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I was speaking to a friend of mine about washing cars. He tells me that using a clay bar will remove my clearcoat over time. Is there any truth to his statement? I used a clay bar this weekend and was truly amazed, but his remark did concern me.
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
2000 Black SVT Contour
#416 of 2150
Built on 11/18/99
Alpine Headunit w/ XM
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Originally posted by Wireless:
He tells me that using a clay bar will remove my clearcoat over time. Is there any truth to his statement? I would doubt this. Clear coat is pretty much just like any other paint, just without pigment. The only way to remove paint would be with an abrasive, such as rubbing compound. Since use of a "clay bar" requires a lubricant, I would have to guess that there is not much of an abrasive process going on.
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I'm sure it can, I mean you are rubbing One surface with another, But you would probly have to clay bar your car every weekend for a long time. I wouldn't worry about it.
**Spelling should not count**
2000 SE Zetec ATX
Medium Steel Blue (Now with large custom dent on the rear door)
Cool Blue Lows, Silver Star Highs (great lights)
"If what I said was wrong, it wasn't. I just forgot to add the rest of my post."
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Originally posted by Wireless:
I was speaking to a friend of mine about washing cars. He tells me that using a clay bar will remove my clearcoat over time. Is there any truth to his statement? I used a clay bar this weekend and was truly amazed, but his remark did concern me.
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Yes it does remove the clearcoat, albeit very slowly. In all reality though, you should only need to clay bar your car 1-2 times a year....at that rate the car will be dead before the clear coat will.
Ryan
Latest Mod: Mirko Splitter
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Originally posted by Krafty:
....at that rate the car will be dead before the clear coat will. [rant] Unless, of course, you are cursed with crappy Ford clearcoar/primer, in which case the clear coat will only last about 6-7 years!  [/rant]
Kendall '97 GL Zetec ATX " Nippy "
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As long as you put a nice coat of wax after using the clay bar, youll be fine
1998 E0 Ford Contour SVT Built on 8/19/97 -- #3101/6535 Silver Frost/Midnight Blue * New Cupholders * CEG sticker =) * 9005 Philips BlueVisions * Sound System: Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X617 HU, RFosgate fnq514 components, RFosgate 6x9 3ways, RFosgate 12" sub, MTX 5ch/800w amp, 1 Farad Cap * Removed Ford emblems * Fogs w/parking lights and aimed up * Brushed Aluminum Style Grills all around * 205/55/ZR16 Bridgestone Potenza RE730's * Removed Headliner * Visit MY SVT website (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)*
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ShovSVT is right you are using a lubricant of some sort when you use the clay bar so the effects of the clay bar on your car's clearcoat are minimal plus heat is another main factor in wearing your clearcoat or paint for that matter and using the clay doesn't produce a lot of heat
'98 Mystique Sport
Zetec ATX
CTA intake, more to come
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The contaminants the bar is taking off have a better chance of ruining your clearcoat than the bar itself...
Kharma is very real and she is one mean b!tch.
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I think that the benifits are well worth using it though. It could possibly harm the paint, but like others have said, the contaminants that the clay removes are more harmful to the paint than the clay, and like it was stated above, you only use the clay bar 1-2 times a year so it would take a very long time to do any damage. So I feel the contaminants will end up doing more harm to the finish than the clay so I'd rather remove them.
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I just got a '96, and brightening/shining up the paint job would be good.
Stupid question...is it just standard clay? Some special car clay bar? Where can I get one?
96 Contour GL (2.0L Zetec, ATX)
Sony CDX-C780 HU, Sony CDX-805 10 disc Changer, Sony XDP-210EQ, RF Punch 100.2 Amp, RF Punch 240.4 Amp, Dual 12'' Punch subs, Four Infinity Kappa 693.3i 6x9's, Optima Yellow Top
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