Late yesterday morning one local owner brought his Z up to me for an interior/exterior freshen up. He was hoping to have it done before our Monday night GTG. It was previously washed on Saturday but has some road grime and light dirt upon arrival. He wanted to get a little more shine and brightness to the paint. Typical circular scratches and stray lines were visible due to routine washing and drying practices. After checking out the surface condition, I started with this time-shortened process:

Quick rinse to remove loose surface dirt and road grime

Used the Gilmour foam gun and our "SPARKLE" car wash concentrate, sprayed and allowed the suds to remain on the surface for several minutes before hand wash and rinse.

The flat surfaces had very mild grittiness so I used the gray mild Clay Magic/car wash solution to smooth and clean. After completion, a quick rinse and wipe down.

Since time was a factor today, I moved right to the orange pad and Menzerna "Super Intensive Polish" combo on the Porter Cable buffer. Starting a speed 3 and increasing to 5.5, the paint showed quick improvement. Working on 2' x 2' sections and moving at the rate of 1" second, I completed the buffing having the usual dusting of the Menzerna. A quick rinse and wipedown revealed no micro-marring on the paint. In some occasions, a follow up with a white pad using Swirl Cutter may be necessary to smooth and refine the clarity of the paint. To finish for today's treatment, I topped the surface with the TC-3 Sealant xP using a blue foam pad at speed 3.

While waiting for the sealant to dry/haze, I did a light interior vacuum/wipedown including the trunk area. Dressed the tires with our water based TC-15 Tire Dress and lightly cleaned under the hood. To remove the residue, the blue microfiber polish bonnets fitted over the orange pad made removal a breeze. To wrap up, a quick wipe down with detail spray revealed a crystal clear finish.













Last night under the lights at our local weekly GTG:



Questions/comments welcomed.

 

Great work! That's a pretty awesome color too.

 

good looking car, nice detail. I cant say whether i like the nose a lot but it doesnt look bad...interesting.

 

Thanks for the comments.

The color shifting optional paint added $3K to the price of the car.

 

Don't like 350's but I do like shiny paint

 

very nice good job

 

very nice

 

looks perfect!

 

ugly car, nice paint!

 

Interlagos Fire is so nice in person. I loved that color on Zs when I sold them. Nice work

 

The last pictures is amazing, The paint looks soo new and fresh

 

Great job as always.

 

that paintjob is amazing

 

Would you recommend the steps that you took with this car to a car with similar scratches? Also by rinse and wipe down after the orange pad/menzerna treatment is it possible to apply a water/alcohol mixture and wipe down with a microfiber or does the car need to be rinsed with water only? I really need to buy a kit from you soon so I can detail my car before it starts getting colder.

 

damn, i went to KSU...

 

this the GTG at 190 & Coit...?

 

Yes you can use these steps and more to approach your car. Now if the clear coat is harder like on F-bodies and certain European makes, then the Menzerna SIP/ orange pad will be your best combo for treatment toward recovery.

I rinsed this car off because of all the dust generated by the Menzerna during buffing. It was faster for me to completely rinse of all surfaces and crevices to remove this powder. Even though there is no wax or silicone in this formula, you can still swab the surface using your non-scratching microfiber cloth and a 50/50 IPA/water solution to remove product residue while exposing any remaining surface lines, micro-marring or blemishes.

 

That's the one.

 

i should really come out Monday. i drove by in my Colorado last week. i live really close by...

the Colorado doesn't turn heads like the SS does...

 

Great job, it's spotless!!