Autopia, it`s been a while.

[MongooseGA]

It`s been quite a while since I`ve been on these boards. I think I stopped posting around the time I got my first car back in 2005, a 1995 SC400. I remember the regulars being guys like Setec Astronomy, Bill D, ScottWax, TOGWT, 1CleanWS6(?), among others. Anyone still here?

Well the Lexus is up for sale, I`ve bought and recently sold a `77 engine swapped Porsche 911, bought and sold countless other flip cars, and now I`ve gotten myself into a 1985 Mercedes 300D and a 2001 W210 E55 AMG. I thought with my new rides it was time to get back into the swing of things by checking up on the latest tech for keeping our cars looking nice.

Pics of my SC400 from when I first bought it, this was posted here on Autopia probably ten years ago:




And iterations she`s gone through until now:




And my new rides. The W123 300D rolled 300k miles just after I bought it, on my way home from leaving my deposit for the AMG.





The W210 is a 2-owner car with 135k and a stack of records like a dictionary. This car stays in the garage next to my BMW Rockster, right where the 911 stayed.



Both cars were gone through thoroughly after purchase. The AMG was first and had the engine detailed, wheel wells detailed, wrinkles removed from leather, backsides of the wheels detailed, and the paint went through a series of Meg`s #83, Klasse AIO, and 4* UPP. The diesel got the same treatment but still needs 30 years old crud cleaned from the engine and some light fading redyed on the original MB TEX inside. Otherwise, she`s pretty close to mint for a daily driver.

[Pats300zx]

Welcome back

[Setec Astronomy]

Mongoose! What a long, strange trip it`s been. Others of us have been gone and back for various reasons that are too long to go into, but great to see you back!

A LOT has changed, from a revolution in polishes/compounds, pads and machines, to WOWA sealants and coatings.

[David Fermani]

Welcome back! I remember your avatar being interesting, but it`s not displaying now?

[MongooseGA]

Setec, It`s been a while. I`ve gone through all of school, followed a girl to a new city, tried and failed at opening a bar, yadda yadda. Ten years is a long time. WOWA is a totally new acronym I`ll have to look up. I may also be replacing my hardly-used Makita with a Cyclo here in the near future.

David, My avatar I think had been an X-Ray of Homer`s head with a turbo for a brain. I`ll have to update it.

[Setec Astronomy]

WOWA = Wipe On, Walk Away. The sealants in that class are (in order of their introduction as best as I can remember) Zaino Clear Seal (Z-CS), Optimum Opti-Seal, Ultima Paint Guard Plus (UPGP), Blackfire Crystal Seal, and Wolfang Deep Gloss Liquid Seal (probably forgot some others). Of course coatings are the new rage (for paint, glass, and trim).

Cyclo? The machines that have probably gotten the most buzz in your absence are the Flex 3401 and the Rupes long stroke polishers. But while you`ve been gone, pads have gotten smaller and thinner and we now have microfiber ones, these all make traditional DA`s like the PC and its newer, more powerful cousins more effective at correction, especially when coupled with the new SMAT (super micro abrasive technology) polishes, that have very small, sharp, non-diminishing abrasives (or some that combine diminishing and non-diminishing).

[Bill D]

I`m still here, just a lurker these days. I love your rides!

[MongooseGA]

WOWA = Wipe On, Walk Away. The sealants in that class are (in order of their introduction as best as I can remember) Zaino Clear Seal (Z-CS), Optimum Opti-Seal, Ultima Paint Guard Plus (UPGP), Blackfire Crystal Seal, and Wolfang Deep Gloss Liquid Seal (probably forgot some others). Of course coatings are the new rage (for paint, glass, and trim).

Cyclo? The machines that have probably gotten the most buzz in your absence are the Flex 3401 and the Rupes long stroke polishers. But while you`ve been gone, pads have gotten smaller and thinner and we now have microfiber ones, these all make traditional DA`s like the PC and its newer, more powerful cousins more effective at correction, especially when coupled with the new SMAT (super micro abrasive technology) polishes, that have very small, sharp, non-diminishing abrasives (or some that combine diminishing and non-diminishing).

It`s like detailing in space!

I`m still here, just a lurker these days. I love your rides!

Hey Bill! Thank you!

[Accumulator]

Welcome back, and oh man do I think those are beautiful cars! Especially that Benz.

The Cyclos (which I simply love) don`t work well with the contours of *every* car, but I don`t forsee any trouble with those three.

[MongooseGA]

Welcome back, and oh man do I think those are beautiful cars! Especially that Benz.

The Cyclos (which I simply love) don`t work well with the contours of *every* car, but I don`t forsee any trouble with those three.

Thanks so much. Which Benz do you like? I`m guessing the older one.

Do you still have your S8, never touched by even the finest of human hands?

[Accumulator]

Thanks so much. Which Benz do you like? I`m guessing the older one.

Do you still have your S8, never touched by even the finest of human hands?

Heh heh, yeah...you got that right, I do prefer the older one!

I do still have the S8 and it`s still awfully nice...but you may recall that about ten years ago it got, uhm....touched by a deer! (There was a thread here called "S8 vs. Deer", but no pics.) Yeah, it just figures that it`d happen to one of my all-time keepers, but that`s the way it goes and for the record *NO* it didn`t spoil that vacation (I did some field-expedient repairs and played "Ronin" for the rest of the trip- people get out of the way when a wrecked S8 comes flying up behind them). I was actually glad that the aluminum car suffered (a LOT) more damage than the deer did; she might have a little arthritis in one hip by now but nothing major that I could tell.

[YoSteve]

Welcome back! Left years ago myself found my way back.

Cheers

[Bunky]

Welcome back! I guess you missed a lot of the changes but the site looks more like it did in that era.