2005 SL600 V12 650HP Black Benz perfected by DJ Mayo

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imported_DJ Mayo

New member
This is the second time I have worked on the car. The first time was right after Christmas when the owner had time to drive 110 miles to drop it off for the week. I knew the paint was pretty rough but you never know what is underneath until you strip off, clay and start to work on the car.



After using Chemical Guys Citrus Wash to strip previous protection, and claying the paint, I could now see the true condition I would be working with. I knew I had my work cut out for me.



Extremely deep wool pad marks, holograms, and isolated deep scratches kept this car from its potential.



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This was a good picture to show the deeper defects underneath the washing and drying induced swirls.



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No paint is left unpolished



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Hey, the paint is level :rofl:



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Nearly 20 hours of compounding and polishing and the car was looking like it should. All 640 hp with the V12 Twin Turbo.
 
Now let's fast forward to March. The owner took the car to get the windows tinted and upon arrival he seen the guy wiping the car down with a dirty MF towel. After speaking with the owner they agreed to pay to fix the paint so another 110 miles and the owner came back down. This time would only be a 1 step polish and the owner would hangout at the shop for the 6 hours with the distance traveling. I went around the car and checked out what the tint shop did but the owner knew what his car looked like last time and wanted it to look that way again.



Here is what it looked like the 2nd time around on arrival



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The car still looked 1000x better than it did before but the smaller things were now obvious.



Let's get started with the wheels, tires, and wheel wells. Chemical Guys Diablo was used on the 20inch wheels while Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner Plus on the tires and wells. The CG Bug Bugger and Tar Remove was used on the lower rocker panels and front bumper to loosen and remove anything during the washing phase. Simply spray on and power wash off a minute later and even I was amazed and what came off.



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Diablo sitting on the wheel



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After using a Boar's Hair Wheel Brush



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Spraying the CG Bug Bugger



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A few random scratches from the owners car cover.



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So after 6 hours or so, the paint was polished again using Menzerna Power Finish, and sealed using Menzerna Power Lock. I'll let the afters do the talking.



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Love the look of Menzerna Polishes topped with their sealant



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Wheels were sealed with Opti-Seal



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As the owner got ready to leave, we put the top down, snapped another picture and called it a day



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Lovely interior as well..



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Thank you for taking time to view my work.
 
Beautiful DJ, I'm still amazed at the pictures. I'm assuming you used the orange pad? I'm still debating if I should purchase the Power Finish if I'm using SIP, and 106. Any advantage besides finishing LSP ready? SIP can almost finish LSP ready too.



Glad to see your shop is doing well!
 
wholly crap V12 Bi-Turbo!? Good god. The SL500's or SL550's already have a ton of power.



Very nice work Dj. Always top notch results and top notch photography. Though i did catch a couple of over exposed photos in there :rofl



just messing man. Pictures look killer! How are you getting the boarder around the pics?
 
Beautiful work there DJ! You had told me that this car was bad when you first worked on it, but after seeing the pics I can see it was really bad! The gloss from Power Finish and Power Lock the second time around is nothing short of stunning...great job buddy on a wicked car.
 
And yeah, I meant to comment on the "paint leveling" technique as well. Thanks to you DJ, I now know what I've been missing in my routine! :)
 
I liked the "paint is level" pic as well. LOL.



Your work is excellent and I really enjoy viewing your posts.
 
Thank you everybody. I was at ERIC'S SHOP, not mine...and while working seen the mini-leveler. I was like hey, let's check this out. The owner of this car has a few other local friends with some 600+ HP Benz, let's see if I can get my hands on them.
 
That is how black is suppose to look! Looks like you have a top notch client that respects how it should look.



Cheers,

GREG
 
pushtiulk said:
Great work. Congrats!
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Thanks Pushtiulk!!



mrclrider said:
I am so happy to get to see the pics of this detail after reading your write-up on DI.
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Thank you Rider!!



michakaveli said:
Nice job bringing that back! :goodjob
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Thanks mich!



Greg Nichols said:
That is how black is suppose to look! Looks like you have a top notch client that respects how it should look.



Cheers,

GREG
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Thank you, Greg! He knows what it SHOULD look like and wants it. A great guy too..
 
Another great job DJ!





Every time I see one of your threads it makes me want to get a new lens for my camera! :D
 
RaskyR1 said:
Another great job DJ!





Every time I see one of your threads it makes me want to get a new lens for my camera! :D
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Thanks, Chad. I'm getting my new lens here soon most likely. I keep telling myself I don't need it as I'm happy with the lenses I got, but if I can sell the two I have and replace it with just 1 good one, I'd be happy to do that. The lens cost more than the body and 1 of my other lenses lol
 
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