I`m a fanatic about swirls and scratches, so I keep my Corvette clean with either ZPC, or Menzerna as needed. Or if I just need a CLAY, i`ll use the Zaino clay bar. I wash it with the Duragloss or Zaino soap. Use my Porter Cable 7424 to apply ZAIO with a 6.5 inch Lake Country Green Pad with ZFX of 4 or 5 drops. Z6 wipedown, then I continue with a coat of Z5 with a 6.5 inch Lake Country Gold Pad. Then another Z6 wipedown. Then at least 1 to 2 layers of Z2, with Z6 wipedowns in between. I then top it with Clear Seal. Let the car sit for 3 days, and do a FINAL wipedown with Z8.
I`m sure you can see my frustration now to have to CLAY my car after just a few months.... For regular washes, I wash with Zaino or Duragloss soap, and then apply CLEAR SEAL, followed by Z8 wipedown. The car always has loads of Zaino on it.
I do all the work inside a garage, usually closed. The wash is outside, but only 1 tree, which isn`t LARGE.
Killerzee --
Thanks for the reply info !
Im familiar with all the products you use in your process...
Which Menzerna product are you using ?
Menzerna may have oils in it that could interfere with your Zaino adhering to your paintwork..
Anytime I use Menzerna (and I have used a lot of it on a zillion German Cars), l I always wipe it down with something like Car Pro Eraser, or the old Menzerna Top Inspection, before applying anything to finish off the paintwork..
What speed are you running your Porter Cable when you are correcting the paintwork ??
It is harder for that random orbital sander to rotate that big pad than it would a smaller, say 5.5" pad...
I never use those 6"+ pads unless Im correcting a big, flat, van, etc., or an Airplane, and I only use Rotary Power...
In all the years I used Zaino products I never once used a machine to apply the Z2-Z5 layers... I always did it by hand so I could see the material line by line, flashing as I put on the infamous "Thin, Even, Coats"..
I also never added ZFX to ZAIO either... Only mixed Z2 and Z5, separately, in these handy little 1/2 oz clear plastic bottles, with ZFX..
As I recall, the ZAIO could be the "Base" for the Z2 and Z5 +ZFX applications...
I love Zaino Car Wash Soap and still have some bottles of it.. Works great !
Looks like you have a great place to work and no worries about a lot of airborne stuff hitting you as you back out of your garage..
Thinking back and lets face it, it was waaaay back, when I last used Zaino products on paint, in the Pacific Northwest even, the only thing I had to deal with was the durability of the product.. It just didnt last very long in all that constant rain, etc., either... I would go months in between just taking care of Clients before I ever got back to my personal vehicles, and they all hung in there pretty good..
The claybar - well, we all know that if the paint is rough feeling after a good wash, then it has embedded stuff in it that should come off before putting something new on it, but it is really up to the individual what you want to do then...
Im thinking if you really want to get out of some of this work for longer, then perhaps sometime, we can all talk about Coatings, which in my professional and personal experiences, stay on the paintwork a lot longer.. Yes, they do get stuff stuck to them also, but not as much as without the coating, and using a good soap for Coatings, like CarPro Reset, the Coating seems to respond very favorably to this soap and goes a long long time before it needs something..
One other thing, if you are wanting to always have the slickest, softest, paintwork in the world, then the only way to really accomplish that is to keep the car in the garage and never take it out...
Dan F
