Philly#1 Lex

iTrader: (2)

What wax are you guys using on your SC's? Well my situation is that my car is in the shop getting repainted now Royal jade green SC400 and I would like to know when I should put my first couple of coats of wax on? I would like to try Zaino but they wont ship to my APO address And since Im stationed in Italy avalibility of waxes and good cleaners are scarce. I also just good my wife Black onyx 2001 RX300 and it shines but it has maybe 2 or 3 surface scratches and i just doesnt shine like I want it to. I have a porter cable but no pads because I am confused on what I actually need. Can Someone tell me what I need to get to make both of my Lexuses to shine BETTER than Brand new. Guitarman any sugesstions?

Philly

Guitarman

I'm gonna be at a bit of a disadvantage suggesting products, because I don't know what is and isn't available there, that is over here, but...

Some suggestions;

Meguiar's new NXT sealant. Has cleaners to polish the paint a bit, as well as protect.

Klasse All In One. Similar to NXT, a one-step shine & protect product, but it has solvent cleaners rather than fine abrasives.

Eagle One Nanowax. Heard some good things about it, though I haven't tried it myself. (I have the other 2 above)

If you can get some pads, look into 6" pads for the P/C and get a cutting foam pad, a polishing foam pad, and a finishing foam pad. Then you can polish prior to sealing the paint, with at least a swirl remover if you can't get hold of 3M ( compounds & polishes) stuff.
Meguiar's softbuff (6.5") pads are fairly ubiquitous, you may find them there. If not, you can order online at their site. Here's Porter Cable's pads (some);


http://www.porter-cable.net/polishingpads.html


Maybe some of the other folks will chime in with more recommendations, stay tuned. Let us know what you come up with, and if we can help further.

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

I just started using Zaino, and it looks like I'm hooked. I don't have a clue what to recommend besides it as far as sealing goes, especially in your situation. But, for polishing.....I'm lovin' the Menzerna twins. I was planning on using Zaino, so I needed polishes than didn't have fillers, hence Menz IP and FP II. I'm also a rookie at the PC, but it won't take you long to get competent with it. The PC is a Must for showroom quality shines.

Non-hijacking OT question for your Gman: Used Menz IP on my Gold GS w/yellow 7.5" cut pad. After a bit I started getting some very dark, almost black residue on my pad. Any idea what caused it? I didn't touch rubber with pad because vehicle was taped prior to polishing. I'd guess not enough product applied/ too much friction/heat. What do you think??

BTW, I really like the Lake Country CMA 7.5" foam pads. You can find out more at Autopia

Good Luck!!

exceldetail

Blackfire All Paint Protection, Platinum Paint Protection, Wolfgang,
Klasse AIO is a great choice, Stuf Products makes a great Carnauba creme.....

Philly#1 Lex

iTrader: (2)

So can A wax a freshly painted car( My SC400)? Also what zaino products would you recommend for a Black onyx RX300? I looked at the sticky but cant come to a conclusion. I think I will send everything to my moms house in PA and hen have her to ship it to me. How much wax/zaino does the RX300 take? Its a big vehicle so I am assuming that it takes alot, also the SC4 is no small vehicle in its own right. Maybe now since i am shipping in the US you guys can give me a website with good prices and better advice on what to get. Guitarman is the anything better than zaino? And is there anything I have to add with the zaino products like the Menzerna polishes. I will take some pics of my RX to so you what I mean. Thanks in advance guys

Philly

Guitarman

Blanco, your guess is a decent one. I've seen some polishes turn color like that with heat, so I would be careful with RPM's and make sure you have enough polish working in.

Of course, If the car was pretty dirty (not talking about stuff that washes off in the wash process, but rather bonded ingrained dirt and oxidized paint) in conjunction with the frictional heat can dirty up a pad like that. I still vote for # 1 though, and the chemical reaction with heat & polish and foam.

Philly#1 Lex;


Ok, I'll take a stab at a few of these...You should wait 30 days on new paint, unless it was baked. If baked, it was at 80% cure when it left the shop, so about 1 week to 10 days, then you can wax or seal. If paranoid, call the shop that painted it, they'll tell you.

What year RX300? The black onyx Lexus vehicles were single stage until 2001 generally, so if 2001 or newer you should get Z1 and Z5. If it's 2000 or older, you can get Z1 and Z3. Z3 is for single stage paint.

Things is though, Z5 will work (according to Sal Zaino) with EITHER single stage or clearcoat, so get option 1 ( Z1 -Z5) either way and you're fine.

How much wax /zaino will it take? No worries there, most products will allow you to wax your car MANY times with the amount in the bottles. Zaino goes FAR, you can apply many , many coats with their polish, because you apply it very thin. It will vary by product on how much you use, but trust me, you'll have plenty no matter what you buy.

Is there anything better than Zaino? Umm...it's all subjective I'm afraid. Some people think it's the best sealant available, others don't and prefer something else . Kind of like asking; "what is sexy".... You'd get 3000 different answers. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

That said, it's undoubtedly a quality product.

The Menzerna products are great polishes. They will help give you the best possible prep before wax or a sealant, if you use them correctly.

Sorry, gotta run now, hope that helps a bit.

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

I had just clayed the car before polishing, so I can't imagine it being "too" dirty, although I did have a fan blowing in the garage, but pointed away from the car. The garage, even w/the door open was hot as hell. My first hunch would be not enough product(I'm still a newb w/the PC), and/or running the PC @6 on application was it. I always tend to use products conservatively. I'll try again this fall when it cools off and not have any breeze blowing around car to prove my theory. I had no probs with the FP, just the IP. BTW what causes the Menz twins to become difficult to remove?? In a few spots it was a bit difficult to get off(FP).

Philly,

The reason why I chose Zaino was because, based on research, it'll last longer than any other sealant. I don't like doing this work more than a couple times a year so that clinched it for me. I have a gold(4p2) GS, so I wasn't concerned about "depth". From what I've seen you can't get much depth no matter what you use on lighter colored vehicles, with white being the worst. I'm happy with a clean, shiney, wet look.

When Zing my car I used Z2 w/ZFX. I did my entire vehicle, plus the hood and roof an extra time w/the mixture of 2oz from one bottle that Zaino provided. Looked great afterwards. Did I use too little, I'm not sure, but results were GREAT. Maybe Guitarman can answer it better. Hope that helps.

04GS300

I can vouch for Zaino for the same reasons as Blanco. I've got a lazy streak and I don't want to bother with waxing anymore than I have to. I used ZFX and Z2 on my white GS3 back in early March. I put on 3 coats on the whole car in 1 day. Haven't had time to put anymore on since then. The only thing I've done is hand wash about every 2-3 weeks with Zaino car wash and 100% cotton towels. Sometimes I'll go to the coin operated hand wand jet washes, but I only use rinse water and my hand/fingernail and only go there when I don't have time for a full hand wash. Anyway, my car is STILL beading, STILL slick, and STILL looks great!!! I haven't tried NXT or any other sealant, but I don't see any reason to. Zaino is a bit of a pain the 1st time you use it, but to me it is more than worth it and I expect my next applications, which should be in the next 30 days, to be a lot easier.

TLW

i ll ship to you man

if you want zaino let me know

-johnny-

Guitarman

Humidity more than likely. Wreaks havoc with all kinds of waxes and polishes this time of year. That's my guestimate anyway.

Philly#1 Lex

iTrader: (2)

On the zainostore site it says I should use ZFX instead of Z1. And are may steps in this order wash, clay , (I dont know if you was or rinse here again), Then Merzerna twins?, Then ZFX w/ Z5 and the rest of the zaino lineup. Is that the correct order or do I use the Z2 as well. I am confused
Philly

Guitarman

The zaino system is confusing at first glace, no doubt.

Philly, I would suggest you read the Zaino thread that's stickied up at the top of this forum, and take it all in so you have a better understanding of it. It would be redundant of me to go into detail here on the system, since it's there in that thread for that reason and tells exactly what you need for each kind of paint, and what is optional.

Then after you've read all that let us know what you still don't understand and we'll try to help. Cool?

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

Confused here?? Try going to autopia.org for research. My head was spinning for months, before I formulated my plan. Guitarman said it right. Read the Zaino stickies. If still have questions then ask away.

BTW: I never thought about the humidity being a factor. Good call!! Now that I think about it the weather that day was about 100 and 50% + humidity. That would explain the gallon and a half of water I drank that day and only purged twice.....

Philly#1 Lex

iTrader: (2)

Do you guys use menerza intensive stuff and final polish after clay and then zaino steps there after. That sounds like my plan of attack.

Philly

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

clay first then menz IP w/yellow pad (in my case) then FP w/ white pad, then Zaino last.