pastabatman

Hi,
Just got back from a roadtrip last weekend in my new red S4 up the CA coast. At somepoint over the weekend, some heavy water spots developed on my hood (probably with a heavy salt content, since we spent two nights at a place just across the road from the beach in Cambria/San Simeon). The deposits formed an swath about a foot wide across the front half of the hood. Might have been due to drying occuring when driving, and the wind pattern over the hood. Probably should have washed off immediately, but I didn't have any tools, and this was a small town.

Anyhow, I followed through with my plan to Zaino my car for the first time on Monday (dawn wash, claybar, regular wash, z5, etc). It wasn't until after the claybar that I noticed that the spots were still there! I stopped and dawn'd the hood again, re-clayed, to no avail. Pissed, and not sure what to do, I decided to go ahead and finish the Zaino treatment anyhow.

I did a lot of searches here, and found that the treatment of choice for water spots is vinegar. I tried it last night on a small area of the hood. I kept daubing it on, waiting longer and longer amounts of time, for a total of 10 minutes or so. It seemed to help a little, but the spots are still visible.

So, now I'm thinking I may need to polish these buggers out. Should I give the vinegar another try? If I need to polish, can someone suggest an appropriate product?

Thanks for any help,
Dave

petertt

Dave,

Soak a clean cotton washcloth or hand towel with white vinegar and let it sit on the hood (cool car/ in the shade)for 20 - 30 minutes. Daubing it on is not enough. Wash and reapply your Zaino after the spots are removed.

If this does not work, the salt has etched too far into the paint for the vinegar to help. I have had some luck with 3M Imperial Hand Glaze (search this forum). A professional detailer is another option.

Let us know if you are successful.

RKA

You need to remove that layer of Zaino...vinegar won't cut it. You'll need a solvent, or paint prep...something that will cut through the zaino, and strip your hood down to the clearcoat. Dawn won't cut through Zaino, BTW.

Then try the vinegar again. Peter's advice it good.

pastabatman

Can someone confirm? If I must use a solvent or paint prep, can someone recommend a specific product and technique?

achilleas101

but i agree, you first need to get rid of the zaino and retry the vinegar. Menzerna should actually help too.

petertt

Send Sal Zaino an email. I am sure he will recommend a suitable product.

pastabatman

lazaino.com is a local distributor for So Cal. Very nice folks. Ira confirmed that Dawn would not strip the zaino, and advised 3M Swirl Mark Remover or denatured alcohol. I'd go with the Menzerna, but it's not probably not available locally, and I want to take care of this ASAP. I'll probably pick up the 3M SMR, unless someone here recommends against it.

Thanks,
Dave

RKA

Menzerna will remove anything on the paint, and burnish it to a bright shine. If you then spray water on the paint, you'll see it bead up as if it was freshly painted. The abrasives help to accomplish this...I have no doubt it will rip right through the Zaino. There are some tough spots that your polisher won't be able to reach, so the ideal solution is really some type of solvent/paint prep. The denatured alcohol suggested below should work fine (if that's what Zaino recommends).