Beaux Art Detailed: `95 Mercedes C280

[YoSteve]

Many garages aren`t equiped to deal with extreme temperatures (too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter). Does anyone keep their detailing stuff in the house, like in the basement where it is cooler in the summer and less frigid in the winter.



Not sure about the shelf life of all our stuff, but I would think a cooler environment in the summer (and keep from freezing in the winter) would be worth the extra effort. Thoughts? Anyone have a product crap out on them?

[JasonC8301]

I keep my stuff in the den. Its cool all year round, its technically the basement, but then again theirs another level to my house under this floor (house is built on a hill, 2 visible floors on street level, then 2 floors below, leading into the backyard.)



So, I keep my supplied at a cozy 68 degrees in the winter and it shifts during the summer time, but the hottest it will get is around 85 or so.



I don`t think this will kill the product.



Now if you let the product freeze or boil, thats another story.



Jason

[BradE]

I keep my detailing stuff in the basement. My garage does not get super cold in the winter, but I dont want to risk it.



I have heard of people that have had products freeze up on them during the winter. IMO unless your garage has AC/Heat and is good in extreme tempratures, store your detail stuff in a different place.

[ALM]

Steve, I keep my mother-load of detailing stuff in my basement, where its pretty much the same temp. all year long. I used to keep it in my garage, but as you stated, I worried about it freezing so i moved it into the dungeon. :)

[Footy]

I keep all my detailing stuff in the bedroom (and if you think that`s strange, remember that Arcticwhite keeps the hardtop of her `Vette in her bedroom)



Not sure what you mean by winter.....

[DaGonz]

I have a two car attached garage. I bring the detailing supplies in and store them in the basement for the winter (too many temperature extremes here in Southern New England in the winter). I bring the necessities to the firehouse so I can wash my vehicles there.



Believe the labeling on the product...if it says "keep from freezing", they mean it!

[Cybercowboy]

I never had to worry about this before as I never had more than a few el-cheapo products out there in my unheated garage. I`ll bring my stuff inside soon. Thanks for the reminder...



BTW, even though the garage is unheated, it does stay above freezing even in pretty severe winter weather. But you never know! I open a couple of windows during the summer to keep things liveable. Right now it is the same temp as the house because we are having beautifull weather right now. :)

[edgewise]

I have a insulated, sheet-rocked garage that never gets hotter than 80 in the summer, or cooler than 55 in winter (mild winters in Pacific NW). On the hotter days, I have put my Carnauba based wax in the fridge, but you need to bring it back to room temp before using (This was suggested by a Professional Detailer out of Toronto)

[pingiii]

I keep my waxes in the fridge, and all the rest of my detailing supplies in my basement. My garage gets too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. The basement stays about 75 in the summer, and close to that in the winter. I have my wood stove in the basement.



Footy,



Winter is the silly season some of us have when a mongoose crawls in a hole, sleeps the whole season, and doesn`t come out for 6 months. (He`s smarter than I most of us.) Enjoy!

[imported_Roadrunner]

This was a fun challenge...

This car`s a daily driver and it`s been owned by the same person since new. Very high mileage car... getting close the quarter million mark.
The car is garaged, with two cats for companionship. It`s only ever been to the tunnel wash for clean ups. The owner stated that she has never seen the wheels anything but black, even after a trip to the car wash. When asked about the wheels, the workers at the wash place would tell her, "We can`t do anything about those wheels."

Unfortunately the clearcoat`s failed on the hood, as it`s covered with "crows feet", there a few more areas here and there that have the clear pulling apart as well.
The car was uniformly well swirled and marked from one end to the other with cat scratches.

Since she was looking at a repaint, very soon for the hood, and some time down the line for the rest of the car, the idea was to do "the best you can" to make the car look better, she just wanted to see a "nicer looking car" in the garage each morning. In other words, I didn`t jewel it.

Products used:

Foam: Meguiar`s Hyper-Wash and APC 50/50 mix.
Wash: Two bucket method Meguiar`s Gold Class with APC added. Lambs wool mits.
Clay: Meguiar`s clay was used extensively with ONR, 8oz/gal for lube.

Wheels:
All wheels were totally etched with brake dust. The dust had been on there so long that the dust was bonded to the wheels.
Started with Chemical Guys Diablo and let that sit for an hour after agitating it a bit... didn`t do much at all.
P21S Wheel Gel:
I let that sit for almost two hours and it helped quite a bit. Agitated with various brushes. A lot of scrubbing with various brushes, used clay, tried some Tarminator, 4:1 APC, (too bad I didn`t have a sandblaster handy :banghead::banghead:) offered up prayers to the wheel gods, various dances employed, incantations spoken, oaths sworn... loudly! Got about a 75% result after over an hour with each wheel.
Ugh...
Wheel wells:
Meguiar`s APC at 4:1 here and various brushes with a nice result.
Drying:
Used compressed air and a couple of the drying towels offered from PAC.

Tape: 3m "Delicate Surfaces" blue tape.

Polishing:
I used a paint thickness gauge all over the car. The average readings were between 125 microns up to around 150 microns, the car was rather evenly painted. The drivers side door had been repainted due to a brick throwing incident/robbery and the paint there measured over 250 microns. That was the only spot on the car that had been repainted.

Compounding stage:
Meguiar`s 105, wool pad and a Hitachi rotary.
Final stage:
Meguiar`s 205, Flex DA and white Lake Country flat pads.
The areas under the door handles were hand polished with the 105/205 combo the best I could. That`s a tough area to do and they were very deeply scratched.

Numerous IPA wipedowns were done after each panel to insure I was getting a good result. The hood, with it`s clear coat problems, is scheduled for a repaint so I figured the best thing to do with that was only do a final stage polishing in that area. Prepsol was used after polishing to remove the polish in the cracks of the clear coat.

Lighting for Polish phase:
Handheld Brinkman Zenon light and two Halogen lights on a stand. I find I like the Brinkman the best for keeping track of how I`m doing, it`s a great "instant reference" tool.

The car was wiped down with 3 additional IPA passes after polishing and then washed with ONR.
P21S Paintwork Cleansing Lotion was then hand applied and removed to insure the finish was clean and ready for the LSP`s.

Last Step Products:
Blackfire Wet Diamond:
two coats, via a PC with a blue pad, with an 12 hour cure time between coats.
Collinite #845 "Insulator Wax":
Single coat. I picked some of this up the day Angelo announced that PAC was selling Collinite products. This is a liquid carnuba wax with an additive that I believe is another type of sealant.
The Collinite spread very thinly and was easy to apply and remove after hazing. The wax left a nice, warm glow that really looked good with the black color. I hear this wax lasts a long time and that`ll be a plus for this car.

Wheels were polished with 105, by hand. 2 coats of Poorboy`s World Wheel sealant was then applied.
Optimum Metal Polish was used for the large amount of trim work on the car.

Aerospace 303 Protectant was used for all the rubber trim and seals throughout.

Engine:
I wasn`t asked to the do the motor but after lifting the hood... something had to be done.
P21S Total Auto Wash, various brushes and a 1,500psi power washer were employed to a good, quick result.
Meguiar`s Hyper-Dressing was used at 3:1 to dress the motor and engine bay.

Interior:
Compressed air followed by a thorough vacuuming with a Metro Vac`NBlo vacuum. I love all the great attachments Metro provides with their products... almost makes doing interiors fun!
APC 10:1 was used to clean the dash and all vinyl.
APC 4:1 for the carpets and mats, brushed, wet-vac`d and fans used to dry.
Leather seats: Zaino leather cleaner and treament were used to a good result.
The headliner and sun visors were very dirty/stained and APC at 10:1 with a microfiber towel cleaned them up like new.
Glass:
Stoner Invisible Glass with Dragon Fiber glass cleaning cloths. These are just great glass towels.
303 Protectant for the vinyl bits and Blackfire Interior one step was used on the faux wood trim.

Tires: were dressed with Hyper-Dressing at 3:1, two coats.

This is my first "detail" posting here on TID... be kind! I`m not a master at posting this stuff, (or detailing either:wizard:) or photography, like Todd, David or the other excellent craftsman here... but I`ll get there.

Thanks for your time... I`ve learned a lot here and realize I have a lot more to learn... This is a GREAT place for that!

Here`s the beginning pics:

Starting off...
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280startpoint.jpg?t=1266175824

Some looks at the paint before getting started:

Trunk deck:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280reardeckpre.jpg?t=1266175971

Paw prints/scratches:
Every horizontal surface that the cats could get to looked like this..
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280trunkpawprints.jpg?t=1266176042

The trunk, under the Brinkman Zenon light, the roof and hood looked the same:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280reardeckrtsidepre.jpg?t=1266176129

Rear quarter panel, some serious scratches, marring and cat tracks:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280rearquarterscratches-1.jpg?t=1266176214

A representitive door panel:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280doorpanel.jpg?t=1266176295

The hood:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280hoodpre.jpg?t=1266176371

Engine:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280motorpre.jpg?t=1266176436

Interior:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280interiorpre.jpg?t=1266176565

Foaming the car:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280foamed.jpg?t=1266176644

One 2`x2` panels worth of claying:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280MBclaylightestamount.jpg?t=1266176737

50/50 shot during 105/wool/rotary compounding:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/5050correctionshot.jpg?t=1266176831

After 205/White LC pad with the Flex:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280SLpost2ndstep50-50.jpg?t=1266176911

Some post pics:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/C280trunkpost.jpg?t=1266177095
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280post4-1.jpg?t=1266177140
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280post5-1.jpg?t=1266177182
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280post1.jpg?t=1266177227
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280post3.jpg?t=1266177276
The lights were very bad, I tried to correct but they`re hazed up inside the lens as well as outside.

Dressing`s just been applied to the motor... I cleaned the underhood pad with Luster`s method of using AA Tire Foam... worked great, thanks Bill!!:clap:
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280motorpost.jpg?t=1266177413
http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac182/58Roadrunner/Detailing%20Biz%20Cars/280interiorpost.jpg?t=1266177526

When I gave the car back to my client, her first words were, "You swapped my car for a new one?" She was one very happy lady. That definitely made the work worth it.:smile:

[Old Pirate]

Wow! Great write-up and pictures Gary, great 50/50 shots and correction on the MB. Your in the big time now!:wizard:

[grungy]

Nice recovery on `Cat Scratch Fever-mobile`. Gary, that is one hammered finish and you did a great job on it:D

[supercharged]

very well done!!!

[Puckman]

That`s incredible!!! Those are my favorite kind of jobs because they show the biggest difference in my opinion. That`s phenomenal and I bet she was ecstatic! Nothing like the 105/205 knock out punches.

[imported_Roadrunner]

Thanks so much Angelo, Grungy, Super` and Puck`... very nice of y`all to comment like that.
Like I mentioned before, I`ve learned a lot from TID and all it`s members... this is THE detailing site in my opinion.

Angelo: I`ve got a ways to go for the big time, but the intent on my part is set and I`ll get there. Thank you sir!:thumbup:

Puck... you`re so right about these kinds of jobs. It`s really fun, and rewarding to take a car like this and make it way better. The car was described to me as being in "really pretty good shape" and when I saw it I thought :confused::eek: "Man, I`d hate to see what they have to say for really bad shape." But I knew it was something to really sink my teeth into and have fun with.
I`ve done 4 exotics this Winter and basically, yeah... it`s fun to work on a Ferrari or a Maserati but those cars were actually in very good shape to start with. I didn`t really even bother documenting them very much... there wasn`t much to document without really reaching.

The Meguiar`s 105/205 combo is one strong product combination, the results, the ease of use and how quickly they work in just incredible.

I`ve got to get my camera thing together and as we say down here, "I`m studyin` on it."

Thanks again guys... TID rocks!!:clap: