Yeah I gave in and decided to get the Zaino. I got the kit since I am nearly out of clay anyhow. The real reason I ordered it was becuase of the wife's Navi. The clearcoat black is tough to maintain to my **** standards. I sure don't remember my other black vehicles being this bad.

The question is do I finish off with Z2 or the Z5? The web site doesn't make that real clear, or I just didn't read carefuly enough. Thanks for the replies.

 

You might want to ask this in the general care section as they get more bites on detailing issues. If you want the best information, then try this site:

www.autopia.org

this is one of the best detailing sites I have encountered, and there are numereous Zaino users on there. Good luck and be sure to show some before and after pictures. Black's a great color when polished and waxed properly, but it can also be a real pain. I have a white Navi, and I'm glad I went that route. My Mustang is black and that's big enough to have to deal with. Good luck.

 

i usually do 3 coats of zaino in a day. when i do, i'll do 2 coats of Z5 and one coat of Z2. they recommend finishing off with a coat of Z2 because it has higher optic qualities or something like that. i've experimented on different panels on the truck which combo i like best (yes you can tell a difference between how just Z5 and Z2 looks) and i like more Z5 on the paint.

if i am short on time and only have enough time to do one coat, i usually just do Z5 and leave it at that.

 

Thanks for the advice. It's pretty interesting that my baby the 'L is much more forgiving when it comes to paint care than my wifes Navi.. We had a white EB Expy before this and as you could guess it was easy to care for, but I had to have all one color and that left black and some tan as a option. We at least the wife is happy. Wife happy=my happy.

 

What Harley stated is basically what I do. I have a sonic blue L so it would be considered a dark color like black. I first put 5 coats of Z5 on it to insure all, which wasn’t many, fine scratches were not visible. Keep in mind these fine scratches I am talking about are ONLY visible to us **** people, normal people would never had noticed them…

I liked the shine of the Z5 and left it that way for a few weeks to get use to it. I then came back and put 3 coats of Z2 on and it really gave it that “pop”. I have now had about 5 – 8 people ask what I use to make it look so damn shinny and wet looking.

So defiantly finish up with 2 – 3 coats of Z2 and I think you will be very pleased…

 

Not sure if you have every used Zaino. I wrote this up a while back so maybe it may be of some help to you:


Zaino Application

1. Wash truck with the Dawn dishwashing soap. This will strip any wax or grease residue that may be present on the paint. Use a good quality wash mitt such as sheep skin. Do not use just an ordinary cloth. A good wash mitt along with plenty of suds is designed to pick the dirt up into the mitt and not leave it on the surface of the mitt where it can get dragged around and introduce scratches in the paint.

2. Get a 20oz size or so plastic spray bottle. Fill it 2/3 full of clean water. Put about half a cap (from the Zaino car wash bottle) of the Zaino car wash in with the water. Put the spray nozzle back on and mix solution.

You will use this to lubricate the paint when claying the truck.

3. Use the Zaino, or any good brand of clay. If it is the Zaino clay it comes with two pieces in the bottle. Take one and separate it into 2 pieces. Main reason for doing this is IF you DROP it on the ground you MUST throw the clay away. Do NOT bother trying to get the dropped clay clean because you will never get all the little dirt specks out, some you won’t see but if you try to use it after dropping on the ground you WILL see nice little scratches in your paint.

Now with your piece of clay in hand, spray the mixed solution on an area of about 1 sq foot. Spray generously (the solution is cheap so don’t worry about over kill) if you spray to lightly if will dry up quick, which makes it easy for the clay to STICK to the paint (no problem) except when it sticks you’ll most likely to drop it. Move the clay back and forth or up and down (not in circular motions) until it feels smooth or feels like it needs more lubrication. You will know if you are picking stuff up because it feels a bit rough, or kind of like clicking while you go back and forth. When it is real smooth you know the area is done. You may also find most the truck feels smooth as you clay, but down around the fenders, bottom of the door etc will most likely be the areas that need the claying.

As your claying you want to turn the clay frequently, knead it where you’re turning the area of the clay you used into itself to expose an area of clay that has not been used yet. If you use the same area of the clay, especially after you feel a rough spot on the paint surface you will be dragging the stuff you picked up across the paint. Myself I would recommend after you do 1 – 2 areas to knead the clay and use and area that hasn’t been used yet.

4. After you finish claying wash the truck again, this time use the Zaino car wash.

5. Dry the truck using a good quality Microfiber towel or 100% cotton towels (made in the USA). The good brands not the cheap crap from overseas, because even though they say 100% cotton they have other materials in them that could scratch the paint, this goes for Microfiber towels as well. Stay away from the real cheap deals in auto parts stores etc. There may be other recommendations for drying from other post so you decide which suits you best. I would highly recommend using the Microfiber rather then the cotton towels because it will reduce your chances of introducing scratches.

6. After the truck has been dried your ready to polish using the Zaino. If you do not have the ZFX I would HIGHLY recommend you get the ZFX. The following is assuming you’re using the ZFX, if not the dry time may be much longer after you put a coat on.

7. Mix the ZFX with the Z2 (light colors) Z5 (dark colors) using the 2oz bottles provided in the kit. If you fill the bottle close to 2oz then you will want about 8 drops of the ZFX. Mix well for about a minute. Let sit for about 5 minutes while you get things ready.

8. Get your applicator ready by wetting it and ringing it out good. This helps so it doesn’t absorb a lot of the polish. After the 5 minutes re-shake the bottle again and now you’re ready to polish. On the sides of the truck, doors, fenders, tailgate etc put the polish on in an up and down motion (not circular) just straight up and down. Put it on LIGHTLY I would say about a dime size amount of polish on the applicator will do about a 2 foot section or so.

On the hood, do the same straight application, from the windshield to the front of the hood, not from one side to the other, from the windshield to the front of the truck.

The trick is doing very thin coats of Zaino. A 2oz bottle filled about 2/3’s full (with the ZFX kit) should be plenty to do 3 coats for the entire truck.

9. Once you are done applying the Zaino with the ZFX I would wait about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes find an area you can run you’re finger across to see if it is clear and shinny or if it looks smeared.

It WILL be HARD TO SEE the Zaino polish when it has hazed if you have a light color like silver. I had silver and it is a pain to see but now I have sonic blue and you can tell a little.

You want to make sure that it is NOT smearing. It won’t hurt the paint, it will mean the Zaino has not dried completely and it will be a PAIN IN THE @SS to take off. If it does smear with the finger test wait another 15 minutes or so and check again.

When it is dry, it is very easy to buff off. If you feel like you’re really having to buff the hell out of it to get it off (towel DONT feel like it glides right across the paint) then it is not dry and it’s just smearing around.

IMPORTANT, when buffing off the polish to use same type of towels, highly recommended to use Microfiber or (100% cotton made in the USA). Turn your towel frequently when buffing off the Zaino polish, like any other polish/wax.

Once your done buffing off the first coat you can apply the second coat (only if you’re using the ZFX) otherwise I think you have to wait like 8 hours in between coat. When using the ZFX you can only put a max. of 3 coats on in a day. You should really notice a nice difference after 3 – 5 coats. Some people use the Zaino Gloss enhance (detail spray) in between coats. I have done it before and not done it and didn’t notice any real difference. So myself I wouldn’t waste it between coats.

Hope this helps a bit…

 

Thanks for all the replies. I really like the write up and yes I read that when I did the search. It just wasn't specific of how many coats of Z2 and Z5 to use. Now I have pretty good idea what to do. Thanks again. I will take some before and after picks of both vehicles.