jlb85
New member
- Mar 31, 2008
- 734
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Thanks to a referral from a top detailer, we were contacted to refresh this nicely modified SL 55 AMG. Saphire Black can look stunning, but without proper clarity, the paint doesn't show in the sense that it should; deep reflective black with brilliant metallic flakes when seen with a direct light source.
In addition to requesting paint correction, the interior also needed some attention after 75,000+ miles of fun driving, and when you're going to work on the exterior and interior, you might as well properly show off the engine bay too!
Though the owner lived over an hour away, we were lucky enough to be invited to Motor Werks: a local shop that specializes in German vehicles. To work on this beautiful car was a priviledge, but to work on such a beauty with many other beautiful cars (CL600, 500E, S63 AMG, 355, RS4, etc) around made the work that much more pleasurable.
Arriving on day one, we began with the interior and the summer wheels. A leather repair specialist was due to fix some damage on the driver's seat, so thoroughly cleaning the interior (including the seats) would help to make sure the repair would match perfectly.
As usual, we started with the vacuum.
To include the small, hard to reach areas like around buttons and inside the door panel's pocket:
Once loose debris was removed, hard surfaces were cleaned and protected with 1Z Cockpit Premium.
Leather cleaning was achieved using Leather Master Strong Cleaner and a toothbrush. While there are seats with a lot more build up than these had, the difference was still quite noticeable. I sectioned off the front of the seat to show the difference made.
Even sectioned off a part of the side bolster to show the nice subtle difference:
Here is one last shot to show how even perferrated leather can come back with careful and patient care.
As I finished working on the leather seats, Jacob moved his attention to the forged wheels used for summer driving. Already somewhat clean, he removed tar specs, shredded rubber, and light build up with a combination of Meguiar's 105 and 3M Adhesive remover.
The convertible top inserts and windscreen were the last interior items that could use some love, but they too were cleaned for a nice fresh look.
This concluded the first day of work. A few weeks laster, we returned to dial-in the exterior. It was a bit dusty to say the least, but the real problem was the condition of the paint.
The license plate was removed prior to beginning to make sure all exterior surfaces would be cleaned properly.
Jacob began with the door jambs while I started with the wheels, calipers, and engine bay.
Foamed and washed, and then clayed to remove contamination that normal washing will not.
On the left is the clay Jacob used on the passanger side of the vehicle, on the right is the clay I used on the driver's side and lowers. Notice the red overspray that the clay removed (on left), and the amount of tar that was removed from the lowest sections of the vehicle (on right).
After claying, the vehicle was rewashed, rinsed, and dried.
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