Well, I have been an avid Zaino user for some time now. I have put about 4 coats on my 8 in the past month and it looked great! I have been hearing about the Meguire's NXT and had to try it. All I can say is that is looks just as good or better. It's a little more difficult to get off though.
It's hard to really tell though since it might look better with NXT when it already has 4 coats of Zaino under it. I don't know.
I just think my car has that "orange peal" look to it everywhere except the front and rear bumpers. I'm trying to get that to go away. Any suggestions? Here are some pics...

 

Photo2

 

wetsanding will get rid of 'orangepeel'

 

just remember the paint is a two stage = you might go through the clear if not care full

 

The 'orange peel' is probably in the base coat, so wetsanding will do nothing since the clear coat is covering it.

 

Well, I was hoping that multiple coats of Zaino would smooth it out. It's not that it's not shiny, it just isn't that smooth mirror look. I have seen other 8's and they seem to be the same way. Not sure if it was just the time they were painted, or what. I can live with it and I'll just continue to wax the hell out of it. My wife says I'm too **** about the car. OH! but when she drives it... thats a different story!

 

If yours is like mine the orangepeel seems to be in the color coat itself so you'd have to remove the clearcoat before you could level it out. Since the paint was designed with clearcoat in mind, the color layer may not be thick enough to withstand the process nor wear well afterwards. That's one nice thing about cars without clearcoat - you can really get a mirror finish by working the paint.

 

The orange peel will never go. It's under the clear coat. Blame Mazda for using cheap paint (Dupont!!) on their flagship automobile!

 

whats "orangepeel"? haha sorry i just didnt get that.

 

since when is Dupont cheap paint??

 

I feel its cheap compared to other brands. Why don't you compare it to Glasorit and Spieshecker (brands used in VW, Mercedes and BMW)

 

The paint is not the problem, it's the prep and the way it was applied that gives the Orange peel. It's clear Mazda rushed this great car out into the world, and I'm sure the painting process on some cars fell victim.

I checked my car before I bought it to make sure there was minimal orange peel. On all cars it happens, you just have to be alert and strong enough to resist taking delivery on a car with a 'rough' paint finish.

 

Yes, the problem is in the application. They know it is there and use mica to reduce its affect. It all has to do with price. They can use more expensive methods to apply the paint to eliminate orange peel but it adds significantly to the price.

 

You can level out some of the orange peel by wetsanding the top coat.
However, you can't get rid of all of it if the topcoat isn't thick enough to support sanding it flat (which is isn't).

Orange peel is a fact of life on any car under $80k USD.

 

I guess it's good to be blind or whatever, but I've been Zaino-intimate with every inch of my car on many occasions and I've yet to see any roughness in the paint. There's one blemish, about the size of a green pea (in diameter) and it's a circular spot where the paint has a slight crazed look to it but you've got to REALLY look to find it. Maybe this roughness isn't as visible on the tit gray as other colors? Maybe it's good to be blind....

 

OK guys, I have plenty of experience with this problem. It is caused partly by cheap paint and partly by clearcoat that is over catalyzed. When the clearcoat is over catalyzed it begins to cure before it has a chance to level out causing the clearcoat cellulite you see. While there may well be some "peel" in the color coat, you can cover up a great deal of sins in a colorcoat with a nice smooth clearcoat and never know the difference. Case in point: my last car was a 2003 Honda accord coupe, San Marino red. I noticed a lot of peel in the clear but didn't let it dissuade me from buying the car. I took it from the dealership to my local auto paint supply store for supplies. After a week of sanding and buffing, voila! no more peel and a blistering shine all over. In summary.....
1. The peel is in both coats but if you sand it out of the clear you will never know.
2. It is somewhat symptomatic of the great care we give our finishes. Shiny finish=more contrast=more noticable peel
3. You do must be very careful doing this sanding, it requires a delicate touch to remove just enough to kill the texture. You actually want to remove not quite all the texture when you sand because when you buff with an agressive compound you will remove even more clearcoat.
4. If you have never taken sandpaper to paint and you aren't intimately familiar with the use of a rotary buffer DO NOT try this at home kids. Burn marks can only be removed with a new layer of clearcoat. $$$!

 

Thanks for the info newtlicious... So if I have never wetsanded, what steps and products do you suggest I use and how do I use them? Feel free to email me. shea.scott@comcast.net

 

The cars are painted by robot in environmental chambers. The variables are the material (quality), the mix and the robot's programming. Mine must have gone through on a good day because there are no paint flaws at all. I have clay barred and Zaino'd enough to know that the only paint issues are since I took delivery.

I have a very critical eye for paint and bodywork having misspent my youth doing a lot of body work and paint. When I went to pick up the car, I told the dealer that I wouldn't sign for it if there was even one paint flaw that I deemed needed rework. I was very pleasantly surprised to find absolutely no problems.

 

NXT wax is great and very easy to remove.

Mr Clean blows


just two little things I noticed today


thanks

 

If you can manage to sand the clearcoat without burning through to the color coat, you can eliminate the orange peel. "It's in the color coat" is nonsense. Ok, technically it may very well be, but since the clear is on top, that's what effects the quality of the reflections, and that's what you need to worry about. The thing is, it's probably not something you'd want to do without having at least practiced on a junk hood or something. When body shops sand the clear, they usually have laid it on extra thick so it's safe to sand on...whereas the factory is putting it on thin to save $$$ because they assume it won't be sanded.

And don't think orange peel is due to "cheap paint"...I don't think I've seen any factory car that didn't have it to some degree.

 

Baron, your theory is sound but somewhat incorrect. I have sanded the peel out of my entire 8. Even though the clearcoat is now flat as a pancake, there is still some very minor visible rippling in the black colorcoat. Perfecting the clearcoat made a huge difference but the finish can never be better than it's worst layer.

 

You can see the buildings clearly in the reflection on the 8. Its a fresh NXT job.

 

Wanna see shine? Here's some Zymol shine (Compare to my wife's newly washed Expedition)

 

Big wide photos "NXT Vegas Shoot" make the thread hard to read!

 

sorry, I don't know how to insert a thumbnail that expands on a click.