Veterans Day

**KR CoolShine** · 08-17-2001, 10:19 AM

oB,

I agree with DK. If you go with Zaino, you should wash with the Z7.

I put Pinnacle Souveran over the Klasse to "warm up" the finish. Both Zaino and Klasse provide a very shiny, glass-like finish. The car is highly reflective. Some describe it as a bit "candy." The carnauba over the Klasse softens that shine a bit by giving the traditional warm carnauba glow.

My Jags are almost garage queens so doing the Souveran every 4 weeks is no big deal. Garage at home, underground garage at work. XJ gets about 9-10,000 miles a year; the XK about 4,000.

I do use Zaino on the Subie. One day I will post its picture -- after I spend a whole bunch of time on it. We got it about a year ago with 48,000 on the clock. I have done maintenance kind of detailing on it but really need to give it the full treatment! It looks real good from 20 feet, though.

**tonysandiego** · 08-17-2001, 10:28 AM

I agree with your initial reaction to go with the Zaino, except for the fact that you don`t have a garage to work in. My experience with Zaino was that it took <strong class=`bbc`>all day[/b] to put on a coat of Z1, Z5 and Z2, which means that you will be in the sun most of that time. Not the best of conditions, especially on black. Don`t get me wrong, I love the Zaino look and feel on my black 528, just not sure if I would tackle that combo with out a garage to work in.

Klasse or Zaino will be a very good choice. Make sure you get a few good towels in the beginning. Black is the hardest to keep scratch free, and the towels you use can make the biggest difference. Micro fiber or Fieldcrest Charisma terry cloth are your <strong class=`bbc`>only[/b] two choices in my opinion.

My suggested start up kit would be:

2 buckets
1 wash mitt
5 towels of your choice
Z7 car wash
foam applicator pads
Klasse or Zaino wax
clay bar(use Z7 wash as lubricant)
and a QD of your choice. I like Zaino Z6 or EF Clear Pearl.

Don`t feel intimidated by all of this. Exactly 14 months ago I though Turtle Wax and old bath towels were good enough! Take it one step at a time and you will be fine.

Oh yea, and welcome to Autopia!

**DETAILKING** · 08-17-2001, 10:33 AM

I always apply zaino in the sun and let the car bake in the sun while it is drying. It reduces dry time and no matter how long u let it bake, it always comes off EASY and clean. You would not want to APPLY KLASSE SG in such conditions or you would be in for a work out!

Anyhow, you should be able to put a coat of Z1 on in 10 minutes, a coat of Z2 on in 10 minutes.......go eat lunch and let it dry an hour, and then buff off in 15 minutes max. Don`t sweat it! The sun also speeds up the curing of zaino so let it bake outside!

**latekkies** · 08-17-2001, 10:37 AM

Now thats interesting.

I didn`t think that doing the Zaino thing would take me all day! I will probably give about an hour or two on a Saturday morning while listening to the radio (Car Talk on NPR) working on the car.

Should I be thinking of another plan instead of the Zaino? I have heard such good things. The new car is definetely going to be outside for most of its life as I do not have a garage and work doesn`t either.

Another question is should I look into a car cover to protect it when I`m going to be somewhere for an extended period of time, or not worry about it?

Thanks all,

Brad

**DETAILKING** · 08-17-2001, 10:50 AM

It won`t take anylonger than most other products, and will wipe on and wipe off the effortless, and won`t stain rubber or leave residue in the cracks! How`s that sound?

**tonysandiego** · 08-17-2001, 10:55 AM

That when I did my first Zaino treatment, the humidity was very high and temperatures were in the 60`s causing the dry time to be abnormaly long. This time of year, you won`t have any problems.

**KR CoolShine** · 08-17-2001, 10:57 AM

Zaino is an all day event if you want to do multiple coats in a day. Wash, clay, apply Z1, apply Z5, wait to dry (if humid, several hours), remove, wait 8 hours (if above 80 and not too humid), Z6, apply Z2, wait to dry, remove, Z6. That`s all day for the first event.

It is not bad if you do this over two weekends.

1. Wash, clay, apply Z1, apply Z5, wait to dry (if humid, several hours), remove, Z6.

2. Wash, Z6, apply Z2, wait to dry, remove, Z6.

3. Third weekend (and following for several months). Wash, Z6.

The first two weekends while you wait to dry, you can do the interior, the door jambs, the back of the wheels and wheel wells, the engine compartment. Ooooops, that`s my routine for the Subie that I haven`t gotten around to.

**YoSteve** · 08-17-2001, 10:58 AM

BradG, first of all welcome. We should have a newbie form like when you go to a doctor or something: Car Make, Model, condition of finish, color, expectations........

Well anyway, the single most thing (that I think) in you taking care of your car "to ensure that the car is going to look good for some time" has to do with you you maintain which ever wax combo you hit (either zaino or Klasse). Having a black car means you number one concern is swirl marks. And those are caused mostly from washing and or quick detailing (possibly waxing). If I were to get a brand new black car, I would wash it as carefully as possible. I would only QD immediately after a washing. I wouldn`t use second rate drying tools (good tools but have potential to be bad if used wrong) and never wipe, swipe, or apply in a swirl pattern. I would also monitor your swirl situation at every step of your process in order to isolate where swirls are most likely to occur (that way you can post to us so we can minimize it too) because not everyone has a clean palette to work with like you will.

HTH-Steve

**DETAILKING** · 08-17-2001, 11:03 AM

It never took longer than an hour for it to dry for me even on the most humid of days. And that is the first coat I am talking about when you have Z1 and Z2 drying. Additional coats of Z2 or Z5 dry in about 20-30 minutes if applied thin. Also that waiting time is true for any product including KLASSE if you are applying multiple coats and want to layer. Waiting time is no longer with zaino, and once sal`s new product gets released it will have the shortest curing time in the industry allowing back to back coats and full layering effects.

**TortoiseAWD** · 08-17-2001, 11:27 AM

<blockquote class=`ipsBlockquote` >

<em class=`bbc`>Originally posted by DETAILKING [/i]
<strong class=`bbc`>It never took longer than an hour for it to dry for me even on the most humid of days. And that is the first coat I am talking about when you have Z1 and Z2 drying. Additional coats of Z2 or Z5 dry in about 20-30 minutes if applied thin. Also that waiting time is true for any product including KLASSE if you are applying multiple coats and want to layer. Waiting time is no longer with zaino, and once sal`s new product gets released it will have the shortest curing time in the industry allowing back to back coats and full layering effects. [/b]</blockquote>Speaking of the new Z product, any more rumors as to when it will be available? I`d like to take a weekend this fall and just go nuts one day applying a few layers for the coming salt-fest known as "winter in Omaha".

Tort

**DETAILKING** · 08-17-2001, 11:37 AM

I will keep you posted. You are gonna love it.

**latekkies** · 08-17-2001, 11:41 AM

all,

thanks for your inputs. I do appreciate it.

So far it looks like a $50-$70 worth of stuff to get me started. Not bad, I`m certain that its going to look awesome.

Somewhat off topic question, as I woke up this morning, condensation was all over my current vehicle. Am I going to have to Quick Detail the car to get that off? Like I said my goal here is to make the car look good but not be time-consuming.

Brad

**latekkies** · 08-17-2001, 11:43 AM

does anybody use a car cover for extended parkings? I never have so I don`t even know the good/bad part of this.

Thanks again all,

Brad

**DETAILKING** · 08-17-2001, 11:47 AM

My car has condensation on it most mornings. I DO NOT quick detail and it seems to dry off perfect while driving to work. Now if you live in a dusty area and dust stuck to it, that`s another story.

I would not use a car cover outside. It can actually mar the paint with constant rubbing on a windy day. Also, you can`t really put the car cover on unless the car is 100% clean (just washed) for fear of scratching or rubbing dirt into the paint and swirling it up. I would use a car cover indoors after wash if I was going to leave my car for a few days, but that is about it.

**rstype** · 08-17-2001, 11:59 AM

My recommendation is to get the clay bar too. If you are going to add more and more layers of Z-2 or Z-5, as the time passes, contaminates that cannot be removed by washing, will be sealed over.

Btw, you can use Klasse AIO+SG by adding more and more layers, and clay in between. Its not always a repeat process every 6 months thing.