[gtpark81]

Originally Posted by njmf

I detail for a toyota dealership. And I also have a black STI. My questions for you would be, what did you use on the car, what did you apply with, and what did you take it off with? And most importantly I hope you did not wax in direct sunlight or when your paint was still hot. Personally from experience I can tell you Polish is far safer to use on a car than a wax that contains carnauba. carnauba wax has tiny abbrasives in it and in a way is basically stripping layers off of your clear coat to make it shine and over time can dull your finish. Polish will have the same outcome as many waxes and is safe for clearcoats. I recommend Meguiars step 2. You can apply it all day every day and never harm your paint in the outcome. Also try using a foam pad to apply. Garage your car or apply wax/polish in the shade and if your car is black ALWAYS remove wax with a microfiber towel. Terrycloth is borderline on black, it may be too abbrasive. Also those marks look like your wax may have baked into the paint... hopefully not. if you have any questions feel free to respond!

woah nice to have a pro on board!... ok well i have been waxing with carnuba wax and yes it was in the sun....this causes the wax to get baked into the paint? ouch , is this reversible or what?
also what is a micro fiber towel? are those just 100percent cotton towels? i better switch to a polish instead of a wax...can you reccommend anything good that will give you a nice shine, not abrasive, and also will protect your car's exterior?

Could you just let me know how YOU wax your car, with waht products, towels, procedures....i think this might be the safest way for me. Thanks!!

[gtpark81]

Originally Posted by MKIVSupra

That is not true. A true carnauba wax has no abrasives in it, not sure where you heard that from. I also never heard of Meguiar's step 2. Is that a polish? A polish will not protect your paint, that is why you should follow up a polish with a wax. Just like a true wax will not clean or polish your paint and you usually should prepare the paint with a polish before you wax it.

hey mkivsupra, i know you've had your supra for a while and seems like you have some experience with taking care of black cars? how do you go about waxing your car? and how do you polish your car befor you wax? you can just wax on top of the polish or is there like a pre wax polish? Thanks, i really appreciate you guys sharing cuz i want to protect my investment and not have crazy swirl marks on my car...

[whiplash306]

3M makes some incredible stuff for black paint. I just recently purchased three products from 3M to remove some of the swirls from my Buick Grand National. I started off with 3M "Perfect It" polish, the went to 3M glaze and finally went to 3M wax....unbelievable results. I could not find a swirl after I was done.....took awhile as you can imagine. But totally worth it.....

[njmf]

From experience Ive learned this. While product to product it may vary for the most part most wax is slowly stripping paint. Meguiars polish will protect. The only problem with meguiars is that they advertise basically the same product in many different bottles. I use the Meguiars polish. Its something like step 2 in their 7 stage program. Personally I clay my car with a low abbrasive bar, since I have black. I then apply a layer of meguiars polish and remove with a microfiber towel. You can find them at most auto stores.
It is true that waxing your car cannot cause any real immediate damage. and as long as you do not use carnauba TOO often you will have zero problems. but if you wax your car too often you will wind up wit ha dull finish. I polish my car 1-2 times a week and it is true that the protection you gain from that isnt equal to a good wax, if you keep up on your coat you will have the same outcome.
Also to answer your question, The reason you do not want to wax in the sun or on a hot surface is because your paint will literally cook the wax/polish into the clearcoat and on one hand it is permadent and on the other it isnt. Try going to a professional and see if he can buff your car with a foam pad and a glaze. But remember buffing is taking a layer of clear off. Any more questions, and im glad to help.

[Ambros]

njmf

So as long as the wax is synthetic then you can wax your car as much as you want without any adverse affects? Does this only apply to carnuba cleaner waxes only? What if I use synthetic cleaner waxes all the time? I tend to wax my car quite often so this is somewhat of a concern to me...

[MKIVSupra]

gtpark81, Yeah I have been dealing with a black car for almost 10 years. Everything I have learned over the years has been through trial and error. I used to have a closet full of half used bottles of wax, since my recent move I threw a lot of it away. Depending on the condition of you paint there are a number of things you can use... compounds, cleaners, polishes, and waxes. If you have swirls or scratches the only way to remove them is to buff them out with a compound or cleaner which will remove a fine layer of your finish. Compounds are very abrasive and come in different grits or levesl of abrasiveness. If your paint is bad you would start out with the more abrasive one, working your way up to the less abrasive ones and the paint defects or scratches are removed. Buffing with a compound or cleaner can also cause some dulling of the paint which is why you follow up with a polish. A polish is what gives your finish the mirror, wet look. Once you are happy with how the finish looks you put a wax over the top to seal it all in. Polish offers no protection. Wax is what protects and adds a little bit more to the shine. This is a high level explanation. If you really want some good info check out www.properautocare.com or www.autopia.org They have some good info and the atuopia one has a forum and a sort of ebook that you can download that has step by step ways of detialing your car.
The last thing I tried on my Supra with amazing results was Zaino Bros. It really made the black paint look deep and wet. I did it exactly like it says on the site www.zainobros.com Zaino Bros covers up the swirls though. I am too chicken to use a powered buffer on my black paint. I have many, many coats of Zaino's Z2 and Z5 on my Supra. Late last year I was boared and I added a couple coats of Pinnacle Soveran Wax over the Zaino. The Pinnacle wax is a true carnauba wax that is advertised as being amazing on black and red finishes, so I figured I would give it a shot and it came out great. I could probably shave in the reflection of the door and the hood looks like I could dive in.

Now on my STi, like I said in a previous post, I am real happy with Klasse. I have about 4 coats of their sealant on right now and it really looks good. I might put a couple more coats on this weekend to see if it makes a difference. What I did this year on my STi was basically, wash, clay bar, wash, polished it with my Porter Cable polisher using Menzerna Final Polish, followed that up with a coat of Klasse All In One, and finally a coat of Klasse High Gloss Sealant. Like I said I have 4 coats of the high gloss sealant on right now. They say the more coats you put on the better the finish will look. So far so good. Now if I were to redo my Supra from the beginning I would probably try this route I did on my STi. On my STi I only used Menzerna Final Polish cause the paint is still in good condition but on my Supra I might preceede it with Menzerna Intensive Polish depending on how the finish looks when I strip everything off it has on it right now.

One more thing, nothing protects like a synthetic wax, but it's tough to match the look that a good carnauba wax can give. Only problem is a true wax does not last long, it can melt, wash off, and evaporate. Synthetics you can add multiple layers to get an even better shine. Some ture carnauba waxes tend to get cloudy with multiple coats but that is the characteristic of the wax, not what it is doing to your finish. Now the Pinnacle wax I use says you can put multiple coats on and I have with no problems. I might even throw a coat of it on my STi once the coats of Kalsse do not seem to be adding any more to the look. Those websites I posted above tell all the differences between everything. I would stay away from the combo cleaner waxes unless it is a beater you just want to look decent.

I hope this all makes sense. I am typing this up during my lunch at work so I had to make it quick. If you have specific questions that you cant find the answers too on one of those sites shoot me an email or IM. Good luck.

[rodent]

This Zaino pic impresses me the most:



Good info MKIVSupra!

[Boxer]

MKIVSupra, thanks for the informative post. I used Klasse all in one(one coat) on my java STi but am noticing some "haze" which I'm thinking are swirl marks. Didn't have time to use the sealer. Do you think that would help or should I start over?

[MKIVSupra]

It might but I am not sure. Give it a try on a section to see. I really don't have experience with using Klasse on a black car. I am tempted to try it on my Supra but don't want to have to redo all the Zaino stuff if I am not happy. You could try the Menzerna polishes prior to the Klass AIO to remove the swirls. Check out this link for instructions...
http://www.properautocare.com/menapguid.html
Also check out this before and after pic...
http://www.properautocare.com/mebeafph.html

One thing, paint cleaners and polishes work best using a powered polisher.

[Boxer]

MKIV,

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna invest in a powered buffer today.

[MKIVSupra]

Check out those sites for packages(buffer and some products), if you need anything else, otherwise you might be able to find the buffer by itself cheaper somewhere else, not sure. I have seen the topic on the autopia.org forum where people give the cheapest place they have found them. I would also highly recommend the Porter Cable since it is a random orbital buffer which is harder to screw up your paint with. You have to be real careful when using buffers so you don't burn through the paint. With the random orbital type is it almost impossible to do but you can still scrath the paint.

[gtpark81]

thanks for that detailed input mkiv, especially on your lunch break =)

[gtpark81]

thanks for that detailed input mkiv, especially on your lunch break =)

[OttawaSTi]

I've been using Zaino for years on all my black cars... from my TransAm to GTP... to the new STi. I accept the fact that black cars are the hardest to keep clean looking but to me, once they are clean, they look the best.

Before I picked up the STi the dealer had waxed it, so I washed the car with Dawn to strip off all of that wax. Then I applied a coat of Z1 Zaino. Once complete, I applied a coat of Z2 directly ontop of the Z1 (no need to wipe off the Z1 or let it dry). Best thing about Zaino is that you just wipe it on - you don't rub it hard so your arm never gets tired! Also it's best to apply Zaino directly in the sun so it dries quicker! You can leave it on overnight too - the longer it's on it won't hurt. Nice and easy! Once that was dry, wipe it off, and you are good to go. If the car is older and has swirl marks or scratchs, that's what the Z5 is for. Either apply it right after the Z1 instead of the Z2 or put it on after the Z2 is wiped off. So Z1, Z5, dry and wipe off, Z2. You can do coats of Z2 and Z5 at will then afterwards but you should always finish with a coat of Z2. If anyone has any Q's feel free to PM me. I drive my car in the winter too and Zaino protects all year!

[icefire]

After getting my car, I went through the Zaino process.

1. Wash = Dawn
2. Claybar
3. Wash = Zaino car wash
4. 1st coat = ZFX + Z5
5. remove Zaino
6. Repear 4&5 three more times, and viola....... You got a nice mirror..























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