Detailing Recommendations for 2003 Millennium Yellow Coupe

[Tenorplayer23]

Hi: Have a very low mile 2003 Millennium Yellow Z51 Coupe (~6K miles....for a lot of reasons, a long story.....

). It's garaged and only driven in good weather here in New York State. I am hoping to be able to use it a lot more soon.

Have read a great deal on many, many forums & mfgs. sites about various product lines, processes & techniques for hand and machine detailing work, etc.. However, I would also like to get some first hand information and recommendations for doing good detail work on my C5 (considering it's Millennium Yellow, in it's current condition).

Current condition is pretty good, I think.

> It's been hand washed and waxed (so far OTC products; I like Nu Finish Car Wash and Black Magic Liquid Wax). BM is a very bright and "bulletproof" finish, that's for sure.

> Swirls are pretty minimal, but I suspect are better hidden by the fact that it's yellow and not a dark metallic. i.e. I suspect there is room for improvement (haven't micro-examined it under a high intensity pointed light source, nor do I have a local comparison for what a better detailing process/products might do for that color).

> I use the standard clean 2 bucket washing method, soft fiber washing mitts plus MF towels for drying and terry wax applicators/MF towels for polish removal. Have never used a DA polisher on any of my vehicles (but would like to A/R) or any of the great product lines discussed on this forum and in other places.

I see the trick to an excellent outcome is in the preparation. Therefore, I am generating the list of items to procure - DA polisher & pads, add'l MF towels, other hard goods, as well as, (now, this is the more personal choice & confusing part) the chemical products, to do an excellent job.

Hence, I'd like your product & process recommendations for my Millennium Yellow C5 cream puff, please.

The only other personal considerations might be:

a) Reasonable time expectations & ease of use to achieve a good outcome - perhaps improved preparation on the vette & all my cars, depending on condition, but then more AIO like processes for finishing???

b) I tend to like the idea of a single mfg. line of products; for compatibility, introduction of fewer variables, one source for excellent/personal support which I consider very important, etc..

c) Products that are reasonably priced and make some sense in their cost/benefit trade-offs. And, having USA-made products would be a bonus, too.

I know there are improvement in products & process steps that you can offer me. So far, I perceive the greatest need to be in which chemical products to use for all the car detailing steps, as well as, particular process suggestions for a Millennium Yellow C5 Coupe!!

Many thanks in advance for your recommednations and input. I look forward to your constructive product & process advice for my Corvette.

Hope to hear from you shortly. Have a good one! Regards, Bob

 

[jdeatsch]

Morning Bob,

Seems we're neighbors.

I'm SOLD, absolutely SOLD on Zaino products. I've used them on every Corvette I've had and just love 'em.

You'll get varied opinions, of course, and that's why there are myriad products available to us.

I got called a liar when I told people that my red, 91 vert wasn't repainted. Yep, it looked that good.

Jim

 

[GS Diva]

Hi Bob,

Congratulations on your gem of a C5!! And a belated welcome to the Corvette Action Center.

I'm moving this to the Care & Detailing section as it may draw more responses.

Elaine

 

[Toms007]

Bob, I too have used Zaino products, but the first thing I would suggest would be a good cleaning with claybar. Unless I missed this in your post this is an essential step in cleaning.

For swirl removal, I use a Porter Cable 7424 along with Adams SHR (Swirl Haze Remover) on an orange pad, then I switch to a white pad and use the FMP (Fine Machine Polish) and then move on to a Black pad and use their MSW (Machine Super Wax). I have gone over that with the Zaino Z5. I'm not a professional, but I am learning much about detailing and am very pleased with my results.

Although not a Corvette, here is a picture of my daughters metallic black Honda Van that had terrible swirls and basically had only been washed by running it through an automated car wash.

I am quickly becoming an Adams fan. They have a complete line of products and the customer service is better than Number 1.

 

[c5y2k]

I start with washing the car with Dawn dish soap to strip off any old wax. Then I clay bar the car to get all the micro dirt in the paint off. I'm currently using a Mothers clay bar but I have some from Zaino when this gets trashed. I just used my Portal Cable 7424 for the first time and all i can say is WOW. I started with the orange polishing pad and pinnacle XMT ultra fine swirl remover. When using a polish and the 7424 make sure to use the right RPM and let the polisher do the work. You have to go slow and let the polisher polish the swirls out. Its sounds silly to mention it but Im not sure how many people actually go slow enough to really polish the car. The site I got my polisher from has some great on-line videos on how to used the polisher and the products. I'm not sure if I should put the link the site on here but I'll be glad to send it to you if you like. I know Adams has some great videos on their site as well.

Moving on, after the polishing is done I apply the wax/sealer Zaino Z2(with ZFX flash cure to speed up the drying process). I do three coats of Z2 with a wipe down of Z6 between each coat. Make sure to let each coat dry for at least 30 minutes before removeing. This is the first time I have used the 7424 to apply Zaino and it went very well. I used a blue pad and it made it much easier to get a very thin coat of the Z2 on the car compared to putting it on by hand. After that I'm done for another year.

 

[Tenorplayer23]

Detailing Fedback

Thanks GS Diva, Toms01 & C5YrK for all the feedback and pictures. Lots to consider. Probably should post pictures of the current car and how the appearance looks. I'll see what I can do to show it's current straight. Glad to hear from you all. Look forward to more input . Certaily is a lot to choose from out there.

 

[Tuna]

I was a big believer in "Liquid Glass" and used it for many, many years. I have tried Zaino and it is a good product. Then a year or so ago I switched to C-Magic products. I'm very happy with them. (I still swear by Zaino's leather cleaner products.)

C-MagicWax.Com - Engineered to Shine

I generally use a 'car wash soap' without any wax when I wash my cars. Lately, I've been using something from Griot's Garage. I've been known to use Simple Green to wash the car.
I also recommend use of a clay bar occasionally and the clay bar can really clean the paint/clear coat of stuff stuck to it that soap and water and elbow grease can't seem to get.

I keep a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser around to wipe off wax haze from the flat black parts like the air dam under the nose.
I use a 'pastry brush' to clean wax haze around the emblems and other body parts where it tends to build up. This also comes in handy for cleaning all the buttons on the dash and around the interior.
Long 'q-tips' are real good for getting the dust out of the air vents and other small places.

I use an air compressor set to about 40 psi to 'blow' dirt out of the cracks and crevices under the hood - between the frame and inner fender is a common place for stuff to collect.

Enjoy.

 

[Tenorplayer23]

Thanks for the Info

Hi Jim,

I'm actually down the road in Fairport, so we're closer than you thought! Use Rochester for better identification.

Thanks for the info. Zaino seems to be the product line universally mentioned the "most" in these forums, although, after researching many, many mfgs., it's pretty hard to choose. Opinion biases aside, the better ones sound a lot alike, with similar claims. Nomenclature is different as is the complexity of product line components, but, they each basically come to the same end point, I think......just at what prep complexity, # of steps you want to take, expense & time. Like I said in the note, I'm playing around on paper with product line & prep steps/ cost/efficiency/benefit ratios to give me a choice for the different car scenarios I will work with. In my Post, the focus started with vette and it's specific color......then, I can move on to the rest.

You car looks pretty good! Tell me about your experience with Zaino & what process & products you used and why. That would be great 1st hand feedback, here in WNY environment with our evironmental implications.

Look forward to hearing your learning experience

Thanks again,

Bob

Morning Bob,

Seems we're neighbors.

I'm SOLD, absolutely SOLD on Zaino products. I've used them on every Corvette I've had and just love 'em.

You'll get varied opinions, of course, and that's why there are myriad products available to us.

I got called a liar when I told people that my red, 91 vert wasn't repainted. Yep, it looked that good.

Jim

 

[Toms007]

If you have questions, Adams Polishes has a forum (similar to CAC here) strictly for detailing questions. They have some of the best detailers over there. One Junkman2008, I first "met" here. But he spends most of his time over at Adams. Those guys have helped me a bunch. AJ (Junkman2008), has developed several videos and posted them on whatever process you're trying to do.

 

[Tenorplayer23]

Tom, thanks for the reply. Actually, I've seen all of Junkman2008's videos & chatted with him while on Corvette Forum. His change to Adams' products isn't too long ago.....and he has a pretty cool gig with them. In fact, I've been through their site & Autogeeks' pretty thoroughly at this point. Nice set of cars you've had. I've been a car enthusiast forever, as well, but my Corvette experience started w/a '79 coupe to '81.....skip forward.....1994, 1996, 2000 and 2003. All but one was the hot yellow of the era....the other, of course, Red!

If you have anymore info/other insight into Adams, please let me know. Thanks.

 

[Toms007]

Tenor, I see you over at the Adams site now. Have you decided that that is what you are going with, or are you going to use a mixture? Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll be happy, and the car will look spectacular..