89 MB SL 560 Makeover

A

Anthony O.

New member
I detail this doctors SL about once a year and well yesterday was that time of the year, well actually this time it was more like 2 years.



First picture is of the drivers side front wheel. I used Top of the Lines "Wheel Wash" to do the initial cleaning and then Light Cut by hand to polish them out.
 

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Picture of the side of the SL. The angle is not the same but I am sure you can all notice the difference....I hope:p



Also take note of the back plastic window. It was covered in hard water spots and very cloudy.
 

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here is the AFTER, and you can now see what I mean by the same angle as the BEFORE. My bad:(
 

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I also have a few other BEFORE and AFTERS but I'll just post one AFTER shots of the exterior for now.



Thanks,

Anthony
 
Hey Brad,



My first step was to obviously wash and clay and then I used my rotary, set at 1800 RPM's, and an "orange" cutting/polishing pad from Top of the Line. I used a product called "Power Cut Leveler" with the orange pad and then I followed this up with a white Lake Country polishing pad and Light Cut with the rotary set at about 1400 RPM's.



I then applied 2 coats of AIO and P21S to top it off.



The plastic windows were really bad so I just rubbed....and rubbed like a mad man with Novus #2 and then some VM to polish.



The convertible top was a real mess, tons of cat hair that you can see in this picture plus a better view of the hazy, cloudy conv. window.



Here is a BEFORE of the top but I forgot to take an AFTER:(
 

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Great job Anthony. Those 80's MB wheels are a real joy to clean, aren't they? You did an amazing job on the plastic windows, by the way!
 
Steve and Scott,



Thanks:up



Yes those MB "slot" wheels are a knuckle buster for sure! I do love the look of the older SL's with all the exterior trim and chrome. I would love the chance to detail one of the very early "GullWing's":bounce



Here is a pic of the engine BEFORE:
 

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WOW! Can you say makeover? That thing was a wreck.



I bet you made a pretty penny on it, especially because he was a doctor. Not to mention that you did an amazing job on it. I hope he was pleased.
 
Anthony Orosco said:
The plastic windows were really bad so I just rubbed....and rubbed like a mad man with Novus #2 and then some VM to polish.
Click to expand...

Anthony, far be it from me to offer tips to a pro like you. But ... :o ... yesterday at the Autopia get-together I had the chance to see Mike Phillips demo Meguiar's PlastX and to try it out on my MB's horrible plastic headlight lenses. The stuff is truly amazing (in fact, I ran away with the "trial" bottle :D ) It has diminishing abrasives in it, which seems to make it more effective than any of the Plexus/Novus products. You might want to PM Mike for a better explanation if this is something you're interested in.



Oh! and :bow on a beautiful job with that SL. (I have the same wheels, and they are murder!)
 
In addition to what Lynn said (and thanks for that heads up on the Meguiars product Lynn), Porsche has a great plastic convertible window cleaner as well. One of my customers has a Boxster and she left the Porsche plastic cleaner in the console one day for me to try. Great product! Not sure how it works on really bad windows, but on light to moderate hazing and scratches, it is pretty good stuff.
 
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