AMG SL55, Boxster, F-250 5 1/2 months after deep polishing

Scottwax · 09-14-06, 01:21

2005 Ford F-250. Weekly wash customer although I normally wash his Cayenne, maybe see the truck 1-2 times a month, he also washes it occasionally. I took this picture around the 20th of March about a week after I had polished it out with Menzerna 106FF using a Lake Country polishing pad and removing excess with Optimum Car Wax. Sealed with Poorboy's EX w/carnauba by hand. Why a week later? I didn't finish until after dark and took this picture the next week after washing with Optimum No Rinse.

Fast forward to this past week, September 12th. I went over the truck with Pink Moose (mostly for depth) and waxed the truck with Natty's Blue in late May, then in late July, I waxed it again with Natty's Blue. Now, 6 weeks after that, I do an Optimum No Rinse Wash and nearly 6 months after deep polishing (well, as deep as 106FF will polish!), this is how the same section of the truck looks. Yeah, lighting is a bit different and there are some clouds in this next shot (just couldn't wait for the clouds to clear but I tried to get the maximum amount of sun on the paint as I could) but I think you can see how well the polishing has held up to washing and the spring and summer.

Another shot of the fender-

Full truck shots, again, a full 6 weeks and 2 ONR washes after it was last waxed...

Additional-this truck is washed in the full sun when I wash it. He has no place at his office where there is any shade. I think this answers the question "with proper washing technique and quality towels, do you get marring with Optimum No Rinse?" Single bucket method too.

Scottwax · 09-14-06, 01:29

2004 Mercedes AMG SL55. He was a referal from someone who found my website but hasn't actually had me detail his SUV yet, although we have traded e-mails. Odd to get a customer through someone who hasn't had me detail their vehicle yet but I'll take it.

Overall the car was in decent shape but a friend of his who used to own a body shop was the one who detailed it and there were some light rotary swirls in the hood and some water spots from the owner's office parking garage (drips from the cement ceilings). I started with Optimum Compound using the green Cyclo polishing pad, followed with Optimum Polish using the green Propel lite cut pad (which is about as aggressive as the Cyclo pad but the softer face allows a better finish), then Clearkote's (my mix of Vanilla Moose and Red Machine Glaze) Pink Moose using white Cyclo pads and waxed with Meguiars #16. By the time I finished, the only sun was right at the front gate of the condos and I don't think I would have made too many people happy by parking it there to take pics.

deadlock32 · 09-14-06, 01:35

good stuff as usual ^_^

QQ: did you ever talk about your pink moose concoction before? if so can you provide the link. thank you

Scottwax · 09-14-06, 01:39

2000 Porsche Boxster S. The owner likes to wax the car himself but decided it was time to do something about the swirls and overspray. The front bumper had been reshot and the dealer left overspray on the car. They clayed most of it off but there was still a light haze on the horizontal surfaces as you can see in this shot.

I decided to go with Optimum Hyper Compound and green Cyclo polishing pads. Knowing how soft and haze prone (and believe me, this car lived right up to it!) black Porsche paint is, I decided to up the aggressiveness of the polish instead of the pad. Cleaned the overspray haze right up but left a light haze of its own-but still the overspray haze area looks much better than it did.

I went over the whole car with that pad/compound combo and this is what I was left with....and I am kicking myself for not taking before shots!:

I then followed with Meguiars DACP using green Propel lite cut pads and then Menzerna 1066FF mixed 70/30 with Clearkote's Red Machine Glaze and green Propel lite cut pads.

I then finished out the rest of the car the same way (wanted to get some sun shots before I lost it completely as it was around 6:45 when I took those pics) and then I shot these just before the sun set completely. These pics do not include the final polishing step of Pink Moose using white Cyclo finishing pads, just the above 3 mentioned steps.

mr.ikon · 09-14-06, 01:40

Excellet hood shots. Great work as always. Never a disappointment.

Scottwax · 09-14-06, 01:43

A few more of the Boxster:

The owner shot this picture about 15 minutes later as I was going over the car with Pink Moose:

He likes to wax his car himself and proceeded to go over the car with Blitz One Grand while I was putting my stuff away. The lighting in his garage wasn't good enough to take any more pics but it was enough to see the 6-year-old paint was pretty much swirl and defect free.

I am hoping he has a chance to take more pics today and send them along to me.

joyriiide1113 · 09-14-06, 02:12

How do you clean the inside of the wheels without a hose?

Wise 85 · 09-14-06, 02:20

Excellent,as allways.I never get tired looking at your pictures,wonderfull.How do you feel about some owners who like to complete the job by waxing the car themselves?

G35stilez · 09-14-06, 02:50

Porsche looks brilliant! Nice work!

FidoAUTO · 09-14-06, 03:21

Wow.... the clearity in that SL55 is unbelievable....

Scottwax you got some talent bwoy!!

SilverLexus · 09-14-06, 03:22

Looks great Scott.

Nice OP on that Benz.

Surfer · 09-14-06, 03:59

Your like a detailing god lol. F-250 looks awsome, and the hood reflection on the SL is sharp as hell. How is the Cyclo compared to the PC, get's jobs done faster?, better cut and finishing etc?