CE750

For christmas I got a new camera so I wanted to get some new pics of the car with it... but before I went thru the trouble to do the photo's I wanted to re-fresh the wax..

so I did the following to all surfaces, Paint, Chrome, Plastic, Wheels..

1) Washed it with dish soap to strip off last later of wax.
2) Clayed the entire car (Zaino Z-15)
3) Washed it again
4) applied Zaino Z2 Pro (with the Z-fx drops)
5) buffed with fine quality micro fiber cloths
6) sprayed on Z-8 and buffed with fine micro fiber cloth
7) next day reapplied two more layers and repeated steps 4-6 twice..
8) car was ready for pics...

These low res pics just do do it justice.. I took them with a Nikon D2x (12.2 MegaPixel) and my 70-200 2.8G zoom at about 1 hour before Sunset and using an SB-800 flash.... so on my screen at home (23") they look great, and you can even see when I forgot to buff off a layer of wax on the picture of the door handle, but these will give you an idea of how the Zaino looks... One word.. AMAZING.. not since the day I saw the car in the show room did it look this good.

CE750

Mods are prolly going to yank this thread over to "off topic" so here are some more pics I just took of the Zaino(ed) paint..

but I'll also post some pics (post below) I just took with the same 70-200 lens using it's unofficial "Macro" feature that Nikon claims it is capable off. Considering my subject, I think they're not bad as far as "close ups" are concerned.. These were done indoors, with flash, and a focal length of about 180-200, with a distance to subject of about 6-7'.

revstriker

Thread split.

Photo and Lens thread is now in the Off Topic Forum

Lets try and keep this one on topic.

MBE55AMG

Dang! All that talk about camera lenses split! It's a cleaner thread now, thank you Rev!

BTW, your Zaino result looks fantastic.

CE750

Rev... I'm sorry for letting it go that way... anyway.. I was actually going to ask you or Ricky to do it, but I figured "let sleeping dogs lie"

So.. what do you think of my Zaino?

sprink49

It looks a mile deep!! I have been using Pinacle for a while and it works pretty good but I've always wanted to try Zaino

StephenK

Try it, I personally see NO downside to it at all.

CE750

Well, there is ONE downside..

You have to strip off any trace of prior types of wax before you apply, to get the ideal results..

To wit, I had to wash twice with Dishsoap, then Claybar, then wash again... before applying the first coat!

But even with all of that.. its worth it!

StephenK

Just use DAWN.....

(The DISHWASHING LIQUID) not the GIRL!!!!

vraa

What?!
That's a downside?

I enjoy washing my car!

StephenK

Sal should be sending me a check for my promoting his product.

CE750

Washing it once...sure... but washing, claybar, then wash again!

vraa

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...004027&q=zaino
Check that out, I made that a while ago.

CE750: REAL MEN ENJOY IT!

CE750

wow ricky, not sure if I should nominate you for an Oscar, or a Nobel Prize for Science!

I didn't even try that, now you got me wanting to go out and try it! Except it's already dark out here.

BTW.. how many layers of Z-2 do you have on that SL? and more over, did you use the Z-8?

vraa

I don't remember honestly... I believe it's..

Z2 Z5 Z2 Z5 Z8

CE750

The Z5 is a scratch remover, right? did you have fine hairline scratches in the paint? I have none that I can see, so I saw no need for the Z5.

vraa

I've just always read to layer those on top of each other.
That was a while ago, to be honest, I don't even remember the numbers anymore. I just do it by the color. Blue then pink then yellow, pink then yellow, pink then yellow, then spray.

Yes, I did have a lot of very fine scratches from using a sponge to wash the car the first few weeks we got it. That was when my interest in detailing was .. ahem, a bit lacking.

M.J

i use maguairs product and a microfiber towel to clean,wax,dry my car , didn't use zaino though, do zaino have waxes also,i thought that all zaino product are like scratches removing stuff and polish only ?

CE750

I too swore that I'd never leave Maguairs (I used their Nxt synthetic wax).. but this stuff is a whole order of magnitude better..

But get to it before that Kuwaiti summer! Or you'll be miserable installing it!

M.J

i also use Nxt in fact i am going now to wax my car with it (e-class ) i would love to submit some picture for it but man it really need alot of work, it is full with hair line scratches after cleaning this car for 3 years with diffrent towels. i didn't take care of the paint, but i am preparing my self for the new car that why i went trying diffrent waxes in my car. and i found that nxt really nice,but still didn't try zaino. CE750 any good site with nice prices where i can order zaino products ? and do they have good waxes also? i don't remember but i think that zaino is water based wax...or oil based i can't really remember. and how about claying the car i hear that claying should be done once a year what do you think guys ? does it really effect if you done it more often.

CE750

You should strip the Nxt, off with Dawn dishsoap wash, then clay bar... then Apply Zaino..

buy it direct from them: http://www.zainostore.com/
there are no discount re-sellers, so it's the best way, especially for international sales.

M.J

thanks alot CE750

revstriker

No problem.

Car looks great!

revstriker

The Z5 will fill small "swirl" which are very fine scratches. However, it will not fill large scratches.

For best results, Z2 should be used over Z5, once you are satisfied with the results of Z5. Z2 has a better shine than Z5, so Z2 should always be the final coat (before Z6 or Z8 that is).

revstriker

Zaino is just as easy, if not easier to use than the Nxt. However, you do need a correctly prepped surface first.

As for claying, I think it makes a world of difference in the finish. However, you do not need to do this process that regularly. In the conditions here in Northern Texas, USA, I really only need to clay the car about once every 12-18 months. The best way to find out if you need to clay is to do the plastic bag test: Put your hand in a plastic bag (like a sandwich bag) and lightly rub your fingers across the surface of the car. If it feels "gritty", it needs to be clayed.

You can order Zaino from the website. The site also contains a lot of information about the products offered, as well as usage techniques.