Hi all - just a couple from me. 8)
Mercedes SL600
Having spent two days on an identical (minus the wheels...) SL600 seven months back now, a close friend of the original owner wanted the same treatment on theirs.
Arriving bright and early on the Sunday morning, I put the new camera to the test!
Inspection..
How’s this for tree-sap??
Although regularly garaged, you can see the damage tree-sap and other fall out material can have on your car!
As always, the wheels and shuts were looked at first.
Using a mix of AutoSmart G101, AutoSmart Tardis and Megs Wheel Brightener, alongside various brushes and mitts…
Having travelled up from down South, the front-end had collected an impressive amount of squashed flies. G101 applied and allowed to soften the bugs before a long thorough pressure rinse.
The car was foamed with G101 to help lift all the grime out the window rubbers etc. Then foamed with normal snowfoam and washed with the two-bucket system and Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild.
Meguiars Last Touch then used to aid the Sonus Green claybar in lifting all the surface contaminants. Surprisingly, it wasn’t ‘that bad’. (Considering the state of the panels in the inspection photos..)
Washed, de-tared, clayed and dry – looks good yes?
HA! Wrong…
Once inside and bone-dry, any delicate areas were taped up and paint thickness measurements were taken.
Very similar to the other SL600 I did late in 2009… Fairly low readings throughout!
Bonnet defects to tackle:
A weird ‘reaction’ spotted on the N/S front wing (you probably spotted it above in the earlier photos..) At first I put it down to the sap etc, but, upon closer inspection, there were minuscule cracks in the paint and almost drips spotted… Makes me wonder if it’s the doings of a poor bodyshop job and/or respray?
General condition of the paint throughout spotted on the N/S rear quarter in natural light:
With polish and pad testing combinations out of the way, I settled on an Orange Hexlogic Heavy Cut Pad with Menzerna 85RD 3.02 as the Light Cut Pad and Menz 203s combo didn’t quite ‘have it’.
Bonnet Before & After:
50/50:
….ready for a light refinement later on.
I switched to a smaller spot pad and finished all the fiddly areas before moving onto the bigger doors, tailgate and bonnet etc.
A quick test patch to show the owner the differences involved:
N/S door before:
N/S door after:
50/50:
Lower down on the N/S door a series of nasty scratches were spotted trailing the length of the door…
The area was hit with the same polish/pad combinations but due to paint thickness, I didn’t want to take it any further. Not 100% removed, but 99.9% better
Just 400 yards before I reached the owners place that morning I put through Avant through the MOTHER of all potholes. Gutted! At the time I thought if I hadn’t bent/damaged/cracked the wheel then the tyre is most certainly shot. Turns out, I’d fractured them both.
A4 waiting patiently for repairs..
Meanwhile, progress was good and I had some decent results to show whilst the sun was still out.
Tailgate compared to the unfinished bonnet:
Another bonnet before/after shot:
And the sides of the bonnet completed with a series of spot pads:
At this point it was around 6pm and dinner was called. I sat down for the most excellent BBQ with the family and friends involved. I later went back out to the garage to try fix the Avant for the morning after and have an hour or so more on the Mercedes. Finishing around midnight on day 1:
Day 2.
Very overcast today; rain clouds certainly on their way!
Continuing on the O/S of the car..
Once all the machine work was complete and refinement stages out of the way, an IPA wipedown was given to ensure all polishing oils and smears were removed.
Wax of choice? It had to be Dodo Juice Supernatural.
Finer details such as the wheels, britework and exhausts were taken care of.
All alu trim (front end, rear and wheels) was cleaned up with Jeffs Prime to remove the ‘tarnished’ look.
Time for some tooth-pickery of old polish residues:
Tyres dressed. Exhausts polished. Windows cleaned with 3M Glass Cleaner (my new favourite product)
……and it’s raining. Hard.
Spending an hour or so tidying the interior – G101 on all plastics and gubbings. LTT leather care used to clean and protect the seats and interior glass cleaned with 3M Cleaner.
I think someone had pressure washed the mat?
A final Zaino Z8 wipedown and we’re finished.
The other SL was pulled round whilst I was still there for a quick maintenance wash (it was only last week it had it’s 6 month maintenance detail, but, had been on a fairly long trip since)
And once outside and dodging the rain:
Tips and advice given for future maintenance which left one happy owner!
As per, thanks for reading.
Jim
Mercedes SL600
Having spent two days on an identical (minus the wheels...) SL600 seven months back now, a close friend of the original owner wanted the same treatment on theirs.
Arriving bright and early on the Sunday morning, I put the new camera to the test!
Inspection..
How’s this for tree-sap??
Although regularly garaged, you can see the damage tree-sap and other fall out material can have on your car!
As always, the wheels and shuts were looked at first.
Using a mix of AutoSmart G101, AutoSmart Tardis and Megs Wheel Brightener, alongside various brushes and mitts…
Having travelled up from down South, the front-end had collected an impressive amount of squashed flies. G101 applied and allowed to soften the bugs before a long thorough pressure rinse.
The car was foamed with G101 to help lift all the grime out the window rubbers etc. Then foamed with normal snowfoam and washed with the two-bucket system and Dodo Juice Born To Be Mild.
Meguiars Last Touch then used to aid the Sonus Green claybar in lifting all the surface contaminants. Surprisingly, it wasn’t ‘that bad’. (Considering the state of the panels in the inspection photos..)
Washed, de-tared, clayed and dry – looks good yes?
HA! Wrong…
Once inside and bone-dry, any delicate areas were taped up and paint thickness measurements were taken.
Very similar to the other SL600 I did late in 2009… Fairly low readings throughout!
Bonnet defects to tackle:
A weird ‘reaction’ spotted on the N/S front wing (you probably spotted it above in the earlier photos..) At first I put it down to the sap etc, but, upon closer inspection, there were minuscule cracks in the paint and almost drips spotted… Makes me wonder if it’s the doings of a poor bodyshop job and/or respray?
General condition of the paint throughout spotted on the N/S rear quarter in natural light:
With polish and pad testing combinations out of the way, I settled on an Orange Hexlogic Heavy Cut Pad with Menzerna 85RD 3.02 as the Light Cut Pad and Menz 203s combo didn’t quite ‘have it’.
Bonnet Before & After:
50/50:
….ready for a light refinement later on.
I switched to a smaller spot pad and finished all the fiddly areas before moving onto the bigger doors, tailgate and bonnet etc.
A quick test patch to show the owner the differences involved:
N/S door before:
N/S door after:
50/50:
Lower down on the N/S door a series of nasty scratches were spotted trailing the length of the door…
The area was hit with the same polish/pad combinations but due to paint thickness, I didn’t want to take it any further. Not 100% removed, but 99.9% better
Just 400 yards before I reached the owners place that morning I put through Avant through the MOTHER of all potholes. Gutted! At the time I thought if I hadn’t bent/damaged/cracked the wheel then the tyre is most certainly shot. Turns out, I’d fractured them both.
A4 waiting patiently for repairs..
Meanwhile, progress was good and I had some decent results to show whilst the sun was still out.
Tailgate compared to the unfinished bonnet:
Another bonnet before/after shot:
And the sides of the bonnet completed with a series of spot pads:
At this point it was around 6pm and dinner was called. I sat down for the most excellent BBQ with the family and friends involved. I later went back out to the garage to try fix the Avant for the morning after and have an hour or so more on the Mercedes. Finishing around midnight on day 1:
Day 2.
Very overcast today; rain clouds certainly on their way!
Continuing on the O/S of the car..
Once all the machine work was complete and refinement stages out of the way, an IPA wipedown was given to ensure all polishing oils and smears were removed.
Wax of choice? It had to be Dodo Juice Supernatural.
Finer details such as the wheels, britework and exhausts were taken care of.
All alu trim (front end, rear and wheels) was cleaned up with Jeffs Prime to remove the ‘tarnished’ look.
Time for some tooth-pickery of old polish residues:
Tyres dressed. Exhausts polished. Windows cleaned with 3M Glass Cleaner (my new favourite product)
……and it’s raining. Hard.
Spending an hour or so tidying the interior – G101 on all plastics and gubbings. LTT leather care used to clean and protect the seats and interior glass cleaned with 3M Cleaner.
I think someone had pressure washed the mat?
A final Zaino Z8 wipedown and we’re finished.
The other SL was pulled round whilst I was still there for a quick maintenance wash (it was only last week it had it’s 6 month maintenance detail, but, had been on a fairly long trip since)
And once outside and dodging the rain:
Tips and advice given for future maintenance which left one happy owner!
As per, thanks for reading.
Jim
