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Ok so my car being berlina had many many micro scratches and swirls on it. I had gotten the point that anytime I viewed the car in the sun the spiderwebbing was very apparent.
I applied Z-PC the first time in the garage because the texas sun really would heat up the paint. I pulled the car out of the garage and saw a reduction in the amount of swirls on the hood. After applying one full coat to the car I decided a second application was in order. Once the second application was done and removed, I pulled the car into the sun. I must admit that the Z-PC didn't do that good of a job on the micro-scratches which was somewhat of a disappointment, however the Z-PC definately diminished the swirls on my car significantely. While I can still see some swirls from certain angles when looking at the car closely in the sun they certainly are not apparent. You really have to be looking for them.
Overall Z-PC lived up to my expectations in that it isn't a silver bullet, however it did dimish the swirls in a way a filler never could do so. It didn't remove the scratches in the paint but I am guessing they were through the clear-coat anyway. Easy to remove, no Hazing.
Now for the pics. I took a bunch but I am posting 3 pics. 1 is a close up of my front fender, and the other two are more distanced.
did you really work the product?
if so, sounds like it did o.k. on the swirls, but kinda missed the mark on slightly heavier scratches? (which is prob o.k. since it is a swirl remover and not a fine cut compound)...
congrats on being the first on this board to test the new product!!
Thanks wanabe - I did really work the product in on the second round. The more I worked it the more the swirls disappeared. The biggest challenge was having to work the product in without being in the sunlight (Z-PC bottle says the paint should be cool not hot when used) and this made it tough to see real time how it was doing on the swirls. In the end rather then check I did two rounds with it.
You are also correct that is missed the mark on slightly heavier scratches. My hood (as I'm sure all hoods do) as some decent clear coat scratches in it. I picked one in particular and worked the product into it. It didn't seem to do too much to it unfortunately.
This product is great for those that are nervous about using a fine cut compound. I used an Orange Power Pad for the Z-PC which has a light cutting action. Next time I might try something with a bit more cutting action like a white or yellow pad if someone else has success with these pads.
Overall another positive product from Sal and the gang at Zaino. Not a silver bullet but definately did a good job on removing swirls on my Berlina (and as we all know Black is the color in which swirls and scratches are most apparent).
I think the pictures of the fender speak for themselves. That fender had some good swirls in it before we started.
One other note - my friend who was working on this project with me did his 350ZR (black) which had swirls much worse than mine and the improvement was very good!
Oh and thanks for the compliments on the ride Always nice to be complimented
Looks good, good review. It almost looks like you've got some micromarring from the pad, as if it needs to be followed up with a finer polish (is that possible?) or a less aggressive pad (a light polish as opposed to light cutting pad), but it might just be the pix.
FWIW, I tried it tonight on a small section of my friend's S4 hood (silver) and it did an okay job of removing very very light swirls, but even Menzerna IP with an orange (light cutting) pad barely touched them (at speed 6). Audi clear is notoriously hard, though and I think I've about given up on using the PC for any sort of restoration work due to the time and effort involved - I'm going to be getting a rotary and reserve the PC for light polishing and wax and sealant application.
I used a red (non-cutting/layering) pad for the 2 coats of Z2. What you see in the pics could be from the pad. I will say this though - I took another look at the paint yesterday in the afternoon sun and it looked really good. I don't think my paint has ever looked as good as it goes now.
I may take some more close ups of various other panels (like the hood and trunk deck) for you guys to seee more results.
06-25-2005, 09:02 AM
Z-PC Review
Always nice to be complimented
