Buttersideup

What do you use?

Mine starts with Z and usually ends with controversy so I'll see if someone else here uses it first. Hopefully there's nobody here from the Miata boards...

--Dean

GNO

ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino
ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino
ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino
ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino ZAINO zaino

Okay, that should end it.

Buttersideup

exmiataman

Buttersideup, I knew I recognized that handle! Glad to see other Miata.netters over here. Tryin' to start a little trouble, huh? FWIW, I've always been a fan of the Meguiars professional line, as it lasts a fairly long time and gives really good results. Plus it's easy to use.

I've considered using Zaino, but the process seems really complicated, particularly since my car lives outside all the time (seems like it would make waiting 24 hours between coats hard to do). I REALLY like that Zaino shine, though. Do you find that it offers the sam level of protection as a carnuba-based wax?

Actually, I'm considering going to machine application of polish and wax, as I'm having a lot of trouble removing swirl marks. I'm intrigued by the Griot's Garage system. Talk about obcessed!!!

Buttersideup

Erm...let me preface this with a quick observation.

As a whole...Corvette and Miata owners are probably the pickiest and most **** modern production car owners out there. No matter where I talk to people in the automotive industry, it just seems to be the norm...tires, car care, oil formulations...if they hear you own one of these cars, they bunker down and expect to answer the tough questions and know they can't snow you.

That said, a gentleman named Sal Zaino in Howell, New Jersey has come up with a series of car care products that originally catered exclusively to the show car industry. Picky Vette owners were the first to jump on the Zaino bandwagon and now the Z addiction has spread to PT sites, muscle car sites, Miata, Z3 and S2000 sites...you name it.

The scoop...and please understand, this is opinion and nothing more...Z really has an amazing shine. It's a polymer product, not wax, so I wouldn't suggest using it on your 1955 Dino...it's really for modern (post 1970 maybe?) paint formulations. The paint after application is amazingly smooth to the touch (especially if you clay the surface beforehand) and bugs, tar, whatever just slides off with a squirt from a hose. people have a hard time putting car covers on a Z treated car...the cover slides right off as you try to get it on!

Now...all good things come with a catch...and to many Z has a few catches.

• It ain't cheap initially. A starter kit will cost you $80 for the Z18 clay, Z7 wash, Z1 surface prep, Z5swirl reducer, Z2/Z3 final polish and Z6 detailer spray and applicator. This is before you go out and buy the 8 or so 100% cotton Fieldcrest or Cannon US made towels. Yes, you read right...Sal is very particular about what towels you use. Now, understand that in most detailers opinions, you should only use 100% cotton, so this is no more particular than Meguiars or Zymol or Griots really. Sal just makes it clear that you should use quality. My cars have better towels than me.
• You can't go to Pep Boys and buy it. You have to print out an order form and mail it and a check to Sal. I'm in Eastern PA, so it takes about 4 business days to get my fix. There are local distributors out there, Sal can hook you up with them. There is one Vette website that carries Z and takes credit cards, but I don't know the URL and it's expensive.
• The first prep and application can take 6+ hours to complete. The steps I use for initial application are typically wash with Dawn, claybar, Dawn, Z1 prep, Z5 polish, buff off. Subsequent applications (Z6 detailer or Z7 wash then Z5 or Z2/Z3 polish) have to wait 24 hours to cure if the weather is humid or cool.
• It's extremely durable...but it shows light scratches and swirls easily, which means you really have to keep on new applications monthly or even more often for best results.
• If you don't use the product properly, you will get a greasy, smeary, tough to clean mess. Follow the directions or you car will look like a Krispy Kreme.
• Use qualifies you as some whacko, cultish, throw money out the window hyper-**** shine freak.

Now...those are the drawbacks, but in my mind they are overwhelmingly outweighed by the benefits...

• Holy crap...the shine...
• Dirt washes off with no effort
• The stuff wipes on, wipes off. After the first app, you can do a coat of Z on a car in 30 minutes, wipe it off again after another 30...no hard rubbing or elbow grease. Like greasing a cookie sheet.
• The friggin' shine...
• Collects no dust.
• Decently inexpensive in the long run...the bottle of prep does lots of coats, and you really only need to do two or so a year...the other stuff lasts pretty long since you don't use much.
• No smudgy smears on dark cars...black was never blacker...
• Did I mention the shine?
• Lastly but certainly not leastly..Sal himself. When's the last time you had product questions and could speak to the CEO, Marketer, Chemist and Shipper with a quick phone call? I email Sal a couple times a year with questions, and he usually calls me at home or work within an hour with answers. On his dime. And I'm not anywhere near the top of his customer A-list. He's a great guy.

I swear the stuff reduces drag, too...lol.

Anyway...that's a Z primer. Head over to Sal's site ( www.zainobros.com ) for more info.

--Dean

Buttersideup

Check this site out... http://www.thewaxtest.com/home.html

--Dean

njaremka

are you saying i should use Zaino?

Smoothy

I agree.....ZAINO!!! :-)

I just did my first entire application on my '02 Silver Pro ES yesterday.....and with just one coat (he recommends 2-5) it is AWESOME! I just want to slide across my hood on my belly it's so smooth! hahaha

Yes the initial process is a little on the costly and time consuming side, but I don't think $75 is too much to keep my car protected and looking like a showcar.

I started at 1:15pm and finished at 6:45pm, which included:
Wash with Dawn
Dry with my white Fieldcrest towels (make sure you wash/dry these at least 2-3 times before first use after buying them to get most of the lint/loose cotton out....take them out of the washer and shake them outside real good if you can, it was like snowing after the first two washes when I did this!)
Clay Bar along with car wash spray bottle...this is amazing, I could actually feel little things being pulled onto the bar...and my car is brand new!) I had never done this before, and though it sounded like a major pain in the rear-end but it was suprisingly easy and well worth it!
Wash with Dawn again and dry with the towels again.
Used Z-1 Polish Lok on a Fieldcrest wash cloth made into a rectangle applicator. This stuff goes on super easy, and a little goes a long way. This forms a type of "adhesive" for the other Polishes to grip, and you don't wipe it off....just do the whole car and then go to the next polish.
Then I used his applicator pad for my Z-2 Polish. This two went on very easy, simple back and forth motion with light pressure. None of this swirling around pushing wax in crap!
I didn't use the Z-5 Swirl stuff, I probably should have, but on silver the swirls are pretty hard to see, and any that I did have, I just buffed a little more with my towel and they came out.
I let mine sit for about 1:45, and the temp was hovering around 58-62 so I was pretty happy. Gave me time to throw my two towels in the wash so they were ready to buff off my polishes.
Removing the polish was suprisingly super easy as well....just make sure you move your towel around ALOT! You will feel it get smooth as glass as you rub it off!
Then I used the Z-6 GLoss Enhancer spray...just spray a very fine mist on a small area, and buff it off with another towel (not the one you removed the polish with). Again moving the towel around alot. This is the stuff that gives you the deep glossy wet look, and repels dust and gunk supposidly (it's only been a day so I don't know for sure! haha)

So overall, I would much rather do three applications of these polishes, as opposed to one application of wax. Just the buffing out of the wax takes as much effort as 2-3 buffs of these polishes. Plus his products are very long lasting....I probably used 1/2-3/4" of each bottle. He says a dime size amount will cover a 16" square area.

Granted, waiting 24+ hours before doing another coat of Polish and Gloss Enh. is somewhat of a pain and hard to do especially for us that don't have garages (I don't think I'm going to be able to get my second coat on today....the humidity has already hit a day early and rain is coming tomorrow! GRRRR), but you just kind of have to plan ahead a little more and watch the weather.

I give Zaino two thumbs and two big toes up.....and also agree that Sal is awesome, I haven't waited more than 50 minutes for reply emails...most are within 5 minutes! And mine usually are after 10pm his time!

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2002 Silver Pro ES
Zaino Polish Protected :-)