CLK 430 Mercedes / Black by dsms...

Didnt plan on it being a long weekend...




But things never usually work out as well as we like

And on with the detail...

On arrival



Wheel first





After high pressure rinsing most all of the surface brake dust and grime came off nicely but the wheel inners were in bad shape



Used the following:

Gloss It wheel gel 2:1
Megs APC+
Stoners Tarminator
various brushes

GI wheel gel sitting (very clingy stuff :headbang



After



Pulled the CLK inside for claying and inspection, car was consistent at 6-7mils



The paint was in very bad shape, lots of auto wash damage and deep RIDS. I was on a time schedule and a tight budget so the 3 step process this car NEEDED for 100% paint correction was not able to be performed, I instead settled on a 2 step process which worked extremely well to remove the heavy defects and finish out the paint nicely. Overall I would say 95% correction was achieved, some areas with less defect cleaned up easier and other areas needed some extra attention using 2 hits of M105 w. the wool pad.

Paint correction process:

Megs M105 w/ Gloss It baby lambswool cutting pad (5.75" and 4")
Menz 85rd w/ Gloss It blue finishing pad (5.75 and 4")
+ Gloss It EVP polish extender

The lambswool pad and M105 did a really nice job on the heavy defects, I polished at about 2400rpm using the EVP w/ M105 and heavy pressure. This combo knocked down the heavy defects but left a lot of hologramming behind (as expected)

Step 2 of the process was crucial as it was a makeshift middle and finishing polish step using the 85rd. Using the blue GI finishing pad and 85rd w/ EVP I worked it at about 1900rpm for many many passes to knock down the holos and fine swirls then I backed down to about 1500rpm for a few passes to refine the finish a little more and then back down to 1100rpm for straight jeweling with no pressure.
* 2-3 IPA wipedowns were done with M105 to ensure no filling

To my surprise that process worked just as I had wanted, the paint cleaned up nicely and a good bit of depth and clarity was restored as well.

Some correction photos under the Infratech, Fenix TK10 LED, standing halogens and camera flash

Hood before



After





Before w/ camera flash and LED (this mixture of light is really nice to help pick up even the really fine RIDS)



After



tried to show the difference in the depth of the black on the left side compared to the right side



After finishing and another IPA wipedown



Making my way around the car..



Had the chance to work outside for a little on day 2, some after polishing shots





Nerd ear protection? Yep that is in fact me :afro:



I switched up to the 3" Gloss it BP w/ 4" GI pads for the tighter areas









It started to get dark so I pulled it back inside to finish the rest of teh correction work,



tidied up the trunk area



The trunk area ...







The largest amount of defect was seen on the passenger side panels, some strange figure 8's design going on here, kinda pretty but it had to go :shrug:







Some of the hologramming left behind from M105



After finishing w/ 85rd I took a 50/50 video, excuse the radio play in the background noise

50/50 Video



Jeweling video as well





5.75 inch pad for the larger areas...



and the 3" BP w/ 4" pads for the smaller ones...



One last pic with the infratech and standing gens'




The car had a lot of excess polishing dust so even though I avoid doing this I had to re-wash it to prepare for LSP. I also re-scrubbed the rag top using the RaggTop cleaner and then applied the protectant

After a PW I took a little beading shot // ALL NATURALE



Foamed w/ strong mix of CWC, I wont use CWG at this point because it contains the glossing agent which would need to be stripped off right after the wash anyway to prep for LSP



After the very light wash, no LSP





I was really running low on time so for LSP I simply used 2 coats of Optimum car wax.

Some final shots...







Wheels were hand polished w/ GI evolution polish and a red CCS pad
Tires dressed with Gloss It signature tire gloss (x1)
Wells treated with Adams







All exterior rubber and plastic trim was treated with Gloss It TRV


The interior was actually pretty well kempt

Quick porcess

Folex on carpets
Gloss It satin leather cleaner
Gloss It satin leather polish
TRV on dash
P+S express interior cleaner on plastics
Danase wet glaze on wood trim





Since I had to drive the car back to the owners house for delivery I placed the plastic protective mat on the drivees side (removed it upon deliver and re-brushed the carpets)





And some last pics















Thanks for looking

 

Always great work here dsms, i love your posts

 

Fantastic turnaround! Awesome work as usual.

 

Great work Dave!

Optimum car wax huh? That was a curveball!

Looking good as always

 

Awesome job David!

 

jezzzz...Great Work

 

i love those clk's those are the best one ,and mercedes benz black are hard to restorate great work though :applause:

 

nice!!!
i love that car! the black looks really glossy and wet!!

 

Looks great Dave... OCW is some great stuff!

 

beautiful! Love that convertible! great job!!!

 

Way to go...It looks great...I really like your work more and more...:thumb:

 

David did you retire your cyclo and makita?

 

I bet the owner was very happy, very good work sir!!

 

Awesome work, looks stunning!

Some of the easiest paint to work with/correct...

 

Thank you Piet, cant tell if you were being sarcastic with it being the easiest paint to correct or not. This car was pre "ceramiclear" but it still took a lot of pressure using a wool pad and M105 to work out the defects even at 2000+rpm

 

Haha, no, I wasn't being sarcastic. I've work on ceramiclear and non-ceramiclear Mercedes paint and I found the pre-ceramiclear paint a joy to work on. Not too hard, but not too soft either.

 

Looks fantastic dude, nice work. What would you recommend as a must have from the Gloss it line?

 

Nicely done. I love the way the carpets are vacuumed...it adds a nice touch.

 

love all your work dude!

 

What are you looking for exactly? Honestly there are no "bad" products just certain products to me are outstanding, like the tire dressing, leather car stuff and sealants for example.