klasse an acrylic???

breakneckvtec

New member
I think I know how I plan to attack the swirls on the Gf's and my car. I am going to do the P21S paint cleansing lotion, then go with 3M SMR and if necessary step up to the 3M perfect rubbing compound. For the finish this is where I need some input. I am planning to go with either zaino or klasse. All work will be done with a PC. I like a deep mirror looking finish, not into the super wet look, more hard mirror finish look. I hear that klasse is an acrylic. Zaino is a polymer. What is the benefits and disadvantages to each? Which do you guys prefer and why? Also if someone could explain to me about the acrylic part of klasse.
 
Kinda seems like overkill on the prep part of it. You've got a paint cleaner and 2 swirl remover compounds that you are trying to use. You could probably get away with just using one of those products depending on how serious your swirls are. SMR or Perfect-It should be fine if your swirls are pretty serious. GEPC is basicly for the most minor of swirls. I wouldn't expect it to do much on the more serious ones.



Klasse will give you a polished rock look. I've always been a huge fan of it. I don't know what the difference is between an acrylic sealant and a polymer sealant, but I do know that Klasse will last you several months and is glossy and shiney like a polished rock. I think it looks great on light colored cars. Zaino has a little more depth and does look a little more liquid when applied on light colored cars. That is just from the pictures I've seen. I have seen Klasse on your particular color of car and it is awesome. Dr. Jones has posted some pics of your car with different things on it. I would look into some of his posts if you want some good pictures. Here is one of my car with a few layers of SG.



532klasse_nose.jpg
 
I don't know too much about the actual chemical composition of Zaino. I do know a polymer is a pretty generic term and can be stuck on a lot of different products. Zaino is a good wax though and many discribe its appereance as slivery and very reflective.



We don't know who makes Klasse Sealant Glaze. It is importated by a company and that is all we know. Klasse Sealant Glaze gives a nice shine and it deepens the paint. It makes it look richer. It looks more like a carnauba.



Edit:



Jman posted at the same time I did. I really like the way he describes Klasse SG as a polish rock look. I guess that is the best description I've ever heard of it.



I got 6 months out of Klasse SG. When I stripped it off a few panels at the end of 6 months you could tell a huge difference between planels w/ it sill on it and the stripped ones.
 
A polymer is a generic term for a crosslinked hydrocarbon chain. there are thousands of polymers out there. Klasse is an acrylic polymer based on methyl methacrylate. It was developed years ago, and is proven and gives great results. Zaino uses more modern chemistry, and tends to preserve a more reflective "just out of the paint booth" shine.



Here is zaino on a navy blue metallic car.......



<img src=http://www.fototime.com/6D169E22015B558/standard.jpg>
 
Jngrbrdman said:
Klasse will give you a polished rock look....
Now there's an imaginative way to describe it that's new! :xyxthumbs



Oddly enough though, your opinion about the shine qualities of Klasse vs. Zaino seem to run counter to what I've read in past archives. I remember reading posts saying that Klasse gives the wet look and makes it look deeper (possibly due to the "tinting" effect of SG), while Zaino has been said to look highly reflective with a clear, crisp shine. I guess this just illustrates the "eye of the beholder principle". :p
 
I don't know that its the SG that does the tinting. I haven't done a half and half comparison on it yet, but I have done it with AIO.



532half-klasse.jpg




The side with the AIO bottle on top is the side I applied it to. You can tell that the AIO side is a shade darker than the other side. I think that tinting the car would make it more reflective but less deep. I'm not much of a chemist though, so I couldn't really say what it does. I can't wait to get my hands on some Zaino this year so I can start testing it out. :)
 
Ah... interesting. I remember that pic, but for some reason I keep thinking that it was done with SG. Did anyone else do something like this? I don't think so... :nixweiss



I tried this myself in the summer when I was layering on the SG coats. I did 1/2 and 1/2 on my silver hood, but even after like 4 or 5 coats it didn't seem to look much darker. It actually was darker, but the difference was so subtle that it was hard to see and there was no way it would've shown up in a picture.
 
I wasnt going to use both SMR's. I was going to do the 3M SMR first and see if it gets most of them, if not then I will move on to the more abrasive, as I understand it 3M perfect it II.

I love the way the klasse looks on the white teg, thats the exact look I am going for. So this is what process I was going to use:

Wash with dawn

Clay where necessary

wash

P21S paint cleansing lotion

3M SMR, 3M perfect it-if necessary

wash with dawn

klasse AIO

klasse SG

what do you guys think?
 
Washing with dawn should be your first step. With the amount of paint cleaning and polishing that you are planning I wouldn't think that the Dawn was should even be necessary. There shouldn't be a need to wash the car between GEPC and AIO. They are just going to be cleaning the paint anyway so I can't imagine how another wash would benefit it at all. Sounds like you have a pretty good plan set up. :up Good stuff.
 
It looks good but I would use 3M SMR first, Perfect-it if necessary (followed by SMR) and then P21S GEPC as it is less abrasive then both 3M products.

Finish with AIO and SG and as Jngrbrdman said no need to wash before AIO.
 
I love the way klasse looks, but I read also that it can highlight swirls and imperfections. What are your guys experiences with this? From that perspective zaino looks like a better choice for me.
 
In my experience, Klasse doesn't highlight swirls or imperfections at all. In fact, multiple coats of KSG do a decent job of "filling-in" any swirls you might miss in your prep work.



Both Klasse and Zaino (with the proper prep) will look great on your car. I especially like how Zaino accentuates the silver particles in metallic paint.
 
breakneckvtec said:
I love the way klasse looks, but I read also that it can highlight swirls and imperfections. What are your guys experiences with this? From that perspective zaino looks like a better choice for me.



Anytime you increase the gloss and reflection of a surface you are going to increase the appearance of the dents and dings. That is just a fact of life. No product will make them disappear and the sad part about what we do is that usually we are accentuating the imperfections by our efforts.



SG does seem to fill in the swirls with enough coats. SG goes on so thin that it would take multiple coats to fill in even something as shallow as a swirl mark. It does help though.
 
Originally posted by breakneckvtec:

I love the way klasse looks, but I read also that it can highlight swirls and imperfections. What are your guys experiences with this? From that perspective zaino looks like a better choice for me.



If you think that Z5 can make your scratches and swirls disappear then take a look here:carguy's Zaino test
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to try Zaino, I just don't buy into swirl filling/removing properties of anything but my PC.:D
 
I think we're all pretty agreeable on the notion that Zaino doesn't do terribly well at filling swirls or defects. 1-step products like GC will kill Zaino when it comes to hiding defects - Z is optically pure and contains no/very minimal fillers.



Durability and ease of use, however, are a different story - no contest when between 'em; Z is the winner.
 
I have had decent results in the swirl filling properties of Z5. While it may not fill buffer swirls or deep toweling swirls 100%, it reduces the visibility of fine marring as each coat is applied. It does especially well, filling in the marring that is in the sealant layer. I agree, however, the proper way to start the job is to remove the swirls completely, and then zaino away. Z5 just help you live with what is on the car between SMR sessions, which shouldnt be more than 1-2 times a year.



As for carguys test, many feel it was a bit extreme......as was this fellows test. These before and after pictures were posted on autopia (forget by who) after applying Z5...........



<img src=http://www.fototime.com/436B9AB2B7249DE/orig.jpg>
 
I'll just echo Intermezzo's experience with Klasse SG. When I was prepping my car last summer I used SMR by hand on it. Only after I accidentally stripped a patch of Klasse off in one area did I realize how many very tiny, very fine swirls I actually missed! :o I was pleasantly surprised at this, although larger, deeper swirls weren't similarly hidden of course.
 
Back
Top