Can there be Too Much?

[GTJeff]

My 2005 car is now 2.5 years old. At the time I started with Zaino products: Z 1 and then Z 2 and Z 2 probably 15 more times with Z 8 sometimes in between during the 2 years.

I put some REJEX on top of that and then more Z 8. Lately I have added Zaino CS. The car looks good, but I wonder if there is to much on the car.

Is there a point where I should start over? Dawn Wash, Clay Bar, then ??? polish. I wonder if my clarity / shine will increase or am I just wasting my time? I don't know if the car could look better than it is now. The car is a garage queen and is never in the rain, if that matters?

[travisdecpn]

I know it's a problem with nuba's; over time multiple layers will give a yellowish tint to the paint work with multiple layers. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to start fresh when you have some spare time and take care of any spider webs/swirl marks (if present) at that time.

[supercharged]

You might wanna strip everything off with a good polish or a chemical cleaner.

[P1et]

After about three layers, you're not going to see any difference. Frankly, most say it starts muting the flake anyways. Strip the whole thing and start from scratch.

[D]

You dont need to use dawn in order to strip waxes, sealants. The combination of strong CAR soap, clay, and polish will remove it. Dawn will dry out your weather stripping.

[ScottB]

There is never a need to have that many layers, and you could be sealing contaminents between levels at some point over those years. I personally would wash, clay, polish, and protect. Even with Zaino there is no true need for more than 2 coats. Add a 3rd if you want to clearseal the work.

DAWN -- highly alkaline dishwashing liquid ... wont do squawt to a paint sealant and over time can ruin/dry out rubber surrounds. Leave it to the dishes. A paint polish or paint cleaner will remove sealant easily.

[A1monky]

Yea I was a zaino user also. I found that more than 2 layers was wasting product. It mutes the flakes after 3 layers. It seems that detailers use so many layers to avoid polishing. Zaino is so durable than 1-2 layers is plenty. Pinnacle Paintwork cleanse will not remove. I recommend a 50/50 alc. wipe. then clay, polish, seal. Thats the only thing that worked for me, and I only had 4 layers of Z-5. The way I know this was while polishing I got alot of haze from just moving the zaino around. After the 50/50 wipe, no more haze.
Do yourself a favor get some DG101 and DG105. Just as durable and does not hide flakes or darken color. Also you can top with nuba and get a more natural finish.

[GTJeff]

Thanks !
I'm convinced ...:cheers:

I know what I'll be doing this weekend...
(getting the clay bar out from retirement)

[GTJeff]

OK, here's the before pictures, just to verify that I am doing the right thing...

[travisdecpn]

It's hard to tell from that lighting, but your paint looks great. I'd say you're probably safe leaving well-enough alone until you notice any swirls or marring.

[GTJeff]

As a experiment, I just did the hood.
It doesn't look any better. :confused:

I really have bad orange peel.
Any good ways to make it better, besides wet sanding?

[A1monky]

Wet sanding is the only way. Most just deal with it. What did you do to the hood? Process?

[GTJeff]

I washed, clayed, and used Zaino A10 (cleaner,polish,protectant).
Followed up with CS (clear seal) and then Z 8.

[GearHead_1]

I thought I could see some orange peel in the reflection of the light fixtures. Wet sanding will cure this. I also wouldn't have expected you to see much difference reapplying essentially the same product that you just removed. Removing the previous product and using another quality product would probably have shown some contrast, worse or better would be in the eye of the beholder.

[A1monky]

You have to ask yourself "what do I want to change about my finish?" If you want to get rid of swirls, then polish. If you like the look of zaino, but want to simplify your process. Stop using so many layers, and clay, polish, protect. Then focus on maintaining your polished surface with good washing techniques and Z-8. Clay, and ZAIO will not strip all those layers you have already put on. What you just did was cleaned your zaino finish, and then applied more zaino on top of it. It sounds she is garage kept. I think these are your options,
1) Strip off all zaino, clay (polyclay), light polish (xmt 1, or many others), seal (four star, or DG105), and wax (souveran, or max wax)
You might be able to skip the seal, since you car does not see rain.

2) Strip off all zaino, clay, light polish, apply more zaino. (you have this part down)

3) Continue layering zaino, and getting the same results.

I just recently whent through this also, I wanted to change the way my finish looked. Zaino is an all inclusive system, no room to experiment.
Variety is the spice of life.