2008 Black Infiniti G37S - Need Help!!

S

Shiba

New member
I just bought a brand new Infiniti G37S which is Obsidian Black. The car only has a couple of hundred miles on it but I have some pretty descent marring, scracthes, etc. Since the car is brand new, I am guessing this came from the dealer cleaning and prepping it with their crappy wash techniques.

Anyway, I have a PC and would like some reccomedations for pads and polishes to use on this. I plan to finish with 2 coats of Zaino Z-5 and then a coat of Zaino Z-2 as I have been a Zaino supporter an user for a while. I just dont think their polishes work as good as some of the others out there. If someone can help with product reccomendations and a step by step process to get me to applying the Zaino, I would be grateful!!

I do plan on washing it claying the car before anything if that helps but I will have to buy the pads and polishes which is no problem. I prefer the reviews I hear on the LC CCS pads too.

Thanks guys!!!
 
One more thing... I have heard different stories on Infiniti paint. Some say it is hard and some say it is soft. I have also heard that is has changed some in the past couple, 3, years.

Anything you all can share on this would be helpful as well.

Thanks!!!
 
I'm surprised you haven't had any luck with ZPC. It worked well enough for me. I'd go with either the Poorboy's SSR2.5 and SSR1 or Menzerna Intensive Polish followed by Micro Polish. An orange Lake Country Light Cutting Pad with the SSR2.5 or Intensive Polish would be good for the heavier swirls while a White Polishing Pad and SSR1 or Micro Polish would be nice to finish things off.

I find that a final pass with a black finishing pad and the mild polishes helps bring out that little extra shine. Both leave a nice and clean surface that will bond well with Zaino.
 
First off nice car...the dealer installed swirls are really nice to work with...Judging by your comments they sound like they are pretty good size swirl marks, but with out seeing it, its tough to judge...

Claying the car helps, it gives you a nice clean surface to work with...sounds like you may need an orange polishing pad and a mid-range polish, like Scott said maybe SSR 2.5. I would start with SSR1 or whatever brand you are going to be using and then see the results, if they are still there then go up to the orange pad and a more abrassive polish...

I have a Murano, and my sense of Nissan paint is its soft, it tends to get swirls if you walk by it...Mine is a 2005, so I am not sure if they have changed their paint since then...but for me I have found it to be softer then most.
 
I washed the car again tonight and took a better look at everything. The paint is pretty bad considering it is a brand new car. It does not look so bad that it can't be taken care of though, providing the right products are used.

I was also reading somewhere about a sticker under the hood about the paint so I looked. Sure enough mine has it too. It sais something like "Hard Paint use approved products". Not sure if that us verbatim but close. Anyone know anything about this?

Thanks for the suggestions too!! :)
 
Not being a big Zaino user, I can't help with definite answers, but......
From what I have read, the Zaino Z-PC should do a decent job cleaning up the marring when used with your PC and a polishing pad.
I think it should leave the paint ready for your Z-5 PRO and Z-2 PRO.
Chances are, any of several polishes would do the same job, but if I were using Zaino as my LSP, I would use the Zaino prep products as well. That way, there is no question about compatibility.
One thing I always recommend, do one section and check the results. It's pretty frustrating to do an entire vehicle and find that the results weren't what you hoped for.
Zaino does say that the Z-PC is pretty abrasive so I would not use any thing more aggressive than a polishing pad.
Also, it takes some time to do much correcting with a PC. A 2 minute pass isn't going to do it.
 
Shiba said:
One more thing... I have heard different stories on Infiniti paint. Some say it is hard and some say it is soft. I have also heard that is has changed some in the past couple, 3, years.

Anything you all can share on this would be helpful as well.

Thanks!!!
Click to expand...
Yea,the Infinity paint gets much softer as it gets older it being brand new I would suggest using a rotary at a very low speed w/ a malco's lite finish (now I know telling someone to use a rotary isnt the best Idea but you sound like you have a little know how to you)it workers really good at low speeds just tape all ur jams and run it at three w/ makita and get used to it shouldnt leave marks just keep it slow and flat.some may say just use the swmr and a flat white pad and really polish it up nice just my two cents forgive me if u feel I'm way off base.:dcrules
 
I don't have a rotary nor any experience using one. :( would I be better off getting a UDM or a flex for this job?
 
Shiba said:
I don't have a rotary nor any experience using one. :( would I be better off getting a UDM or a flex for this job?
Click to expand...
Just my opinion, but I think the PC will probably do the job, but it will take longer.
The rotary would be a great machine to use, but I personally don't think a rotary is for a beginner.
The UDM isn't likely to do much more than the PC and the Flex is going to require spending some money.

What do you have on hand?
1. What machine?
From your first post, I would guess you have a PC.
2. What pads?
You will need at least a polishing pad or two and possibly a light cutting pad. I have never felt I needed the light cutting pad, but I have been told it would speed up the process for me.
3. What products?
Some sort of swirl remover product will be needed. How aggressive depends on the condition of the paint and the hardness of the paint.

Any chance you can post any pictures?
 
Like Charles said without pics it's hard to tell what's up with the paint. If you can post some that would be great. Even if the dealer installed swirls are bad a PC can probably get them out. It will take some patience but you know you are not doing more damage to the paint.How bad can they really be if the car is new? With that hard clear coat sticker under the hood I wouldn't worry about that. I had a 96 Maxima with that sticker under the hood no problems with buffing. Don't think it has a ceramic clearcoat like Benz. The PB's SSR line would definitely be a good choice. They are simple to use and give awesome results.
 
CharlesW said:
What do you have on hand?
1. What machine?
From your first post, I would guess you have a PC.
2. What pads?
You will need at least a polishing pad or two and possibly a light cutting pad. I have never felt I needed the light cutting pad, but I have been told it would speed up the process for me.
3. What products?
Some sort of swirl remover product will be needed. How aggressive depends on the condition of the paint and the hardness of the paint.

Any chance you can post any pictures?
Click to expand...


I have a PC on hand and I am planning on ordering some Lake Country CCS Pads in Orange, White and Black. I think I will go ahead and give poorboys line a try and order the SSR1, SSR2, SSR2.5 and SSR3 line so I have them all on hand when I go to fix this.

Hopefully that will help me achieve the results I want, even if it does take a little longer.

I will try to post come pictures here in a few. Let me see if I can find that darn camera. :)
 
Do you have any ZPC? I have found it to be fairly pad dependent but I'm using a rotary. If I had only a PC I would still try that first and maybe with a white pad if your swirls are somewhat light. Don't use anything less than speed 6 and try slow, overlapping strokes with some pressure. If that doesn't cut it - literally - try an orange pad and the same technique. If the white pad does reduce the swirls by say 40-50% try another pass to try to get the remaining marring out.

I like Charles' idea of staying within the same family for compatability. May result in less work over the entire job.
 
OK... Here are some pictures. As you can see, the flash help amplify the problems some so you can see them better. I also posted a full pic so you can see the car looks fine except when it is in the sunlight. Hope this helps some. Sorry about the wipe marks in the pictures. But I am sure you will be able to tell which are wipe marks and which are scratches. :)

Car1.jpg

Car2.jpg

Car3.jpg

Car4.jpg

Car5.jpg

Car6.jpg

Car7.jpg
 
Pander5 said:
Do you have any ZPC? I have found it to be fairly pad dependent but I'm using a rotary. If I had only a PC I would still try that first and maybe with a white pad if your swirls are somewhat light. Don't use anything less than speed 6 and try slow, overlapping strokes with some pressure. If that doesn't cut it - literally - try an orange pad and the same technique. If the white pad does reduce the swirls by say 40-50% try another pass to try to get the remaining marring out.

I like Charles' idea of staying within the same family for compatability. May result in less work over the entire job.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have the Z-PC and plan on trying it first just to see. But I will be buying all the other stuff as well just to make sure I can get them out.
 
Wow!
It is messed up, that's for sure. Talk about a Brillo pad wash. :eek:

Z-PC is supposed to be a product that can be used by hand or with a machine.
Rather than throw more money at the problem, why don't you try hand application/use of the Z-PC in one small area. If you make some headway, then proceed with the rest of the car, a panel at a time.
I don't know anything about Infinity paint, but with Honda, Ford or GM paint, correcting the marring the pictures show can be done with a PC, but it will take some time. Like 10 to 20 minutes per 2' x 2' section.You might want to consider spreading it out over a couple of days to keep you from getting (1) Tired, (2) Frustrated.

One caution. You don't remove scratches or marring from the paint. You level the surrounding paint to match it. You will be removing some of your paint so don't get too carried away with aggressive products.
 
OK... I will give that a try but instead of by hand, I will try a white and then possibly orange LC Pad based on the reccomendations that I received from Sal Zaino.

A little off topic here but where can I get some quality Waffle Weave and Microfiber towels and what not? Something that defiintely will not scratch that I can use to buff, wipe of polishes, dry my car etc.???

Thanks!!
 
Shiba said:
OK... I will give that a try but instead of by hand, I will try a white and then possibly orange LC Pad based on the reccomendations that I received from Sal Zaino.

A little off topic here but where can I get some quality Waffle Weave and Microfiber towels and what not? Something that defiintely will not scratch that I can use to buff, wipe of polishes, dry my car etc.???

Thanks!!
Click to expand...
The site sponsors all have some very good MF products. I have several of the 16" x 16" Prestige towels from the Detail City Store and several 16" x 16" Mega Plush from Poorboy's World. Excellent results from both. :bigups I'm sure the Cobra line from Auto Geek is also good.
Locally, I have read where several people have been happy with the Vroom line from Target. Target has several different varieties and prices and I'm not familiar with them. Chances are, like most things, you will get what you pay for.
 
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