d00t

I had the pleasure of working on this absolutely beautiful machine. The CLK black is a pure track car--well, as pure as mercedes will allow! It's perfectly set-up for the track, and is just gorgeous. What's even better about this particular car, it's in a very rare white, and the stock wheels have been powder coated matte black to give it a more sinister look.

The car had recently taken a trip down the PCH to Paso Robles, and it showed it. Bugs and dirt around the lower half of the car. I figured this would be a perfect candidate to finally try out my Valuguard Decontamination kit.

When I first arrived, here's how she sat:





The license plate was removed to gain access to the paint behind:









First up, per usual, was the wheels. I cleaned them with Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner, various brushes, and some creativity to get to the massive break calipers behind the multi-spoke wheels.





Even got in and cleaned the knooks and crannies:



The small tar spot was removed with clay:



The engine bay was in decent shape, just a quick pressure rinse, and light agitation with Optimum power clean cut 1:1



First up in the Valuguard decon kit was the Acid Neutralizer, which was foamed on and let sit for about 5 minutes:



I then foamed on the Alkaline Neutralizer:



Finally, I foamed with CG CWC, then performed a traditional two bucket was with more CWC.



What I really liked about the valuguard kit, is not only did it get rid of about 95% of the bugs, and caked on dirt, but it left the paint with almost ZERO beading. So I knew I was starting with a very clean surface.

Here you can see almost no beading:



I then dried the car and rolled it back a few feet to get some good before in-sun pictures:

d00t

I pulled the car in, taped it up, took some paint readings (healthy--190+ microns), and then set up the halogens:





The process I settled with for the car was as follows:

LC PFW + Fast Cut Plus (spot wool compounding--only needed on a few panels)
3M UK Green + Fast Cut plus (1-2 passes)
3M UK Yellow + Extra Fine Compound
3M UK Blue + Ultrafina

Here are some in-sun afters (no jeweling has been completed yet)

Again, before:



After:







Only decent 50/50:



The car really needs a new clear bra, as this was a poor installation, and was already starting to yellow slightly. But in any case, I did my best to make it look good, without compromising the film. I polished with 3M UK Yellow pad + 3M Fast Cut plus, and then 3M UK Blue Pad and Ultrafina, keeping my speeds below 1200rpm.

Before:



After:



Huge front fender before:



After:





Fender "vents" before:



After:



Compounding the rocker:



After:



Clear bra on rear fender before:



After:



Rear fender completed:

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Trunk before:





50/50:



Finished:



Rear lip-wing before:



After:



Tail lights before:



AFter:





The rear carbon diffuser was polished with 3M UK Yellow pad and EFC:



Exhaust tips before:



After:



The wheels were sealed with Werkstat Acrylic Jet. Again, had to get creative to reach the calipers:


(no that's not dirt on the rims--its the spray sealant before being wiped off)

First coat of wax: Blackfire Wet Diamond




The second coat of wax I chose was Swissvax Concorso. The afters were taken yesterday (Wednesday) as it's been raining and hailing off and on since Sunday.

TONS of afters (I got a little trigger happy):

d00t

(don't mind the background )



















That's all, thanks for looking, it was a long one!

As always, C/C Welcome!


Aaron

S550AMG11

Very nice job and very nice cars lol.

d00t

Thanks!

Knight 43

Absolutely gorgeous car! Great job on the detail!

gsrjc

Looks great.

tusabes

im in the bay area, is this your personal car or do you do this for a living? how much does a detail like this cost>?

d00t

Thanks a lot!

Thanks!

This is not my personal car, yes I'm a detailer

thewickedestone

When you have a Ferrari and a 63, which one is your daily driver?

F1Bobby

Well done! The car looks great! Now wheel out that 430 and take some pics of it!

d00t

Probably neither!

Thanks! One day, I hope

gmblack3

Very nice work Aaron!