# RGK Detailing - 2004 Mercedes C180K treated to a refresh!



## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

*This well cared for Mercedes C180K was a new purchase for a regular client, despite being very well cared for by its previous owner the paintwork did suffer from a few defects which would be addressed within this detailing treatment, to bring the car up to the showroom condition that the new owner desired!

The most noticeable defects are shown below, both front wings and nearside front door had been resprayed at some point in the past, some deep wet sanding lines were left in the clear coat, and another layer of clear coat was applied over the marks, presumably in an effort for the spray painter to try and cover up his mistake,














































Before these marks could be addressed the car required a thorough wash and decontamination, it is essential that the paintwork is perfectly clean and free of any foreign particles before any machine polishing commences to ensure a high quality finish can be achieved, and prevent the polishing pad from becoming clogged with sharp particles which could cause even more severe damage to the paintwork.

The car was given a pre soak in Autosmart G101 (mixed 10-1) to help loosen any dirt and grime build up, followed by a thorough power rinse, the wheels were cleaned using various brushes to properly clean both the face of the wheel and the back, the car was then covered in a blanket of snow foam and all panel/ trim gaps, and intricate areas were agitated with a soft brush, another rinse and the car was given a thorough wash using a plush Carpro wash mitt, after washing all tar and iron deposits were chemically treated and removed, using Autosmart Tardis, and Carpro Iron x, following another rinse all exterior surfaces were then clayed to remove any remaining bonded contaminants.









































































Tailpipe after



















The car was now ready for polishing, the paintwork on many modern German cars tends to have a very hard wearing clear coat, this car however built just before Mercedes started applying a ceramic clear coat to their cars, so the paint was relatively soft, and quite sticky and grabby to polish, the four resprayed panels however ranged from having very soft to very hard paintwork! this meant I had to keep changing my pad and polish combo, as well as my polishing method to achieve the desired results,

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Scratches above the drivers door handle










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A pillars polished, with the use of a medium cutting spot pad, before










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Lower doors before polishing










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Now it is time to take a closer look at the defects on the resprayed panels, on close inspection it appears that the clea coat has been sanded with a heavy grade of paper, leaving some unsightly lines in the finish,



















These areas were carefully flattened with 2000 grit wet and dry, followed by 3000. checking removal rates, as well as the quality of finish along the way, a wool pad and Menzerna PF2500 was used to remove the sanding marks, then refined with Meguiars 205 on a 3M finishing pad via rotary.




























The entire paint finish was then refined using Meguiars M205 and a 3M finishing pad, near enough a full day was spent doing this to ensure a crystal clear paint finish free of machine holograms, and the b pillars were polished to remove fine scratches and oxidation, the polishing oils removed with UPOL System 20 panel wipe, and a two coats of Blackfire Wet Diamond, unpainted trim was dressed with Autoglym bumper gel, glass polished inside and out with Autoglym glass polish, wheels sealed with FK1000p, and the tyres dressed this is the results in broad daylight,

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Four months later the owner booked the car in for a winter protection treatment, since the harsh winter months were just around the corner, and the owner wanted the car to have a fresh layer of protection applied, since it lives outside, by now I had moved into my new unit, Polish Angel Master sealant was applied this time.























































Thanks for taking the time to read this write up, for more information about our car detailing treatments please visit www.rgkdetailing.co.uk

or call 07500903249

Richard*


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## Mr T (Dec 1, 2013)

Wow. Love the colour. Good job.


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Fantastic work:thumb:


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## TheGruffalo1 (Dec 11, 2013)

Very good job!

Maybe this is a stupid question, but why does everyone park the wheels on pieces of carpet?


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## AS_BO (Sep 29, 2013)

Tremendous work - lovely Saxo in the reflection shot as well. Is that yours?


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## bigslippy (Sep 19, 2010)

Great job :thumb:


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Thank you all for the nice comments :thumb:



TheGruffalo1 said:


> Very good job!
> 
> Maybe this is a stupid question, but why does everyone park the wheels on pieces of carpet?


The main reason is to stop the tyres sticking to the painted and lifting the paint when moved, they also help me place the car just where I want it so I have plenty room all around the car. 



AS_BO said:


> Tremendous work - lovely Saxo in the reflection shot as well. Is that yours?


Yes that's my project track / fast road car, I have a forged and supercharged 250bhp engine sitting in a donor VTS which I will be fitting in my spare time. 

Richard


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## jamie_s (Jul 10, 2009)

Very nice work.
I think the scratches you wetsanded may have been down to paint shrinkage. Sometimes the primer underneath that has smoothed out the bodywork although perfectly smooth at the time of painting, can sink into the scratches it was covering, weeks after the job was done. Have experienced it myself on my own things I've painted at home. Quite frustrating as I wetsanded the panel with 2000 2500 and 3000 then polished to a perfect finish using the 3m trio via rotary. A few weeks later scratches like the ones pictured appeared under the paint all over the panel.
I think the main problem is the quality of the primer. I will definitely be buying some higher quality stuff next time. 
I'm going to flat and polish the panel again as I would imaging it has completely cured now so shouldn't reoccur.
I just brought this up as I thought you may want to know as to understand whats happening. Im guessing the paint looked mint when it was done. Mine certainly did. It would probably help if I and whoever did the merc used finer grades on the repaired area before priming too.


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## suspal (Dec 29, 2011)

Top job mate :thumb:


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## mattwelcer (Jul 29, 2006)

Amazing work, thanks for sharing!


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## Derek Mc (Jun 27, 2006)

What a truly fabulous write up, the corrections on the paint were amazing and very very much appreciated, as an amateur, I adore this level of detail and your explanation was very reassuring that despite looking terminal it could be corrected without needing paint or laquer!

Top job!!


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## unique detail (Jan 26, 2012)

Superb work and write up Rich:thumb:


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Thank you all for your comments 



jamie_s said:


> Very nice work.
> I think the scratches you wetsanded may have been down to paint shrinkage. Sometimes the primer underneath that has smoothed out the bodywork although perfectly smooth at the time of painting, can sink into the scratches it was covering, weeks after the job was done. Have experienced it myself on my own things I've painted at home. Quite frustrating as I wetsanded the panel with 2000 2500 and 3000 then polished to a perfect finish using the 3m trio via rotary. A few weeks later scratches like the ones pictured appeared under the paint all over the panel.
> I think the main problem is the quality of the primer. I will definitely be buying some higher quality stuff next time.
> I'm going to flat and polish the panel again as I would imaging it has completely cured now so shouldn't reoccur.
> I just brought this up as I thought you may want to know as to understand whats happening. Im guessing the paint looked mint when it was done. Mine certainly did. It would probably help if I and whoever did the merc used finer grades on the repaired area before priming too.


Thanks for sharing your experience  yes I think shrinkage is predominantly to blame for the marks, there was a considerable amount of filler which was picked up on the paint depth gauge on the nearside door in the are where the lines had appeared, however I have no doubt that the marks must have shown soon after painting as in the same areas there is evidence of wet sanding in the top coat itself, which shows under a direct light source. 



Derek Mc said:


> What a truly fabulous write up, the corrections on the paint were amazing and very very much appreciated, as an amateur, I adore this level of detail and your explanation was very reassuring that despite looking terminal it could be corrected without needing paint or laquer!
> 
> Top job!!


Thanks Derek,

The owner was going to have these areas resprayed so I decided to test a small area to see how much of an improvement could be made, once I saw the results I decided to continue carefully to rectify the rest of the defects. 

Richard


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