welcome Bob..

 

 

Personally, as a spray pianter for nearly 30 years, I am a 3M Perfect-It guy from the bottom up. Finished off with a quality carnuba wax.

But I have to admit, I use Zymol in between all out detailing. I am going to consider the ground up Zymol process in the future. I even use the Zymol on my carbon fiber Madone road bike (bicycle) people like to touch that too.

 

Your car looks sweet!!

 

Thanks OH.

 

I do nothing special to the car, it has 82k miles now and looks just as good in photos as the 13k mile Z06. Now up close there is no comparison between the two.

I just take good photos

 

As others have said, polishing the car is the key, and you can't (or at least SHOULDN'T) do that without claying the surface to make it perfectly smooth first... Most clays are fairly equal in my experience, but you should probably start with a "mild" one just to be on the safe side. Lubricant for the process can be pretty much anything wet, but soapy water is probably the cheapest. Next comes the polishing; the extent of damage to your paint will determine how aggressive you want to get. Your best bet is always to start with the least aggressive compound/combo you've got, evaluate the results, and go from there. I've had good results with the porter cable 7424 and using Menzerna products, but if they're not strong enough, the Meguiar's M105 and M205 compounds should do the trick. The polishing should give you the look youre after. You'll need to follow with a wax and sealant. I use Blackfire Wet Diamond as a sealant, and it makes the car look soaking wet. If you get really serious about detailing, you're going to spend a FORTUNE to amass all the products you need, but they should last for quite a while. My advice would be to buy small quantities at first until you find products/combos that you like... some of these products are extremely pricey.

And finally, don't be afraid of damaging your paint with the PC... the "DA" action helps prevent heat buildup, so as long as you keep it moving, you should be fine... Be warned though: once you get get started at this, you're going to get reaaaaaalllly **** about keeping it clean.

 

Yeah mine's not a Z, getting one as soon as the vert sells. I NXT paste wax with microfiber towels and I claybar it with mothers about every 5 months. It's smooth as ice when I'm done and usually last a few months since it's a garage queen.

 

"One of these things are not like the other"

 

Tom, again, I make mention of 3M Perfect-It line.
I think it is important to know that many of these products have a system. Various chemicals at different steps, then wax. In my many years of spray painting, more times than not, sticking with a porduct line reduced 'clouding' even in a marginal degree. When I say marginal, its like when you know "mom didn't make that pot of soup" close, but not "moms".

It is true that I have been out of the painting game now for a number of years and technolgies have changed. But from a painters perspective, I do appreciate the 3M line for its degree delight, but also from the stand point of a fender bender. I wrestled years ago with things like teflon coating while trying to "repair" a car. There were times were I couldn't get that stuff out of the finish to be repaired, which would have compromised the integrity of the repaired finish. I was always comfortable with 3M and their "system" beacuse it was painter friendly.

The inserted pic's are from years gone by... Before the digital age... The reflection in the black 944 was after I painted the car. Beyond my friend in the pic is the reflection 2.5 blocks away.

I guess in a nut shell, beyond clay bar, I simply encourage a system with in a product line. I think you will be happy. Me I think "system" for compatability, glamour.

Back in the day, I used to rub the finished vehicle down with Happich semi-chrome. You could not get a towel to stay on the car.

Think system is my humble opinion for clarity.

 

Tom one more thing.
If you use multiple products ie. Cleaner, Polish, Wax.
In my own opinion, use seperate towels (micro fiber) for each chemical.
Cross linking contamination can produce clouding, and a rag that just 'feels' nasty on a car.
Think green? I don't know, but think CLEAN.
(same with applicators too - one chemical - one applicator)

 

All pics look nice!

 

Here is what my Z16 looks like with Zaino application

 

Zaino is the only polish that will touch my Z06.

Zaino Z5 (Mixed with Zaino ZFX) - Let dry and remove
Zaino Z8 - Wipe car to ensure all polish is removed
Zaino CS - Let sit on car and dry over night
Zaino Z8 - Wipe car to dust off from garage dust.

Sit back and be amazed.....

I find that the shine gets deeper every time I use it. I hear that DAWN or any other type of dish soap will remove all polish. I would try not to use dish soap at all. Let the polish build up on the paint.

It works for me....

 

Keep in mind that many cars look better in pictures than they do in person Here is mine.

 

To be perfectly honest whatever type or brand of polish/wax/etc you use will work. It all comes down to prep, towels and knowledge. I cant tell you how many cars I have fixed the paint on and then the owner will use a cheap towel and undo all the work I have done. I have seen people take a dirty microfiber and detail to "clean" there car. At a certain point you can just detail spray the car. The the extra effort to remove the dirt and dust the correct way be washing and drying the car. When comes to getting the paint perfect you need to know how to properly clay and polish the paint. That is not an easy task. The clear on these cars is extremely hard. Most of the time I will leave my porter cable in my bag and go strait for my makita rotary. Best advice I can give you is do a lot of reading on the proper paint polishing and cleaning techniques.

 

I have come to believe, like mentioned above, the process and tools are more important than the products used.

Wash, clay bar, polish, wax.......

Use the proper product (polish & pad, clean microfiber towels) in the right order (ie- swirl remover, then fine polish, then wax). Your car will look great!

I have been detailing my own car with Adam's polishes and a random-orbital polisher for years. It has looked fantastic each time!

I recently took it to a professional who uses a rotary polisher (I don't have the skill or guts to use a rotary) and he made it look incredible!!!

Once you have it looking good, the less you touch the finish, the longer it will last.......!

Good luck...

 

Makita rotary, ahh a man with courage, and a cord over his shoulder! I wonder how many times I have counted to 4 with the rotary. 1-2-3-4 over and over and over.

You even mentioned towels. Yes, the micro fibers do have there place, but I still love buying the 10 pound bag of used/laundered diapers from the diaper service company. Good enough for a babies bottom, good enough for anything on wheels.

 

Rbartick, nice chariot! I had to take the time to say nice pics! That red is tough to take pics of! Those exposures are dead on! I like the depth of field setting in the pic with the white house. I have a cheesy digital, but a whole lot of dough wrapped up in medium format gear. Again, those exposures are great.

 

Mark you show stealer I need 3 years Mark, 3 years!