New to detailing (hobby) with a Zaino question

R

Rosspat75

New member
Hello,



After reading up on paint restoration and how to keep a new car looking that way I have decided to try my hand at detailing. I recently purchased a BMW 528i and I am NOT about to learn on that....all eyes to the Blue 2008 Honda Odyssey my wife has....muahahaha..

SO..I grab some zaino products. Why, I dunno, seemed to have good reviews so I went with it. I snagged a Porter Cable orbital and Lake Country pads: A Orange Light cutting pad, a Yellow Cutting pad, a Aquamarine Heavy polishing pad, a white polishing pad, and a dark blue fine polishing pad.

Zaino Products on hand are :Z-2(Polish), Z-6(QD),Z-7(Soap), Z-8 (Final Detail), ZPC (Paint Cleaner & Swirl Remover), Z-12 (Glass), Z-14 (Plastic),Z-CS (Clear Seal) and ZFX (Flash Cure)

After reading the zaino site its fairly simple to a point: Dawn once, rinse, dry, clay, ZPC to remove swirls and thats when I run into:



THE 1st QUESTION:

Does anyone know the best pad to use right here with the ZPC?

Im thinking of starting out with the heavy polish, but perhaps the light cut might be better? I will obviously test on a out of the way area, but I was hoping someone might have encountered this particular situation before?

Ok so we get past that and we move on to the polish:



THE 2nd QUESTION

Now its time to apply the Z-2 / ZFX Combo (3 Coats), again, any recommendations on pad here? I was leaning toward fine polish, but perhaps not? Im all ears for any suggestions.

I appreciate your help, with any luck this will all turn out great and I wont have to spring for that new paint job if I screw up my wifes car.
 
ZPC is an amazingly difficult product to work with by machine. I love it by hand, DREAD it by machines. It dusts like crazy and doesn't cut that well. I'd suggest you do some more research on some more user friendly polishes, HD, Optimum and Meguiars make nice ones.
 
At the step for ZPC can I swap to another, more user friendly polish, then just pick back up after the majority of the swirls are gone and use the Z-2 / ZFX?
 
Absolutely, though I'd recommend a strong wash afterward to get rid of any polishing oils that may reduce the ability of Z2 to bond.



As a newbie, make sure you start out with just one panel, see how things work, then once you are happy with the results, continue on to the whole car. There are countless stories of people doing a whole car to find they didn't get the results they wanted.
 
1 coat of Z2 or Z5 is fine, two if you want to ensure full coverage. Don't buy into the whole layering thing. Zaino is pretty durable and IMO, the whole layering idea was started to get people to go through it faster so they would order it more often.



You are much better off applying it by hand, a half ounce should be more than enough for the BMW, 3/4 of an ounce for the Odyssey. Much easier to put it on thinly by hand.



Ignore the people who try to make Zaino application take all day (they even brag about it!) by adding a ton of steps, it doesn't have to be that way. Wash, clay, polish, rewash and apply Z2/Z5. Then wash regularly and maintain with Z8.
 
So it seems like im going to skip using the Zaino in the swirl removal step of my plan. That being said I was eyeing the optimum stuff a detailer I know was using(Richard Grasa), what optimum stuff should I look at for swirl removal. After swirl removal my plan would just be to wash again, zaino AIO as a base coat to help bond and Z-2 as a polish x2. Thanks for the ideas.
 
The spray compound and polish should be good for most situations. Alternatively they sell their compounds in sample sizes which are perfect for the DIY. If you don't have ZAIO, you don't need to go out and buy it. As Scott mentioned, there is no magic with Zaino, you can apply Z2 to a clean surface.
 
Just a note of clarification-- Zaino is one of those products (like many others) that confuse with their product names. Z2 and Z5 are not "polishes" as they have no abrasives --they are Sealants one of the many products like wax that you can use as an LSP (last step product). ZAIO is a All in One (AIO) and contains a sealant and some fine abrasives.

ZPC is a polish as it contains abrasives.



You'll need more than one pad for each step in the process--as an example 4 orange, 4 white etc. Don't try to do the entire car with 1 pad as you'll most likely overheat the pad and it's important to keep the pad clean for the best finish.



As mentioned above HD Polish would also be a great polish to try as it is very user friendly bkz it has a long working time, no dusting and is easy to remove.
 
Optimum Hyper Compound and Polish (spray versions) both work very well on Honda paint. With the BMW, you may need something more aggressive, like Meguiars #101, #100 or #105 (thats in order from most to least aggressive).



Focus more on the polishing steps, doesn't matter what you use to protect the paint if you don't polish it properly.
 
Ok so now my plan is dawn wash / clay / Optimum compound with a aquamarine LC pad / IPA / Z-2 with a Dark Blue Fine Finishing pad. Ill test out the optimum with the aquamarine and if I dont see the results I want in 2 passes might move to a pad with a light cut (orange). Is the Dark Blue too fine for the last step? Should I use the white polishing pad instead? I cant really get a feel for the difference between a "Fine polishing pad" and a "Polishing pad".
 
As a newbie all you need is the white and grey pads, yellow if you need some heavier cutting. Just those three pads will cover the range very well.
 
I have to admit, I have never used Zaino, but some people are super hung up on the stuff... of course I have OC on my car so not much point in putting it on that, but is it really worth it vs a DG105 that's 11.00 a bottle OTC?
 
As good as DG105 looks, Z2 has a little bit of an edge. I wouldn't be a large amount of money, but I would bet a $100 that they are made by the same mfg, the Zaino stuff appears to be the latest formulation. DG105 also has cleaners making "layering" less believable.



And Z2 is $14.95 a bottle, still a steal for an amazing looking sealant.
 
I would apply the z2 by hand personally using the method Sal describes.



Yes for the $ (minus shipping) zaino is a nice product line no doubt no actually fairly easy to use



Regarding the layering, I remember in the late 90s early 2000s on the forums when people had like 68 coats of z2 etc lol oh those were the days the cars did look amazing with all the coats, I think after 3-5 the look didn't get mu ch better personally
 
MattPersman said:
I would apply the z2 by hand personally using the method Sal describes.



Yes for the $ (minus shipping) zaino is a nice product line no doubt no actually fairly easy to use



Regarding the layering, I remember in the late 90s early 2000s on the forums when people had like 68 coats of z2 etc lol oh those were the days the cars did look amazing with all the coats, I think after 3-5 the look didn't get mu ch better personally
Click to expand...





If layering like that actually would have proven to help against scratches, chips, etc.... i'd still be doing it.
 
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