Wanted to show off my results, the tips and tricks found on this site are incredible.
My car is Capri Blue, which is a very deep, dark metallic blue. I had a multi-coat Zaino Z1/Z5 and Z2 from last summer. Zaino has fantastic longevity, I don’t think anything is better. But I never liked the mirror, saran wrap gloss on this car. So I decided to go back to carnuba. Here are the results, with both Zymol and S100. Details and picture below.
Zaino is my first choice for light colored vehicles. But for dark, carnuba is the best.
Steps:
1. Wash with generic car wash
2. Clay
3. Wash with Dawn
4. Mequires #9 with white CMA pad
5. P21s Paintwork Cleanser with white CMA pad
6. Zymol carbon and S100 and Pakshack
7. Zaino Z1/Z5 on rims
8. Z10 leather treat, Zymol Seal for the rubber seals
This car is in fairly good condition. A few swirls exist, but not too bad. Most have been there since the car was new. The dealer did a great disguise job with glaze before delivery, and before I met Autopian’s! Zaino Z5, four coats, then Z2, did a good job hiding swirl marks.
1. I used a generic car wash called Cherry Power Car Wash. Nothing special here, it worked fine.
2. Zaino Z18 was the clay, it worked well, and this was the first time I ever used clay. Stuff came off that was hard to see, this is a very worthwhile step. I used Cherry Power car wash, capful for 16oz water. It was very slick. I used 24oz of this mixture to clay the whole car, and ½ of a bar of the Zaino Z18.
3. Next I did a wash with Dawn.
4. Next I hit the entire car with Mequires #9 Swirl Mark Remover 2.0. I used the PC and a white CMA pad. Speed was set at 3, and for the most part, I let the weight of the PC do the work. Residue was removed with Fieldcrest white terry towels. I was surprised how many very fine swirls remained. In sunlight, they had a very fine, multi-colored look. Colors like you would see from a prism or diffraction grating in sunlight. The light had to be just right to see them, and I believe they were remnants of #9.
5. Next up was P21s paintwork cleanser, white CMA pad, speed on 3, and the weight of the PC doing the work. White terry towels for removal. Now we have a surface that really looked incredible. P21s is great stuff! I was going to use Mequires #7 Show Car Glaze next, but did not. The surface looked fine to me with P21s.
I then rinsed the car to remove any dust that may have settled. No soap.
6. Next came the carnuba. I did the passenger side with S100, and the driver’s side with Zymol carbon. Hood is Zymol, trunk is S100. I used Pakshack’s MF towels, for the first time. I am a fan, great product, great service. I used 3 towels (24inx24in). One for S100, one for Zymol. The 3rd towel was to buff out the car after waxing was complete.
Zymol was my wax of choice for a long time. I tried and tried, but can not see any difference in the shine or depth, or anything else in the way S100 and Zymol carbon look. However, S100 is a bit easier to remove. Zymol is creamy, S100 is hard. Directions are the same for both, remove them before they haze dry. So S100 is easier to remove, I think because it goes on thinner. Zymol smells nice! I will let you know if I notice any long term difference between S100 and Zymol.
7. Next came the wheels, Zaino is the best for this. So Z1, then Z5. This process has been on the car rims since new, the wheels look like new.
8. I did lots of other little things for spring cleanup, but big items were Z10 on the leather, and Zymol Seal on all the rubber stuff.
Here are a few more pictures
http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2053&papass=&sort=1
http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2054&papass=&sort=1
http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2054&papass=&sort=1
One very big result is that the deep blue color really comes through the carnuba. It was masked by Zaino, usually looked black, and very hard to notice the metallic unless you were close. I think I captured the Zaino look in a photo, which is posted in the second message of this thread.
I will try a few other things in the future, Blackfire, UPP, …, so that I have the polymer protection. For now, I am going to enjoy that deep, rich metallic blue!
Let me know if you any questions, or comments to make this better.
Lou
My car is Capri Blue, which is a very deep, dark metallic blue. I had a multi-coat Zaino Z1/Z5 and Z2 from last summer. Zaino has fantastic longevity, I don’t think anything is better. But I never liked the mirror, saran wrap gloss on this car. So I decided to go back to carnuba. Here are the results, with both Zymol and S100. Details and picture below.
Zaino is my first choice for light colored vehicles. But for dark, carnuba is the best.
Steps:
1. Wash with generic car wash
2. Clay
3. Wash with Dawn
4. Mequires #9 with white CMA pad
5. P21s Paintwork Cleanser with white CMA pad
6. Zymol carbon and S100 and Pakshack
7. Zaino Z1/Z5 on rims
8. Z10 leather treat, Zymol Seal for the rubber seals
This car is in fairly good condition. A few swirls exist, but not too bad. Most have been there since the car was new. The dealer did a great disguise job with glaze before delivery, and before I met Autopian’s! Zaino Z5, four coats, then Z2, did a good job hiding swirl marks.
1. I used a generic car wash called Cherry Power Car Wash. Nothing special here, it worked fine.
2. Zaino Z18 was the clay, it worked well, and this was the first time I ever used clay. Stuff came off that was hard to see, this is a very worthwhile step. I used Cherry Power car wash, capful for 16oz water. It was very slick. I used 24oz of this mixture to clay the whole car, and ½ of a bar of the Zaino Z18.
3. Next I did a wash with Dawn.
4. Next I hit the entire car with Mequires #9 Swirl Mark Remover 2.0. I used the PC and a white CMA pad. Speed was set at 3, and for the most part, I let the weight of the PC do the work. Residue was removed with Fieldcrest white terry towels. I was surprised how many very fine swirls remained. In sunlight, they had a very fine, multi-colored look. Colors like you would see from a prism or diffraction grating in sunlight. The light had to be just right to see them, and I believe they were remnants of #9.
5. Next up was P21s paintwork cleanser, white CMA pad, speed on 3, and the weight of the PC doing the work. White terry towels for removal. Now we have a surface that really looked incredible. P21s is great stuff! I was going to use Mequires #7 Show Car Glaze next, but did not. The surface looked fine to me with P21s.
I then rinsed the car to remove any dust that may have settled. No soap.
6. Next came the carnuba. I did the passenger side with S100, and the driver’s side with Zymol carbon. Hood is Zymol, trunk is S100. I used Pakshack’s MF towels, for the first time. I am a fan, great product, great service. I used 3 towels (24inx24in). One for S100, one for Zymol. The 3rd towel was to buff out the car after waxing was complete.
Zymol was my wax of choice for a long time. I tried and tried, but can not see any difference in the shine or depth, or anything else in the way S100 and Zymol carbon look. However, S100 is a bit easier to remove. Zymol is creamy, S100 is hard. Directions are the same for both, remove them before they haze dry. So S100 is easier to remove, I think because it goes on thinner. Zymol smells nice! I will let you know if I notice any long term difference between S100 and Zymol.
7. Next came the wheels, Zaino is the best for this. So Z1, then Z5. This process has been on the car rims since new, the wheels look like new.
8. I did lots of other little things for spring cleanup, but big items were Z10 on the leather, and Zymol Seal on all the rubber stuff.
Here are a few more pictures
http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2053&papass=&sort=1
http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2054&papass=&sort=1
http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2054&papass=&sort=1
One very big result is that the deep blue color really comes through the carnuba. It was masked by Zaino, usually looked black, and very hard to notice the metallic unless you were close. I think I captured the Zaino look in a photo, which is posted in the second message of this thread.
I will try a few other things in the future, Blackfire, UPP, …, so that I have the polymer protection. For now, I am going to enjoy that deep, rich metallic blue!
Let me know if you any questions, or comments to make this better.
Lou
