weekend detail P21S VS Zaino comparison

H

Hawkeye_TDI

New member
Well I did a total overhaul this weekend on my 00 Carbon black ///M5. I wanted to do as much swirl removal without filling as possible, in preparation for Zaino so this is what I did, step by step.



1. Dawn wash.

2. Pinnacle poly caly. (didn't really like this clay, it began dry and crumble quickly)

3. Z7 wash

4. PI III Mg with CMA yellow pad.to remove swirls.



Along the way I kept pulling the car into direct sunlight to see the results. I wasn't completely happy with the level of swirl removal so I stepped it up to PI III rubbing compound. I had some scratches I wanted to get rid of too. To make matters worse my yellow pad slipped of the PC and fleww into the mud. I had to use a lake country white pad to finish.



So back to step5.

5. PI III RC

6. PI III MG ( great stuff!!!)

7. Z7 wash.



As anyone who uses Zaino knows you need as near a perfect base to start with. This was why I choose a non filling product like PI III MG. I still wasn't completely happy. There were still some streaky swirls left after my final Z7 wash. ( I suspect either my swirl removal technique was Ng OR, OR............. I still haven't perfected my wash detail. That's another post in itself.



So I decided to do the GEPC, P21S route. I knew it would fill the remailing spider webbs and micro marrs that were left So I applied GEPC with a PC and a Lake Country white pad. I still had some unfavorable streaks but the next step took care of that, an old favorite P21S carnuba.



So here's my comparison, as objective as I can be.



Zaino definetly has more pop and shine. Some have refered to it as "plasticy" I might say "candy coated" but never plasticy. It definetly brings out the metal flake more then P21S.(Carbon black has a really dark blue metal flake, it's really quite stunning) Zaino also feels slicker, and we all know it lasts longer than just about everything. I think it looks better then the P21S, but that is a persnoel choice. (I think it looks better than anything else period, again just my choice). However, completely removing swirls and streaks on a black car is a near impossibility, at least with the tools, experience and material I have.



P21S seems muted and dull in comparison to Zaino. Some may say it's deeper and darker, I would agree. It certainly applies great, like butter. The final result is a very deep, dark shine. Being a carnuba I realize it will attract more dust than a poly but it's a trade off. I keep it covered in the garage most of the time anyway.



The bottom line is the prep. With a black car OHMYGOD, the prep is to damn much work. I tihnk I'll stick with Zaino for sliver and other good swirl hiding colors, and carnuba preceeded with a good GEPC or equivalent for my dark beasts.





My .02



Bruce







:bounce :bounce
 
Good Post.



This weekend I spent all day Sunday (16 hours) washing and prepping the Vette (99 Black Convertable):



1. Wash

2. Z-18 Clay Bar (Great Stuff)

3. Wash

4. 3M SMR (PC with Yellow CMA pad)

5. Dawn Wash

6 Z-2(ZFX) / Z-6 / Z-2(ZFX)



The SMR did a pretty good job with the swirls, but I have come to the realization that it's too much work to keep swirls out of a black finish.



While I love Zaino I'm thinking of trying some different waxes for their filling capabilities.



Would be interested to see what others post.
 
Nice write up. Black is a really really tough color to work with because it shows swirls so easily. However, it is amazing if you get it right. You have 2 M5s and a X5 ?....I salute you. :xyxthumbs



Blackfire for swirl hiding? What about using Meg#7 then topped with Z2? I've heard that it works.
Click to expand...



I was thinking of this (#7 and Z2), but it sounds like it the Z wouldn't bond to well. So I'm just going to try the Z and top off with S100. Here's my post a little while back, don't want to change the subject here though.

http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25274
 
Here is my $0.02. I had used zaino for 2.5 years on my black trans am. I loved the way it looked, the look was different, but I liked it and did not think it was 'plasticy'. However, I always had fine swirls and scratches with the zaino. Z5 would help some. but they were still always there. If I used smr and then re-zainoed, the swirls would eventually come back. I had over 30 coats of zaino on the car so my guess was that the swirls were only in the layers of zaino. I came to the conclusion that zaino was not the thing to use for black and it also attracted dust like crazy. So this spring I bought a pc to finally get rid of the swirls and then souveran. I got rid of 95% of all the swirls/spiderwebs/fine scratches. In the sun the car looks almost perfect except for a stray scratch here and there, which is impossible to avoid. I took A LOT of work though, I probably worked on it for about 2 weeks on and off having to go over areas several times to get rid of the swirls with several different products. Then topped with a couple coats of souveran and it looks great. I think I like the look of zaino better, I can finally say that I am finally happy with the way it looks in the sun. And souveran seems to attract less dust than the zaino. I don't know what it was but zaino was like a dust magnet on my car. Car is only driven on weekends so durability is not an issue and with the zaino I was putting atlest 1 coat on every 2 weeks to try and fight the swirls, so if I have to re apply the carnauba every 3 weeks it is not a big deal.
 
jpws6,



Finally, after reading your post above, I am now convinced not to switch to Zaino System.



I am currently using Klasse Twins.. I think I will stick to what I have right now!



I hate dust magnet toppers...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top