Newbie | 97 Mercedes E300 | Detail help

[E300Diesel]

Over Labor Day weekend I will be embarking upon detailing the exterior of my diesel. I had attempted detailing it last August with a Porter Cable 7424. My concern was was to remove the light scratches and spider web look that is common. The paint is in fairly decent condition (I know good pictures will help, I`ve got some night pix :-) .



When I detailed it the 1st time I performed the following:

- Wash

- clay w/ Griot`s clay (yellow in color)

- attempted some light cutting w/ orange pad and Griot`s Fine Polish 1,2,3 w/ some results but not as good I I wanted - I realized that I didn`t let the product break down completely prior toward removing. Point taken for next round

- polished w/ Klasse AIO sealant then glaze

- waxed with P21S Carnuba wax by hand



Overall I was impressed with the results. A lot of the scratches there before had dissapeared. The paint was baby soft and depth of the color was nice. The car is smoke silver, MB paint code 702.



I am requesting help choosing some new products as I will go at it again, but still have some products from before that I plan on using.



I have:

- Klasse AIO sealant and glaze

- clay bar

- Porter Cable 7424 w/ yellow, orange and white Lake Country pads



I need:

- car shampoo

- more agressive compound that will be applied with a yellow and orange Lake Country pad

- carnuba wax to finish the job

- any anything else that ya`ll would recommend



My goal(s) is to remove the swirls / spider webbing, etc to give the finish a nice mirror look like many others on this forum. Looking for products that can work well with the Klasse AIO, offer good depth and shine and hopefully can be purchased from one website along with the nylon foam pad cleaning brush...



Thanks In Advance!



Lightman, waiting for you to chime in player...

[imported_Lightman]

Hey buddy - glad you signed up for the site and are getting more serious about your detailing!:up



I prefer Griot`s car wash shampoo - I find it smells great, is a decent value in the gallon size, and is very lsp friendly. Thanks to Tom P for the heads up on that one.



I don`t think you`re going to get very much correction using Griot`s polishes. I`d suggest pairing the yellow pad with a compound like OHC, HT EC, Menzerna PG, or something on the stronger end of compounds, and then get a finishing polish to go with your polishing pad to clean up the aftermath of the compounding. OP and menzerna fp2 are a few of my personal favs..but you can search around.



For LSP and knowing you I don`t think you want to use a nuba..you`re not as interested in show shine and having to redo it every 3 weeks as I think you`re after something that looks great but is durable. If you want to use it up - use that KSG you have after doing the final polish. Otherwise do a search on sealants, there are many good ones out there that I think are a lot easier to work with, with comparable results. I have been leaving AIO out of my detailing routine for the last months and haven`t missed it or noticed any difference in durability. I do like it for oxidized paints and cleaning things.



Good luck, and post your before/afters in the click n brag section! Welcome again to autopia!Now get to it!! :waxing:

[W.S.]

+1 for OHC!! Whoot! Whoot!



Optimum Hyper Compound and all the Optimum polishes are a-mazing! OC has saved my behind on many occasions.

[E300Diesel]

So far ordered:



- Griots`s Car Shampoo

- Optimum Hyper Compound

- Optimum Polish

- M-Seal Micro Finish Factory Paint Sealant -Protection System (Anti-Static) (1 Gal)

- 6.5" Blue Ultra Fine Finishing Pad- LAKE COUNTRY CCS TECHNOLOGY (6.5"inch)



Optimistic I am... I`m ready to start :buffing: Once the goods arrive ofcourse.

[E300Diesel]

Here are some photos from this weekends fun...

[E300Diesel]

Some more photos...

[Beefhouse]

Good looking car there. I like the older E class style.

[E300Diesel]

Breakdown of what was done...



- washed with Dawn (or equivalent)

- clay w/ Griot`s clay (yellow in color)

- washed with Griot`s Car Shampoo

- Optima Polish with orange Lake Country pad - Porter Cable @ speed 6

- Chemical Guys M-Seal sealant - 2 coats via Porter Cable @ speed 4



I detailed a Jetta the day before and ran out of yellow pads for the Optima Hyper Compound. There are still some areas w/ light in appearance scratches on the trunk lid, etc... But barely noticable



P.S. I also applied the sealant to the sunroof glass and rear glass. Anything bad in doing that to glass surfaces?



All of these products were easy to apply and remove, especially the Chemical Guys M-Seal. even off of the glass!