Zaino fan checking in

Pics are of my 2004 GTO. Today it has 110k miles on it. I tried all manner of otehr waxes and Zaino'd for the first time at around 36k miles.

First pic is in Los Angeles at 60k miles when I was keeping up with it between girlfriends. Second picture was a few minutes ago in my driveway.





Now be aware Zaino does not ship to Alaska. I had to call Zaino to arrange a gift purchase, they didn't even want my Alaska CC, but I finally got some shipped to a family member in the lower 48 and brought it home in my checked bag just a couple months ago. The goat has not been Zainod since I moved to Alaska in 2008. I did have time to wax it summer of 2013 with eagle nano-wax - pretty good stuff, but not the same.

Here is a closeup of the rear quarter tonight:



You can see that the last exposure was kinda long and handheld by how blurry the rim is.

My new Tacoma is inside the +70dF garage right now with the first coat of Zaino drying to a haze. I fully expect to detail the truck once a year and have excellent paint at trade in time sometime around 2030-2035.

I will have 2015 Tacoma pics in a couple days.

 

Thanks. I'll be letting mine go in a couple months. Selling price is just enough to get right side up on my Tacoma with the OEM 7/75 bumper to bumper, but you gotta come to Fairbanks to pick it up and get it home yourself ;-)

Why wait until tomorrow when the Taco looks smurfing great tonight?

debadged tailgate



Rear quarter, yes, I have a pair of caribou antlers spray painted hot pink that I am storing lines for my boats on. Long story.



and finally, there is quite a bit of flake in the MGM I think, this is the seam between the drivers front fender and the hood. White balance is a bit off, but pretty close.



FWIW the truck has 230 miles on it, was detailed at the dealer before I picked it up. Actual spring melt started today, I stripped the wax off with a thorough wash with Blue Dawn, clayed with Zaino products, two coats of Zaino Z-2 on the truck now with a spritz of Zaino regular detail spray between coats of Z2.

Waiting on the laundry machines to catch up on my microfiber towel usage.

I do agree Zaino is 'merely' a sealant and not an actual wax. I could get 'any' vehicle better looking if I used a high quality carnuba with the surface prep I have done... but I don't know of anything that will last like Zaino. I may or may not put another coat on tomorrow morning. In late May I'll clay the truck again and Zaino it again, next time I'll do the door sills and the door jambs and the rims and all that other fussy stuff. Once I have four or five coats on the Tacoma I won't 'have' to detail it again until next May.

If I was going to show a vehicle I personally would get the Zaino looking good about two weeks before the show date and then let that cure and wax on top of the Zaino starting two or three days before the show.

With the Tacoma I am just going to Zaino annually, the last time right before trade in. This truck will be clean once annually.

 

Couple gratuitous GTO pics for the rock lobster. Note the instant fuel economy with the M6 in 6th. I think that was Rush Show of Hands, track 15 is likely Closer to the Heart. The other is high quality carnuba on top of well cured Zaino. I did replace the cheesy GTO fender badges with side marker lights from Holden that I blacked out.

 

Might be just my eye, but I have a hard time thinking of debadged as a bad thing. I think the folks at 'yota did a good job cleaning up the front 3/4 of the truck, but even taking just the door emblems off looks a lot better to me.

Might be 'cause I know how much trouble it is to buff all the wax out from inside the letters with Q tips and how much harder than that it is to not leave Q tip marks.

 

As above, clayed and theee coats of zaino in march of 15. Clayed again and three more coats of zaino in laye june 2015.

Since then outside of dd duty one trip to kenai for salmon fishing with spray gun and bubble brush wash to follow, another pretty muddy road trip in search of caribou with same wash to follow.

Over the weekend we had five inches of snow, this is my hood today after the melt.

 

And now its sprinkling rain on the melting snow. Oh joy.

 

I'm a huge fan of Zaino bros. and been using it for the last 12 yrs or so. Nothing lasts longer here in the desert.

 

Another project going. I picked up a set of 17 inch rims, powder coated black. Once i had them clean i clayed them, then three coats of zaino z5 and one coat of zaino z2, finished just last night.

I had studded nokian hakka 8s installed today. Im mostly looking for road crap to not stick so they stay in balance. Ill run these through the spray wash in probably late march when i put my summer tires and rims back on, i bet they will still be beading up real nice after being parked outdoors through an alaskan winter.

 

Haven't zaino's my taco since June of 2015 as above. I did bucket wash it once the summer of 2016.

Started at the coin-op spray gun car wash, couple passes with soft terry in a soapy bucket, all ready to clay at this point...



Came out fine. I think I'll go two years again before I apply zaino again.

 

2018 update. Three more coats of Zaino today.

What I have been doing with this truck, annually, is starting with a spray gun car wash, then bucket wash with whatever soap, caly bar with Zaino soapy water, quick wash with Zaino soapy watyer, rinse with tap water, rinse with distilled water, towel dry, then two coats of Z-5 scratch filler wax and one coat of Zaino Z-2 finish wax.

This truck has not been garaged since March of 2015 as above in this thread. I am getting a little behind on scratches. I may do my annual process twice next year just to get more Z-5 scratch filling wax down in the scratches.

After all the above, with one lick and a promise wipe with Zaino Z-16 detailing spray today:

 

Three years since I waxed the truck. I spent about 20 minutes at the coin-operated car wash before I bothered getting started in the driveway this go round. The pic is today, hasn't ever been garaged since I first detailed it in March 2015. Just clean enough to get out the clay bar is all, my Zaino has held up to three Alaska winters just fine. The truck has a bunch of scratches and rock chips. It is a truck, I live in Alaska and I own a boat. Zaino is doing an awesome job, but it isn't armour. I believe my resale value will be good when the time comes.