UKSaabs

Apparently we do speak a little Americano - Zaino.

Images are taken with an iPhone I'm afraid so don't expect too much lol

So it was about time my 95 had a little TLC and after a little research I decided Zaino Bros. Z3 was the product to test.



New Saab badge and non-stock wiper blades fitted, I set to work on a general clean before any major works began toward the polish.
A general wash was in order, for this I used Ice, it's come highly recommended and I have to say it's not been bad for me, not intensive enough for what I needed though. Speaking in hindsight I would have liked to have used a traffic film remover first, this might have saved me a little time.



Tow bar removed and slightly lack-luster paint finish in full view.
After wash & shampooing I decided to use the synthetic chamois I had bought today. TOTAL waste of time, there's definitely no replacement for a genuine leather chamois.



T-Cut time. Before. The whole car took 1/4 of a bottle.
The sun made life a little difficult here, as the sun was out at times, the drying time varied greatly, giving me more and less time to work out any surface scratches. I did what I could but there are more that need paint correction.



After.



The T-Cut alone gave it a nice shine, but this was just a step towards the final goal.
The car was then shampooed for the second time.
Next came the window polish. This, Im not so happy with, a Turtle Wax Clear View(?) polish.



The polish is applied by cloth to cover the windows (in this case, inside and out) on each of the windows that are important...all of them =]
It dries to a white haze, seen above, that then forms a dust when removed from the glass. Bad times!
This white dust then falls, all over your paintwork.
The car had to be washed and shampooed for the third time.



White residue left on the window.



And the dust on my paintwork!

All of the window seals had to be cleaned with pressurised water and a micro fiber cloth to remove any remaining white marks.
This presented another problem, water marks. I had the choice of white dust or water streaks? Not greatly impressed with this one, will be looking for another polish for the glass tomorrow.

Next, the trim polish. This one is an Auto Glym, also not amazed by this one either as it comes in a rather unhelpful spray bottle and is far to runny to be manageable when it comes to the tighter corners. However the finish is not bad...



Trim to the right has been treated, trim to the left has not.
The car was washed again to remove any excess polish before applying the Zaino.
The polish was applied from back to front, then around to give me a nice rotation to start removing by the time I had finished applying.



Zaino was applied as thinly as possible to ensure an even first coat.
(Also my brake disks hate my by this point)



And the result. As a first coat, I don't this this is terrible, to be fair. I plan to build this up over tomorrow, as well as clean the wheels and layer the trims again.
Can you teach an old Saab new tricks? Apparently, you can.



How do I rate the Zaino Z3? Well, it comes up nicely on the first coat, but I will need to build on it before I give a final verdict. The car in the last picture, compared to the first looks a deeper, brighter black, which definitely earns it brownie points in my book. I realise lighting and angle changes vary the effect but the shine and colour area a genuine improvement. Job done.
My advice would be if you're doing the same, find a spot that is either sunny or shady, not both.

I think you can make life a lot easier for yourself by choosing the correct products and doing things in the right order. I don't want to sound harsh but want to offer some advice although I am no expert. I can see deeper reflections so well done but we can improve.

Chamois leather is no good, get a drying towel. T-cut isn't very good use AG super resin polish instead it has fillers it in to make paintwork appear better. I think you put far too much glass polish on hence the dust. For the trim spray, spray it onto the cloth and for tight corners put cloth under trim to protect paintwork and spray and use cotton bud to work in then remove. Remember to go round and remove excess product.

I did plan on doing a full detail guide but as soon as I got the 9-3 I got stuck in and didn't take pics...watch this space.

steve if you need to take pictures i have a 93 you can use(well you can clean it and take photos)

I did that with the trim polish, figured that out before I started, I just found it rather odd. As for the glass polish I figured that one out too, but the dust is there regardless, not really a fan of it at all.
Mostly, this was an experiment, from what I read I went for a balance of products, the glass polish was a shot in the dark that failed. It dries to a white haze.

Would love too but Notingham is a bit far.

no worries steve,but to be honest nottingham is only half way between were you live and home again

I would have sprayed the cloth with glass cleaner to make it easier to remove and hopefully it would have kept the dust down a bit more. It looks like you have got polish on the rubber trim too, this is bad news if you didn't remove it properly or your trim will turn white it time.

Sorry but I am just trying to help out. There is no helping somepeople like my neighbour who I caught doing his yearly wash. For the bucket he was using a recycle bin, dish cloth and washing up liquid.

Hello DeVille, you don't really know me yet as you have not been on here long, any road, I was thinking...................personally, I don't think you have put enough window cleaner on, you may be better poring the whole bottle on ...........just a thought, I bet the dust was like that volcano going off.

Rob

Now now Rob, we all make mistakes, even me, I use to clean a car with a sponge.

to be honest,the windows look like they were cleaned with the middle of that sponge...............mmmmmmmmmmmcream mmmmmmmmm.........

sorry, did someone say sponge.................mmmmmmmmmmmm.................victoria.

Right then you little Devil.

The window stuff you are using will be OK, you just need a little guiding hand.

When doing windows, do them one at a time, just one side/surface, you don't need much either, start in the middle, but don't flap yer hand round like a mad man, go up to the rubber very carefully using just the edge of the cloth, then wipe it off straight away.

PS: Do not use a great big dollop, use sparingly, you really don't need much, if you wipe off before it dries, you won't get dust, once wiped, turn your body round, walk 2 paces and shake your cloth a little.

HINT: If you are doing the inside windscreen especially where it meets the dash, use a spray on glass cleaner such as Windolene, spray on rag, quite wet, rub one half of window, then rub off with clean rags straight away.

I've been in the game 32 years now and personally I never, ever use cream, always spray, I don't use rags on windows, but paper toweling, the sort that does not break up though, keep replacing your wipe-off paper, it does not whiten your rubbers as you wipe it straight off.

Rob

lol Yeah I realised the error after it was too late, it dried to that haze as opposed to going on like that. Not really a fan of it and will be using a spray in future, as you've said.
Don't hate, I'm no car guru, just a guy who wanted his car to look good =]

Once I have another sunny day off I will be re-doing the windows (and yes, the dust was an arse) as well as applying another 2 coats of Zaino and cleaning the wheels. Will post to show what the Z3 does for it after the third coat.

Have you clayed the car? Have you got rid off the tar?

I wish I had, tried sourcing it locally to no avail, any ideas/suggestions?
Was tempted to buy it from Zaino but wasn't 100%.

Sourcing what?

Clay. All I could find was part of a complete set for £40, which I didn't want.

The place to look for most of your cleaning needs is http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/ Virtually everything you could need will be on there. They are also a zaino distributor too. The clays to look for are bilt hamber and sonus green clay. (ultra fine)

Diville, for Claybar try Blutak at 99P .
A spray bottle of clean water to act as a lubricant and off you go.
Also works on glass, wheels atc.

Really? If that's true I will have a go tomorrow providing the weather suits. So clay bar or try the blutak first?
Also I came steaming head on toward a Saab the same as your avatar this morning Naranto, as I overtook someone on my way to work.