Here's a two month old MCS purchased from South Bay MINI. Didn't look too bad. Roof had some light swirls, the body was covered in a light coat of dust. Front wheels were covered in brake dust, but nothing too unusual. This buffout will be slightly different from other ones because the owner has specifically requested that I use his newly purchased Zaino kit. So my plan is to wash, clay, polish using M80 (Speed Glaze) and PC, Dawn Wash to remove oils from M80, apply two coats of Zaino Z2 with ZFX via PC.








Slight yellow discoloration--common with PepperWhite paint.










Washed first with Meguiar's Gold Class car wash soap. I didn't want to use up my Mystique because I knew I would be doing a Dawn wash after the polishing stage.


Taped off and ready for polishing.


Working in alleys aren't ideal work places! You got cars flying down here kicking up dust and debris.


Leaves everywhere!


And this neighbor a few houses down was painting this garage with an electric sprayer! Fortunately we were upwind of him.


Result of a test spot using a PC and M80. I wanted to show the customer how the PC was safe yet would should dramatic improvement on his paint. Hard to tell but the right side is the swirl free polished area, the left side is the untouched side.


Here it is all polished out with M80 Speed Glaze.


Looks wet and glossy!


I love M80 Speed Glaze


Yep it's ready for washing.


Washing???


Yeah the owner wants Zaino on the paint since he bought it. So, I did a Dawn wash and fortunately it still looked great.


And applied Z2 with ZFX mixed in the 2oz bottle using the PC and W9006 pad. I wasn't about to break my arm by using Zaino by hand. Afterall, I already polished out the car to remove the swirls.


I did two coats before I called it a night.


Sorry for the blurry pix. I'll never learn that I can't hand hold a long exposure night shot! I had my tripod, but was too lazy to run out to the adjacent parking lot in the dark to grab it.

As usual this car looked great before I applied the LSP, Zaino in this case. While Zaino wasn't hard to use, it did take a long time for the wax to cure, but applying it with the PC took about the same effort as using any synthetic wax. To me there was no benefit of using Zaino. Would I use it again? Doubtfully. Doing that Dawn wash after M80 seemed kinda of pointless to me, it was an extra step I wouldn't do again. The customer was super pleased even before the Zaino was on, he treated me well, and next I'll be working on his girlfriends black car next! See more at www.ShowCarDetailing.com

 

looks pimptastic.

I am not sure what m80 glaze is. different than fine polish?

Is the zaino the same as the meguiars stuff you use? or different look or something?

 

Just a ball park but what would you expect to pay too have this done, and how long will it last, and what do you have to do to keep the look up?

 

M80 Speed Glaze is a painter cleaner/polish from Meguiar's professional line. I recommend it for anyone that wants good results with the PC. It uses diminishing abrasives that you pretty much cannot even feel when you rub it between your fingers.

Zaino is the synthetic wax (polymer polish) that everyone talks about here on NAM. It's most often described as a product that looks best in layers. It uses fillers to minimize swirls. It's mostly a hand applied polish/wax.

So no, not the same as the Meguiar's. My synthetic wax picks are Prima's (DetailersParadise) Epic and Meguiar's M21. IMO, Epic is a bit thicker, and doesn't have separation issues that M21 does, so it's my favorite LSP.



Depends on who does the work. My MINI rate has been $200 per MINI, something I started at the beginning of this year--but will have to raise the rate a bit in 2007.

For that rate--it's 6 to 8 hours of polishing--you get a swirl free finish that protected with a professional grade synthetic wax. The paint is claybarred so it's smooth to the touch. Inside is vacuumed and dusted. Tires and trim are dressed, and if needed engine bay is detailed and dressed. Any minor defects like scratches, or stains are removed as best as possible.

You can expect a synthetic wax to last around 2 to 4 months depending on how much exposure the car gets, how often it's washed, etc.. To keep it looking good, wash the car using good technique.

Use the two bucket wash method as seen here
www.ShowCarGarage.com

Once it's been polished out, you could maintain it with a spray wax until the next waxing, or just apply by hand some more of the synthetic wax in a few months to maintain it. Polishing might be a once a year, or twice a year deal for most people.

 

great job! Wish you had any recommendations of services like yours in NYC!

 

Thanks! Hmm, I think I know another MINI mobile detailer in the NY area. Check this guy out

http://www.mirror-finish.com/

He's also got a MINI, and he's a member of my site at SCG--and he's learned a lot from me as well.

 

Personally, I find it a LOT easier to apply Zaino by hand than by using the PCDA... It's a wipe-on type of motion... no need for the Karate Kid "wax on, wax off" circling and I find that the PCDA just forces me to get the sealant into nooks and cranies that I wouldn't have pressed it into if I had been using a small foam applicator by hand.

$200 is a GREAT price for that amount of work, time and product (skill and knowledge too).

The PW looks great (but I'm biased for PW anyway! :D ). Nice Job!

In the Dallas, TX area, try www.zainomobiledetail.com. They did an M3 of a friend of mine... interior, wash, claybar, 2 coats of Zaino for $150 in the office parking lot. They do polishing work at their shop if you want, but I don't think they do it at the client site, for many of the reasons that OG pointed out in the beginning of his post.

 

Thanks agranger,

Applying Zaino by PC really wasn't a big deal. Actually it went really fast, so fast that the owner who was and still is afraid of the PC was shocked by how fast I could wax a car. I still touched up areas by hand though.

Richard

 

Would the M80 be similar to the Zaino Z-PC and/or Prima Finish? Why did you feel that you had to use the Dawn wash after using the paint cleaner?

The Zaino Z-2 does not have fillers, it is their straight synthetic wax. The Zaino Z-5 has the fillers for swirls. When I was doing the Zaino process (before I started using Prima) I would do a coat of Z-5 and then 2 coats of Z-2 with the QD (Z-6) wipe downs in between.

Very nice work Richard and at a very reasonable price.

 

Looks really nice Octane Guy! I wish your services were available here in Chicago!!

Late last summer I paid a local detailer $230 (the price was $225, he kept the change... ) I wasn't too happy with the results (the polishing wasn't great). And his "special" wax lasted no more than 1 month. Looks like I need to learn how to use a PC or find some one else in the area.

 

Thanks for the clarification. It's been 3 years since I last tried Zaino.

Meguiar's product have polishing oils in all their products--it's part of the reason their polishes look so wet and glossy. I did the Dawn wash after it to remove those oils so that the paint would be clean and ready to accept Zaino.

For this particular car, the owner wanted Zaino since he bought the kit, and in the box was a bottle of Z6 and Z2 and Zfx.

I figured I would use my tried and true system to remove the swirls, make it look it's best, then just protect it with Zaino. So the Z2 essentially became the same step of wax as any other wax I might have used.

Thanks!

Richard

 

Looks great and thanks for the write-up on the approach.

 

Looks nice! It's been too cold here to apply Zaino. However, I applied it to my Stratocaster! I love it! Made the guiter look $400 more expensive than it was!!

 

 

Great write up again Richard.

 

nice definition, octaneguy.

 

That's exactly what I do for Jango (except using the Sonus pads and polishes... It's what I know well). The finish is smooth enough after a good polishing that it isn't necessary to use the Z5. My wife's flat black car, however, gets a couple of base-coats of Z5, followed by at least one coat of Z2... I don't feel like polishing it to the same finish as my MINI as it's HUGE and the morons at her valet service will just scuff it up anyway.

 

Great work as usual! Maybe you mentioned it before but I can't believe you only charge $200 (I'm hoping that is just a special for fellow mini owners?). You certainly put in a full workday of physical labor, with spectacular results that are worth more than double.

So you do not recommend zaino simply because it takes longer to cure than you are used to?

The benefits of zaino have been clearly stated over and over again: durability. Of course you don't see that benefit the same day you first apply it. But it seems kinda harsh that you completely write it off. Besides the curing that you stated, there must be some reason why you think others are better to make such a strong statement, right?

 

LOL, yes it's a special MINI rate. I have done it mostly because I enjoy talking with MINI owners--most of the MINI jobs are quite fun since the owners are eager to learn and participate unlike more conventional cars where the owner hands me the keys, and comes back 8 hours later.

I'll be bumping my rate slightly for 2007 to $250 for MINIs, my rates for conventional cars, Corvettes, Mercedes, BMWs, etc. will remain the same of $400 - $600 per car.

re: My view on Zaino
It's not that I don't recommend Zaino, it's just that I won't use it if I don't have to.

Maximum durability isn't an issue for most of my cars because I will be back in 6 months to work on their cars again. For my own MINI, I have even less time to work on it than a customers car, so I mostly Slick it, but I will still try to polish out a portion of the MINI atleast once a month. Sometimes it's the bonnet, sometimes its the boot, rarely do I get to work on my own car all at once.

Achieving a flawless show quality finish, protecting it, then teaching the owner how to keep it that way is most important for me and that comes from sticking with a system for consistency, and using good quality products--microfibers, etc...

Zaino doesn't offer me anything significant as far making my cars look better. I've already shown what they look like before the wax application. And that's true regardless of what wax I put on (Meguiars, Prima, Zaino, etc..)

Besides, California is different from other parts of the country---our winters right now consist of cold dry weather---45 deg at night and 60-70s during the daytime--depending on area of course--but in my area and where I work on cars, snow isn't an issue. So my advice on Zaino should be taken with the caveat of both the circumstances & geography that I live in.

And above all, no matter what wax anyone uses, the key to durability is to use it often--so even if you've got a wax that lasts 1 to 2 months, if you don't mind reapplying it, that's all the durability you need.

re: curing
It's no secret that #21 Synthetic Sealent or Prima Epic have been my favorite waxes. The reason being, straight out of the bottle, they go easily on to a car---easiest by PC I think--drying is pretty quick--usually 15 to 20 minutes, then I'm ready to apply a second coat to ensure evenness, or if its my car, I'll wait 24 hours, then apply a second or third coat.

Once Z2 was mixed with ZFX, it was as easy to use as any other wax product. It even smells nice.

Curing time is important--after working 8 to 12 hours on a MINI, an additional hour of waiting time isn't desirable for me.

But even besides that, it wasn't easier to wipe off, it didn't look more glossy or wet, than what I normally use. It didn't make things look worse either, so I suppose in essence it didn't wow me as a product, and with such a huge and passionate product following, it was rather disappointing.

Is Zaino a good product? Certainly. Is it the best? No, atleast not IMO.

 

Yeah yeah yeah you lucky stiffs in socal.. :p I keep forgetting you don't have to worry about endless days of rain, mud, snow, salt, etc. When I do a wax test I think I will purposely throw some saltwater on it!

Don't forget your standards are already incredibly high. You come from using professional products that most people can't get.

I think you might be following the insane myths on drying time. Zaino only needs hours to dry in cold weather, less than 60 degrees...as would anything else that cures. On a normal 75-degree day, 15 minutes is plenty with Z2 alone, and with ZFX it feels half cured as you apply it; 10 mins is more than enough.

I have to reserve my experiences with DP etc till the spring to find out for myself.

 

Actually this isn't true (the product part not my standards ). Most enthusiast products like Zaino aren't available in stores, but online. Just the same people can go to www.AutoDetailingSolutions.com or even www.Meguiars.com and purchase any consumer or professional product they want, and many have when they bought their PC's.

As far as drying times are concerned, I always use the swipe test to determine when a wax is ready to be wiped off since drying times vary from day to day as much as geography.

For the Swipe Test, you take your clean finger, and swipe the dried wax. If the swiped area is clean and glossy underneath, and the edges of the swipe are crisp, not smeared or smudgy, the wax is ready to be wiped off.

When you remove the wax after an acceptable swipe test using #21 or Epic, the wax just glides off because it's dry. If it's not dry yet, it's got a lot of drag and actually requires effort to remove.

 

I find that Zaino, when it is cooler than 60 degrees or when it is very humid, can require at least 45 minutes to dry to the finger swipe test. I'm generally not in a hurry and build some dry time into my process (that's when I have lunch or detail the interior, for example).

Because I'm working on my car, and not a client's car, I frequently wash the car in the evening, apply a coat of Z2 and pull it into the garage. I'll buff it off the following morning in 15-20 minutes and be on my way w/ a quick top-up coat. It has the additional benefit of splitting the work into 2 days, making it seem a bit less onorous.

 

Great tip!
But I know the first time I tried to do this I would be back in my garage in 45 minutes just to check that it is drying properly. Then since it is dry, well I might as well get it off. And since it is so easy to put on, I might as well apply a second coat. But 45 minutes later I would come back to see if it was dry and since it was I might as well take it off. Anyway, 3 hours later I would be exhausted but my MINI would be done and waiting for me in the morning.

 

And besides, by the time you figure out the correct order of all the "Z" numbers, and mix the little bottles of curing time shortcut, and do the "layers" and learn the secret Zaino handshake, you've run out of daylight.

 

"Zaino is the synthetic wax (polymer polish) that everyone talks about here on NAM. It's most often described as a product that looks best in layers. It uses fillers to minimize swirls. It's mostly a hand applied polish/wax."

Nice job.....
Zaino Z2 is not a wax or polish but is a "polymer Paint Sealant" similar to Rejex. It is 99.9% optically clear with no fillers and is usually used as the last step. I usually lay down 3 coats of Z5Pro with ZFX (a dryer that is used so you can apply 3 coats in a row) Z5 has fillers and is Zaino's version of a swirl remover. I then apply Z2pro over the z5pro the next day. Either way good results are easy to achieve.