Now THIS is black! 2014 C300.

[richy]

How do you fill in the paint chips? What product do you use?

Do you buy the fill in paint ahead of time before the client comes?

Beautiful work as usual Rick!

Thanks kindly! If the customer is local, I have them pick up the touch up paint at a paint supply house here in town. In this case, she brought the touch up pen from Mercedes. As for how I do it, first I compound and polish (you can create enough heat to pull it out of the chip otherwise) and then use a pointy toothpick and put a small amount on and let it wick down into the chip. Imagine the chip as an empty bowl: I'm not trying to fill the bowl, I'm just trying to line the bottom of it with paint so the white chip doesn't show against the black surrounding surface. I am not trying to place a "blob" of paint on there which is why I use the pointy toothpick. I've also tried using a needle, but prefer the size of the toothpick. Afterward, it gets coated.
Hope that helps!

Nice work!

Every jet black C300 I've worked on has had metallic door handles too, it's very strange.

Wow, isn't that strange?? And here I though Hans or Franz or whoever just grabbed the wrong one off the shelf.

Awesome work as always!! :xyxthumbs:

Thank you Derek for the comment and for taking the time to do so!

 

[GSKR]

Great plan of attack,looks stunning.

 

[Bill1234]

Well worth the extra hour. I look at car detailing as like contracting. Everyone asks who did it ...and sometimes even who did it and ran. But in the good cases, everyone asks from word of mouth

 

[GSKR]

That's funny bill1234 but you're absolutely correct.

 

[Swiss_T]

Great work on the black. :xyxthumbs:
The 040 color has always been a strange one to work with, for me at least. I found it can be hard on some MB cars and soft on others. This is the case for my family's cars, all are 040 black, but from different years.
As for the door handles, my latest theory is that they use the metal flakes for added conductivity/signal strength of the key-less entry in some sort of mathematical German way. But who knows, that's just my guess. :dunno:
It can also be seen on the GLE (formerly known as ML) series.

 

[larry33]

Question..do u dilute the zep 505, or use it straight? Thanks

 

[PFinishDetail]

That is weird, door handles are obsidian black, same colour as my c350 but the rest of the car is the non metallic black. Weird stuff.

Excellent job though, makes me want to go out and do mine again and order some cquartz for it.

 

[Charisma]

There's only a few people on this forum who I can't scroll past without clicking a thread of theirs... You are one of them. Excellent work, as always.

 

[Jomax]

Question..do u dilute the zep 505, or use it straight? Thanks

I just started using it on tires. There is no directions on the bottle for dilution. I used it straight, and man does it work good!

 

[DapperStyle]

Wow, isn't that strange?? And here I though Hans or Franz or whoever just grabbed the wrong one off the shelf.

Great work on the black. :xyxthumbs:
The 040 color has always been a strange one to work with, for me at least. I found it can be hard on some MB cars and soft on others. This is the case for my family's cars, all are 040 black, but from different years.
As for the door handles, my latest theory is that they use the metal flakes for added conductivity/signal strength of the key-less entry in some sort of mathematical German way. But who knows, that's just my guess. :dunno:
It can also be seen on the GLE (formerly known as ML) series.

That is weird, door handles are obsidian black, same colour as my c350 but the rest of the car is the non metallic black. Weird stuff.

Excellent job though, makes me want to go out and do mine again and order some cquartz for it.

Mercedes among other manufacturers do this. The reasoning from what I've read over the years is cost savings by not having to manufacture multiple shades of black handles.

 

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Nice job, bud!

Why do you follow tarminator with zep citrus? Does tarminator not get the barrels fully clean?

 

[richy]

Great plan of attack,looks stunning.

Thanks very much!

Well worth the extra hour. I look at car detailing as like contracting. Everyone asks who did it ...and sometimes even who did it and ran. But in the good cases, everyone asks from word of mouth

Thanks Bill! I will be getting another car from them as well. I like to go above and beyond for repeat customers! Word of mouth and referrals gets me a lot of business!

Great work on the black. :xyxthumbs:
The 040 color has always been a strange one to work with, for me at least. I found it can be hard on some MB cars and soft on others. This is the case for my family's cars, all are 040 black, but from different years.
As for the door handles, my latest theory is that they use the metal flakes for added conductivity/signal strength of the key-less entry in some sort of mathematical German way. But who knows, that's just my guess. :dunno:
It can also be seen on the GLE (formerly known as ML) series.

Thanks kindly!

Question..do u dilute the zep 505, or use it straight? Thanks

Larry, as I mention below, I have cut it up to 50% with no degradation to its performance.

That is weird, door handles are obsidian black, same colour as my c350 but the rest of the car is the non metallic black. Weird stuff.

Excellent job though, makes me want to go out and do mine again and order some cquartz for it.

Thanks so much! Nice car you've got there if you've got the same model.

There's only a few people on this forum who I can't scroll past without clicking a thread of theirs... You are one of them. Excellent work, as always.

Thanks very much on both accounts!

I just started using it on tires. There is no directions on the bottle for dilution. I used it straight, and man does it work good!

Yes, it works great straight of course and I've found that cutting it up to 50% really doesn't hamper its performance.

Mercedes among other manufacturers do this. The reasoning from what I've read over the years is cost savings by not having to manufacture multiple shades of black handles.

Ahhhh, that DOES make sense, even if it looks a tad silly.

Nice job, bud!

Why do you follow tarminator with zep citrus? Does tarminator not get the barrels fully clean?

Thanks Mark! The reason I do so is I figure I won't have a bonding issue with following up with either a spray coating like Aqua bead (or Hydro) or if I'm pulling them. Plus, I do believe it makes it a little nicer doing both steps. I take usually an hour just to do the wheels/tires/wells.