Hi Hmmm,
I was pointing out that the black plastic trim does not have the ugly white coating on it. There was no need to mask it off when using Zaino Clear Seal because you can use it on the plastic too.
I do use my car so it always has a little brake dust on the wheels.(ALWAYS)
The brake dust is easier to get off after using clear coat on them. I just don't wash my car every single day so I do live with a little brake dust on my wheels.
The big Brembo calipers on the JCW produce a lot of the brake dust.
Ronnie948

Zaino is "NOT" my product--I just have been using it and Like it
I do not work for the company and just purchase it like any customer would.

 

Well, I'm a noob and did this for the first time every last weekend.
Just got a 7424XP polisher, all the waxes, polishers, clay, etc.

I know it's a pain, but I look at it as the old saying goes:
Anything that's worth doing, it worth doing right.

Since I'm new it took like 3 hours to mask everything off because I wanted to be safe than sorry. Here's the prep job:





The sunroof seams were a real pain.

Yeah I used a lot of tape, and yeah some of the masking off wasn't necessary as I found out after doing it for the first time, but again, just do it right and reap the satisfaction for 6 months or so until you start all over again.

 

All that masking is a lotta work..too much work. I wax as I would normally do, of course trying to keep the wax off the trim, but not obsessing about it. When the car is totally buffed, I grab my trusty little bottle of Mother's Back to Black and several manila folders I've cut into 4" wide strips. I slide these between the trim wall, and the car body, inching them along as I work the trim and the Mother's takes care of the rest...it does occasionally take a little more scrubbing, but not three hours worth. For the top trim, I use P303 UV protectorant which I've never seen to leave any nasty residue on the paint..a simple wipe with a soft terrycloth towel removes any overage.
Some people prefer Black Wow but I can't see the difference between the final finish but there is a substantial price differential.

 

I literrally said "OH MY GOD" out loud when I saw your pics, TokyoMINI...

How long does that take to do now that you got the hang of things?

 

I've only done it once.
I'm guessing if I do it again it'll take about an hour.

Then again for all the people that would never want to do this. The three hours it took me had me "stuck" in the garage for a while, listening to tunes and being within arms reach of the beer fridge. Not always a bad thing.

 

Dang this is the first time seeing someone detailing their car in their kitchen.

 

tokyomini

I am impressed, one heckuva tape job.

Suggestion-Tape the Vinyl stripes too. While Vinyl doesn't mind wax it does not take well to abrasive polishes (Swirl, Amigo, etc). Lesson learned for me from last time was to put tape over the entire stripe not just the edges where they meet the paint.

I did a pretty major OCD tape job on the spring detail and I think Richard hit it on the head that some taping is good and some is not. Like you I'll learn where vital and where not