Xtreme Vehicle Makeover - 1990 Mercedes-Benz 350 SDL Edition!

[G35stilez]

I want to start off with the suggestion to go grab a beverage or snack; this is a bit long...


Zack (Zackb911) contacted me a few months back about having his 1990 MB 350 SDL detailed. He has been a long-time member and holds plenty of top name products. He knows the processes, but after trying a PC and some polish on the MB, he decided to give my services a shot instead. It’s not that he doesn’t know what he’s doing, but this paint needed some serious attention. For his other past and current vehicles, he has taken pristine care of them and surely knows his “stuff�. Zack came ~2 hours from Mass to CT and accompanied me for a day of detailing.

The car is a 1990 Mercedes-Benz 350 SDL diesel with just shy of 250,000 miles. The car is an absolute beaut. I recall a conversation we had about mid-day in regards to the utter massiveness of this vehicle. It felt like a limo, but without an aftermarket stretch. Even though it was 16 years old, the interior still felt nice and snug and rather “tight�. This particular Mercedes, Zack equipped with a system to run off cooking oil from McDonald’s, Chinese Food Restaurants, and so on. I was astounded to hear of this technology and amazing fuel economy and cost savings. All in all, there really wasn’t much wrong with it that a solid detail couldn’t fix.

The Interior

Before I even begin, I want to say there are NO camera tricks used below. I took the pictures at the same resolution, same white balance, same ISO, and so on. I resized them using Adobe Photoshop.

Now, the interior was generally soiled and appeared a bit dull to me. The leather wasn’t ripped anywhere, just had normal wear (light for 250k), and deep down dirt. The mats and carpets were pretty dirty, but nothing Oxi couldn’t handle. This total process took me about ~2 hours and included:

Clean
-Vacuum and pre-treat heavy stains with Kids & Pets
-Kids & Pets to clean leather, vinyl, plastic, and rubber
-Amazing Roll-Off cut 3:1 to clean door sills and jams
-Oxi-Clean (1 scoop: 1 gallon) to clean carpets/mats, then misted with IPA cut 50:50, and extracted

Protect
-Poorboy’s PwC on wood grain, chrome, and aluminum trim
-Autoglym Glass Polish on interior windows and mirrors
-Zaino Z26 on leather, vinyl, plastic, and rubber (1 ounce Z16: 7 ounces Z10)
-Zaino Z8 in jams

Before


After



Before


After



Before


After




The Exterior

Zack and I joked as I shut the last door and walked over to fill up my bucket with Hyper Wash, “That was the warm-up�. And that it was, as the exterior led to some hidden gems that would take just shy of 5 hours to clean and perfect.

Being 16 years old with mostly original paint and an appearance that it sat mostly outside left a lot to be scared of as I washed and clayed. I started to see many R.I.D.S (Random Isolated Deep Scratches), gashes, scuffs, burnt oil spots, chips, heavy swirling and cobwebbing, oxidation, and poor body work here and there. The one thing the car was very light on was bonded contaminants (yay!). Still, it didn’t mean that this was going to be a breeze.

I began buffing about 40 minutes after the initial prep was done and I tried many combos. For some of the paint, Hi-Temp Extreme Cut felt better, others Menzerna Powergloss. I wasn’t about to be switching back and forth, so I made the best of the pad, speed, and compound and buckled down. This paint was EXTREMELY hard. To put it in retrospect, I finished up with Optimum Car Polish, a polishing pad, and 3 passes on the rotary @ 1400 rpm and got almost no hazing…Most paints would have holograms galore, especially black. I then switched to Menzerna FPII (my ringer polish) so it would be perfect.

For protection, this car just screamed, “Feed me Zaino� and that I did. Z5 complimented the finish like a donut with coffee. The tires soaked up the Meguiar’s All Season dressing like a champ and gave off a subtle glow to enhance the detailed appearance. In the end, my final processes for the exterior were:


Sanitize
-Meguiar’s Hyper Wash with Black & Decker Pressure Washer assist
-Stoner’s Tarminator on lower panels
-Amazing Roll Off cut 3:1 around diesel exhaust pipe, emblems, license plates, and front grille (soak for 3 minutes, wash away with Hyper Wash and mitt)
-Zaino Z18 Clay with Meguiar’s Hyper Wash as lube
-Top of the Line’s Tire Cleaner cut 50/50 on tires and wells x 2
-Eagle 1 Wheel Acid on wheels x 2
-Top of the Line’s Wheel Wash on wheels x 1
-Amazing Roll Off cut 3:1 on wheels x 1
-Pressure wash clean

Correct
-Menzerna Powergloss via Makita 9227 Rotary and Lake Country Foamed Wool Pad @ 1700 rpm x 3 on horizontal panels
-Hi-Temp Extreme Cut Compound via Makita 9227 Rotary and Lake Country Yellow Cutting Pad x 2 on all panels and wheels
-Menzerna Final Polish II via Makita 9227 Rotary and Lake Country White Polishing Pad x 2 on all panels
-IPA cut 50/50 to wipe down
-Klasse AIO on metal and chrome trim, glass, and lighting

Protect
-Zaino Z5 by hand
-Zaino Z8 by hand

-Meguiar’s All Season Dressing on tires and trim x 2
-CD-2 Engine Detailer in wells


Before


After



Before


After



Before


After



Before


After



Before


After


A closer look








I learned a lot of things today, but mainly, “Patience is a virtueâ€�. With some panels having repaints, some not, the compounds and polishes behaved differently. I had to stick to a regimen and bang through the steps. I worked diligently and briskly (a bit under 7 hours total). 98%+ of the defects were removed with only a few stray mars and deep scratches left over. Zack was very pleased with the results and we were both pretty sure it helped the resale value. With that said, the car will be up for sale next week .

Hope you all enjoyed. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please do not hesitate.

Thank you.

[Bigs]

Holy C! Great work Mang!

[cwcad]

Very nice work!!

I have seen you mention the foam wool pad before. Apparently the Power Gloss is more abbrasive than Hi temp? Did you find that the pad loads up with Power Gloss? Did you use one foam wool pad? Was it necessary to spur the pad often? How was the dusting with Power Gloss? The last time that I used PG I had dusting problems mostly due to applying to much product...I think?

After seeing the work in the interior I bow to the zen master. I use your psot on cleaning as my own personal sticky. Have never made an interior pop as I have seen on these pictures. It is no wonder that the owner is happy. I would be also!!!

[RTexasF]

What a Masterpiece! The change could not have been more amazing!

( It also drives home how much more I have to learn.)

[joyriide1113]

Wow! Its not soo much the fact that you got those swirls out, because skill and products is one thing, its the time span in which it took you to get it all accomplished.

I use a rotory on my details, but even with only one step polishes, it stillt akes me about 90 minutes to get around the whole car, let a lone a compound, polish, and finish...


This might be a little complex, and maybe it strays a bit away from the O.T. how big of an area do you focus on when polishing. This does not include laying the beads down before polishing but more the area that you work before you continue to the next. Also how much time does each section normally take you? With the rotory I still take about 60 seconds per 2x2 section. granted it doesnt have some sort of weird body line that requires passes of its own.

[mgm2003]

Jeezus H.!

All of THAT in 7 hours ?!?!

The before/afters are jaw droppers (inside and out). I`m shocked that you were able to renew the paint to that level.

I`d add this one to your web site ASAP.

p.s. - I appreciate the fact that you didn`t `doctor` up the photos, like many people do.

[BLUELINE 1]

Great job! The interior and exterior look amazing.

[Steve1996LT1]

Simply a beautiful job detailing the Benz and a very nice write-up as well. Thank You for sharing your work. I always enjoy reading your write-ups and learn a lot from them.

[G35stilez]

Thanks everyone .


cwcad: If you compare the two for physical characteristics, PowerGloss feels much more gritty. This helped a lot to do the initial heavy leveling. In the end, I think the Hi-Temp is a touch more abrasive since you work it in 3-4 total passes per application.

I had to `spur` the pad (using my keys) after every panel and the pad mostly loaded up with dust and dead paint. I only used one pad.

The dusting on the car was not that pad. I think the key to PowerGloss is finding the niche amount to use in a 2x2 or 2x3` area.

joyride: A simple tip: Apply the product to multiple panels and do one continuous buff. For instance, I applied the respective amount of Hi-Temp Extreme Cut to the hood, fender, passenger doors, and roof and just buffed for about 10 minutes straight. Then I moved to the entire tail end and finally finished up with the driver`s side and nose. This helped to cut down time on: apply, buff, wipe over and over again.

A 2`x2` section takes me 30-40 section to finish...Usually closer to 30 seconds.


Thank you all again.

[CalgaryDetail]

WOW is all i can say. Holy cow that looks amazing.. Nice work

[GregCavi]

Wow sean, wow.

You are truly gifted.

Greg

[74 thing]

Any tips on using that Kids and Pets cleaner on the interior. DO you think the cleaning or the Zaino led to the drastic change in the color of the interior seats-looks fantastic!

[cwcad]

Thanks everyone .


cwcad: If you compare the two for physical characteristics, PowerGloss feels much more gritty. This helped a lot to do the initial heavy leveling. In the end, I think the Hi-Temp is a touch more abrasive since you work it in 3-4 total passes per application.

I had to `spur` the pad (using my keys) after every panel and the pad mostly loaded up with dust and dead paint. I only used one pad.

The dusting on the car was not that pad. I think the key to PowerGloss is finding the niche amount to use in a 2x2 or 2x3` area.



Thank you all again.

Thank you for the explanation and comments. I thought that my dusting problems were most likely just user error when I did use PG. Also appreciate the comments on the Hi Temp. Have never used the product so it is nice to have the information.

Interesting on the keys. Had not thought of that. Have been using an old tooth brush to spur my pads. I use both ends to clean.

[audiboy]

Simply stunning! Great job! That is honestly one of the best turnarounds I`ve ever seen.

[tomee]

wow!
awesome work on the interior!