Forum members 2002 EB vert detailed w/ zaino
07-20-2007, 07:38 PM
#1
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Forum members 2002 EB vert detailed w/ zaino
This sweet vert belongs to a forum member here in the Atlanta area. He has been using zaino for a long time, but wanted a polish and a good base to start with. That way if he desires he can now maintain the car himself.
Brandt was kind enough to let us use his basement facilities again!
This vette was in pretty good shape, the client wanted an exterior only one step detail.
Before pic:
Bret started by rinsing the car off. Then Bret broke out the foam gun and used Zaino Z7 with it.
Bret then rinsed off the Z7 foam and we did a 2 bucket wash with Z7 and a 100% cotton chenille wash mitt. Wheels where cleaned last with a older mitt and the wheel barrels where cleaned with a long brush. The tires and wells where sprayed down with AM 777 APC and scrubbed with different brushes.
Then it was time to clean the fabric top. Bret used Raggtopp cleaner and the solid side of the new Ulti-mitt:
As you can see the Ulti-mitt worked perfect for this application, it provided a excellent combination of effective and gentle cleaning for the fabric top. The top was given a good rinse to ensure all the soap was removed.
Bret then did a nice slow trickle of water from the hose on all the paint which was followed with a gentle WW wipedown to remove any excess water on the surface.
We had another car to wash, so this vette was left out in the sun so the top would dry completely before we applied the Raggtopp fabric top protectant. We returned about an hour later, covered the glass and painted areas from over spray with some cotton towels. Bret applied the raggtopp protectant in one direction waited 10 mins for it to dry and then applied it in the other direction. That way he insured that the top would have adequate protection.
While the car sat in the sun we inspected the paint for defects:
We then moved the car inside and inspected the surface for contamination. It did not appear to be that bad, but we decided to clay the car anyway. We used Z-18 claybar and Z6 as a lube. As we expected the amount of bonded contamination was very low. Bret had did most of the rear decklid and this is what the claybar looked like:
We wiped all of the Z6 off with a damp WW and followed with a dry one.
So it was time to start polishing. As this was going to be a 1-step polish there would be no wool on this car. So it was either going to be SIP with a orange CCS pad or 106ff with a white CCS pad. I installed a orange CCS pad on the metabo and gave SIP a spin. Just like Ryan and Todd say, very little of SIP is needed. I found about half of most other polished to work right.
I tried a few different methods, the first being to start at 600-800 and work SIP for 4 passes till it starts to turn clear, then bump it up to 1500-1600 to finish. Everything went smooth with this method. A few of the deeper scratches where not going to come out with SIP, but I did give it a second go. This time I started at 800 for a pass or two then cranked it up to 1600 for the remainder of the passes. The few deeper scratches still remained, but the surface had a nice gloss to it.
Bret had a go at his side of the rear deck lid. He first tried a yellow megs pad with 106ff which always brings out a nice gloss. He then switched to a white CCS pad as this is what we would both use w/ 106ff.
We then backed the car outside and prayed that it would not rain. Clouds where moving by very quick and we finally got a min to inspected for holograms and see what kind of results we where getting from SIP and 106ff.
This side got SIP x2 with a orange CCS pad:
This side got 106ff with a yellow megs pad, then a white CCS pad.
The sun was not fully out in either pic and that was about the best we where going to get with pics in the sun. When the sun was out a bit more we where more concerned with hologram evualation.
So we decided to go with 106ff and a white CCS pad for this 1-step polishing process.
We also worked on a few defects. Bret wetsanded this scuff/gouge near the rear deck lid:
He was able to reduce it by half by using the 1500 paper. The defect was too close to the edge to risk more work. So it would have to do.
Some dumbashe (me) forgot to get an after pic of the area.
I worked on this scratch located near the driver door handle:
Another defect located near the edge of two panels. I taped over both edges and use the green wool pad with presta 1500 polish. I made a few passes and let the area cool down, after repeating this process 3 times, we had a good reduction in the scratch:
I moved the tape to the other side and did the same to the other panel. Again someone forgot to get a good after pic of the area.
Here is the method I used for cleaning up the area right below the door handle:
That is a edge 6" wave dual sided pad. I used some presta 1500 and worked the area 2-3 times by hand. The results are not perfect, but at least 70% of the defects are removed:
This is what the paint looked like after 106ff polishing:
So after the polishing was complete we wanted an excellent base for Z5pro. So we went over the car with ZAIO and a green P2 pad both of use using the metabos.
Applied 2x of Z5pro with ZFX.
Applied 1x of Z2pro with ZFX.
Applied CS.
Applied Z8 1 hour later.
ZAIO applied to the wheels and glass.
Megs metal polish for the tips.
Final pics:
Brandt was kind enough to let us use his basement facilities again!
This vette was in pretty good shape, the client wanted an exterior only one step detail.
Before pic:
Bret started by rinsing the car off. Then Bret broke out the foam gun and used Zaino Z7 with it.
Bret then rinsed off the Z7 foam and we did a 2 bucket wash with Z7 and a 100% cotton chenille wash mitt. Wheels where cleaned last with a older mitt and the wheel barrels where cleaned with a long brush. The tires and wells where sprayed down with AM 777 APC and scrubbed with different brushes.
Then it was time to clean the fabric top. Bret used Raggtopp cleaner and the solid side of the new Ulti-mitt:
As you can see the Ulti-mitt worked perfect for this application, it provided a excellent combination of effective and gentle cleaning for the fabric top. The top was given a good rinse to ensure all the soap was removed.
Bret then did a nice slow trickle of water from the hose on all the paint which was followed with a gentle WW wipedown to remove any excess water on the surface.
We had another car to wash, so this vette was left out in the sun so the top would dry completely before we applied the Raggtopp fabric top protectant. We returned about an hour later, covered the glass and painted areas from over spray with some cotton towels. Bret applied the raggtopp protectant in one direction waited 10 mins for it to dry and then applied it in the other direction. That way he insured that the top would have adequate protection.
While the car sat in the sun we inspected the paint for defects:
We then moved the car inside and inspected the surface for contamination. It did not appear to be that bad, but we decided to clay the car anyway. We used Z-18 claybar and Z6 as a lube. As we expected the amount of bonded contamination was very low. Bret had did most of the rear decklid and this is what the claybar looked like:
We wiped all of the Z6 off with a damp WW and followed with a dry one.
So it was time to start polishing. As this was going to be a 1-step polish there would be no wool on this car. So it was either going to be SIP with a orange CCS pad or 106ff with a white CCS pad. I installed a orange CCS pad on the metabo and gave SIP a spin. Just like Ryan and Todd say, very little of SIP is needed. I found about half of most other polished to work right.
I tried a few different methods, the first being to start at 600-800 and work SIP for 4 passes till it starts to turn clear, then bump it up to 1500-1600 to finish. Everything went smooth with this method. A few of the deeper scratches where not going to come out with SIP, but I did give it a second go. This time I started at 800 for a pass or two then cranked it up to 1600 for the remainder of the passes. The few deeper scratches still remained, but the surface had a nice gloss to it.
Bret had a go at his side of the rear deck lid. He first tried a yellow megs pad with 106ff which always brings out a nice gloss. He then switched to a white CCS pad as this is what we would both use w/ 106ff.
We then backed the car outside and prayed that it would not rain. Clouds where moving by very quick and we finally got a min to inspected for holograms and see what kind of results we where getting from SIP and 106ff.
This side got SIP x2 with a orange CCS pad:
This side got 106ff with a yellow megs pad, then a white CCS pad.
The sun was not fully out in either pic and that was about the best we where going to get with pics in the sun. When the sun was out a bit more we where more concerned with hologram evualation.
So we decided to go with 106ff and a white CCS pad for this 1-step polishing process.
We also worked on a few defects. Bret wetsanded this scuff/gouge near the rear deck lid:
He was able to reduce it by half by using the 1500 paper. The defect was too close to the edge to risk more work. So it would have to do.
Some dumbashe (me) forgot to get an after pic of the area.
I worked on this scratch located near the driver door handle:
Another defect located near the edge of two panels. I taped over both edges and use the green wool pad with presta 1500 polish. I made a few passes and let the area cool down, after repeating this process 3 times, we had a good reduction in the scratch:
I moved the tape to the other side and did the same to the other panel. Again someone forgot to get a good after pic of the area.
Here is the method I used for cleaning up the area right below the door handle:
That is a edge 6" wave dual sided pad. I used some presta 1500 and worked the area 2-3 times by hand. The results are not perfect, but at least 70% of the defects are removed:
This is what the paint looked like after 106ff polishing:
So after the polishing was complete we wanted an excellent base for Z5pro. So we went over the car with ZAIO and a green P2 pad both of use using the metabos.
Applied 2x of Z5pro with ZFX.
Applied 1x of Z2pro with ZFX.
Applied CS.
Applied Z8 1 hour later.
ZAIO applied to the wheels and glass.
Megs metal polish for the tips.
Final pics:
Last edited by gmblack3; 07-20-2007 at 07:54 PM.
07-20-2007, 09:48 PM
#5
Instructor
HEY THAT'S MY CAR!!!!!!!!!!!! Just wanted to say what a great job Bryan and Bret did on my car and a "can't say thanks" enough to Brandt for letting them use his garage and for allowing me to keep my car there two more days until all the rain went away.
I've had the car just over a month now and knew the paint was in pretty good condition but I knew it could be much better with Zaino as I have used it in the past. I don't have a garage to work in and I am just too lazy to go thru the whole clay, zaino process
Bryan and Bret did an excellent job, much better than I could have done and the results speak for themselves, I had very very fine swirlmarks and I would say 85-90% have been removed, had I opted for the entire car to be machine polished I can't imagine how much better the car would look. If anyone is considering who to take their car to I for one will be going with Bryan, he really cares about the cars he works on and the commitment to perfection is unbeatable, I've taken cars to other detailers in the past and like a good, honest mechanic, it's hard to find a really good detailer, thanks for the forums help in pointing me to Bryan and Bret.
I've had the car just over a month now and knew the paint was in pretty good condition but I knew it could be much better with Zaino as I have used it in the past. I don't have a garage to work in and I am just too lazy to go thru the whole clay, zaino process
Bryan and Bret did an excellent job, much better than I could have done and the results speak for themselves, I had very very fine swirlmarks and I would say 85-90% have been removed, had I opted for the entire car to be machine polished I can't imagine how much better the car would look. If anyone is considering who to take their car to I for one will be going with Bryan, he really cares about the cars he works on and the commitment to perfection is unbeatable, I've taken cars to other detailers in the past and like a good, honest mechanic, it's hard to find a really good detailer, thanks for the forums help in pointing me to Bryan and Bret.
07-21-2007, 09:00 AM
#9
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Thanks everyone for your kind words!
Steve, It was really hot and the sun was beating down pretty good. So an hour should be fine in those conditions. If the owner would have any issues, we would recondition the top for him. 
David, Thank you for your wonderful comments. It is owners like you that make it a pleasure to work on corvettes!
HEY THAT'S MY CAR!!!!!!!!!!!! Just wanted to say what a great job Bryan and Bret did on my car and a "can't say thanks" enough to Brandt for letting them use his garage and for allowing me to keep my car there two more days until all the rain went away.
I've had the car just over a month now and knew the paint was in pretty good condition but I knew it could be much better with Zaino as I have used it in the past. I don't have a garage to work in and I am just too lazy to go thru the whole clay, zaino process Bryan and Bret did an excellent job, much better than I could have done and the results speak for themselves, I had very very fine swirlmarks and I would say 85-90% have been removed, had I opted for the entire car to be machine polished I can't imagine how much better the car would look. If anyone is considering who to take their car to I for one will be going with Bryan, he really cares about the cars he works on and the commitment to perfection is unbeatable, I've taken cars to other detailers in the past and like a good, honest mechanic, it's hard to find a really good detailer, thanks for the forums help in pointing me to Bryan and Bret.
I've had the car just over a month now and knew the paint was in pretty good condition but I knew it could be much better with Zaino as I have used it in the past. I don't have a garage to work in and I am just too lazy to go thru the whole clay, zaino process
Bryan and Bret did an excellent job, much better than I could have done and the results speak for themselves, I had very very fine swirlmarks and I would say 85-90% have been removed, had I opted for the entire car to be machine polished I can't imagine how much better the car would look. If anyone is considering who to take their car to I for one will be going with Bryan, he really cares about the cars he works on and the commitment to perfection is unbeatable, I've taken cars to other detailers in the past and like a good, honest mechanic, it's hard to find a really good detailer, thanks for the forums help in pointing me to Bryan and Bret.David, Thank you for your wonderful comments. It is owners like you that make it a pleasure to work on corvettes!
07-21-2007, 01:57 PM
#12
Racer
Member Since: Aug 2003
Location: Lawrenceville GA
Posts: 299
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Thank you, David, for the compliments. It's always a pleasure to detail a car for someone as enthusiastic as you. If there is anything Bryan and I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask.
Working in Brandt's air conditioned, well lit, 4-post lifted garage and out of "the humidity is draining the life outta me" elements is wonderful. I just spent 4 hours working in the yard today and I feel about the same as working 8 hours detailing in his garage.
Bryan arranged this detail, brought most everything we needed and even brought sandwiches for us. Thanks, man, I owe ya one!
Nice thing about having the car all day for an exterior only detail is we can spend the time working on the little things. For example, Bryan spent a good 30 mins hand polishing the tail pipes and the wheels. You see the pics of him polishing the door handles recess. I hand polished and sealed all the areas around the front and rear, like the license plate area, reverse lamps, taillight recesses, front air intake recesses and fog light area, etc. I applied a treatment to the black plastic trim around the car and at the base of the windshield where the wipers rest. When you have a little extra time you can focus on the "detailing" part of car detailing.
Working in Brandt's air conditioned, well lit, 4-post lifted garage and out of "the humidity is draining the life outta me" elements is wonderful. I just spent 4 hours working in the yard today and I feel about the same as working 8 hours detailing in his garage.
Bryan arranged this detail, brought most everything we needed and even brought sandwiches for us. Thanks, man, I owe ya one!
Nice thing about having the car all day for an exterior only detail is we can spend the time working on the little things. For example, Bryan spent a good 30 mins hand polishing the tail pipes and the wheels. You see the pics of him polishing the door handles recess. I hand polished and sealed all the areas around the front and rear, like the license plate area, reverse lamps, taillight recesses, front air intake recesses and fog light area, etc. I applied a treatment to the black plastic trim around the car and at the base of the windshield where the wipers rest. When you have a little extra time you can focus on the "detailing" part of car detailing.
