Help me pick a new sealant

T

trueblueblood

New member
I have been using EX-P for about 6 months now and plan on picking up the new Zaino to try out later this month but I need something else. I have dark true blue Ford paint that has alot of metallic flake. It seems hard to balance and get a the metallic to pop without muting the dark blue or vice versa. I've been eyeballing FMJ and it looks really interesting, but any other suggestions, not interested in Klasse, what about EX or EX w/carnuba how are their durability? Make some suggestions and help a brother out. I want to know about durability as I'm in south Texas the sun is gonna be baking the car soon:cool: !





Thanks for any help need some reassurance and guidance:)
 
Zaino Z2 Pro will meet your needs, for sure! IMO, the EX w/carnauba, Wolfgang & UPP would be worth trying as well. They will all give slightly different looks & durability, but they're worth experimenting with! I've never used the FMJ ( not yet, atleast ) but I've read some great things about it here.
 
I've used UPP but not FMJ so I can't make any comparison.



I get around 3 months of decent appearance and beading from the liquid version of NXT, I really try not to let anything get much past that. Slickness begins to fall off after 3-4 weeks but at 3 months there really isn't any drag with an MF on the paint after washing. I think the key to getting decent durability from NXT is applying 2 thin layers and keeping the car dry for 24 hours.
 
Sealants I have, but not used yet:



UPP

EX-P

Checkout the Chemical Guy's website, they have some nice sealant over there.



Just to point out EX and EX w/carnuaba are the same.
 
EX w Carnuba would not be a good choice in my opinion, it mutes the metallic flakes. I used it on a black Audi, and it looked OK. I used it on a metallic flake Acura, it washed out the flake effect.



Of what I own and have used that would look good on metallic:

UPP - Looks great. I like it alot.

Glanz Wax - Again, it looks great on our metallic flake van

Klasse - I used this before a long trip on the hood of the van and it helped the metallic in my opinion.
 
Give Autoglym SRP and EGP a shot. I can't give you info on durability as I park my car indoors and only drive it on nice days but the reflection Autoglym gives is second to none in my oppinion. Dark colored cars will look like glass (mine's black).
 
FMJ has a really wet, reflective look. I like it a lot. IMO, it's one of, if not the best looking LSP's out there. It's a bit pricey, but I have yet to hear anybody who regret buying it.
 
I'm going to throw in another vote for #21, excellent slickness and looks great on both dark and light colors. If you don't want to buy a 64 oz container of it, I think autodetailingsolutions sells smaller 12oz bottles of it.
 
If you want no muting at all, Zaino is the way to go. Very reflective and glossy. By comparison, FMJ is slightly more muted and dark looking, but the surface looks more wet. Still, FMJ and UPP are going to be a lot more like Zaino than the other end of the spectrum.



I use both FMJ and Zaino regularly for whatever mood I'm in. If you can only have one, I'd pick Zaino topped with Z8 for its durability.
 
true blue blood said:
How would UPP compare to FMJ?



Scott whats the durability of NXT wax?



Thanks
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on my Azure Blue Mach1, UPP and FMJ pretty much looked the same. slickness - in my experience, FMJ was better at retaining its slickness. durability - both lasted a month....before i went and did the car over. price - UPP is cheaper.



maybe try AIO + UPP. i did a green metallic accord and it was nice. what i liked about this combo is that the AIO seem to create a nice pop for the metallics, while UPP gives some nice, sharp reflections and is very slick.

Here's a picture of the mirror, under my garage lights:

accord05.jpg




Outside, a little bit after sunrise:

accord09.jpg
 
If you dont have UPP yet, i would start with that. It looks very nice on my grey metallic, and also very nice on black, pretty much any color.



With good quality towels it is unbelievably slick, the towel almost jumps out of my hand....



Only reason i bother trying anything else, is UPP doesnt really need to be topped, so wheres the fun :)
 
My vote goes to Z2 PRO. I think you'll be mightily impressed at the look.



Wolfgang has a cool, carnauba-liquid shine to it, but at the expense of sharpness. WG looks 'cloudy' to me on black.



Just my $.02



:wavey
 
John Styrnol said:
I keep forgetting that Tropi-Care's TC-3 is a sealant, very easy to use.
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pat.gif
Same here and I still have a few ounces left. Looked really good on a light metallic blue VW New Beetle I did earlier this spring.



I'd be inclined to lean towards AIO as a base for any of the sealants mentioned on metallic paint.
 
hirosh said:
on my Azure Blue Mach1, UPP and FMJ pretty much looked the same. slickness - in my experience, FMJ was better at retaining its slickness. durability - both lasted a month....before i went and did the car over. price - UPP is cheaper.



maybe try AIO + UPP. i did a green metallic accord and it was nice. what i liked about this combo is that the AIO seem to create a nice pop for the metallics, while UPP gives some nice, sharp reflections and is very slick.

Here's a picture of the mirror, under my garage lights:

accord05.jpg
I love the way the flake just pops out at you in this pic. Nice job !

BTW, dont you just hate the way digital camera's just dont quite get it right ?:bow
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Well from the response Zaino is for sure but it sounds like UPP seems like it deserves a shot. Thats a good sot hirosh its hard to get metallic to show under lower light conditions:xyxthumbs.



What kind of durability is everyone getting with UPP, I know Zaino lasts and last and lasts......:)
 
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