What
You have not sheeted on your rig yet?
It's the best way to rinse it off

 

Here I thought I was the only one who did that... I read about it in a Meguires catalog 9-10 years ago... It does work best, none of my friends will listen to me.

 

Looks GREAT Jeff !!!!!

Zainos is the BEST for Clearcoat !!

 

So Jeff, now that you've done it, what was your impression of the process and the difficulty?

 

Looks really good, Jeff!

 

Looks sweet! I finally did my whole Zaino ritual 2 weeks ago and I've already have 2 other people getting it. The difference it made on my truck was amazing and it it white!

 

So you got rid of the tree sap then...

It hurts my eyes to look at my wife's white Pre-Runner in the sun without sunglasses on.....LOL

I ordered and recieved a starter kit of Zainos and micro-fiber towels from PakShak for my best friends Birthday tomorrow.

I did the full blown buff it out with 3M and Zaino treatment on a used Avalon that he bought a few weeks ago and he was floored by the results. But the poor guy is afraid to order anything on the internet much less use a computer so I did it for him.

 

Yep! That was a looong afternoon/evening. I really wanted to get up there and have a NM session but I couldn't wait any longer. It was that bad! My buddy Markus that Jim met, saw it and is hooked. Looks like I will make a trip up to Alb. soon to help him and then we must get together Plus, I want to add more coats!

 

Cool !!!

Ya, I still need to get Jim's Runner over to buff it and put his first Zainos layers on it.

 

The hardest part for me was the claying. I read quite a bit about it, and it appears that the best way to clay is with the Griots claybar and the Corey Cable. Unfortunately, I did not have the budget for this. I had never seen claying done in person, so I had no idea what the bar should look like once it had pulled off the deeply embedded dirt. The Zaino comes with 2 claybars and I wasn't sure if I should use both. I washed the car with Dawn dish soap a couple of times in the weeks leading up to claying (to remove the remaining wax from my last wax job). Per the instructions, I added some of the Zaino car wash to a spray bottle to create a lubricated surface over which I pressed the clay. I never felt confident of whether I was using the right amount of force. The other tough part was the condition of the clay by the time I got to the last quarter of the vehicle. The clay was now extremely maleable and left the yellow clay residue behind on the paint. This makes me think I should have used one bar for each half lf the car (any ideas?) The residue wasn't a problem as I had planned on doing a final wash with Dawn anyways. From then on, the process was cake. The Z-5 and subsquent Z-6 applications were a breeze. With the ZFX curing agent, and a temperature of about 75 degrees outside, I was able to wipe off the dried polish less than a half hour after applying! It comes off really easy and the result is VERY GLOSSY. One of the first things I noticed is contours in the panels of the 4Runner that I had never noticed before. There are just so many more reflections off of the paint. One thing I had to do was remind myself not to put the Z-5 and Z-2 on too thick. LESS IS MORE! During my first 5-6 applications, I kept wanting to add more polish too the applicator so that I could easily see where I had already applied. You use way too much this way! I wasted at least 3-4 potential coats during this learnign period. Here is an example of how it should be used ---> Put a dime sized bead of polish on your applicator and start by working on 1/2 of the hood. Work back and forth or up and down so that you can keep track of where you've applied, so that you don't need to actually see the applied polish (if you are relying on sight, you've probably used too much). Even though it feels like nothing is beeing applied to the vehicle, finish the first half of the hood. If you step away from the car a few feet, you will see that you have indeed added a coat of polish to half of the hood. As the polish gets absorbed into the applicator, you will need to reapply the polish to the applicator less and less frequently. Instead of slopping on the polish and doing one coat, use 1/3 of that amount and do the application/removal 3X. You will get much better results as you are utilizing all of the Zaino, instead of wiping off the majority of a thickly dried layer. Trust me, you will get a feel for it. The combination of shiny results and ease of application makes this stuff addictive. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes, but I have been religiously wiping down the car with the Z-6 gloss enhancer before each application of Z-6 (Per Sal Zaino's instructions). Using the Z-6 as your top coat will definitely make a difference, but I'm not sure whether having it between layers does anything (?). As a plus, the Z-6 smells really great! I apply it with the Pak Shak microfiber towels that the detailing buffs on this forum have been raving about. I now use these towels to wipe off the dry polish as well. It makes the process even easier! I hope this doesn't sound too much like an infomercial, but this product really is as good as everyone says. I hope all of you with Anthracite 4runners give the product a try. I now see the metal flecks in this unique paint color that I had never seen before Zaino. I was unsure about the color when I first bought the vehicle, but now I can definitely say... I love my Anthracite 4runner!

 

Jeff,

Ahem...pics? You know you can't talk that way w/o pics!

You hit the nail on the head: less is more. As you put it, if you are going by sight, you're probably using too much.

I'll have to try those Pakshack microfiber towels out. They work well applying AND removing the Zainos? I never knew.

As far as the clay bar goes, it sounds like you may have not been spraying enough fluid on the surface. I only work on a little patch at a time, making sure i use enough fluid before applyling the clay bar and i dont use alot of pressure or force.

Bob

 

Sorry about that! I decided to move the pics to another host site so that I could show them at a slightly better resolution.
Tell me what you think.

 

Bob is right about the clay - More Lube....LOL

Your Runner looks Fantastic!!!!!!

 

OK. When the time comes to clay again (maybe next spring), I will try to use more lube. Does anyone know if I should have used both included bars instead of just 1? Thanks for all the kind compliments!

PS - I just got another set of microfiber towels from Pak Shak. I never thought I could get so excited over towels!

 

You should only need one unless you drop it on the ground. In that case, throw it away! Ues the second one to pick up where you left off.

Scott

 

I just applied some of the Zaino glass polish to the windows. Anyone else using this? I'll have to let you know how it turns out...

 

Nope -- I use Rain-X. With a good coat of that on, you don't need wipers.

 

hey guys, just wondering about hand or machine polishing, getting ready to do my 97 white 4runner with lots of oxidation, any recommendations? thanks, dd