Zaino Z-2 on matte stripes

[Yippee38]

I use Zaino on my cars because I love the way they make the paint look, and I like that it lasts a long time. I was freaking out a bit about caring for the matte black stripes on my RS. As it is, it takes me all day to wash my car and get two coats of Zaino on it. Adding in masking the stripes and caring for them separately did not sound appealing.

I contacted Sal Zaino about using his products on the stripes and he told me:

"You're going love Zaino especially on all those decals. Zaino Show
Car Polish works great on all vinyl decals. It is non-abrasive, leaves
no white residue or wax buildup and actually makes the decals last
longer. It's UV40 protectant will keep the decals from shrinking, fading
and drying out. Plus it will make the decals look like they have a clear
coat over them. Try it on all the decals you'll love it.

You can use Z-2, Z-5, Z-6 or Z-8

NOTE: For Flat Black or Matte Decals.

Try a test spot on the Flat Black decals and see if you like the look.
It will make the decals have a slight gloss to them.. It boils down to a
matter of personal preference. "

So today I decided to test it on a bit of my stripes to see how it looked. I was very afraid that it would leave the stripes looking glossy. It didn't. It has a very nice, dark, satin finish. Here are some pictures showing the results. I washed the area of the stripes and wiped them down with the Zaino detailing spray. I then applied one coat of Z-2 to the right stripe, let it dry, then buffed the excess.

It is an overcast, but bright day. On the hood and trunk, I did the right stripe. You can't see it in the picture, but the right stripe on the trunk and the area between the stripes has some minor scratches. There are 4 of them about an inch apart. After 1 application of Z-2, the scratches are almost invisible on the stripe. You can also see that the finish of the stripe looks much more uniform with the Z-2. I don't know why, but in the picture of the trunk, the stripe looks lighter. In RL, both the front and rear stripes treated with Zaino look darker.





These two shots are to show the relative reflectivity of the stripe with Z-2 vs the stripe without. The first picture is the stripe with Z-2, the second picture is the stripe without. If you look very carefully near the spoiler, you can see a slight reflection from the stripe on the spoiler. The Zaino stripe reflects the light slightly more than the bare stripe, but it is still a nice satin finish. It is not at all glossy. You can see the difference in the darkness in this next picture if you compare the stripe on the spoiler (bare) with the stripe on the trunk.






I'm pretty happy with the results, and thought I'd share them. You can decide for yourself. I'm going to use Adam's Fine Machine Polish and Brilliant Glaze to remove imperfections and clean them before I treat them fully with Zaino. From then on though, I should only have to use the Zaino.

[Yippee38]

I don't know why the text decided to bold at the end. I can't turn the bold off. Sorry.

[camaro2ssblack]

Those look great, nice job.

[JTruck]

Is it me or are there three long scratches on your trunk lid between the two stripes?

[Yippee38]

Yeah. If you look closely, there are actually five of them running parallel to the stripes (two faint ones to the right). There are also two running perpendicular up at the top of those scratches. Those scratches were also on the stripe (both vertical and horizontal).

[CamaroDreams07]

Stripes look great

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[Yippee38]

I just wanted to update. I finally got Zaino on my entire car. What I did discover is that the stripes tend to absorb the polish in such a way that after one coat, the appearance is spotty. I'll be putting another coat on this weekend hopefully, and hopefully, it will remove the spotty look.

ZFC did a great job on the scratches on the trunk between the stripes. They're not completely gone, but they were pretty deep, so I didn't want to remove too much material. After getting some Z-5 on it, they're fairly unnoticeable.

[45thCamaro]

My neighbor turned me on to the z6. Works great. We also found a local guy who makes something close to the z6 that costs less and you get more.

[Yippee38]

IIRC, z6 is the detail spray.

[mjclemm]

I have never used the Zaino system on my Camaro, that being said, I want to use it on the strips, I as well have the satin finish on them, will I need to use the Zaino ZFX first ?
Should I use the Zaino system on the entire car for the best results ? Thanks for any info..mjclemm...

[Homer2]

Oh man.. this brings back memories. I spent 5 years selling the stuff.. doing customer cars etc.. but haven't touched it in the last 4 year. I have forgotten everything. Even the leftover stock in my basement is now questionable. The Z6 smell was ok.. and the smell brought back memories the other week.

I have to read up again.

[Yippee38]

Originally Posted by mjclemm

I have never used the Zaino system on my Camaro, that being said, I want to use it on the strips, I as well have the satin finish on them, will I need to use the Zaino ZFX first ?
Should I use the Zaino system on the entire car for the best results ? Thanks for any info..mjclemm...

ZFX is an additive that makes Zaino polish (Z2 or Z5) cure quicker. IIRC, if you do not use it, you can only apply a single coat of polish to your car, then you have to wait for at least 24 hours to apply a second coat. Since Zaino is additive - the more coats you add, the more scratches it hides, and the greater shine you get - adding multiple coats is important. I've heard it said that after you get about 5 coats on, the finish really looks much better than just a couple. Anyway, ZFX comes in a tiny bottle. You add 4-5 drops per ounce of polish that you will be using (I used about 1.5 ounces of polish on my car for one coat). It cures fast enough that pretty much as soon as you finish putting it on, you can start removing it. I think it takes 15-20 minutes to cure normally.

The recommendation is to use Z6 (detailing spray) on the applicator pad, and also on the whole car between applications of polish. It also works very well as a detailing spray (and it smells great, like all of the Zaino stuff).

ZPC is a polishing compound that can be applied by hand or with a DA. I used it on some spots on my car, and I could tell that it removes some of the swirl marks/scratches that were on my car. I probably would have done the whole car, but I ran out of ZPC. I did not use it on the stripes, nor would I recommend using it on the stripes.

I follow their recommended application guide: http://www.zainostore.com/mm5/mercha...s&Store_Code=Z

I use at least 4 coats of Z5 before I start using Z2. Z5 fills in those tiny swirl marks and scratches. Z2 is a finish polish with more shine than Z5. I've never used Z-AIO. I use, ZFX - curing additive, Z5 - polish, Z2 - polish, Z6 - detailing spray (haven't tried Z8), Z7 - wash soap, and Z18 - clay bar (though any clay bar should do). This time I used Z12 - glass polish and was very happy with it. My windows had either an oil film or sap on the windows. When I used to wipers it was almost harder to see out than without using the wipers because the window was so spotted. I tried Windex and Rubbing alcohol on the windows, but it didn't help. I used Z12 with my Porter Cable DA and my windows are nice and clean again.

I can't tell you if you should use Zaino on the whole car or not. That's a decision you'll have to make for yourself. I can tell you some of the pros and cons though.

Pros (IMO):
*Super shiny car, even when dirty
*Easy to use
*Lasts a LONG time
*Hides minor scratches, so it requires less surface prep than some other solutions

Cons:
*Some people hate the shine, and say it makes the car look "candy-coated"
*Purists will tell you that this stuff is fine for a light colored car, but you only want to use a quality wax product on dark colors to give you a "deep paint" look
*It's not cheap
*AFAICT, there aren't local distributors any more, so you have to order from the web store.

I can tell you that when I applied Z5 to my car, I didn't have to do anything special to prevent build-up along the edges of the stripes, or anything like that. I just covered the stripes as I did for the rest of the car, and buffed it out with the rest of the car. No problem.

[Yippee38]

BTW, to see the "candy-coated" effect that some people don't like, look at the pictures of the black and red pictures on this page: http://www.zainostore.com/mm5/mercha...s&Store_Code=Z