I've been a loyal Zaino user on my C4 for years. My commuter car (02 Maxima) needed a good going over, nothing major, but I figured the Zaino PC-Fusion was a good place to start. Reviews here made it sound as if it was the lightest abrasive product out there.

My results were mixed. Did little if anything to help the hood ... maybe just cleaned up some swirl marks in the clearcoat. However, it screwed up my front bumper cover something fierce. Granted, it wasn't in great shape before I started, but now it looks like its been rubbed with sandpaper (at least he half I did anyway).

Is there any hope for this? Or do I need a re-paint or a nose guard?

Will post pictures after I get a sunny day ...

 

I'll let the PROS answer your post....but....It doesn't make sense that it did little or nothing on your hood but acted like sand paper on your bumper. If it were a problem with the ZPC then it would have done the same damage to your hood that you say it did to your bumber. I'm guessing user error here.

 

How was the Zaino applied, Hand, PC, Rotary?

On a scale of 1-10 ZPC is a 3 so it difficult to say why it 'cut' the way you describe

 

Sounds like you used too much and/or did work it fully.

 

Is it possible you used a bad rag on your bumper or rubbed too hard. Or maybe you picked up some grit from under the grill or something like that. Just guessing with what little info I have to go on.

 

If its a Dark colored vehicle the Fusion will leave it looking milky until you Z2 pro or Z5 after the Fusion, remember it is only designed to remove swirl marks, water spots, not scratches or faded paint,And Zaino also recomends Claybarring the vehicle before using the Fusion process, people need to understand that Zaino products are designed to be used in sequence for a proper finish, cutting corners in the process will only leave you wondering why you started in the first place.

And if you want the Fusion to bite a little more, spray a mist of some clean water down first before you apply it.

Happy Detailing

 

Excellent Advice!!!!!
Claying is a must IMO when using any abrasive, mild or strong. Bumpers can really hold a ton of crud, and if you used a buffer/PC on a "dirty" bumper(and understand what that means: you may have washed it, but there are still some contaminints left.) The pad will pick them up and use them as sandpaper.

When working on areas that see more road grime, the front of the car, behind the wheels, and the rear end, you should always make sure they are smooth/glasslike before attacking them with an abrasive. It sounds strange, but I have worked on cars where the pad was still getting dirty. I will run the clay bar over the car one more time to clean up what I may have missed the first time. To keep it in perspective, some of my customers bring me cars to detail that look like they haven't been washed in 4 years. To clean them up takes some work

Another thought is that it was worked enough on the hood, but not on the bumper. PC-Fusion breaks down by working it. It starts out as on the strong side(Again strong is a relative term.... It is still very mild) and breaks down into a finer and finer abrasive, until it really begins to polish the surface. To do it by hand takes some fairly serious labor, so if you stopped in the middle of the process, you may have only worked it partway and not allowed it to beak down fine enough to finish the polishing phase. I think it is best used via a PC
Make sense?

 

yup -- excellent post. Thanks
and nice hat.