LSP Care and Maintenance

[Nezil]

I recently spent a couple of weeks of evenings polishing out swirl marks that were put in all over my car by a body shop trying to 'do me a favour' by washing and waxing the whole car after a respray to the bonnet (hood).

 

For the polishing stage I used Meguiars Ultimate Compound, followed by Ultimate Polish. Both of these can be roughly described as the consumer versions of M105 & M205 which appear to have good reviews. I found them to be really easy to use, and was happy with the results.

 

On previous car, with light pearlescent blue paint (a Honda S200 in Suzuka/Nurburgring Blue), I had used Zaino's system and been pretty happy with it. The problem I had with my new car was two fold however:

 

1. I was doing a panel or two per night, and wanted to put on an LSP after the polishing work a section at a time. Zaino requires the use of a ZFX activator and after you've mixed up an Ounce of sealant, you've got to use it in 6 hours. This would mean a lot of wasted product.
   
2. My new car is 'Ultimate Black', a pearlescent Black colour, and I wondered if I'd be able to get a deeper shine with a different LSP.
   

After the success that I'd had with Meguiars Polishes, I decided to give their Gold Class Carnauba Plus wax a try as an LSP, complete with their Gold Class Quick Detailer and Quick Wax... I was seriously disappointed.

 

I simply couldn't prevent the Gold Class from smearing. Streaks and blotches of different depth of colour were left all over the paintwork, most noticeable on the horizontal panels. In bright sunlight, the streaks were not noticeable in the same way, but appeared as greasy sections that almost looked like post polishing haze.

 

In the end I finished polishing the car, and went back to a full 3 coats of Zaino Z5. Zaino's shine is very good, far far better than the Gold Class, but it was a pain to apply and remove, and as I said before, I'd like to try a Carnauba based wax.

 

Besides it's well known durability, I'd been most happy with the care regime of Zaino. I love the fact that after a wash, a quick spray with Z6 and/or Z8 leaves your car looking like it's just been waxed (sealed) for a very long time, certainly long enough until the next full detail session.

 

Now that my car is garaged, I'm not so concerned about durability, and am happy to apply sealant / wax / glaze / quick detailer more often, but I'd like to understand the process I should be following if I switch from Zaino.

 

When I tried P21S on my S2000 before, I hadn't been that happy with the look (hence the switch to Zaino), but more importantly had felt that as the wax coat degraded, fairly quickly with P21S, it became almost dirty.

 

Let's say I went for an Adam's Brilliant Glaze, Followed by Americana Wax. I'd start of course with a full IPA wipe down to remove the Zaino, apply the Glaze, and then the wax... Then what?

 

So here are my questions:

 

• When I wash the car, should I use Adam's Quick Detailer Spray to make the Americana last a little longer?
  
• What process do people follow between full detail sessions to ensure that their car looks the best?
  
• Can I apply Americana by DA, perhaps with a 4" pad?
  
• How long before Americana and/or Glaze needs to be re-applied?
  
• Should I IPA wipe down / Dawn wash the car when I do re-apply Americana / Glaze to get rid of the old decayed dirty wax?
  

It may be that I've been burnt when trying out the Meguiar's Gold Class, but I'm so nervous to switch from Zaino when I know that it's so easy to maintain. I don't mind a system / process that requires more effort if it gives results, but the Meguiars was just bad in both the maintenance and care regard (QD left more streaks than the wax!)

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Neil.

[Beemer]

I switched from ZAINO to Adam's about 6 months ago (used ZAINO about 2 years). I was always very happy with the ZAINO products but I was impressed with the depth of the Adam's product line (makes ZAINO's look pretty puny by comparison) and the how-to videos that were available.

 

I gave a couple of Adam's products a try and was immediatly a convert. The wash soap is fantastic, the polish is easy to use, the wax sealant/glaze/wax is unbelievable. The products go on and come off MUCH easier than ZAINO.

 

Again - I was always very happy with ZAINO. Until I tried Adam's. Now I only use my ZAINO on my wheels (until it's gone...)

[Pureshine]

1. If your just doing a maintenance wash you don't nee to use detail spray.

2. After I've done a full detail I just do a normal 2 bucket wash and every 2-3 months I seal the car again.

3. Yes you can apply Americana with a DA. I use a 5.5 and a 4 inch pads.

4. Depends on weather conditions. I mostly use sealants in seattle cause the weather sucks here.

5.I only do IPA wipe down when polishing. Just use a dawn mix of Adams/dawn.

[mc2hill]

The DS is great to aid in drying the car and it adds a little gloss too.

[Nezil]

Thanks for the responses guys.

 

I've been watching a lot of the Adam's guide videos, and it's already resulted in me ordering the turbo wheel brush when it was a daily special a few days ago.

 

I've also added a load of products to a shopping basket, and am about to bite the bullet and buy all of this kit. There is no rush however, because I'm out of the country for a few weeks anyway, so it's all theory study for now; hence my questions.

 

I think I'm fairly happy with the responses about a weekly upkeep regime. I plan to remove all traces of Zaino with dawn, and then apply Brilliant Glaze, followed by two coats of Americana.

 

Upkeep will be my regular pre wash foam, followed by two bucket wash, De-Ionised water rinse, and no touch dry. Once the car is totally dry, usually the next morning, I'll quick detail the whole car. This whole process will happen about once every week, occasionally two weeks apart, but my car is garaged, and it doesn't rain much in California.

 

The big question I have still remains though... Assuming two coats of Americana will last for about 3 months, I guess I'll start to notice water not beading so well, and the gloss not being as deep as it used to be (this might happen quicker than 3 months, and that's OK too). When this does happen, what should my process be?

 

• Can I just re-apply more wax or glaze over the old, decayed wax, after a standard maintenance wash, or should I remove this first with IPA or a Dawn wash?
  

I also had a couple of related questions following the videos I watched:

 

• If I use All Purpose Cleaner on the wheel wells and tyres, presumably this will also strip any LSPon the wheels, and on the paint if I'm not careful with the spray. Is this also true of Green Wheel Cleaner? Perhaps if doing a weekly wash, APC is not necessary, and standard car wash soap will be enough to clean the wheel wells and tyres.
  
• Will Super VRT also strip LSP? This will obviously affect the order of product application.
  
• Will Invisible Undercarriage Spray also strip LSP?
  
• Does Adam's not have an LSP for wheels? I guess they assume that you'll be stripping it off at every wash, so they don't bother making anything specific?
  

Thanks, as always, for your help guys!

 

Neil.

[mc2hill]

The big question I have still remains though... Assuming two coats of Americana will last for about 3 months, I guess I'll start to notice water not beading so well, and the gloss not being as deep as it used to be (this might happen quicker than 3 months, and that's OK too). When this does happen, what should my process be?

You could just apply over what is still there, but it may turn cloudy if there are too many coats. You may want to do a strip wash before reapplying.

 

• Can I just re-apply more wax or glaze over the old, decayed wax, after a standard maintenance wash, or should I remove this first with IPA or a Dawn wash?
  

I also had a couple of related questions following the videos I watched:

 

• If I use All Purpose Cleaner on the wheel wells and tyres, presumably this will also strip any LSPon the wheels, and on the paint if I'm not careful with the spray. Is this also true of Green Wheel Cleaner? Perhaps if doing a weekly wash, APC is not necessary, and standard car wash soap will be enough to clean the wheel wells and tyres.
  
• Will Super VRT also strip LSP? This will obviously affect the order of product application.
  
• Will Invisible Undercarriage Spray also strip LSP?
  
• Does Adam's not have an LSP for wheels? I guess they assume that you'll be stripping it off at every wash, so they don't bother making anything specific?
  

If you are washing the wheels often they may not need something as strong as APC. I use pre-mixed Car Wash Shampoo in a foaming sprayer (http://www.adamsforums.com/forums/tips-tricks/4606.htm) to clean them, and this will not remove any protection. GWC will remove protection after a few applications.

You can use MSS on the wheels, but you have to apply it very thin. I believe most have switched to QS for it's ease of use.