Mercedes CL500

[imported_Dave KG]

Another week, another Mercedes! :lol:



Toady`s detail was carried on primarily by Stu and myself on a six year old Mercedes CL 500, in metallic black. While I washed the bodywork, Stu set about the arches which where full of mud, cleaning them thoroughly before dressing with Meguiars All Seasons Dressing. Wheel were cleaned with Meguiars APC then Chemical Guys Premium Blue, followed by waxing with Smartwax Rim Wax.



Once washing stage was completed, the car was clayed using Sonus Green Clay and Meguiars Last Touch as a lube and then rolled into the garage to be assessed. Stu manned the PC, I set up the rotary and we were ready to go...



First up was the bonnet, which has moderate swirls and evidence of hologramming:



http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9789/a1gw5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



Assessing the thickness of the paint revealed this bonnet had actually been resprayed with readings in the range of 250 - 350um. Testing through the abrasive levels revealled that Menzerna PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish on a W8006 polishing pad by rotary was going to achieve the desired results in a single set, also finishing down to a crystal sharp finish by ensuring the polish was worked thoroughly until the residue was clear at 1500rpm and then refined at 900rpm. The results:



http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/8730/a2br6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



Onto the driver`s side and this is where the fun began! Again, moderate swirling and evidence of holograms:



http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/3953/b1zc9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



Paint thickness readings were however on the low side:



http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2031/b2rd3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



Ranged from 72um lowest up to around 98um right along the driver`s side. We were going to have box clever this time, as going aggressive would be a big no no with thin paint. It was going to be necessary to achieve the best correction possible while removing as little paint as possible, to minimise the risk of burn through and also to prolong the life of the paintwork as clearcoat that is too thin looses its ability to adhere effectively to the underlyin paint layer and flakes off...



So - gently gently approach, I decided on Meguiars #80 Speed Glaze applied using a W9006 finishing pad by Makita. 1800rpm until the residue went clear, reduce to 1200rpm to refine. A 50/50 after just one set with #80:



http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5083/b3ka0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



I was quite taken aback by this correction level from a light abrasive opn what is normally hard Mercedes paint, and this was a releif that a gentle approac was delivering the results as we would not have been able to get aggressive on this side of the car... A completed pic:



http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/1451/b4dh2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



And thanks to the weather for playiong ball and the sun shining... always nice to get a direct sun shot to evaluate the quality of your machine finish, this with one set of #80:



http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/7715/b5qy7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



The roof was even thinner in places for paint, so Stu tackled this gently using the PC te ensure as gentle correction as possible.



The boot and front wings on these cars are plastic, so slower rotary speeds (1500rpm or lower) were used and careful assessment of panel temperatures made thorughout the rotary sets as plastic is less able to dissapate heat than metal, and heat build up can lead to burn through. Intensive Polish in two hits required on the boot to deal with some deeper scratches there, the finish achieved in the sunlight:



http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/4579/c1rj8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



By contrast, on the passenger side, some scratches from what looked like gorse bushes were removed using Power Gloss on a W7006 cutting pad at 2000rpm, and the finish burnished using Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish on a W9006 finsihing pad. The varied paint conditions and thicknesses across th car certainly making for a very interesting day, wth a wide range of product being used to achieve the desired results.



With the machine polishing complete, the beauty of the finish was revealed - the bonnet after polishing alone:



http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/9672/d1lh1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



Protection wise, Zymol was chosen. HDCleanse wax applied by foam pad, followed by Glasur again applied by foam pad, to yield the following finish:



http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/4847/e1sp3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



A subtle enhancement over the polishing alone finish, but the vast vast majority of the quality of the finish coming from the machine polishing stage, the wax adding just the final 5%, if that. But in my eyes, its a cruical final addition just to get the ultimate you can from the finish.



With the tyres dressed with Meguiars Endurance, the rubbers with All Seasons Dressing and the glass cleaned with HDCleanse, the car was rolled out in to the final hours of daylight for the completed pics:



http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/7227/f1sw1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/954/f2za5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/5272/f3mj6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/996/f4xo7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/5476/f5zc1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/3300/f6kt2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/1562/f7dp1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9926/f8el8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/3325/f9xm8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



All in all, another great day of detailing. :)

[imported_smprince1]

Hood (or do you say "bonnet":brit ) shots look absolutely beautiful.... very deep and wet reflections :2thumbs:



Excellent result and write up... thanks for sharing.

[Todd@RUPES]

I am wondering why the word Zymol is *`ed out?



Perfect work, your level of detailing is amazing!!!

[Pats300zx]

Awesome work as always David. Your attention to detail is unmatched...

[WK446]

Dave KG: I`m always in awe of your fine work and meticulous attention to detail. Thanks for sharing!

[Old Pirate]

All i have to say:bow :bow :bow

[lbls1]

Nice finish and good work!

[imported_rydawg]

Great work Dave! I love those CL`s a lot.

[Harry Houdini]

Dave; yet another outstanding job and attention, nothing new to you! :2thumbs:

[imported_JoshVette]

Very nice work.



You mention about the clear being soft when you thought it would be harder.



I believe the pre 05 MBs` were soft and the 05 and ups are extremely hard as MB changed there clears to ceramiclear in 05.



Josh

[SpoiledMan]

Nice recovery!

[P1et]

Lovely motor, have always loved these!

[.VorteX.]

Awesome work like always.

[imported_grease]

Holy sheeeit! `Nuff said.

[arawas]

beautifull, are those turbo twists hung up in the garage?