2013 Mercedes SL550 - Big Red

Centexhokie

Centexhokie

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What I learned from detailing my car this weekend.


  1. Good detailers are underpaid. It took me about 15 hours to do the car.
  2. Using a Fenix HP11 Light shows a lot of defects. Ignorance before I started was bliss.
  3. The Porter Cable can really not spin 6.5" pads. I had to go down to a 4" for corrections.
  4. The SL550 is hard to mask off.
What I did..

  1. Washed the car with CG Honeydew and a Foam Gun
  2. Clay Bar the car with Pinnacle clay
  3. Examined the car surface to determine what correction needed to be done. The paint was worse than I thought with a lot of "spider webbing".
  4. Used Menzerna FF 3000 to clean up the paint. Tried 6.5" pad, went to 5.5" pads and finally 4" pad to do the clean up. Had to do several areas three times to get a clean surface. The car had sat in the Texas sun on the dealer's lot.
  5. Wanted to use Menzerna SF 4500 for a final finish, but was too worn out to add this step this time. Instead I cleaned the surface with KAIO and the PC.
  6. Waxed the car with Collinite 845.
  7. Used Gummi Pflege on all of the seals. There are a lot of seals on the convertible.
  8. Put PW Wheel Sealant on the wheels. The dust from the MB brakes is unbearable.
  9. Cleaned the interior
  10. Cleaned the windows and sunroof with Stoner's.
Here are a few pictures of the car.


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SL550Inside_zps15db179c.jpg
 
Look into the Griot's Polisher, it has twice the power and will work well even with the larger pads.

I did a Benz last year with my PC, it took all weekend.
Great job though, love the car.
 
HateSwirls said:
Look into the Griot's Polisher, it has twice the power and will work well even with the larger pads.

I did a Benz last year with my PC, it took all weekend.
Great job though, love the car.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I was thinking about going to a Flex. Is the Griot's better than the Flex?
 
No it's not but I used one doing a detail and was impressed with the tool but just as impressed with the GG6
It's very powerful amd works well for half the price of the Flex.
I have no plans in upgrading anytime soon.
Yeah,I'm happy with my GG6



Centexhokie said:
Thanks. I was thinking about going to a Flex. Is the Griot's better than the Flex?
Click to expand...
 
That's a great looking car! Good job and way to hang in there through the trial and error process :)
 
Jpatchley said:
That's a great looking car! Good job and way to hang in there through the trial and error process :)
Click to expand...

Thanks. I actually thought about throwing away the Fenix because it did too good of a job of showing the defects. Car would look good until further examination. ;)
 
Centexhokie said:
Thanks. I actually thought about throwing away the Fenix because it did too good of a job of showing the defects. Car would look good until further examination. ;)
Click to expand...

Don't worry I've gone/am going through the same with the brinkman! I too have a gg6 and have obtained great results with the wlfg uber compound and 5.5" hydro tech pads.
 
It is always great to see another Texan here (I live in the Piney Woods area of East Texas). My Benz is much easier to care for because it is Diamond White and does not show all the defects you found. I am sure there are a few but the color masks them making my job a bit easier than yours. BTW, great job and a sweet, sweet ride!
 
Mercedes is using ceramic paint on their later models, a porter cable will take forever. Use a pro tool.
 
Thanks for all of the kind messages. I have never regretted money spent on good tools so I will either buy the Rupes or the Flex. I do this as a hobby because I like my cars to look good and I enjoy the satisfaction of the results. A good tool always makes that type of work more enjoyable for me.
 
Centexhokie said:
Thanks. I was thinking about going to a Flex. Is the Griot's better than the Flex?
Click to expand...

I have a Griots and I had a flex. I sold the flex after a month after getting my griots. I personally hated the flex. With a MF pad you can get just as fast of results as the flex and not have to put sooo much energy into the thing when using. I have a Rupes 15 now and I really like it. You spend almost no energy using it. You just let the weight of the machine go and just guide it along. There is no fighting with anything so buffing out a car you dont get as fatigued. the flex in my eyes of what i think is over hyped.
 
Thanks.

After looking at all the reviews I have decided to go with the first suggestion and get a GG6. It looks like it will work with all of my PC pads and accesories and be quite a step up without a big price tag. Thanks for all of the suggestions.
 
Cool looking car and it looks fantastic now!

I hear you on the time spent for paint correction jobs. Always takes me 2 days (all weekend) to correct a car that needs a good bit of work.

Justin
 
Justin M. said:
Cool looking car and it looks fantastic now!

I hear you on the time spent for paint correction jobs. Always takes me 2 days (all weekend) to correct a car that needs a good bit of work.

Justin
Click to expand...

I was surprised at the paint. It looked okay until I started inspecting it with a light. I bought the car about 2 months ago, but it sat on the dealers lot all through the Texas summer. The defects weren't deep, but they were numerous. The other thing I did was to mask off the windows, lights, trim, etc. Those little black accents on the hood and the side with the chrome bands are a pia to mask off. Took a lot longer than it should.

Hopefully now that the paint is in good shape it won't take that long to maintain it. Of course now the wife is asking if I will do her SUV.
 
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