jimbo10494

My 87 vette was waxed last summer and needs to be buffed or polished or I need to be instructed on what steps to take to make my Red beauty beautiful.
It has a couple of scuffs and three long scratches in the clear coat.

Does anyone have the experience on how to repair?
:cheers:

KLO

Sal Zaino on scratches and stuff:

Store bought Swirl removers are just a temporary illusion and a Band-Aid
approach to the problem.....

I am totally against using abrasives on paint finishes. Abrasives, no matter how fine, create new scratches, they should be avoided and only used when absolutely necessary. And then only by a trained professional. The clear-coat on today's paint finishes is very thin and abrasive products will thin it even further and hurt it, in the long run creating many more swirl marks and fine scratches.

All swirl removers contain abrasives and are loaded with silicone oils and other oils.

Zaino Show Car Polish contains no Abrasives or Silicone oils. Although abrasives remove scratches they create new scratches and swirls and they thin out the clear-coat. Silicone oil camouflages swirls and scratches, temporarily, as soon as the oil washes away or evaporates the swirls are visible again. Kinda a Catch-22. Z-5 fills swirls and scratches and does not create any new scratches. Because Z-5 durability is so high and will not wash away. The scratches will stay filled. That's the hot ticket to a flawless paint finish.

The Z-5 is applied, as per directions, and will fill swirls and scratches in stages. One to three coats of Z-5 depending on the amount and degree of scratches. Z-2 should always be the last coat of polish on the car. Z-2 has higher optics than Z-5. You can go from Z-2 to Z-5 and back to Z-2 anytime you like. Always use Z-6 "Gloss Enhancer spray between each and ever coat of Z-5 or Z-2.

With deeper swirls and fine scratches sometimes the use of an mild abrasive product like 3M Foam Polishing Pad Glaze Swirl Mark Remover #39009 is necessary.. I try to avoid the use of abrasives and would try my best with Z5, to see if it will correct the problem. However if you don't see a visible difference after 1 or 2 coats of Z-5. Waiting 6 to 24 hours between coats of Z-5... Then you need to use the 3M Foam Polishing Pad Glaze Swirl Mark Remover #39009... see following tips...

3M Foam Polishing Pad Glaze use By hand:
Simply apply a small amount (about the size of a quarter) to a cotton diaper or piece of cotton towel and rub back and forth into about a 1'X 1' section using light to medium pressure until it starts to dry out. Then take a second towel and lightly rub back and forth until the polish residue disappears and the gloss comes up. If there are still some swirls visible you can repeat this step until they are minimal. I prefer using a less aggressive product a couple times instead of using a more aggressive
product once. After you have done the entire car you can Dawn wash and reapply your favorite wax/polish or Zaino Z-1 and Z-5/Z-2.

3M Foam Polishing Pad Glaze use By orbital:

Use a 100% cotton bonnet or a foam bonnet and apply the polish in a thin lined growing circle starting from the center and spacing the growing line about an inch from the last round all the way to the edge. Place the bonnet flat on a panel and activate the polisher and begin working the entire panel using light to medium pressure. When you have worked the panel thoroughly then take a clean towel and wipe the residue off in a back and forth motion using light pressure. Then simply move to the next section. When the entire car is done do a Dawn wash and Zaino.

DO NOT ever use cotton T-shirts on your car. They contain polyester and will cause swirl marks and scratch your paint finish. Use my #314 applicator pad for applying my polish. Read my Tips & Tricks sheet. http://www.zainobros.com

Towels must be 100% Made in USA. Name Brand(Cannon or Fieldcrest Towels). These towels are always 100% Cotton. Most other Brand name towels I've analyzed are not 100% Cotton but a blend of cotton and polyester. The cotton material is from overseas and is not federally regulated. Even though they say 100% Cotton they are not.

You must use only white. Not colored towels.....Colored towels are not to be used because the dye leaves a chemical residue on the paint finish. Always wash your towels first before using. Use Liquid detergent and rinse twice. Do not use Powdered detergent, Bleach or any type of Fabric softener. Make sure to run rinse cycle twice to remove all detergent.

You should cut the selvages(borders) off the perimeter of the towels. This selvage contains nylon and polyester stitching that could possibly scratch your paint finish. The towels will fray a little once this is done. But it's better to play it safe.

Drying the towels on high heat will make them hold a static charge. I use the regular heat setting and remove them a little damp and let them air dry. You can fluff the towel real good when it's dry to make it softer.

As the towels get older they will lose there nap and absorbency and will have to be replaced.

I don't like sponges natural or synthetic, they all can scratch...

Schwa72

Despite what Sal says (and I'm a loyal Zaino user), I've had great success with 3M Swirl Mark Remover and a Porter-Cable orbital polisher. I've been able to remove all manner of minor swirls and flaws using that combination. The 3M product is very mild and is safe to use on your clear coat as long as you don't use it too regularly. As I've said, I'm a regular Z-5 user, but there's only certain, very fine swirls and scratches that I can expect Z-5 to help with on my non-metallic red car. 3M SMR goes a long way toward eliminating those scratches that I'd otherwise have to live with.

KLO

Sal knows that sometimes defects are just too deep and too many for Z-5 to help with, Sal, being a body show owner and custom painter has used way more abrasives in his life than any of us, he is just against using abrasives very often, this is why he formulated Zaino with no abrasives no matter how fine, most companies still use fine abrasives in their products to make them do more duties, like removing oxidation, tar, bugs, thin layers of clear coat, etc. Sal just when a totally different route and decided to make a totally smooth product with absolutely no solids or abrasives.

Schwa72

KLO, I hear ya! :yesnod: I'm also a firm believer in not using abrasives unless there's no other choice. I also have never gotten satisfactory results when applying abrasives by hand...IMO random orbital is the only way to go for the hobbyist. It's just that on certain colors of paint (like red and black), it seems that Z-5 is less effective in reducing marring than on others. I was just trying to explain that Jimbo should be realistic with his expectations of Zaino.

Contrary to popular belief, Zaino simply is not the automotive finish cure-all. That being said, IMHO it's the best sealant and abrasive-free polish money can buy.


[Modified by Schwa72, 3:47 PM 4/8/2002]