damn, that's the best looking MCS ive seen in a long time.

oh wait, that's my car.

 

You needa black out your headlight rings!

Did I seriously just say that out loud??

 

i disagree, i never liked those blacked out rings.

plus, you shouldn't be talking and be practicing how to park your MC
in your garage.

 

I use Zaino - one coat of Z5 and two of Z2 but you can put on as many coats of Z2 as you'd like to increase the shine, but you should always finish with Z2. I use Hydro in between washes to give the paint that extra shine.

This has worked for me so far. Zaino is really great...I love it

 

What happened to the driving lights? It took me a while to figure out what was missing ... (They look great; put them back on!)

 

kenchan needs a rally bar and 4 driving lights

 

that was the look i wanted the last 4yrs. now going into my 5th
year, i wanted to go OE style...meaning, no aftermarket looking bits
on the car.

what we need to see is your girl friend's pictures!

 

yes, that is true. soon.... within a few weeks...

 

dont tell me you're still looking for one!

 

Anyone try Zaino's Z-CS & Z-AIO combo?

The Z-CS sounds interesting; but does it work well?

 

no

 

I hit my LiB last night with the Z-PC/Z-5/Z-2 combo and man it looks amazing! I'll see if i can get some pics in awhile. It really brought out the depth and shine in the paint, the lines in the car seem to pop quite a bit more, and it just looks beautiful.

Other than that my wifes CR 06 MCSC has had the same treatment and still looks better than new. I will be redoing hers in the next few weeks as well.

 

I don't like blacked out rings either, but they would look good on your MINI!

And I rearranged the garage. Parking is no longer a problem

 

that's funny, I say that every time I see my car!

 

once you have seen how carnauba looks, it is hard to go for other waxes. DP's epic is pretty close to carnauba plus the other interesting effects of synthetic. Zaino goes the other way in terms of depth, it losses it. shine, well, it is shiney. Probably easy to apply to, but that is meaningless on this forum

so is price

 

Hey Kenchan, your car is beautiful.

 

Although I haven't tried Ultima Finish Care yet, I can give you my opinion on the variations on look between Epic/Hydro and Zaino/CS:

Epic + Hydro = Moderate depth, very glossy shine, wet/liquidy
Zaino + ZCS = Some depth (from the CS component), very reflective shine

Neither has what I would call "warmth" or super-depth like a carnauba would.

With Lightning Blue, you could almost go either way IMO- in other words, I think on your color you won't see an incredibly big difference between the two systems. The only thing that would push me over towards Epic/Hydro (not to mention my bias, of course) is the addition of the glossiness, which would show fairly well on your paint color. Other than that though, you have one of those colors which can be as easy as say, silver, and yet does offer more potential depth than the "real" light colors.

So, you can get Lightning Blue to look great without being too picky about the final wax product, like you can with most light colors; yet, you can bring it to the next level by using something that adds depth, etc, like you can with dark colors. It's such a flexible color in that sense. Does that make sense?

-Heather

 

I've got a HB/W 06, i bought a zaino kit and did all of our families cars, it made a 92 accord shine like nothing out there. can't go wrong with zanio. a little pricey though.

 

Thanks, dlroto!

another motorer with super great taste.



El_J, how's the gf hunting.

 

yah, like saying i hate thai food, but you should try it.

yah, it's the garage's fault, not the driver. jk

 

Heather -- I was really hoping you would post a response

It sounds like if I use Epic + Hydro + P21S Concours-Look Carnauba Wax, I'll have the best mix of depth, shine, wet/liquidy and warmth. I'm try to go for a good balance on the Mini's paint. I'm sure I'll experiment with each of our older vehicles just to get a visual feel for each of the products individual strengths.

Let me know what you think of this combo.

Also, I have a DW443 (hook and loop) random orbit sander/polisher. It runs at 4000 - 6800 obm, which is a smaller/tighter range compared to the Porter Cables 2500 - 6000 obm. When machine polishing, do I need to be able to go below 4000 obm? I'm considering using this polisher on our '01 Maxima which is in need of some care.

Thanks for you help,
Jinxy

 

I agree... that would be a fun and rich combination. I also agree that with all 3 products at your disposal, you'll have fun mixing and matching on your other cars to determine what combos (or individuals) you like best on which cars. Each paint type and color will respond differently. Depending on the age/condition of your older cars, you'll probably want to vary your prep steps more than anything (ie, prep with Amigo and/or Swirl) for the best final finish. You'll have lots of fun experimenting, no doubt!


No problem on the range of the Dewalt. We also own one this same Dewalt model polisher. Although I think the electronic variable speed is a tiny wee drawback in some cases, it is really a great polisher. I would run it on the low side of its speed range for starters (3-4). As with any polisher, you'll have to do a little trial/error to determine the ideal speed setting for your specific task though. Your Max will definitely benefit from using the Dewalt on it.

I would use the orange pad and Swirl on an '01 Maxima... and work each section for a long time (2-4 minutes). You may need to finish it out with the white pad and Swirl, but it's not likely (depends on the color, to some degree).

The only other thing I'd add is to make sure you blow the polisher out with an air compressor really well if you've ever used it as a sander.

-Heather

 

Thanks for all your help Heather, I will be placing an order this weekend.

Definitely gonna blow the DW443 clean before any polishing.

The '01s color is Merlot (either pearl or metal flake). It's a true 3 stage paint and difficult to find touch-up paint for. The Mothers polish I've already tried on it was my first attempt. The car looks a lot better then it did, but has the potential to look great again. Hence my quest for better detailing products.

Thanks again,
Jinxy

 

I'm familiar with the Maxima Merlot. I agree that it likely has much more potential than you've seen so far with the Mothers polish. You've already got the biggest "weapon" with your Dewalt. Now just add the Swirl and orange and/or white pads plus 6-8 hours and you'll be impressed.

TIP: As with any paint you've not worked on with a polisher before, remember to figure out your "perfect prescription" (i.e. product, pad(s), amount of time, speed, etc) on a 2'x2' section before doing the rest of the car. Get that 2'x2' test section to pre-wax perfection before moving on. A little trial and error on that small spot will make the rest of the car a breeze and you'll end up with much better results overall than if you hadn't.

Have fun and good luck! (btw, some before and after pics would be fun if you're so inclined...)

-Heather

PS- for your touch-up paint, have you tried Auto Visuals yet? They tend to have the best color matching I've seen out there.

 

I'll give Auto Visuals a look. Thanks for the tip.