Topper for Zaino?

slammin86

New member
Is it worth it?

I am currently using Z8 as a topper, and it does add some depth but does my paint look as deep as it could using this?

I have been thinking about buying some Pinnacle Signature Series since it is on sale here because it seems to be made for metallic paint.

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/pin-310.html

Or would I be better off going with the Souveran Paste Wax?



The color of my car is phantom black metallic.

DSC02623.jpg


DSC02625.jpg




Is topping Zaino with something other than Z8 even worth the time and money?
 
Rolla: Yes, but you can't Zaino again on top of the wax. You have to Dawn/prepsol/AIO to Zaino again. I would highly reccomend S100, it adds a bit of depth that Zaino lacks.



Slammin: Buy the Souveran. You won't regret it. You can get it for 50 bucks (a steal, I've got another tin on the way myself) at this link http://steeringwheel.com/waxes.html.



If it were my car, I'd give up the Zaino, go down to paint, glaze it with VM, glaze again with RMG, than Souveran X2. I hate Zaino, but to each his own.
 
themightytimmah said:
I hate Zaino, but to each his own.

If you hate something that much you should start a support group or something, at least get some help for it because anger can be a destructive thing.:think:



I've used s100 and it tops nicely, but I prefer z8. I would say Z8 offers the best anti-dust protection and the slickest surface you can get with a zaino treatment, I wouldn't say z8 offers any great depth over z2pro. Z8 is a great product that renews slickness and gives that freshly detailed look after a wash, and it's very easy to use. I would say Z2Pro is very deep on it's own, and that detail looks pretty wet to me. Honestly, you don't think that is a wet detail? I'm telling you if you top it there wont be a noticable difference like there might have been with the old Z2. Z2Pro is as deep and wet as any nuba and I would just put multiple coats of Pro if it was me.



Dude, take another look at your detail, it's a black car that looks like it's dripping!!!
 
themightytimmah said:
Rolla: Yes, but you can't Zaino again on top of the wax. You have to Dawn/prepsol/AIO to Zaino again. I would highly reccomend S100, it adds a bit of depth that Zaino lacks.



Slammin: Buy the Souveran. You won't regret it. You can get it for 50 bucks (a steal, I've got another tin on the way myself) at this link http://steeringwheel.com/waxes.html.



If it were my car, I'd give up the Zaino, go down to paint, glaze it with VM, glaze again with RMG, than Souveran X2. I hate Zaino, but to each his own.



Thanks! I have ALOT Zaino left over and so might as well use it.

Can I do SSR, AIO, Zaino and then SG?
 
themightytimmah said:
Rolla: Yes, but you can't Zaino again on top of the wax. You have to Dawn/prepsol/AIO to Zaino again. I would highly reccomend S100, it adds a bit of depth that Zaino lacks.



Slammin: Buy the Souveran. You won't regret it. You can get it for 50 bucks (a steal, I've got another tin on the way myself) at this link http://steeringwheel.com/waxes.html.



If it were my car, I'd give up the Zaino, go down to paint, glaze it with VM, glaze again with RMG, than Souveran X2. I hate Zaino, but to each his own.



So I couldn't go back to Zaino after I had used the Souveran without completely stripping everything off?

This had not dawned on me...but I guess it makes sense...for some reason I was thinking that I could wash the Souveran off and add another coat of Zaino if I wanted.
 
Burlyq said:
If you hate something that much you should start a support group or something, at least get some help for it because anger can be a destructive thing.:think:



I've used s100 and it tops nicely, but I prefer z8. I would say Z8 offers the best anti-dust protection and the slickest surface you can get with a zaino treatment, I wouldn't say z8 offers any great depth over z2pro. Z8 is a great product that renews slickness and gives that freshly detailed look after a wash, and it's very easy to use. I would say Z2Pro is very deep on it's own, and that detail looks pretty wet to me. Honestly, you don't think that is a wet detail? I'm telling you if you top it there wont be a noticable difference like there might have been with the old Z2. Z2Pro is as deep and wet as any nuba and I would just put multiple coats of Pro if it was me.



Dude, take another look at your detail, it's a black car that looks like it's dripping!!!



To be honest, I do not have much to compare it to. I have only used Zaino and Top of the Line on this car. It does seem pretty wet in person...I guess I will have to take you word for it.
 
The only way that you will know if applying another process (topping) will give you what you desire is to perform the task yourself.

Fortunately, there is a product trading thread that may help you do different tests without purchasing a product(s) only to find out that certain goals are only achieved via better prep and not a concoction of LSP caked on each other.



If you feel that your finish product is not producing the depth, wetness, gloss, reflectivity or whatever, one should look at the prep stages prior to applying your LSP of choice. Yes, glazes and some oil based toppers will produce a fake appearance qualities for a few days, maybe weeks but as soon as the oils have dissipated these faked qualities will disappear if this appearance is not the true quality of the finish. There is no faking with a black daily driver. Rain will be your Cinderalla's slipper. ;)



The reason I enjoy this hobby so much is the continual development of detailing "prep" skills to achieve the true (real) desired appearance qualities and protect this labor of love with a LSP that does not distort in a significant amount the finish I worked sooooo hard to produce.



Keep in mind that topping with a carnuaba or synthetic wax will likely also mute the metallic nature of your finish in comparison to what you have now on the vehicle.



There is only one way to end your search for the "magic bullet" LSP or "killer combo" - PREP.



As your prep skills increase and you accept the reality of what the pinnacle of a painted vehicle really looks like (go to a local body shop periodically and view a freshly painted vehicle. I do so to keep a refreshed frame of reference on what I am trying to achieve with my driven vehicles), you will discover that the appearance of most quality LSP are quite close in visual clues and other features like durability, ease of use, availability, time available, etc will make your decision on what to use.

Your pixs of your car look great. :bow



quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by themightytimmah

I hate Zaino, but to each his own.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Side note:

Hate. A pretty strong emotion to be impacted on a detailing product. Over 40 years of detailing, I can not think of one of the probably thousands of product that I have experienced that will create such an emotion. Did not care for many, will never touch some but hate is way beyond my scale of emotion concerning detailing products.
 
I guess I should give some detail on my prep work. From what I have read on here I believe that I have done everything right.

This was done about 6 weeks ago

-blue dawn wash

-clay

-zaino wash

-sonus paintworks cleanser applied via pc and blue das pad

-alcahol wipedown

-z8

-z5

-z8

-z2

-z8

-z2

-z8



Every week I wash with zaino car wash, dry with sonus waffle weave towels then go over the car with z6 to remove any waterspots. I have introduced some slight marring of the finish, and I still am unsure how this happened.

Prior to the pictures I

-washed with zaino

-z8

-z5

-z8



I know finishing off with z5 is not recomended but I was short on time and wanted to see if a coat of z5 would fill the slight marring I had introduced into the paint somehow, and it did. I had planned to do a few more coats of z5 this weekend and follow up with z2 again, but then got to thinking about trying something different for a topper.

Sorry for the novel here guys
 
I have P21S on top of Zaino and it is great.



Zaino is obviously the most durable protectant....top that with a good wax and it will look great.



Anyone who hates Zaino either has never used it, used it wrong, or is just closed minded. The stuff has amazing durability.
 
The main thing I would do different is keep your z8 for a topper or maintenance after washes, and use your z6 in between coats. Z8 is so slickery, I don't know that I would want to use Pro over it, I'd rather use Pro under it. I also think your last coat should always be the Z2, but that's all opinion your detail was awesome.
 
slammin86

I was not pointing to you about Prep , but pointing out the importance of prep in detailing.



Your vehicle looks great.



Are you using Z2-PRO? I would finish with Z2-PRO than Z8. This should give you all the wetness that a carnuaba topper would.

But first find out where the marring came from. Washing? Dusting? QD'ing? Applying protectant?
 
blkZ28Conv said:
slammin86

I was not pointing to you about Prep , but pointing out the importance of prep in detailing.



Your vehicle looks great.



Are you using Z2-PRO? I would finish with Z2-PRO than Z8. This should give you all the wetness that a carnuaba topper would.

But first find out where the marring came from. Washing? Dusting? QD'ing? Applying protectant?



I am using Z2 pro.

I live in an apartment complex so I had been washing the car weekely at my parents house. They have very hard well water. Even if I wash in the shade and towel dry the car off I end up with water spots all over it. So I have to go over the whole car with detail spray and a microfiber towel to remove the spots. I am thinking this is a long shot, but maybe somehow the minerals left by the hard water were marring my paint. The lines are very very fine, I would call it more of a marr than a scratch.

This past weekend I went to a car wash down the road from my apartment. I mixed up a bucket of zaino soap, and a bucket of plain water and took those and 2 mitts to the car wash. I pre- rinsed off the car. Then washed using the 2 mitts and buckets. I am going to get my finish marr free again to see if the hard water was causing it.

Has anyone heard of hard water marring the surface when you remove water spots?
 
Hard water isn't an issue around here, but I'm sure it could. The minerals in hard water are certianly capable of causing minor marring, if rubbed around enough. Hmm, ever thought of QEWing it with softened water? Like from a brita filter or something? or just bring some from the complex.
 
themightytimmah said:
Hard water isn't an issue around here, but I'm sure it could. The minerals in hard water are certianly capable of causing minor marring, if rubbed around enough. Hmm, ever thought of QEWing it with softened water? Like from a brita filter or something? or just bring some from the complex.



I just recently ordered some QEW. It should arrive this Thursday.
 
Souveran on top of Zaino with a black finish is one of the best toppers for what you may are looking for in that deep wet look.



Also, Souveran now will become a sacrifical layer! If you need to add more Zaino, just wash with Z7 in high concentrate or Dawn to strip just wax.



S100 is more clear as well as PB's Nattys. Souveran will deepen/darken the effect. It will mute the high shine somewhat. Try a small area to see if this is what you want.



It gets interesting at this point doen't it?



:p



Regards,

Deanski
 
The main question is what do you want to achieve? If you do apply another type of sealant/wax over Zaino, and then apply Zaino over that, what happens is that you possibly lose durability in the upper layers. ( A nice thing to remember is that the underlayers still have the Zaino durability;) ....A temporary improvement might come about, or not.... what you really lose is durability mainly, IMHO. It is nice if you have the time to experiment, discoveries are made that way.... Some properties are lost and some are gained... Makes it interesting !:xyxthumbs
 
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