2007 S65 AMG in black w/ 8k miles. The S65 has a AMG-built 5,980-cc SOHC 36-valve, biturbo V-12 that puts out 604hp and 738 ft-lbs of torque. AMG claims 0-60 in 4.2 seconds and 0-125 in 12.5 seconds in a automobile that weighs in at over 5000lbs.

Here is a utube video from Fifth Gear.

Back to the business at hand.










I started with the interior:

Vac all carpets and trunk.
Wipedown all hard surfaces with 1Z CP.
Leather got Z9/10.
Glass got IG.

I then started on the exterior.

I rinsed off the wheels with my pressure washer, plenty of brake dust on these 20" wheels. I then sprayed the wheels down with P21s wheel cleaning gel.

I foamed up the car with my usual CGCWC and Z7 carwash.


Tires and wells got cleaned with AM red hot APC 1:6.
I rinsed off the paint.
I then cleaned the wheels/calipers with a swissvax wheel brush and various other brushes and a MF mitt.
I refoamed the car and washed it using the 2 bucket method and a sheepskin mitt. I then rinsed everything off.

I clayed the paint with a new Zaino claybar and some Z6 for the lube. I rinsed off the paint again and dried with a pakshak WW drying towel.

After checking the paint/clear thickness with my Defelsko Positest DFT Combo. I inspected the paint for defects and found the following swirls:





I also noted some light RIDS with the brinkman that would not show up in the sun. :?

I started out with 106ff/white CCS pad and the flex 3403 at 1600 RPM.

Even after working the 106 for a while on the panel, there where still some swirls and RIDS left on the ceramiclear finish.

So I tried SIP/white CCS/1700 on the flex 3403. It still was not 100% perfect.

So then I went to SIP/orange CCS at 1700. This did the trick. SIP worked pretty well in the full sun, but even on panels that where in the shade, I was getting some pad chatter.

After SIP/orange CCS, note the great finish and it appears that there are no holograms.



I polished out the rest of the car with the SIP/orange CCS combo.

I then followed with:

Ultrafina/3M blue 8" foam pad/Flex 3403 at 1700. I had no issues with the 3403 as the UF always runs smooth for me. I also had no issues w/ UF in the full sun. The working time stayed very constant with panels in the shade and panels in the full sun.

Foamed the car down again, this time with 3oz of Z7 in the 32oz water filled bottle. I then did a 2 bucket wash w/ sheepskim mitt to ensure all of the polishing oils where removed from the surface. Car was dried with a pakshak WW drying towel.

After wash pics:




I applied 3x of Z5pro with 20% Z2pro and 4 drops of ZFX mixed in. I followed with Z8.

Tires got Z-16, wheels and tips ZAIO after the final pics where taken.

Finals:

 

2008 S63 AMG w/ 5600 miles

This one shares the same chassis w/ the S65 that I detailed 2 weeks ago.

But the S63 "only" has a:
So the powerplant along with the AMG-enhanced 7-speed automatic will propel this 4600lbs beast to a AMG reported 0-60 time of 4.5 seconds.

This was a full exterior polishing and the client requested just a vac on the interior.

Sorry for the lack of pics, but sometimes you just got to get it done.

I did a vac on the interior.
I foamed, rinsed, refoamed and 2BM for the wash.
Wheels cleaned with P21S gel, swissvax wheel brush and a few other brushes. This takes about 45 mins on these wheels.
Tires and wells cleaned with 1:6 AM red hot APC.
Everything rinsed.
I then clayed the paint with Zaino clay and Z6.

Befores:








Consider that this was the 2007 black S65 from two weeks ago:

So I am thinking no problem at all. I can use the same process from the black 2007 S65 that I just did.

Quote:

SIP/orange CCS at 1700

If you look closer at the before pic from this car the swirls are deeper.

Infact they are deep enough that 4-5x of SIP/orange CCS at 1700 would only get out about 60% of the defects. Both cars have the same ceramiclear finish.

I took out the LC purple foamed wool and still had to make 2-3x to clean everything up.

I then followed with SIP/orange CCS/1700 and UF/blue CCS/1700.

This pic was after:
2x of the ECC/Purple foamed wool/1700-1800
SIP/orange CCS/1700
UF/blue CCS/1700
Sorry I did not get all of the UF wiped off:



As you can see there where still a few swirls left. So this area was polished out again with the full process.

I noticed that I was running low on SIP, so I gave Bret a call and he was nice enough to bring some by. When he arrived it was approx 2pm and I still had alot of polishing to do. So he stayed and helped me polish out the car.

I polished the left side of the car with the
2-4x of the ECC/Purple foamed wool/1700-1800 combo
While Bret followed behind with the:
SIP/orange CCS/1700
UF/blue CCS/1700

We took the car out while we still had some good sun and still noticed a few areas on the left side that needed repolished. so Bret broke out the 4" orange CCS pads and used SIP to spot polish areas that needed it. Now this stilll took 2-3x with this combo and Bret was working in the direct sun so that he could see everything very well.

I started on the right side and gave the yellow edge wool/ECC/1800 a try to see if it would cut quicker. After 2-3x this seemed to work quicker then the purple foamed wool which required 3-4x.

I then followed with green edge wool and presta 1500, this worked fine and is quicker then the SIP/orange CCS combo.

Bret finished up his flawless work on the left side and come over to help me with the final polishing with ultrafina.

Bret worked the curvy from fender with the 6" euro 3M blue foam pad at speeds up to 2000 to really jewel the surface and I did the doors with the blue CCS also using speeds up to 2k.

The car was refoamed after the polishing with Z7 carwash to remove the UF polishing oils to ensure proper zaino bonding.

We applied 3x of a 80% Z5pro/20% Z2pro on shot of Z8 and 4 drops of ZFX. We also did an application of Z8.

Tires got Z-16 and wheels got ZAIO.

Dusk had arrived and I tried to take some pics without the flash and I did not have my tripod with me.

So of course my hands are not that steady after 8 hours of polishing and only a few came out.

 

What did you charge for a job like that?

 

Approx $600. Its going to depend more on condition of the paint.

Something like this http://www.peachstatedetail.com/Deta...pic.php?t=1301 is going to be about a grand.

Where are you located?

 

Nice work! The ceramiclear is pretty tough and I'm suprised the orange pad did the trick. Damn nice work.
Any glaze used in your process? You mentioned "ultrfina" is that the 3m ploish part#06068. If, so.... great stuff.

 

Thank you CakeDaddy! Orange and SIP worked fine on the S65, but not the S63. I never use any glazes as I prefer to remove defects not cover them up. 06868 thats the one.

 

Righteous! Like you said.. remove defects and not cover them up. I follow the same pattern on my black car with a good polish (3m) and good pad, but i do add some poorboys black hole glaze because it looks soooooo damn good.

 

I really enjoyed the detailed pics. Great job!

 

I'd love to be able to do this myself for my own car but I wouldn't even know where to start. I've washed and waxed it but that's it. I'd probably remove too much of of my clearcoat if I tried anything else God knows my black car need this as I have some swirls and scratches that just bug the hell out of me..

 

I am crazy about my black cars too; look at my photo album; what is probably amazing is how clean my older SUV looks like.

 

I'm in California.

But that's ok because I got all that stuff. I use Menzerna, I have a orbital-buffer, got my Wolfgang polishers etc. etc. etc.

I had my own detail shop as well, just wondering what abouts you were charging. I now do basically what you do as far as detailing is concerned, so if anyone wants a job like that in the So-Cal area PM me

You do very nice work.

 

Excellent work on those gorgeous cars! Thanks for sharing your photos as well.

Greg @ Detailed Image

 

I had the same fear until I started reading here:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/

Purchase yourself a porter cable 7424 Polisher with orange,white,grey & blue pads. I recommend the poorboys products. Make sure you understand what each pad is for, but here is a simple break down:


Some easy steps for ya:
Hand wash car
Dry with micro fiber towels or blow dry with electric leaf blower
3m 06060 extra cut compound <--- only if you have serious swirls & scratches. This stuff has excellent cutting power.
pure polish (i like the 3M Polish/Swirl Remover) part num 06068
poorboys world exp sealant
then the poor boys black hole glaze <---optional. You'll be shinning!
poorboys nattys blue paste wax
Cold Beer

**NOTE** The above products are dedicated for black cars with the exception of the 3M extra cut compound

Make sure you have lots of the best possible micro fiber towels to wipe, especially after the polishing process. The Porter Cable 7424 will save you some time and is very forgiving for beginners. I will eventually move up to the Flex 3403, but for now my porter cable is fine. One note on applying the polish... make sure you go slow and really let the polish break down into the paint... don’t rush the polish process. Alot of swirls and scratches can easily be removed by proper polishing and patients.

The site I posted has info on how to use all these products. I recommend you start with a small section of the car (like the trunk lid) before tackling the entire car. Its easier than it sounds.


Someone correct me if I'm out of place on something or wrong. Im always open to hear other perspectives(sp)

 

CakeDaddy pretty much broke it down for you, it's a whole hell lot easier then it sounds.

I take it you don't wash your own car? I can't stand car washes, every time I see a car come out of there, it's all swirled/scratched up. Absolutely ridiculous, follow Cakedaddy's advice and from then on out ALWAYS wash your own car. I find even one trip to the car wash is lethal for us detail-freaks.

 

Akademiks, I appreciate your kind words, but if you are just buffing with a orbital buffer and not with a rotary you are going to have a hard time dealing with Ceramiclear on these newer MBs. Now I am sure it can be done with a PC, but it will take many hours which turn into days. I just wanted to make sure that we are on the same page since you do "do basically what you I do as far as detailing is concerned"

Would love to see some of your work.

Some very good basic tips.

Using the 3M 06060 w/ a PC is not really the way it was designed to be used. It was made to be used with a rotary. A PC has a hard time breaking down the larger abrasives into finer abrasives like a rotary can. A rotary with its speed and created heat with break down the abrasives properly. If the abrasives are not properly broke down, you will end up with micro marring on the surface.

 

yes..Very true. I had a friend help me with a flex rotary for my compounding and polishing and then i did the rest with the pc. I watched in horror as that rotary touched my car, but he is a pro and that is why I love my porter cable(PC). Its really forgiving, but one day... i'll have the flex rotary

 

While I don't have any before and after pictures on hand, I do have a few after shots of some cars at my detail shop:

my SL600:




here's my my SL55:



a customer CL65:



All of the cars above were at the very least polished with PC.

I didn't feel like throwing out everything I use, so I just mentioned the Orbital Buffer as it was the first thing to come to mind. I use PC, flex rotarty, have all the different assortments of pads, the entire line of Menzera, Wolfgang, Onyx microfiber towels, etc. etc. etc. I find that for most cars I encounter, PC works just fine

As I said, essentially we do the same thing. I just have a roof over my head to do it in.

 

Very nice looking cars there, would love to see some sun shots. Also a very nice shop. So what do you guys get for a full correction? Do you do all the polishing yourself or do you have a crew?

 

Never hurts to have friends.

I am sure he knew what he was doing, if not you would be able to tell by the buffer trails in the sun.

 

Thank you very much..

 

Oh I'm the only one that washes my car!. I absolutely dread the thought of letting the dealership or someone wash it. The only reason I would take it to a shop would be to get some scratches and swirls buffed out. Even then, I'd be a bit paranoid which is why I want to learn how to do these things myself!

 

Thank you for the kinds words.

I do not take sun-shots because the vehicle remains indoors until customer pick-up to ensure the hard labor we've put into it isn't wasted. The entire process is done indoors (minus the initial wash).

We have no set prices, every job is different and we charge accordingly. We had packages when we first started until we realized not everyone wants the same thing, so now we assess a vehicle, give our opinion, and the customer tells us what they want.

And I have a crew. I do polishing here and there, but my crew is just as good as me. There are some customers who insist I do the polishing because they are previous customers and they only trust me, so for those yes I do.

Will start a new thread once I get a real bad one in here and post before and after shots, in the sun.

 

Great results!

 

Looked really good. I thought you said you put some Z-16 on the tires?? They looked pretty dry in all the pics to me.

 

Thanks life!

As usual I am finishing up a car when its just about dark out. So after I do a post polishing wash and dry it off, I take pics then or after applying zaino.