Z06 Cleaning and Zaino Process

Disclaimer - Please note I only recommend professionals undertake any work on vehicles. Spdkilz.com is not liable for any damage or harm that may come from the use of instructions given in the following how-to section(s).

. : List of Materials Needed : .

(1). Low Profile Jack
(2). (2) Jack Stands

(3). 2x4 Wood For Jack (4). (2) Lift Pads or Equivalent

(5). (2) Rhino Ramps (6). Torque Wrench

(7). 3/4" Socket (used to take lugs off) (8). Westley's Bleche-Wite

(9). Simple Green (10). 303 Aerospace Protectant

(11). Brake Cleaner Spray (12). A Brush to Clean Your Rims (soft bristled)

(13). Dawn Dishwashing Detergent (14). Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish

(15). Lots of Old Towels/Rags (16). 100% USA Made Cotton Towels by Fieldcrest

(17). Zaino Custom Polish Applicator Pad(s) (18). Zaino ZFX Flash Cure Accelerator Additive

(19). Zaino Z-2 or Z-5 Show Car Polish (20). Zaino Z-6 Ultra Clean Gloss Enhancer Spray

(21). Zaino Z-7 Show Car Wash (22). Zaino Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss

(23). Zaino Z-18 Claybar (24). Rain-X

Quick Links

Jacking The Car Up	Cleaning The Tires/Rims
Cleaning The Brakes	Cleaning The Wheel Wells
Cleaning Trim Pieces	Cleaning Exhaust Tips
Cleaning The Engine	Applying Rain-X
Cleaning The Interior	The Zaino Process

(click on pictures for larger versions)

Materials:

(1). Things You Need: (not shown are the Jack Stands, Pads, and Rain-X)

Top of Page

Jacking one's car up is often an overlooked area. Much of the time people do not know how to safely do it, whether it be their own safety, of the safety of their car. I am doing a step by step process to jacking up both the front and the rear of the Z06. With this knowledge, one can take their wheels off to clean them, clean their brakes, the underside of the car, etc.

Jacking The Front of Your Car Up:

(1). Obtain your torque wrench and 3/4" Socket. Pre-Loosen the lugs on your wheel before anything else (if you do not do this, you will jack your car up and not be able to remove the wheel).

(2). Next, grab your Rhino Ramps and put them under your front tires. There has been debate about the Rhino Ramps, whether you can get up on them safely. The answer is yes, you can. However, the front rubber lip/airdam does rub just a little when you drive up on them, but no harm has ever come from it in the many time's that I've used the ramps.

(3). Carefully drive the car up on the ramps. Obviously, do not go excessively fast up the ramps. Be sure to feather the clutch! Once up on the ramps, grab your low profile jack and 2x4 wood, and begin jacking the car up. Look at the second picture to see where to jack the front of the car up safely.

(4). With that done, grab your jack stands and place them under the car (again, look at the picture to see where to do so). You can use your Lift pads here if you want (when I took the picture I did not have them there; I thought I had lost them but found them after the shot).

Jacking The Back of Your Car Up:

(1). Obtain your torque wrench and 3/4" Socket. Pre-Loosen the lugs on your wheel before anything else (if you do not do this, you will jack your car up and not be able to remove the wheel).

(2). Find the proper rear jack point, which is the large crossmember behind the rear leafspring and in front of the rear anti-swaybar. It has two large braces as shown in the picture. Place the 2 x 4 (or equivalent) on top of your floorjack such that the weight is both centered on the jack plate and spans both aluminum ribs on the crossmember as shown, taking care to place the jack in the center of the crossmember. Carefully jack the rear of the vehicle.

(3). On the side of the Z06, there are two holes where you can put your Lift Pads. Do so and then use your jack stands to help stabilize the jacked rear of the car.

(4). Remove the rims from the car for cleaning.

Top of Page

Cleaning The Tires And Rims:
(1). For this step, you will need a soft bristled brush, Westley's Bleche-Wite, Zaino Z-6 Ultra Clean Gloss Enhancer Spray, and Zaino Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss.
(2). First you need to spray the entire rim/tire down with the Bleche-Wite. (I am not sure if this is the best thing to go on the rim's, however, I have been doing this for a couple of years and have had no problems. The Bleche-Wite works wonders on the tire, and also gets off all the brake dust). Let it soak in for a minute or two, then use the brush to clean the tire and rim fully. Turn the rim over and apply more Bleche-Wite to the inside of the rim. Again, let it soak in for a minute then use the brush to clean any brake dust off. Spray down the tire/rim, then dry it with one of your 100% Cotton Towels. With that done, spray the Zaino Z-6 onto a towel and apply it to the Rim. This will coat the rim, give it a shine, and help keep brake dust from sticking to it in the future. After that grab your Z-16 Tire Gloss and apply it to either a rag or a foam brush. Lightly apply it to your entire tire. Be sure there is no excess Z-16 on the tire or else this will splatter up when you are driving (I would recommend waiting at least 24 hours to drive your car after applying the Z-16 to ensure no splatter will ensue). And with that, you are done!

Top of Page

Cleaning The Brakes:

(1). This is a very easy and fast thing to do when your rims are off of the car. First, grab your hose and change it on the "stream" setting. Use the powerful stream of water to try and break up any large deposits of brake dust. Then, use any standard brake cleaner and spray it generously on the brake assembly. Doing this every now and then will get rid of the annoying squeaky breaks...for a while, heh.

Top of Page

Cleaning The Wheel Wells:
(1). In this step, you will need Simple Green and Aerospace 303 Protectant.
(2). Grab your hose again and carefully spray the insides of the wheel wells to get any large deposits of dirt and grime off. Next, spray Simple Green on the insides of the wheel well. Let it soak in for a minute, then wipe it off with one of your old towels or rags. After you make sure everything is clean and dry, spray some Aerospace 303 Protectant on the wheel wells, to insure both a nice shine, and protection.

Top of Page

Cleaning Trim Pieces:
(1). While the front of car is up, now is an ideal time to clean some of the trim pieces on the car. More specifically, the front lip/airdam and the rear brake air ducts. Just get the Aerospace 303 Protectant and put some on. You will be amazed at how much better these panels now look!

Top of Page

Cleaning Exhaust Tips:
(1). I don't know about you, but I hate having a shiny car with exhaust tips that are stained and dull looking. Not to worry though! Obtain some Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish, an couple of old rags, and go at your tips!
(2). First, put some of the polish on the rag and gently, yet firmly start rubbing the compound onto the tips. Be sure to get in between them, and also clean the inside lip of the Tips. After that, get a new clean rag, and begin removing the white haze that should have formed from the polish. All you are left with is a beautiful shine!

Top of Page

Cleaning The Engine:

(1). Whenever I take my car to shows, one of the main questions asked is "can you pop your hood?" I am sure you have had this asked before, and nothing is more embarrassing when you open your hood to reveal a dirty LS1 or 6 engine. No more will you worry about showing your engine compartment off! With only two simple products you can make your engine look brand new. I have heard different ways on cleaning the engine compartments, including hosing it down. I personally will never do that. Again, I am not saying my way is the best, but you can see from the pictures I get decent results. With that said, go grab your Simple Green. Spray it all over the engine compartment (be careful to avoid wires and CPU's and the such). Let it soak in for a bit, then use a few old towels to wipe any and all grime off of the engine parts. Repeat this step if necessary. While you are waiting for everything to dry off, go grab the 303 Aerospace Protectant. For this, spray it on a rag and apply manually (it is cleaner this way). Be sure to coat everything. And with that, you are done! Stand back and just look at the gleam coming from your engine compartment.

[Note] As a warning: Simple Green is corrosive to aluminum if you leave it on for an extended period of time. A lot of people on Corvetteforum.com use a 50/50 Water/Simple Green mixture when they're cleaning the motor.

Top of Page

Applying Rain-X:

(1). This is pretty self explanatory. Get your Rain-X, a 100% cotton towel, and put some of the Rain-X on the towel. Gently move the towel over your windows in a circular motion until a thin haze appears. Allow it to sit for a few minutes, then grab a clean 100% cotton towel, and remove the Rain-X.

I am telling you guys, if you have never tried this stuff (I am assuming most of you have) it is utterly amazing. Kind of funny though, because my car has seen the rain only twice, and even then that was for about ten minutes combined...yet I still put it on just in case!

Anyway, just look at the shine/reflection in the last two pictures. It is unreal, that and the Rain-X actually serves a purpose! heh...

Top of Page

Cleaning The Interior:

(1). I am not going to focus much on this section for now, but I thought I would give one quick tip. Grab your 303 Aerospace Protectant and a 100% cotton towel. Go to work cleaning/coating your entire inside (minus the leather seats, carpet, glass, and steering wheel, obviously). After you have done this, you are only left with a deep and rich looking shine. Just look at the pictures! This stuff really does revitalize the interior of the car. Just yesterday my buddy with the 03 Cobra came by and used some of the 303 in his interior and he couldn't believe how great it worked.

Top of Page

During our lifetime there will never be a resolution to the question "What is the best Wax/Car Product?" Some say Mothers, others Maguire's, still others Zaino. I personally, am a diehard Zaino fan. Ever since I tried it out last year I am continually impressed with it. Thus I took the time to do a "step by step" for the Zaino process. I will include all of the pertinent information. If you want more information about Zaino, it's application, or purchasing it, please visit: ZainoBros.com.
The Zaino Process:
(1). Before we even can think about Zaino, we must first get all of the old wax and grime off of the Vette. To do so, acquire some Dawn Dishwashing Detergent. This will strip the car of anything on it, helping to prep it for the upcoming steps.
(2). Wash the entire car with the Dawn, then dry your car off with 100% USA cotton towels made by Fieldcrest. [NOTE] There is a reason behind all of the talk about using 100% USA made cotton towels. If you use non-100% cotton towels, or even towels that claim to be 100% cotton but are not made in the USA, you chance scratching the paint/clear coat on your Corvette (and we all know how thin our clear coat is). I also recommend cutting the edges off of them. This insures that you will be less prone to scratch the car. For a more in-depth explanation about this and towel care, click HERE.
(3). With the car dry, we can now go get some Zaino Z-7 Carwash and Z-18 ClayBar. The Zaino ClayBar was designed to remove airborne contaminants, paint overspray, water spots, rail dust, industrial fallout, diesel fuel & catalytic converter residue and any other bonded surface contaminants from paint. When you ClayBar your car, there are two main things to remember. First, always keep the area you are working on lubricated (using a mixture of Z-7 Carwash and water), and secondly, every now and then change the surface area of the ClayBar, because when you remove contaminants from your paint, they get lodged in the ClayBar and then could scratch the car if you continue using that part of the ClayBar. ClayBar only a small area of your car at a time, let it dry, then wipe it off with a 100% cotton towel. In the last picture you can see just how much debris the claybar catches. For a more in-depth explanation about cleaning with Clay, click HERE.
(4). Re-wash the entire vehicle with Z-7 Car Wash immediately after the ClayBar process. Dry the car off, then let it dry out completely. This can be sped up by leaving the doors, trunk, and hood open (to dry out any and all hidden spots).
(5). Now comes the fun part: The actual application of the Zaino! The basic products you will need for this step is ZFX accelerator additive, Z2 or Z5 (Z2 is the most optically perfect of the polishes, but Z5 helps swirl marks and fine scratches disappear, so I always just use Z5 as the first coat on the car), and a Zaino polish applicator pad.
(6). Get the ZFX, and use 4-5 drops of it per an ounce of Zaino (all you will need for this first coat is an ounce, if that). Shake vigorously for 60-90 seconds. Squirt a dime size dab of polish on your applicator and rub it into your paint using circular hand motions. Then, go over the same area using a straight back and forth motion on top panels and an up and down motion on side panels. Allow the polish to haze for 20 to 30 minutes. [NOTE] You only need to use the ZFX for the initial coat. After the first coat, you can apply Zaino directly from the bottle. For a more in-depth explanation about ZFX and application, click HERE.
(7). When you are applying the Zaino, there are a few spots that are often overlooked. You do not need to be as thorough as I am, however, if you take the time to apply Zaino to your car, why not spend a few extra minutes getting these commonly ignored spots! The following pictures depict just that.
Sides of Headlights
Gas Door
Inside of Door
Door Sills And Surrounding Areas
Inside of Taillights (Need to Remove Them)
Above The Exhaust
Under The Hood
Behind The Front Plate
The Lip Underneath The Front Of The Car (Sorry For The Bad Picture)
The Wheel Wells and Surrounding Areas (Mainly Lip Underneath The Side)
(8). Once the Z2 or Z5 is dry, remove it with a large 100% USA made cotton towel. To test if the Z2 or Z5 is dry and ready to be removed, wipe your finger on a hazed section. It should immediately come off and leave a crystal clear finish. If it smears, it is still wet. Using the ZFX accelerator additive reduces the drying time greatly. After removal of the Zaino Z2 or Z5, you should wait 24 hours if the outside temperature is under 70 degrees, and 6 hours if over 70 degrees, before applying the next coat of Zaino. In the picture to the right, you can see how shiny one coat of Zaino is.
(9). Last but not least, use Z-6 "Gloss Enhancer" spray as per directions, between each and every coat of Z-5 or Z-2. It really helps give a three dimensional look.
(10). And with that, you are done! I guarantee you that doing the Zaino Process is worth every minute. Your car doesn't pick up as much dust, it cleans easier, and has a shine to die for. For complete articles relating to the Zaino Process, please click the following links: Application Tips and Tricks Faqs

Top of Page