if I clay my car and then do not get to PC and add more zaino to the car for several days, does this leave the car without any protection, or does claying leave some zaino protection on it?

 

clearcoat is your protection... if it's for a few days or even a few weeks
it's not like your car's going to turn brown.

 

Yep! The Rachel Ray Show told me so!

 

Unless you use AIO, of course

 

well, I did it....I did clay my car this morning and drove to work and the car of course is all muddy from driving on roads with melting snow....but tomorrow morning I wash, dry and then, if not called into work, will try my new PC toy and use Z-PC swirl polish and the Zaino-AIO followed by Z5, Z2,Z6 and then catch some z's.....I will try a small area first to see how my paint likes these new products and also to see if I really need to tape...Sal says I probably would not have to tape as long as wipe off the Z-PC right away, and no need to tape for the Z-AIO

 

That's where I heard that too

Mark

 

With Zaino you will not have to tape. There will be no staining of the trim whatsoever. In fact I use to put Z-2 right on the trim. Be sure to let us know what you think of the AIO. I used the CS on my wheels last week just for fun.

 

well, yesterday I did the PC thing with Z-PC then Z-AIO the Z5

first of all, there is no need to do any taping with any other these products, although I would frequently wipe off the trim so the product would not dry on the trim

as for my first time using PC, well, twas easy and got comfortable with it in no time....OG's DVD was a great guide

the Z-PC...well, was easy to use,easy to wipe off, but did not remove all the swirls though it lessened them somewhat...now my paint only had a trace amount of swirling to begin with so maybe i was too timid with pressure and with lenghth of time and was afraidof somehow destroying my car and I only did one pass on a work area then would wipe off and move on....maybe I should have kept it up longer for each pass and then make several passes to remove all the swirls?....I may go back and play some more, but the car looks so great now I may live with this light swirling as it is rarely visible

Z-AIO...again, easy to use, let dry then easy to wipe off....it did remove the trace haze left by the Z-PC, as Sal at zaino said it would.....very very happy with the way the car was after the AIO was done as this give some protection and left the car very slick, but then put on a coat of Z5 on top anyway.....looks even better and even slicker...nice deep color on my chili red.....will add 2 coats of Z2 next week

So, even though some swirling remains, I am happy with the results, but may go back and do one door panel with 2 or 3 more passes of Z-PC next week, or maybe not....not sure if I want to remove too much clearcoat

 

You really need not worry about removing too much clearcoat. The Z-PC uses a diminishing abrasive so it gets less abrasive as you work it. When it gets nearly clear and hazy you know the abrasive is about spent, so wipe it off, inspect and use more or move on.
I suggest you work a 2'x2' sq area using as many passes as needed to remove the swirls, then move on to the next. Overlapping each area will assure good coverage.
Would love to see some photos if you have the opportunity.

 

How many passes over an area is typically done? Would a more abrasive product or better technique remove all swirling in one pass, or do you typically need 2,3 or 4 passes to remove all swirling?

 

really depends on the abrasive used, pad, and speed.

i only have experience with griot's polishes and pads, but i find myself
going over at least 5-6 times with moderate pressure on 4.5-4.75 speed.
this means my pad rotates approx every 2sec. then the additional final
pass i let the pad spin once every 1sec.

my G has no swirls after yesterday's polishing cause i bought the car new
3yrs ago and never had the dealer wash it other than during delivery. my
MCS was a floor model/demo and had tons of swirls/scratches. the depth
of these swirls to me were scratches. so unless i have the paint thickness
measured im not going to go much deeper as i have made many passes to
remove most of the deep swirls out. it's to a point it doesn't bother me
with a good coat of wax.

maybe octaneguy can fix my paint down the road.

 

Kenchan.....when you say 5-6 times, do you mean that you PC an area up/down/left/right until the polish seems done, then wipe off and inspect and then do this again 5 times?

 

I think he is saying he goes over the polish 5-6 times before he wipes it off, to make sure it is completly worked in.

 

i make 5-6 slow passes with the one app of polish and determine if it was
enough or not.

if the swirl/haze is gone i move on, but if not i either repeat once more
or go to a more course polish and determine if it's enough or not.


jep!

 

thanks....,.........hey, did you ever make any progress with your ash tray/coin holder light product project?

 

umberto- np! no, that project never really got interest from other
members. only a few..like 10 people.

 

if you build it, they will come


a really great mod...I love it in my car

 

yeh. around here we started using transponders so perhaps
that's why the interest was lost. but definitely a nice mod.

 

well., 4 weeks has passed since I PC'd for the first time with mixed results.....improved the swirling but not as much as I had hoped....but still, the car looked great before and even better after I PC'd with Z-PC.....but there remains some very light swirling that only I can see (my wife thinks I'm crazy and obsessed) only under street lights, so:

today I did the baggie test which showed I could stand to re-clay, but I only worked on the hood (bonnet) and the entire driver's side of the car. I clayed then used the PC on speed 4 w/Z-PC and did it slow and on a small area at a time (18"X 18") and worked it in longer and then repeated it...big improvement...you can still see some swirls in direct sunlight but comparing where I did today versus where I didn't, a big difference. This is as far as I'm going to go....happy with the results