Full Zaino detail on Midnight Blue Lotus (polished and Zainoed to perfection)

[milehitom]

Todd,

That is just spectacular! Too bad Florida is a long way from Colorado or my car would be next in line. As for stone chips, there's a guy in Colo Springs that my Porsche pal used on his Carrera S who did outstanding work repairing his chips and a bumper scrape: Precision Finish. I'm going to use him soon. I'm sure there are similar specialists in most major cities.

Tom

[loanshark]

Originally Posted by ajp33

I've the same colour car and wished mine looked that good

A couple of questions I hope you guys could help with:
Would this sort of treatment ged rid of stains as a result of bird poop?
My car is pretty stone chipped, would getting it detailed, a) help to hide them, or b) make them stand out more.
Ar there any tricks on getting rid of stone chips jsut in front of the rear wheels without having to resort to a respray?

Thanks guys

Having seen your car in person, I can answer some of the questions

1) Yes it will help with the bird poop, mostly willl hide them well.

2) Detailing won't necessarily hide the chips. I saw the chips you have, and you need a body shop fill them in.

3) Again, without a respray, a high end body shop can fill them in, and you can put Star shield on top of that.

I am always weary of respray and the hit the resale will take, so I would go to a high end body shop and see what they can do first.

Hope that helps!

[Todd Helme]

Originally Posted by slope

this is my car that todd worked on and I can tell you that I was definitely impressed with the job that he did, looks better than when i first got the car. seeing his pics i'm kinda of ashamed about the swirl marks but i was definitely impressed with his ability to get them off i'd gladly recommend him if you want to get your car detailed.

Hey Chris, it was a pleasure meeting you. No need to be ashamed as your car was in better shape then 90 percent of the cars on the road anyways. I'm glad your impressed as it was a very fun car to work on!

Thanks again!

[Todd Helme]

Originally Posted by Vantage

Great job Todd! Looks better than factory from what I can tell. I also use the Menzerna ceramic polishes and love them.

Just a general observation for everyone: Zaino is definitely icing on the cake, but it's really the Menzerna polishing that made this car look as good as it does. That's easily the most important step.

Agreed

[iwantanelise]

TODD!!! Hahahaha...What are you doing here! It's Ciro from autopia. Those photos look familiar It was great talking to you on the phone. Just like on the other site, I compliment you for your great work. I never was able to call Sal or Ryan though, simply because work got too heavy. I didn't get to try the Zaino on the show car I was doing, but at least I got a free half-empty bottle of z2 and z5. I'm going to play with these when I detail my car again. Best of luck with your details.

[jlstyle82]

I love how you even wear zaino t-shirts while you zainoing your car

[dfa2100]

Originally Posted by slope

this is my car that todd worked on and I can tell you that I was definitely impressed with the job that he did, looks better than when i first got the car. seeing his pics i'm kinda of ashamed about the swirl marks but i was definitely impressed with his ability to get them off i'd gladly recommend him if you want to get your car detailed.

Nice profile picture (Tweet!), excellent color choice. Now, does Todd make trips to Wichita Falls?

[cptdorsey]

Looks fantastic...I have the exact same car and now I have to get it as pretty as yours. One dumb question though.....why do the center caps/hubs of your wheels stick out like that?

[slope]

Originally Posted by dfa2100

Nice profile picture (Tweet!), excellent color choice. Now, does Todd make trips to Wichita Falls?

i know i miss that little airplane.

[Rob T]

Originally Posted by Vantage

Great job Todd! Looks better than factory from what I can tell. I also use the Menzerna ceramic polishes and love them.

Just a general observation for everyone: Zaino is definitely icing on the cake, but it's really the Menzerna polishing that made this car look as good as it does. That's easily the most important step.

Exactly right!

Far too many people who have swirl marks in their paint (like this one did) remember reading a lot of positive reviews about Zaino so they purchase a few of their products and put Zaino protectant on their paint and wonder why the swirl marks are still there.

POLISHING (preferably with a random orbit polisher) is what is takes to do the job correctly.

[Todd Helme]

Originally Posted by Rob T

Exactly right!

Far too many people who have swirl marks in their paint (like this one did) remember reading a lot of positive reviews about Zaino so they purchase a few of their products and put Zaino protectant on their paint and wonder why the swirl marks are still there.

POLISHING (preferably with a random orbit polisher) is what is takes to do the job correctly.

90 percent of the final apperance (or more) comes from the paints condition before any wax/sealant, ect... is applied. If the paint is in great condition, then little prep work is needed.

This was the case of this Lotus I detailed for forum member qball. I did no polishing on this car for several reasons. One the paint had very little swirls, and after claying, the paint was glossy. If I would have machine polished the paint, then I would have simply been taking his money, because the improvement would have been slight.



The same as this Lotus that I detailed several months ago. The paint was in great condition. In these two cases, the Zaino is "standing on its own" but was able to enhance the paint, since the paint was in great condition.



However on darker colors, or when the swirls are visible in direct light, those scratches act to diffuse the reflected light (that is the scratches aim the light in different directections instead of directly back to the viewer) and paint looses its "gloss". On lighter colors this effect is not as noticable, however on darker colors (since they reflect a higher amount) the effect is pronounced.

The darker the color, the sooner it may need to be polished to keep it looking great. Not to mention the joy of closely examining your paint in direct sun light, and seeing a perfect, crystal clear reflection of the sun with the paint surface looking like a still pool, reflective and no scratches or imperfections in site.

The point of my rambling is that yes, prep work, prior to applying the wax/sealant is what is responsible for 90 percent or more of the final gloss. On darker colors, prep plays an even larger role. When a black or dark color is prepped perfectly and a high quality wax or sealent (in this case Zaino) is applied on to off perfect paint, the results are jaw dropping.

This car (I hope you would agree Chris) was JAW DROPPING in the sun light. The reflections where amazing, and the car seemed alive, sitting still. Walking around the paint and changing the angles of the reflections, would transform the Lotus from a mirror to a dark blue pool, depending on the angle.

The truth is many people never see a car prepped to perfection in person, because it takes a lot of time/skill/dedication to get a car to 100 percent, and most "pro detailers" don't have a clue how to do it right. Check out a website, like autopia.org (where us really sick and dedicated detailers hang out) and you would see unbelievable work all the time. If you notice a car that looks better, wetter, slicker, and find yourself thinking, man thats a great paint job, chances are you have seen a properly prepped surface.

Here is a door of a Ferrari I worked on last weekend. I taped the door in half and polished one half of it to perfection, then removed the tape and captured the door in full sunilght. This way you can the difference, side by side of a pefectly prepped section vs. standard paint. Niether side has wax on them, making the comparision more dramatic.



Now here is an after shot of the car (notice this is a 1980 Ferrari 400i with original paint, an now it looks better than brand new).



Sorry for the long post, I'm just passionate about this and I could ramble on and on

[Rob T]

Nice post Todd!

P.S. Quick question: how do you handle the star shield (invisible bra)? Do you clay over this? Polish? I know it is ok to apply sealant to it..

[fireball111]

Best thing to clean tires/rims is whesley's bleach white, and don't worry it dosen't contain enough bleach to hurt anything but you won't believe how the dirt melts off the tires and rims

[Rob T]

Originally Posted by fireball111

Best thing to clean tires/rims is whesley's bleach white, and don't worry it dosen't contain enough bleach to hurt anything but you won't believe how the dirt melts off the tires and rims

I wouldn't let that stuff touch my rims.

You need to use something that is pH safe, like P21S wheel cleaner (highly recommended): http://www.autogeek.net/p2wheelclean.html

[Todd Helme]

Originally Posted by Rob T

Nice post Todd!

P.S. Quick question: how do you handle the star shield (invisible bra)? Do you clay over this? Polish? I know it is ok to apply sealant to it..

I have never honestly polished starshield/clear bra/ect with a machine yet, as since it is fairly new, it generally is great shape (so far). I have heard you can use a mild finishing polish over it (like Menzerna 106ff) to clean it up but I have yet to try.

As far as claying it, no problem, and as you said, sealants over it work great!

[yeahiknowiam]

Well I just ordered the Zaino Ultimate Protection Show Car Kit... we'll see how it goes.

[raggedy1]

My factory finish was crap. "Pindots" in several spots and swirl marks galore. I used up a bottle of Scratch-X and a lot of elbow grease to minimize the swirls/spider webbing issues, but it could use a little more work. I've never used a random orbital polisher on a car so I'm a bit hesitant to try on my Elise, but the work done by Todd looks incredible. I'd pay you to finish up my car if we we're in the same area.

[Rob T]

Originally Posted by Todd Helme

I have never honestly polished starshield/clear bra/ect with a machine yet, as since it is fairly new, it generally is great shape (so far). I have heard you can use a mild finishing polish over it (like Menzerna 106ff) to clean it up but I have yet to try.

As far as claying it, no problem, and as you said, sealants over it work great!

Thanks for the follow up Todd. I will probably just play it safe and only clay the clear bra and not polish it.

Originally Posted by raggedy1

My factory finish was crap. "Pindots" in several spots and swirl marks galore. I used up a bottle of Scratch-X and a lot of elbow grease to minimize the swirls/spider webbing issues, but it could use a little more work. I've never used a random orbital polisher on a car so I'm a bit hesitant to try on my Elise, but the work done by Todd looks incredible. I'd pay you to finish up my car if we we're in the same area.

Ironically you have a much better chance of screwing up your paint with the Scratch-X product than you would using a random orbit buffer!

Don't confuse the random orbit buffer with a rotary. You can definitely destroy your paint if you don't know what you are doing with a rotary. Random orbit on the other hand: you would really have to try pretty hard to cause any damage!


READ THIS:

http://autopia.org/forum/guide-detai...-polisher.html

[raggedy1]

Is the Porter Cable the most recommended random orbital polisher? What's the best price one can find on these???

[Rob T]

Originally Posted by raggedy1

Is the Porter Cable the most recommended random orbital polisher? What's the best price one can find on these???

Yes, the PC is definitely the most common and most recommended. They are built very well and will last a very long time.

You can get them at Lowes, Home Depot etc. or via the net. Expect to pay somewhere around $130.00.

Edit: you might want to buy it from Autogeek, as you can get a package that will include the backing plate and polishing pads that you will need:

http://www.autogeek.net/po.html