I just used a new product on a 2012 black jaguar. It is made by Pinnacle and is called Black Lable Paint Coating. It comes in a 4 ounce pump spray bottle. As with most waxing projects, preparation is the key. I clayed the car and then used the Porter Cable DA to polish it and then applied the coating. About 2 pumps on the bottle is enough to cover a 2 square foot area. After misting it on you spread it with a sponge applicator. Any left over high spots are removed with a microfiber towel. This product looks fantastic and it is supposed to last 3 years. I am skeptical about the 3 years, but it is one of the new nano ceramic coatings that seem to be the up and coming thing. You can check it out on the autogeek.net site. I plan on putting it on my 99 vette in a few weeks.

 

Just an FYI ,today with an M+ Mass spectrometer, any formula can be deciphered, making the secret formula security of any product no longer secret.
Products that work well, can be cloned and their formulas replicated with a different label. So today, there are products that have different names and manufacturers that use the same molecular formula.
Personally, Ill stick with what I've used for the last 16 years. No one had a product like this 16 years ago, and I'm guessing ones that offer similar properties, somehow came from the blood sweat and tears of a guy working with his DuPont Chemist relative in his garage in North Jersey. Funny how his products wound up in the lab of a giant like Maguire's, and I suspect a few other major manufacturers. So, the bottom line is, there is more than one product out there to do the job... There is no longer, any secret magic.

 

Evil-Twin,

Since I am new to using a clay bar, how many times do you use it?

Every other hand wash?

Every six months?

Every year?

Or never, after you apply the zaino products?

 

Welcome to the forum... You asked me a specific question about what I do... Of course I will tell you.. but your specific question to me has nothing to do with what others do, or the relevance of what I do to what you need.. Understand?

The reason you need clay has to do with the pollen count in your area, the amount of bug guts your car draws. eg. if you do a lot of highway driving and see bugs splashed on your front fascia, you need to clay them out. Surface contaminants come from many things. Generally speaking, I clay my car at least once a year. Its more therapy than necessity. Clay will never hurt your finish. What clay does compared to a cleaning product is clay does not remove any clear coat, Zero. what it does do is draw out things that have etched into the surface ( it backs them out ). many things that are organic turn to an acid. Pollen and rain can increase the PH of acid rain. a dead bug can decompose on your finish and attach it self to the surface.. those little pin head sized yellow dots that are stuck to your car ( bee poop ) can also turn acidic and etch to your surface. Clay will only draw out the bug and its guts, without removing anything else.
For Me, because I am so ****, I can take the back of my finders and lightly run them across the surface of my car and tell if there is anything attach to it. So to answer your question, only you will know how often its necessary to clay.
Clay is usually needed the most, in the front fascia, the hood, the roof, and the hatch .
Also, Clay can damage the surface if you do not use it correctly, and that is with lots of lube, if you run clay on a dry area hard enough, it will scratch the surface. Clay is an easy thing. you lube up the area and then you just lightly run it around in all directions, back and forth, and circles. these different strokes will catch anything on the surface and remove them. The only way you know the clay is working is you will see contaminants on the clay itself.. ( it changes color... usually black or dark. ) I always Zaino after claying. for me. to clay my car , takes about 30 minutes, and then Zaino is another 30 minutes. Once done, the finish is so slippery, you would think it was all soaped up , although its actually dry. Any other question feel free to ask. There are lots of knowledgeable people here who have beautiful cars, that make my car look like a beater.
Bill aka ET

 

ask away on any questions like evil said!! were all here to help you

 

I have used Zaino products before and always thought they were great. From what I remember, they are 100% non-abrasive.

A few years back I got into machine polishing and the things you can do are fairly amazing. I use both Adam's and Menzerna formulas for paint correction and choose the pad based on the hardness of the clearcoat and what is needed to get the job done. C5s have a ridiculously hard clear coat so sometimes you have to be a little more aggressive with them. Once corrected, it's all about maintaining your paint so that it doesn't get to the point of needing to be aggressively corrected again.

One of the best things anyone can do for the paint is to learn proper washing and drying techniques. When you wash the car, use straight motions, either up and down or side to side. Try your best not to wash in circular motions. This way, if something happens to end up in your wash mitt, you have a better chance of correcting the marks later since straight lines are much easier to correct than circles. Also, use good products. Proper microfiber drying towels (sourced from South Korea, NOT China) go a long way. Thanks to Junkman, they can be found relatively inexpensive from theragcompany.

Just a quick example of what machine polishing can do. My friend stopped by with his G8 last Saturday and asked if I would do a test panel on his car to see what he could expect. He's always kept up with his car and had recently polished, wax and sealed it by hand.

Here is a 50/50 shot of what one pass with Menzerna FG400 and a MF pad did followed by one pass of SF4000 on a foam pad. Obviously, a huge difference in depth and reflectiveness. Now imagine topping this with your favorite sealant and wax

 

even though this thread would fit better in the car care discussion ill be more than happy to chime in. I started with adams and moved up to wolfgang and pinnacle products. I love them to death along with the flex polisher

 

Yes I understand, that is why I asked you. I respect your opinion and want to know how you do things. I am going to use the clay bar on my vette whenever it's not buttery smooth to the touch. I use carnauba wax for the top coat and re-apply every time after I clay bar the junk off.

I am not sure what "color correction" is or how it's done, but i'm sure there are threads about it.

Thanks for your help.

 

Zaino,
Hands down !!...don't know why people say they have problems with it...it's a polymer so you put it on VERY lightly...NOT like you're buttering your bread...easy to take off and what a deep shine with a few coats of Z2 !!...try it...you'll like it !!

 

paint correction is a process that is fun and once you start it is hard to stop. there are plenty of threads on it also and youtube helps out a lot. I started it and the business has grown because of the results. plus my customers like it

 

Not sure what color correction is all about, and I have been doing this for over 55 years. The color of your car should be the same as when it left the factory. I would never want to put anything on my car that would change ( correct the color ). now if you are using Disulfide on your car ( The kiss of death ) Disulfides will indeed make the color change. you can see this typically in a red car that is faded, black cars are also notorious for reveling poor cleaning procedures with quick fix spray on's and the black looses its rich deep color, I would stay away from anything that said it would change or correct my paint.. Disulfides remove the natural oils and shine that is part of the formula. Disulfides are used as a quick, cheap cleaning agent to remove anything including its protection. disulfides make your finish a product junkie were you keep needing more and more product to keep it looking good. My car is 16 years old. I just had the carbon fiber quarters painted on my car , and they used the exact factory formula less the water base. The match was perfect. If someone needs to use a color corrector in the first place then they have been doing things to their paint for a long time that was all wrong..
There are many cars on this forum that are more than a decade and a half old. Some of them just jump out at you. People tell me all the time that my paint looks wet.. and indeed it should look wet. With 99.9 % optical clarity, my paint looks the same whether its wet from the hose or just toweled off.
My finish has never seen a product that has a disulfide in its formula. After 16 years , my car need no color corrector.
Bill aka ET

 

what I mean for paint correction is correcting imperfections in the paint. doesn't mean changing the color but cleaning and taking away scratches and swirls. im sorry if I didn't state that properly

 

Many times you do notice a change in the color of the paint, but it's because you are correcting the clear coat on the car, not the base coat. Think of your clear as having a bunch of peaks and valleys from scratches, swirls and other damage. When you compound or polish the paint, you are leveling all of these peaks and valleys so that you see your actual paint as it is meant to be seen.

If you use products with a bunch of silicone or fillers without paint correction, you are just filling the valleys to level it off and give a perfect appearance. This is fine, but typically only lasts a week or less as the fillers and silicone go away. The only way to actually fix the paint, is to level it first and then use a sealant and/or waxes/glazes to protect it. This, combined with better washing and drying techniques, will keep your paint looking great and give you a "show car" finish.

 

Now I do have little scratches and swirls and that is what I would like to remove. I'm "old school" and I use to just take some compound and a buffer and remove them. Now I am older and haven't picked up a buffer in years and am sure in the heck not going to start again using my vette.

Got any links for that?

 

search youtube. a lot of great videos on there. use an orbital if you haven't used a buffer in a while

 

I'm assuming you have a rotary buffer of some sort since it is older. Don't bother using it on your car unless you know what you are doing. What you want is a random orbital buffer as it won't let you burn the paint unless you do something really, really stupid with it.

Here are some great tips and a little explanation of what you are trying to accomplish, and what I was trying to explain in my previous post.

 

Ya nailed it.

Thanks guys.

 

I'm a fan of optimum opti-seal, it is a wipe on walk away(WOWA) product that provides solid protection for a while, taking no time to apply to a clean car since you don't have to buff off. Over the last few years since I've picked up rotary and gotten into detailing I have grown to love optimum products for washing, sealing my car and applying tire gel.

For machine correction products I stick with meguiars and for chrome or exhaust polish I go with 0000 steel wool and p21s polishing soap.

 

I want to thank everyone for their input. To say I've learn a lot would be an understatement. Over the weekend I picked up some clay bars and UPS delivered my order from Chadwick's . Now I just have to wait for some free time to try out my new found information!

 

I received my order from Chadwick's a week or so ago and this past week I tried it out. I was very impressed how easy it was to use their products and the professional looking results that I achieved.
I really put their product to the test on my truck, which I'm ashamed to say looked bad (before I started). I Used the product as the instructions said (ie; apply without washing the vehicle first), and I was happy that it does everything that Neil said it will do!
Next I had to try it on my Z and again I was very happy with results.
I know that there a lot of good products out there and I appreciate all of the wonderful ideas, To be honest when Neil made post on this thread, it told me that Neal is a man who believes in his products and who see customers as people who want their vehicles to look great, instead of man you wants you to just buy his product. There is a difference. He provided me with Customer service where I could tell they enjoyed dealing with me instead of you're being a pain attitude, that is too common now days.
Chadwick's rocks!