He has his gold class meguiars soap and his Meguiars carnuba that he uses on the car. It has always come out perfect.

He asked me to come outside and asked me what was going on with his car. He said the paint felt really gritty and I told him overspray was all over it and that I needed to get it removed ASAP. I've removed it off the windows already. I need to clay bar the car.

The clay-bar and 'quickshine' products that we get at my job aren't up to the standards of my fathers car. I don't want to use Meguiars or Mothers clay bar on it either. I'm asking for a quality claybar and lubricant for this car.

Price isn't really a option as my stepdad wants it to be fixed perfectly. This summer when I have a little more free time, I'll step up to different waxs aswell and get away from the store bought stuff so don't bash me on this.

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any help.
-Jarrod

madsteez

Try some solvent,quick on,quick off a wet rag.Thats what i use when there is overspray on cars at work,but its been more to the eye than to the hand. Id give it a try anyways.

By the way,try the solvent and since you work at a shop get done whats called a enviormental wax,its cheap,inexpensive and damn good,its a thick ass wax.

FlimFlam

Wow...I don't want to say the wrong thing and have you ruin your dad's Nova.

I can only say that I used a few different things on my E30 M3 when I clayed it and it had a paint job similar to the one you are desciribing, it was $13,000 paint job. I tested what worked on a part of the car rarely seen (under the wing) and actually found that a brand new 3M fine grade bar along with Mothers spray detailer let no scratches, no traces, no nothing but I was very careful to use light pressure and slow motions.

I can promise you that everyone else that will post in this thread will give you a different opinion, and they may be right, but you will never know until you start trying something. Each car/paint is different and responds differently to products accordingly.

Good luck...and go slap your brother for me.

Flite

Ok... depending on how bad the overspray is, you're going to have to decide how aggressive you need to get with the clay. Not all clay is the same. If the overspray is really bad and hard to get off, you might want to look in to Swissvax Paint Rubber. This is a fairly aggressive clay and you're probably going to need a good polishing after. If the overspray is not that bad, I'd recommend Adam's Clay Bar (Grey professional grade). It's a less aggressive clay and shouldn't swirl very badly (if at all). Either way, I HIGHLY recommend Adam's detail spray as a Lubricant.

I good way to check would be to choose an inconspicuous spot and see if the overspray comes off easily with your fingernail. If it does, use a mild clay.

It's also possible that if you have access to a foam cannon, that a good soap might take off a very light overspray. Just suds the car up in the shade, let it work for a minute or two and then clean with a lambswool mitt (DO NOT USE A MICROFIBER MIT!).

I wish you the best of luck. If you have any questions, let me know.

Jarrod

He's bigger than me...

I'll take into consideration what you've told me. I'm in need of a good picture of the car.

I'll take that into consideration aswell. I've tried a 'cleaner' wax on the paint, and it removed some of the overspray. I don't think it'll be hard to remove but I just want the mildest Claybar as possible.

Any links for the products you offered me?

And to MadSteez. The paintjob is worth too much for me to put something that abrasive on it, I appreciate the insite. I'm just being OVER catious on this car. If it were mine, I wouldn't be scared to just jump in and tackle it.

JJSpinALot

just get the cheap claybar from the parts store, like mothers or something. if its a clearcoat paint you can probably just wipe the overspray off with laquer thinner and then wash and rewax that area.

Brock Obama

I'm afraid that the act of removing the over spray is going to be enough to swirl the underlying, pristine finish. In my opinion, start with a cleaner wax and apply with a electric polisher equipped with a foam pad. It's hard to pass judgment without seeing the over spray, but keep in mind, it's always better to start out as light as possible and progress in the grit of polish.

Jarrod

Eh, I didn't really want to do that. I'm trying to perserve the paint as much as possible.

Another thing I was thinking about. Thing is, I don't have a buffer and I'm not going to ask my stepfather to buy one for this one project.

It came off a little with me applying a couple coats of cleaner wax but it still doesn't have the feel it used to.

Brock Obama

You can get an Craftsman oscillating buffer/polisher from Sears for $40. It won't be as aggressive as say a Porter Cable, but that may be exactly what you need. A polisher will help get that "feel" you're used too. They operate at a much faster speed than what your hand can.

Jarrod

True. So your saying stay away from a clay-bar on this paint?

http://www.autogeek.net/cleaner-clay.html

He's going racing this weekend so it'll be sunday when I have a chance to mess with it. I'll have to get all the rubber off it too