Re: Paint Maintenance for Europa blue S6

[Warren Wang <wwang@tnt-dal-42-206.dallas.net>]

On Sun, 12 Jul 1998, Brian Pleet wrote:

> First, the neighbours cat decided she liked to sit on the hood.
> Unfortunately, this cat was not declawed and something scared it off
> with 3 sets of claw marks as a reminder. Then someone in the parking lot
> decided that their perogitive was to swing open their door at full
> velocity. Oops! A tidy $500 repaired the ding and the paint. Most
> recently, the office painters tried to save the time of asking people to
> move their vehicles from the vicinity. Oops, the car just came back from
> the detailers with a cleaning and wax job.

Don't mess with the cat claw marks yourself.  Just try not to stare at
that spot too often ;)  Trying to get them out yourself could make them
look worse.

> Side by side the 90Q, this car looks sad. Even after a complete 3 step
> wax job (3 hours of work), the paint shows swirl marks in the sun. Most
> recently (after the cleaning/wax) the front hood looks like it has
> developed eczema, with blotches under the shine of the recent wax.

If it's a cracking type look, nothing but a repaint will really help.

I've got a Santorin Blue A4.  Anyhow, now I use Griot's cleaning clay and
their quick detailer, err I forgot their number, but I think they have it
listed at http://www.griotsgarage.com  Then Z5 from Zaino Bros,
http://www.zainobros.com  All you need from Zaino is the Z5 and Z1, that
is the polish and conditioner.  I've tried everything from Meguiar's
(great on my Sentra SE-R, horrific on my Santorin Blue A4, swirl swirl
swirl), to Pinnacle Souveran (looks great, lasts about 2 days), to Finish
First (I think I lost a few years of my life inhaling this stuff), and now
Zaino (looks great, and lasts).  

Anyhow, wash the car with Dawn, to strip it of any waxes and the like.  It
won't harm the finish.  Next is the worst part, the cleaning clay.  It
takes quite a bit of elbow grease, but takes off a bunch of crap.  Use
lots of the quick detailer and a light touch to make sure you're not
scratching the car. Then the Z1 conditioner from Zaino.  This is about as
easy as it gets.  Just put it on a 100% cotton terry towel or terry
covered pad, and go over the car.  A little bit of this stuff goes a long
ways.  Let that sit for at least 5 minutes.  Slightly wet a cotton terry
covered pad (you can get these from Zaino or Griot's), and put some Z5
polish on it.  Go over the car in straight lines, adding more polish to
the pad when you need to.  Then just let it sit for a few hours.  I'll
assume that you're doing this in a garage, where there won't be crap
blowing all over it.  Then buff it off in straight lines with a 100%
cotton terry towel.

Wow.  That was longer than I intended.  That's what I do to keep my car
looking good, which a few of the Q-listers have seen.  I know the list is
more geared towards mechanics, but it doesn't mean that the car shouldn't
look good in addition to running well.

Santorin Blue A4