Zanio Weekend Results

[ronmart]

I'm a first time Zaino user, but I'm not new to detailing. I've been doing it since the early 80's with a break away from hardcore detailing from 1991 - 2005. I've been using products by Griots Garage, P21s, 3M, Poorboys, and more but I've never tried Zaino until this weeked. After seeing people brag about it more than I could stand, I took my freind Deanski up on his advice to try it out, and here's what happend.



I solicited feedback on what to do on post 47 at http://autopia.org/forum/showthread.php?t=74901&page=4&pp=12 and then I put together a list of instructions which I ran by Sal Zaino for final approval which I posted here:



http://autopia.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76059&page=1&pp=12



I spent 2 hours Friday night cleaning my car.



I spent 8 hours Saturday polishing my car using a Griots Garage Orbital with Orange pads and Griots Garage Machine Polish 2 & 3.



I spent 1 hour cleaning out the white chalk from spots I was too lazy to tape this morning.

I spent 1 hour using Griots Paint Prep, but I used too much so I got a little streaking. I then decided to wash the car really quickly (15 minutes) using Zaino Car Wash and then I used a power blower to remove 95% of the water. I dryed the car and then followed my instructions from above which took me another 4 hours. Lastly I cleaned the tail pipes, glass and rolled a lint roller on the top and did the tires which took me another hour.



Overall it was 17 hours worth of work but I did NOT use Z8 as one squirt to the hood made a huge mess that was hard to clean so I aborted on that.



Here's what the car looked like AFTER washing but BEFORE buffing and Zanio. As you can see, this car was in pretty good shape to start with when you looked at it from a distance:

Here's what it looked like when I was done:

Here's some other AFTER shots:

More to come...

 

[ronmart]

Here's the bumper which was damaged Wednesday at the track:

Here's what it looks like now:

Here's the front fender with damage before:

and AFTER:

Here's the rear deck BEFORE:

and AFTER Zaino:

 

[ronmart]

Here's the rear fender BEFORE:

and AFTER:

 

[Evenflow]

First off, beautiful car.



Second off, it seems like you spent a lot of time researching the Zaino products, and figuring out what was best for you. You are a true detailer :2thumbs:



Third off, the car looks great with Zaino, but you never gave us a review of the products. Did you like the outcome? Will you do it again?



Im looking into trying out some Zaino in the near future, mainly a Z6 wipe down

a coat of Z2 PRO, and a coat of Z8.

 

[ronmart]

Thanks Evenflow! I've been doing my honey do list since I've been so busy cleaning the car all weekend!



Here's what I did and what I used:



Friday

I started with Griots Garage Car Wash which is a great product and way better than Meguiars Gold Class & Zaino's car wash in my opinion. Great suds and wonderful smell. When I'm done cleaning I wonder why I should even bother doing anything else!



On the wheels I used Griots Rubber Cleaner on the tires which were dirty from a hard day at the track and Griots Wheel Cleaner. I had some melted rubber "clag" and some cone marks on one rim which were easily removed using 3M Adhesive Remover (that stuff is magic!!!!).



Saturday

Saturday was dedicated to getting the paint back in shape. It was 8 hours worth of work, but it was worth it.



I started by using Griots Garage Paint Cleaning Clay which I like MUCH more than Sonus Ultra Fine (green) which I've had scratching issues with, and Zaino's Clay which seems closer to Sonus. I like Griots the best because it is soft and safe. I've never had a scratching incident with it. I use Griots Speed Shine as the lubricant.



Next I started doing the tight spots that can't be done by machine using Griots Fine Hand Polish on a Griots Orange Mini Orange Polish Pad with holder.



Next I used my Griots Random Orbital. I like this unit better than the Porter Cable because it is quieter and vibrates much less. It also has a MUCH better handle which makes it easier to use over a longer period of time. It also runs cooler on the backing plate when used all day. This is an idiot proof device with a lifetime warranty, so it works great for me.



I used Griots Machine Polish 2 followed by Griots Machine Polish 3 on the entire car. Both are mild polishes which are completely idiot proof. I wish I had Griots Machine Polish 1 for some tough spots, but alas I didn't so I had to live with some swirls I just couldn't fix. I used Griot Orange Pads which were are very durable and feel hard at first, but are actually fairly mild once seasoned. They are very safe yet do a great job as well.



At the end of the day the paint was as close to perfect as I could get it. However, I was moving slow so I was getting some chalk from the dried polish which went everywhere. I taped off the fabric top, lights, and rubber areas, but the rest was left exposed so I cost myself a lot of work the next day cleaning that crap up. I think it is a wash because I would have spent as much time taping and then removing polish lines and adhesive from the car, so I don't regret my choice.



Sunday

Now it was time to get the paint ready to accept Z5 Pro, so I used Griots Paint Prep. This product works better and is safer than Dawn, but you are better off doing small parts at a time. I was in a hurry so I did the whole car at once - BAD MOVE. I ended up having areas dry, so I had to reactivate and ultimately needed to wash the car with Zaino's car wash. This was a user error, not a product error. The result was a very well prepped car.



To prep the car, per Sal Zaino and others I sprayed a light mist of Z6 on the car and dryed. This stuff smells like rubbing alchol with marchino (sp?) cherry juice. It works very well though.



I then began the madness of mixing 3 ML of Z5 Pro with 2 drops of ZFX. HA, give me a break! I couldn't even get the s**t to pour out!!!! I then remembered the idea of putting 2 squirts of Z8 in, so I did that which loosened it up. I then misted some Z6 on the Zaino provided soft terry pad. There was so little Z5 Pro in the bottle that I only put 3 drops on the pad and began to apply. Again - give me a break - you can't even see the stuff!!! I then mixed up another 3 ML with another single drop of ZFX and 1 squirt of Z8. This was enough to get the car done once with a SUPER THIN coat as people have suggested. It was so thin it was hard to see it in the garage, so I had to take the car out into the sun to make sure I hadn't missed any areas. I was pretty angry at this point and was wondering why I wasn't using the Klasse twins, but I continued nonetheless.



When I wiped it off I wasn't expecting much, but I did notice a decent shine. I wasn't sure it was worth the effort at this point, but it wasn't bad.



Next I did another Z6 pass which is really good because it helps ensure you got all of the Z5 Pro off the car.



The next time I mixed 6 ML with 3 drops of ZFX for the second coat and repeated everything above. After the 2nd coat was removed I started to grin because the paint was looking pretty damn good. I had a little bit of Z5 Pro left since the pad was good and seasoned by now, so I squirted some extra Z8 in the bottle, shook it up, and started to use that mix on the wheels. The wheels turned out okay, but I like Rejex MUCH better for the wheels.



I was ready to quit there, but I did another Z6 wipedown and started with Z2 Pro.



For Z2 Pro I took Sal's suggestion and did NOT mix it with ZFX. I then took out a new Zanio soft terry pad, squirted it with Z6 and then put a nice 4 ML (est) squirt into the pad to season it. I had a MUCH more enjoyable time using Z2 Pro because I just used as much as I wanted like I'd do with the Klasse twins. I waited an hour for it to set up and in the dry heat we had today, it was baked on by then (even though it was in the garage with the door closed). The removal was just as easy as Z5 Pro, so I don't regret using more product and skipping ZFX. Had I been able to do this with Z5 Pro, I wouldn't have hated it so much.



I was surprised that the results seemed to not get any better with the final coat of Z2 Pro. I expected it to look great, but it looked the same to me.



I then decided to try Z8 and I applied ONE LIGHT MIST to the hood - WHAT A MISTAKE!!!! The stuff stuck like honey to the hood which was warm but not hot and was in the garage with the garage door closed. I'm not sure what happened, but I spent the next 5 minutes using Z6 to get the hood back in shape again. I then just did a Z6 wipedown and called it good.



I finished up with some Griots Vinyl & Rubber dressing on the tires and Griots Plasic Polish on all of the outside plastic. I also used Invisble Glass on the glass, and a lint roller on the fabric top.



Verdict

Zaino produced excellent results, but the whole ZFX mess is a real pain in the rear. I also hated having so little product to work with. The Z2 Pro experience was much better, but the results weren't any better than Z5 Pro so I really wondered why I needed it. Z6 was great, but I'm sorely disappointed with Z8 at the moment. I'll have to try it again another time when the car is 100% cool to the touch.

 

[imported_GregCavi]

Great writeup and the car looks phenominal. Some suggestions for you if you choose to take them lol:



Do the super thin coats and its best to do them in a garage with some lighting. You just need to trust that they are there. Less is more with the zaino. On your second coat you will notice its easier to spread (it was right?). Again super light coat and continue on. Think of it this way. Even if you think your applying it so thin you dont think its there, your probably doing 2-3 coats anyway so everything will get covered.



With the Z8 your panels really have to be cool not even warm unless it might have the problems you explained. A little trick if the Z streaks is use a damp towel to very lightly wipe the surface or spray the car down and dab dry.



Again your car looks excellent and you make me jealous! Hope the zaino grows on you.



Greg

 

[ronmart]

Great writeup and the car looks phenominal. Some suggestions for you if you choose to take them lol:



Do the super thin coats and its best to do them in a garage with some lighting. You just need to trust that they are there. Less is more with the zaino. On your second coat you will notice its easier to spread (it was right?). Again super light coat and continue on. Think of it this way. Even if you think your applying it so thin you dont think its there, your probably doing 2-3 coats anyway so everything will get covered.



With the Z8 your panels really have to be cool not even warm unless it might have the problems you explained. A little trick if the Z streaks is use a damp towel to very lightly wipe the surface or spray the car down and dab dry.



Again your car looks excellent and you make me jealous! Hope the zaino grows on you.



Greg

Thanks!



I did have my 1000 watt halogen lights, but those get hot after a while so I only used it for polishing. It also bakes product right on the spot, so I don't like to use it as much. I think the dry weather (about 30% humidity) and the heat from the halogens was what got my polish to chalk up because I've never had that happen with Griots before (and I did both my car and SUV before).



The 2nd coat was easier, but mainly due to the pad being seasoned. The car was slick, so perhaps you are correct and that helped too.



I'm going to try Z8 when it is cooler.

 

[mgm2003]

Great writeup and the car looks phenominal. Some suggestions for you if you choose to take them lol:



Do the super thin coats and its best to do them in a garage with some lighting. You just need to trust that they are there. Less is more with the zaino. On your second coat you will notice its easier to spread (it was right?). Again super light coat and continue on. Think of it this way. Even if you think your applying it so thin you dont think its there, your probably doing 2-3 coats anyway so everything will get covered.



With the Z8 your panels really have to be cool not even warm unless it might have the problems you explained. A little trick if the Z streaks is use a damp towel to very lightly wipe the surface or spray the car down and dab dry.



Again your car looks excellent and you make me jealous! Hope the zaino grows on you.



Greg

Ditto Greg's comments.



btw -your car looks VERY nice. Well done!



Do you feel that you would have spent the same 17 hours if you had used brand 'x' over Zaino?

 

[imported_memnuts]

Ron,



Nice review.



I thought you were going to use syringes for mixing such small amounts (3ml) of sealant? Anything less than an half an ounce is useless in the bottles IMHO.



Now that you have perform the procedure once, you should be able to cut your application time to 1-2 hours max for 3 coats or 20 minutes for a single coat. Also, mixing ZFX will be no more irritating than opening and drinking a fine wine (removing cork) en lieu of some Morgan David (twist-off).



Nice work and it seems the metallic is really vibrant and embedded deep in the paint. :2thumbs:

 

[ronmart]

Ditto Greg's comments.



btw -your car looks VERY nice. Well done!



Do you feel that you would have spent the same 17 hours if you had used brand 'x' over Zaino?

Thanks!



Friday and Saturday would have been about the same. I probably would have spent a little less time polishing because I know Zaino is famous or making paint flaws much easier to see due to its great reflective qualities.



Sunday would have been much simpler. I could have done the Klasse twins in half the time and got results that were almost as good. I think Zaino has the edge, but I wouldn't go through the hassle on anything but my 911.

 

[ZaneO]

Car looks really nice

I think Zaino has the edge, but I wouldn't go through the hassle on anything but my 911.

You definitely went with the extreme approach.

 

[Scottwax]

Beautiful car and detail, the metallic really pops! :bow

 

[ronmart]

Ron,



Nice review.



I thought you were going to use syringes for mixing such small amounts (3ml) of sealant? Anything less than an half an ounce is useless in the bottles IMHO.



Now that you have perform the procedure once, you should be able to cut your application time to 1-2 hours max for 3 coats or 20 minutes for a single coat. Also, mixing ZFX will be no more irritating than opening and drinking a fine wine (removing cork) en lieu of some Morgan David (twist-off).



Nice work and it seems the metallic is really vibrant and embedded deep in the paint. :2thumbs:

I did use a syringe, but I didn't think to put the ZFX in the dropper (how do you do that), so I emptied the contents into the bottle. Yeah, that was a big mistake because it was impossible to get it out.



This reminds me, how do you clean those mixing bottles?



Yes, it will be a little easier next time. However, I'm still a little skeptical about the Z5/ZFX stuff, but if I could get the syringe suggestion you mention figured out then that should help. I'd also LOVE to see what someone's applicator looks like with product on it just before their first application to the car! I'd also love to see some pics with product applied.



The midnight blue metallic pops like never before. It is pretty stunning! I had one pro photographer and two enthusiasts take a boat load of shots on Sunday when I was done (including a lot of moving shots). They got some great shots that I'll have to post sometime.

 

[imported_memnuts]

This reminds me, how do you clean those mixing bottles?

A little dish wash liquid and shake or let dwell until next day.



I'd also LOVE to see what someone's applicator looks like with product on it just before their first application to the car! I'd also love to see some pics with product applied. [/QUOTE]



the very faint spot is the Z5PRO. This is normally enough to do a complete panel on the C5.



Hope this helps.

 

[RedondoV6]

I did use a syringe, but I didn't think to put the ZFX in the dropper (how do you do that), so I emptied the contents into the bottle. Yeah, that was a big mistake because it was impossible to get it out.



This reminds me, how do you clean those mixing bottles?

Try Castrol Super Clean APC to clean your used Zaino bottles, it works fairly well in this application.



I buy it from Walmart but it is available in some car part/accessory retailers. Diluted it also makes a great engine cleaner and wheel cleaner, but keep the undiluted CSC away from automotive paint, I've heard some reports of it staining paint (not happened in my experience, but better to play safe than be sorry).



Also works great in the bathroom, on the bbq grill etc. but keep the rooms well ventilated, you do not want to be breathing in the fumes from any APC if you care about your health.



Good luck! :waxing:

 

[odonnellb]

great job on your c4s! I LOVE that car. I test drove one yesterday with my dad, after driving a cayman, and man what a difference. The sticker was 103 so it wasnt cheap(not even the convertible i can only imagine how much yours was haha) But what a phenonenal car to drive, you are a lucky man. And great job with the detail thanks for the write up to inform us all how the products went!