Some things were needing to be finished before I started the surface prep, but anyhows, here's what I did before applying the Zaino:

-Made up a batch of dawn detergent and washed the truck real good to remove any oils and waxes that may have acumulated.

-I had recently clayed the truck down, so this step was unneeded for me at this time.

-Broke out my waxmaster and my Kit scratch polish and commenced to buffing the living **** out of her. Actually, I used a sponge buff pad with the Kit scratch polish, and I would suggest on a Ford clearcoat, that you only use sponge. Ford clearcoats are somewhat soft, to the point that the synthetic wool pads leave an imprint/mark of some sort. Been there done that and had to re-do the work also. Anyways, wether you were using Zaino or another polish, I can't recommend the Kit scratch polish enough. You can safely polish your clearcoat free of all haze marks and "slowly" work scratches down to they are minimal. With Ford's paint jobs being so super thin, you have to be real careful. With the Kit car scratch polish, I have always been at ease using it. This step was the most crucial and took the longest for me (a day of nothing more than polishing the truck and prepping) but was the most satisfying afterwards. I knew for certain that there was no, none, nada, nothing on that surface. period, and I parked it in different areas of the sun to check. Nope, no scratches, good to go.

-Now, after mixing up a batch of the Zaino z5, I let it set a min and prepped my application cloth. I washed it and wringed out all the water then soaked it with the gloss enhancer, then wringed it out. Now I was ready to apply the stuff. Actually, this part was easy for me, I'm used to putting on a small amount of polish, so I zipped through this pretty fast. One thing I did that sped up the process was after it dryed, I took a damp microfiber cloth and wiped the whole truck down. Then I took a dry microfiber cloth, and commenced to buffing. This took the product off much faster than dry buffing it the whole way, and also allowed me to get another coat put down faster. I used the standard NicSand micro fiber cloths you buy in Autozone and Kragan, they have kept any haze marks down to a bear minimum for over 2 years and they last really long.

Well, after 2 coats of the Z5, what do I have to say? The first coat bested my best acrylic polish job. I freaked. I am a real fan of acrylic polishes, and this stuff did just as good, and better in some ways i felt. After the second coat, again, it got even better. I also noticed that it had no effect on plastic and rubber products, that it did not discolor them or stain them. Big plus.

Well, I left it go at 2 coats for tonight, there is always tomorrow as it was late and I started late on it anyways. I hope that I may have give out some good suggestions for surface prep, and again, I feel this is a big area to look at no matter what product you use.

Want to thank the folks that gave suggestions and tips on these boards, you guys were a big help in many ways

Until tomorrow.

 

Glad you liked the Zaino. Some of us really like the stuff and the shine it leaves. I'm sure the evil forces of Darth Meguires will be watching your efforts closely though because they represent a threat to the new super weapon they are secretly building on the far side of tthe ice planet Hoth though. May the force be with you!

 

Thanks for the infor 2stroked, I'll prop my light saber up in the corner in case any of those dark critters want to play, heh.


Well,......I'm on vacation at the moment, so got a lot of free time on my hands here. Looked at her this morning, was covered in water from a rain last night, so wiped her down. Decided to try a few things with it as I put on additional coats. I have quite a few microfiber cloths so I set one aside just for wiping the Zaino off and another aside for soaked with the gloss enhancer to follow up with.

First things first, prepped me a half bottle of the Z5. Put 5 drops of the accelerator in it and mix, ect. Wiped her down with the gloss enhancer, then applied another coat. This will be the 3rd coat.

Aha,..the sun is coming out. Let's try adding it on with the sun. Why not.

I get the one side done and I'm applying it on the sun side, steam flying off my applicator, whoohoo! Ok, I take a microfiber cloth and wet it down and rinse it out. Then I squirt it with the gloss enhancer. I wring this out some just so it isn't too damp. Now I wiped it off. Sunny side does take a little more to wipe off, guess it baked it on good.

Once I'm done, I'm amazed!! This shine now has outdone anything I have bought at any store, over the internet, period. Oh yea, she's looking good. Sun is out bright and this shine is freaking blinding me. I checked the sun side to see if the sun had any effect on smearing, staining, ect,....nope. Did require more work to get the stuff off, but it did not have any adverse effect. Just for safetys sake this time, I'll turn the truck around when I'm done with one side.

I step back and look at it from many angles, no problems. The gloss enhancer does help get the stuff off better I think, but I feel you need several cloths. And it does make the surface slicker.

So far, everything that they claim it does, it's doing. Peoples necks are snapping at a distance now, still no skid marks in the street yet, but we'll see.

To be continued

 

Sounds excellent. You just can’t beat that Zaino shine. As you now know you can use Zaino and apply it in the sun. However you will generally use a little more since it will dry a bit faster.

I have done 3 coats in a day with using the ZFX. I have done it with the Gloss Enhancer in between each coat and then done it without using the Gloss Enhance until after the last coat.

Myself, with a silver truck I have never noticed a difference in shine for either way, using the Gloss Enhancer in between every coat or not and waiting till the end.

You might want to try that and see what your results are. If they are the same as mine you can skip the Gloss Enhancer in between every coat and save a few bucks that way.

I do use the Gloss Enhance after every wash with Zaino’s car wash…

 

ok 4th coat of Z5 is on,...............


Can someone hand me a cloth so I can go beat off?!


I swear, this stuff aint no joke. I haven't even put the Z2 on it yet. Half afraid to.

 

I'm just kickin back for a bit.

Let me go over some products that I have used to give people some idea of my experience.

My first real product that I felt was the shiznit was Acrylic Werks. I met the owner out here in San Diego and tried the stuff. Was very happy with it but in the back of my mind there was the search still going on.

I like acrylic products since they were more see-through. At one time I applied Meguires Gold Class (/evil taunts and jeers, boos and hisses) on one side with the Acrylic Werks on the other side. The distortion was there from the wax. Now wether it was Meguires or another makes no difference, the wax is not completely see-through, but acrylic pretty much is. The difference was clear to see.

Turtle wax brought out a product with an acrylic matrix, called extreme series. Tried it, like it a bit, but was still searching.

Tried Klasse, felt it was a bad knock off of Acrylic Werks.

Tried Acrylic Werks, 3M hand glaze, then the Turtle Wax clearcoat polish,.....waalaaa!!

Still searching


At this point, all the things I was wanting a polish to do have been surpassed by the Zaino, and like I said, I have not even applied the actual Z2 polish, this is just with the Z5 swirl remover stuff.

 

Daves01L,
I almost busted a nut LOL about handing you the towel! Great line.

Hey, I'm a Zaino freak, I love the stuff. I've put a total of six coats on my new F150 SuperCrew over the last two months. But, today I waxed the truck with P21S Carnauba Car Wax...WOW! Made the paint color POP out, almost looked 3D. Bought this stuff from autopia.org, which by the way is a good auto detailing info site.

Anybody have thoughts on this carnauba wax? Not sure if I can Zaino over the top of it, or should just keep putting the new stuff on. Stuff comes off very easy. NJR

 

hehe

Yea, my Lightning is black and this product is just amazing to me. I may put some of the Z2 on tomorrow, or who knows, I may just keeping putting this Z5 on.

Laters

 

Is it true that Zaino gets absorbed through the skin and becomes habit forming?

Some guy from Kentucky was telling me that.

 

Never believe anything someone tells you that has a corncob pipe hanging out of their mouth…

 

No you won't be able to Zaino over the wax. Zaino will only bond with the paint and not the wax. That is why before applying Zaino you have to strip all the wax using Dawn dish washing soap...

 

P21S over Zaino is a good combo. However, no more Z layers unless you strip the wax like 01 Sport said. Easy enough with dish soap.

 

Hey thanks guys...I'll just keep using the P21S until spring then strip the wax and Z it again, and again. Afterall I have six coats of Z on it already. I hinted to my wife about getting me more Z for Christmas. Oh well, I have two other vehicles I can go Z crazy on. Later...happy Holidays to everyone! NJR

 

Question for those who use Zaino and live where it snows:
Being that I applied 3 coats 1-1/2 months do I need to reapply before winter is over? I read in Guru reports that there test panel was still beading after 5 months....How much truth is there to that? The truck looks great currently and I don't want to start over.

Thanks

 

3 coats of Z should last all winter. You should be good until March/April. My trucks are kept outside 24/7 and were/are driven in a lot of snow/salt. My experience shows 3 coats of Z lasts all winter. Same with a buddy who uses Z on his truck.