csmeance

it's been almost 2 years since I have applied zaino to the TL, and now it's almost all gone from the front end, roof and trunk. I will have time to redo it soon and need the help of the pro's.

The problems:
The TL is a daily commuter for me, espically highway where bugs have created a funeral home for themselves on my bumper. I have bug guts that will not budge, little indents and also scratches from the dealer trying to remove the bugs.
I have scratches everywhere, I don't know how they got there, but there are light ones everywhere, as well as some swirling that I did not fix from the last time I zaino'ed the car.
There is some sort of dried up crud on the bottom of the rear bumper and all over my trunk that is sticky and will not come off (have not tried claying yet) and also on the bottom of the side skirts.

I was thinking I should fix the car in this process:
1. Wash well using Sheepskin Mitt, and Zaino z-7
2. Use citrus degreaser to help take off old wax
3. Rinse off car
4. Clay car using zaino claybar and use z-7 mixed with water as lubricant
5. Paint correction using PC 7242 with yellow sonus cutting pad and Bodyshop Four Star Medium Cut compound
6. Paint correction using PC 7242 with white sonus cutting pad and bodyshop four star light cut compound
7. Rinse car off with water
8 pull into garage
9. Seal up garage and blow water off using leaf-blower
10. Apply blue painters tape to headlights, tail-lights, emblems, plastic trim and other necessary components
11. Apply 3 coats of zaino using PC and blue sonus pad in 1 day using: z-5 -> z-6 -> z-2 ->z-6 -> z-5
Repeat step 11 until satisfied with results.

Any recommendations on what I should change? Also I need to buy the paint correction compounds, so I am open to any other products that I should use to fix the scratches, swirls and other marks on the car.

Besides that, I need to clean up the rest of the car, for the inside use a solution of woolite and water to clean the leather, vinyl's, plastic and carpets, then follow up with Lexol Leather conditioner for the leather, 303 for the plastics and vinyl and some 3m stuff for the carpets. Is this good or should I do something else?

It will most likely take about 4 days to do this entire thing, so I have quite a bit of time before I have 4 days to spend on the car, so I am open to new suggestions for a bit

Thanks csmeance

SweetJazz

Thanks for posting your concerns and preliminary process. It would help to post some pics of the most problematic areas. It is very difficult to give an evaluation by description alone.

I hope some of the others will fill in the gaps.


1. Wash well using Sheepskin Mitt, and Zaino z-7
This sounds fine to me.

2. Use citrus degreaser to help take off old wax
Not sure about this one. I would be worried about the solvents used in the degreaser.

3. Rinse off car

4. Clay car using zaino claybar and use z-7 mixed with water as lubricant
I would replace Step 2 with this one except water makes a poor lubricant for a clay bar. Just get a cheap detail spray if money is a concern.

5. Paint correction using PC 7242 with yellow sonus cutting pad and Bodyshop Four Star Medium Cut compound
See Step 6 response.

6. Paint correction using PC 7242 with white sonus cutting pad and bodyshop four star light cut compound
Steps 5 or 6 might be necessary but not both. Normally, you would initiate a paint correction using Step 5 or 6 then finish with a light abraisive polish to bring the finish to a high gloss. This is usually accomplished with a polishing pad and afore mentioned light abraisive polish such as Ultimate Polish or Megs #80 (Speed Glaze). I would also start with Step 6 since it uses a lesser abraisive compound. I always start with a test spot using a light abraisive pad/polish combination. Once I get the test spot perfect then I apply that process to the rest of the car. There is nothing more frustrating than jumping into a long detail and finishing with poor results.

7. Rinse car off with water

8 pull into garage

9. Seal up garage and blow water off using leaf-blower
I also use the blower to dry my cars. However, I only do this outside since the water has somewhere to go. Also, unless your garage is perfectly dust free you will get loose dust all over your car again. It is not worth it.

10. Apply blue painters tape to headlights, tail-lights, emblems, plastic trim and other necessary components
This is a good move. It sucks to remove leftover product after a long detail.

11. Apply 3 coats of zaino using PC and blue sonus pad in 1 day using: z-5 -> z-6 -> z-2 ->z-6 -> z-5
I am not a Zaino fan but note that your car should look 90-95% complete before you add the Zaino. I would get rid of the Z-5 since it is a filler type of product that has no abraisives. Note, I am assuming complete paint correction at this point. I would just use the Z-2 for a couple of coats and then finish with the Z-6. Maybe some of the Zaino users can chime in. I just hate unnecessary steps that really do not get you anywhere.

Repeat step 11 until satisfied with results.
Again, after paint correction I would expect that your paint is 90-95% complete. I believe your car should look fantastic before you add the sealent or wax.

Jesstzn

Step 11 assuming your using the ZFX do Z2 by hand .. using a PC wastes too much. I agree with Jazz on the Z5 and Z6.

1 to 10 per Jazz.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

how bad is the paint, do we really need med cut compound and a yellow pad....how about some pics so we can tell what stage the paint might need....

exceldetail

That yellow and medium will cut to the chase pretty dang quick..........

csmeance

I have a bunch of swirls, scratches, water spots and small indents too. I also will need to wet-sand one area of clear as the painters did a piss poor job of spraying clear at the edges, it's spotty so I need to smooth it out. But I know that the light cut will not do much to fix the amount of damage to the paint. Should I use some vinegar first to get rid of those spots or what?

But I have used the z-7 mixed with water in a spray bottle and that has been really good as a lubricant, the only problem is that when the soap dries up, you need to rewash to get rid of the soap bubbles.

I will dry the car outside as I see now that it is much better.

i would use other waxes, but Zaino is what I have and it has worked really well for the time I have had it.

Jesstzn

Then its not a good lube and could be the source of marring.

csmeance

ok, then what should I use? I bought one of those mother clay kits when I practiced claying on my old car, and the detailer they gave me only lasted the hood when I clayed, I have to clay an entire car, and that bottle was a pretty good sized one too.

Jesstzn

The bottle with the kit is something in the area of 12 or 1 oz .. should be enough to do a few cars. We get about 4 mid sized cars per bottle so your using way too much.

joerockt

Get yourself a bottle Optimum NRWS and use that for a lube.