Zaino---differing Opinions

5

50th yr

New member
Still trying to decide to use or not to use. I have a 2003 anniversary corvette with the softest clearcoat ever made. Half the replys here say Zaino will hide the fine swirl marks and others say no way. I have tried 3m smr and I assure you this will not work on this finish. All it tends to do is dull the area some on the area I am working on but the swirl marks remain. Seeing how it dosen't look like I will be able to (hand buff these out) I will try and see if I can fill them with however many coats of zanio or whatever that it will require. My question is can these fine marks really be filled in or am I wasing my time.

Thanks Much

Ron
 
here's my thought: try zaino. If you like it, stick with it. Otherwise, switch to another setup using a glaze and carnauba wax, such as an IHG/S100 or #7/S100 setup. I honestly dont know what to tell you. I would talk to some other 50th vette owners too and see if yours is softer than "the norm" - if so you may need to have GM look at it and see if somethings wrong with your particular paint.
 
Ok, maybe I'm pushing Blackfire too much... But, it seems like Blackfire works beautifully over glazes unlike most polymers. So, that means you could use a glaze to fill/hide the swirls, and then put on some Blackfire in order to have more durable protection than a carnauba will offer. Glazes are pretty great at hiding and filling swirls. Just a thought, though. :)
 
Well, I can only speak from personal experience. The Zaino swirl remover has worked great for me. Since I've been using Zaino products on my Corvette (Nassau Blue, '99 Coupe) and our '02 Snap Orange ColorConcept NewBeetle, I'm been very impressed with the results. My Nassau Blue 'vette has very few swirl marks (or atleast they are HARD to find) but our Snap Bug shows them pretty well. I used Zaino swirl remover and it really smoothed things out. Of course there are a couple of deeper cat-scratches that it didn't wipe out. But the paint has a nice swirl free glass like appearance now. Plus you can layer Z5 and Z2 repeatedly to really make it shine. Just remember to finish up with Z2. Also, try using the gloss-enhancer spray. It makes my 'vette has damn reflective that you really can't look directly at the car on a bright day. THAT hides lots of imperfections. :) (though its finish is in great shape).

(you can check out the Zaino results on my vette at www.bluevette.cc)
 
some of those swirls you may see are under the clear....last year I talked to Wil Cooksey he's the plant manager in Bowling Green and said they often have to do some light work to the base coat and when covered with clearcoat...they are there forever...if you catch them when you picked up the car they would have to satisfy you ...after the fact..it's up to your dealer and how much noise you can make...remember it is now sprayed by robotics and sometimes the person who is supposed to be doing the quality control is out sick or some other reason and is replaced with another person...but he did insist that the paint jobs are much better than years ago. good luck...you can cover them but under certain lighting you will see them no matter what you use.
 
This depends on a couple of things.

Are you able to see them all the time or just in direct sunlight?

Does it look great at night?

If you answered yes to the above, try 3M Imperial hand glaze follwed by Z1- Z2

If you see them all the time, day and night under most lighting conditions you may need some more work. 3M has several different products for soft paint like perfect it 3 machine glaze. Try looming at www.3m .com

I have a carbon Black M5. If I'm not extremely careful with my wash detail I will most likely get swirls or streaks.

I use the following steps :

1. Perfect it 3 rubbing compound to get 1000 grit scrathes out.

2. 3M SWR foam polishin pad glaze to remove 95% of the remaining swirls

3. 3M Imperial hand glaze to fill in any that are left.

4. Z1 follwed by as many coats of Z2 as I can muster up the patients for.



The result is stunning!



I use the two bucket method, followed buy very low pressure rinse and finally a leaf blower. Then I blot, never wipe, the remaining water with either a cotton towel of MF towel

Final step is Z6 with a CLEAN mf and walla! This seems to keep the swirls and streaks to a minimum.



Good luck!

;)
 
Trying to remove swirls by hand is a very difficult process. A good indication that you were not able to break the product down is a dull are haze looking surface. Try doing a search on removing swirls by hand. Everyone should try to remove swirls by hand at least once because thats the way we learn to appreciate the PC.



good luck
 
rightlane said:
Trying to remove swirls by hand is a very difficult process. A good indication that you were not able to break the product down is a dull are haze looking surface. Try doing a search on removing swirls by hand. Everyone should try to remove swirls by hand at least once because thats the way we learn to appreciate the PC.



good luck
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Rightlane is absolutley correct. You need a PC
 
Bruce Peter said:
.

I use the following steps :

1. Perfect it 3 rubbing compound to get 1000 grit scrathes out.

2. 3M SWR foam polishin pad glaze to remove 95% of the remaining swirls

3. 3M Imperial hand glaze to fill in any that are left.

4. Z1 follwed by as many coats of Z2 as I can muster up the patients for.



Good luck!

;)
Click to expand...



I would not recommend using Zaino over IHG. Zaino needs a clean surface so it can bond to the paint. IHG contains oils that will inhibit this process and compromise durability, and might cause streaking.



I would try a few coats of Z5 / ZFX. Many have had good minor swirl filling results with that combo. Remember to use proper towels so you are not putting swirls back in when you buff off the sealant...........
 
DETAILKING said:
I would not recommend using Zaino over IHG. Zaino needs a clean surface so it can bond to the paint. IHG contains oils that will inhibit this process and compromise durability, and might cause streaking.



I would try a few coats of Z5 / ZFX. Many have had good minor swirl filling results with that combo. Remember to use proper towels so you are not putting swirls back in when you buff off the sealant...........
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Detail,

Thanks for your input. I did some research on the 3M products. They all have oils in them. Does the same rule apply for all thier products with respect to Zaino? None of the contain silicone but in fact smr contains 1% carnuba! Does this mean it's over between me and 3M? Say it aint so.........

Thanks buddy!

Bruce



:nixweiss :confused:
 
If SMR is too strong for your finish, then you have to try something not as invasive. Check out 3M's cleaner wax, perhaps.



You know what I would say...AIO all the way :D



Bruce, not unless you remove the fillers in the SMR (which everyone should be doing before they wax witha polymer). You can do what ever you want in the form of prep before Z, just make sure it's not there when you apply it. Dawn is a likely candidate, ABC system, perhaps PPCL, or Zaino prep (whatever the number)
 
YoSteve said:
If SMR is too strong for your finish, then you have to try something not as invasive. Check out 3M's cleaner wax, perhaps.



You know what I would say...AIO all the way :D



Bruce, not unless you remove the fillers in the SMR (which everyone should be doing before they wax witha polymer). You can do what ever you want in the form of prep before Z, just make sure it's not there when you apply it. Dawn is a likely candidate, ABC system, perhaps PPCL, or Zaino prep (whatever the number)
Click to expand...

So your saying wash with dawn after IHG, and before Zaino?

Bruce
 
IHG is a filler not a prep. Putting it on and washing it off with Dawn are two extra steps that can be remedied by not putting the IHG to begin with. Stick with clay, SMR, cleansers, etc.



But yes exploring ways to remove prep residue before Z is necessary. With SG, it's easy cause AIO does it and preps specifically for SG. I think that Z smr cleans, buy I have not kept up on the Z line. Dawn washing to remove prep residue would be the next obvious choice, and I don't think any Z users would object as long as you don't prep/dawn more than 2-3 times a year.
 
I will add my 2 cents here also. I agree with YoSteve, and recommend the AIO/SG treatment, as I think it is the best protection bang for the buck there is. I would also suggest using SMR by machine (a Porter Cable Random orbital is shortened to PC on this board) as I have never had good luck removing swirls either by hand or with a "typical" RO polisher like those found in Sears and such. Get the PC. Your paint will thank you. Most all polishing compounds using abrasives will require working them into the surface as the polish breaks down from a more agressive product to a fine jewlers type rouge. WOrking the product into the finish for a few minutes in a small area is not uncommon in order to break it down and remove, not cover your swirls. Problem with covering is that they will always come bacl. It may not be today, or tomorrow, but bet that they will return at a future time. The PC is well worth the investment to reove them instead of continuing to fool yourself by aattempting to hise them.



2 cents delivered. Good luck! (BTW BEAUTIFUL CAR! )



Jeff
 
Zaino really doesn't have any product that has cleaning ability. They do offer the clay (same as ClayMagic from what I hear), but nothing else contains any abrasive including Z1 (the "prep" that some are talking about I guess...not even necessary with ZFX).





In my experience, I started with major dealer installed swirls on black. I used FI-II with the yellow pad on a PC to get most of them out. I then followed with 3M SMR. Even after SMR some tiny swirls remain that you almost need magnification to see. I have found that Z5 will fill these nicely. Under high intensity halogens I can still see them, but not during the day. It really takes a lot of Z5 to begin to see filling. It took me around 10 or so coats before I started to see a real difference.





So, to make a long story short, Z5 may provide benefits but it may take a lot of time and patience to see them. You do have the benefit of not losing any clear in the process, however. If I were you, I would get the PC, get the CMA pad kit, and try to knock down those swirls with DACP, FI-II, or something similar. Then let Z5 layers clean up the rest :xyxthumbs.
 
Well the opions still differ. Some swear that you can hide the swirls and others say you never will. (by hand) Maybe it has to do with how bright the sun is when your looking. I have applied 2 coats so far with no results in the bright Tucson Sun.

Ron
 
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