# Polished Bliss: Mercedes S Class Wedding Prep!...



## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Evening all 

This was a detail done at the end of last week, and i can 100% say that this was the most gruelling and time consuming one yet!

The car is to be used as a wedding car at the start of next month so it was booked in for a full correction to get it looking its best for the big day, here it is upon arrival on Wednesday morning:




























*Wash*:

I firstly pre-rinsed the car at high pressure (60 degrees) to get the worst of the grime off and then cleaned the arches with Meguiars Super Degreaser and a brush. The wheels were then cleaned with Meguiars Wheel Brightener (4:1):










No need for Tardis on these wheels, which made a nice change 

I then washed the car with the 2BM and Meguiars Shampoo Plus and then cleaned all shuts/petrol cap etc with a MF mitt as there wasnt a great deal of dirt to be removed.

I then soaked the engine bay with Super Degreaser and left for around 30 seconds... (Engine is off, the morning sun was causing the steam):










....And then rinsed at medium pressure (60 degrees):










Next job to do was to clay the car. The paint was very smooth after i'd applied and wiped off Autosmarts Tardis but i clayed anyways as the fingertip test can be deceiving and i always find you can pull a fair bit of dirt off a car even though it feels smooth to the touch 

One final rinse (40 degrees) followed and now the swirls could be seen in the rising sun:



















Not overly bad, but funny how even direct sunlight can be deceiving (more on this shortly...)

Some lovely buffer trails too:



















*Polish*:

Paint readings were taken next, and this was a mixed bag of results - the majority of the car was healthy enough:










Some was a tad on the thin side:










Some areas were even thinner, the lowest reading being 63 - so at least this gave some indication of where the absolute limit was as this area still had clear coat remaining. Obviously we wouldnt be going anywhere near as low as that but it still allowed the 70 micron areas to be polished 

Now, i mentioned that even sunlight can be decieving when assessing defects, and this was proven once the car was inside and under the halogens, as this showed the extent of the damage a bit more:










Buffer trails again:










"Still not THAT bad" you may think?

Below is a half and half shot without halogens to show just how much depth and clarity the defects were robbing of the paint:










Pretty nuts for a 2 year old car!

I initially started out correcting the paint with 3.02 and a cutting pad @1800rpms, but the paint just laughed at me!

I finally settled on 3M Fast Cut Plus with a drop of Ultrafina @ 2000rpm's, yet the paint still needed *Three* hits per section on the bonnet,roof and boot lid (these areas were slightly worse than the side panels). This was easiest the hardest paint i've ever polished, which was strange as i've done Mercs of this age before and they havent been overly hard. I was sorely tempted by Menzerna's Power Gloss but to be honest the Fast Cut Plus is pretty close in terms of cut and doesnt produce half as much dust!

It was at this point i consulted Rich about the car, as i only had 2 days to do it in and i knew it just wasnt going to be possible on a car this size with the defects it was showing. Luckily, the owner agreed to collect the car on the Friday morning to allow us to work a late night on the Thursday if needed (which it was, more later!). I could have corrected the car to 50% and the customer would have been delighted but its just not in our nature to hand over a car that isnt perfect (or as near as paint condition will allow!) and there wasnt a hope in hell i could achieve the desired results in 2 days.

Rich suggested he helped me on the Thursday (which was going to be a big help!)once he got through his e-mails etc so i soldiered on for the rest of the day, slowly correcting each panel.

As you can see below, the correction was very good - just a couple of RIDS remaining, however 2 or 3 hits on each section was making it a very slow and drawn out affair!










*50/50 on the bootlid:*










*Fully Corrected:*:










*C-Pillar Before*:










*After*:










It was now around 7 o clock and i decided to call it a night so i could get to bed early, allowing me to be bright and breezy for the next (long!) day 

*Day 2*:

Correction resumed, with myself doing the rotary work while Rich had the painful task of correcting the bumpers and other smaller areas with the Megs G220 - using a 50/50 mix of 3.02 and Power Gloss on a 4" Cutting Pad, like myself - he was having to do multiple hits to get the desired results.

I carried on down the sides...

*50/50 on the front wing*:










*Fully Corrected*:










*Back 1/4 50/50*:










The back 1/4 on the other side was showing some nice buffer trails amongst the scratches...










The section masked off was an area that was into the 60 microns, so obviously i wasnt going to polish this when the Fast Cut Plus and Rotary was removing around 5-6 microns after 2 or 3 hits. This section was polished when i went round the 2nd time with the finishing pad and polish, this increased gloss but obviously the defects remained - nothing else i could do with it i'm afraid 

*back 1/4 after *:



















A-Pillars were done with the Rotary also:










Finally, the correction work was done and it was now approaching 11 o clock at night, Myself and Rich were running on fumes at this point but we were glad at the effort put in as the car was now looking soooo much better, and Rich had done a stunning job on the bumpers! You get out of it what you put in 

Polishing wasnt done yet though, as i had to go over it again with the finishing polish (pad pictured ready for priming, i dont use this much afterwards):










Luckily, the panels are all pretty flat on this car so this stage took no more than an hour-ish, including 106FA on a 4" polishing pad with the G220 for the bumpers etc.

Now up and over midnight, i couldnt really be bothered to take much pictures from there on, so here's one taken the morning after of the interior after a hoover/APC wipe down/Glass cleaned with HDC/Shuts with prime strong/leather fed etc:










Engine bay was dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant:










LSP of choice was Vintage, this was applied to the whole car and left while i did a bit of tidying up. Rich sealed the wheels (PB Wheel Sealant), dressed the tyres (BF Long Lasting Tyre Gel) and arches (Meguiars All Season Dressing). I used Prime Strong on a few areas of chrome/plastic that were tarnishing and then buffed off the Vintage.

So, after finishing up at around 2am, here is the results of a grueling 2 day detail!

















































































































































Even though we had about 4 hours sleep untill i had to get up for work on the Friday, it was all worth it - far better in my eyes to miss a few hours in your bed in order to give your all to make a customer happy - which she was 

This one has now led us to re-think our pricing and time scales for full correction details as our standards have raised again, so full corrections are now to be done over 3 days - this will enable us to go for pure "Polished Bliss" (want some toast with that cheese?) every time  

Thanks for looking and thanks to Rich for his help on this one. I'd probably still be working on the damn thing now if it wasnt for him! :lol:

Clark


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Great Work Clark, Looks Stunning.

I envy your Photos + correction shots!


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## dw0510 (Oct 22, 2006)

Nice one! that looked really bad


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## extreme-detail (Nov 7, 2005)

clark its a S class not a SL mate 

nice work any way


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## DE 1981 (Aug 17, 2007)

simply stunning hope the bride was pleased, that porsche in the background waiting for you?


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## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

Absolutely stonking pics mate, I can only begin to imagine how hard a job that must have been, you pulled a cracker out the hat though!


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

extreme-detail said:


> clark its a S class not a SL mate
> 
> nice work any way


Aye, i realised it as soon as i'd posted the bloody thing! Mods - feel free to edit please! 

:thumb:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Gavb said:


> simply stunning hope the bride was pleased, that porsche in the background waiting for you?


Aye, maintenence contract - wont bother posting it again untill the paint's corrected though 



Neil_S said:


> Absolutely stonking pics mate, I can only begin to imagine how hard a job that must have been, you pulled a cracker out the hat though!


Cheers mate! It was a big help having Rich to do the bumpers,b-pillars etc so i could concentrate on the larger panels :thumb:


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## SURFERROSA (Feb 7, 2007)

JINGS......

Great perseverance there Clark. One of those 'Aw Naw' ones.

3 days? Absolutely. And to think some people cringe when you mention 2 days to do a car!!

Very nice result indeed. I suppose when you're at it until after midnight, a re-think on pricing is natural.

:thumb:


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## s-line (May 14, 2006)

stunning!


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## mikecc (Dec 10, 2007)

Thats dedication!!

Good work as always guys!

Mike.


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## Epoch (Jul 30, 2006)

Now that's Roy Castle

Clark my estimation of your level of work goes up each time you post.

Demonstrating the PB level of perfection once again also nice to see the gaffer helping out once in a while too (I am only joking Rich!)

Nice one


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## DE 1981 (Aug 17, 2007)

Clark forgot to ask, i assumed Rich helped out in some way with most of the details seems not, is he just to busy with emails and running a business etc


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

SURFERROSA said:


> JINGS......
> 
> Great perseverance there Clark. One of those 'Aw Naw' ones.
> 
> ...


Aye, it was the volume of the "Aw Naw" ones recently that led to the re-think, which has led to a fairly high price for full correction details now but still cheap when you consider the work and time that goes into it 



Epoch said:


> Now that's Roy Castle
> 
> Clark my estimation of you level of work goes up each time you post.
> 
> ...


Very nice of you to say so Mate, much appreciated :thumb:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Gavb said:


> Clark forgot to ask, i assumed Rich helped out in some way with most of the details seems not, is he just to busy with emails and running a business etc


Yep, i do 99% of all the detailing work. To be honest, i'd much rather do my job than Rich's - he gets silly amount of e-mails etc every day to work through :lol:

Ange does some work in the office too now and again... (Hi Ange! )


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## DE 1981 (Aug 17, 2007)

Clark said:


> Yep, i do 99% of all the detailing work. To be honest, i'd much rather do my job than Rich's - he gets silly amount of e-mails etc every day to work through :lol:


I bet he does, so what would happen if you were out of action(touch wood it doesn't happen) in some way, ill, detailers elbow etc


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Clark said:


> Yep, i do 99% of all the detailing work. To be honest, i'd much rather do my job than Rich's - he gets silly amount of e-mails etc every day to work through :lol:
> 
> Ange does some work in the office too now and again... *(Hi Ange! )*


You trying to get a bonus? :lol: :lol:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Gavb said:


> I bet he does, so what would happen if you were out of action(touch wood it doesn't happen) in some way, ill, detailers elbow etc


They get the "Clark Clone" out the cupboard 

Nah, Rich would just have to survive without me - which i'm sure he could easily do - he's not too bad at the old detailing malarky :thumb:


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## *MAGIC* (Feb 22, 2007)

Great work awesme pics


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## DE 1981 (Aug 17, 2007)

Clark said:


> They get the "Clark Clone" out the cupboard
> 
> Nah, Rich would just have to survive without me - which i'm sure he could easily do - he's not too bad at the old detailing malarky :thumb:


Bloody hell one Clark's enough . Aye im sure he would cope just fine:thumb:


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## Jakedoodles (Jan 16, 2006)

Stunning work! I did an E class merc a while back and suffered a similar 'aw naw' moment about 15 hours through when I realised I was getting nowhere fast! It's so worth persevering though - and you've shown that brilliantly.


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Some preservation to keep going for that long!

How many times did you charge the ipod? 

Glad Rich helped you out, I like seeing his posts too.


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## Buck (Jan 16, 2008)

1st Class as always.

As you say, better to change the timescales than compromise your standards by trying to fit a 3 day detail into 2


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Mark M said:


> Some preservation to keep going for that long!
> 
> How many times did you charge the ipod?
> 
> Glad Rich helped you out, I like seeing his posts too.


I Just have the radio on in the background, i find i can lose concentration with an i-pod etc


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## tdekany (Jul 22, 2006)

*I love your threads Clark!*

*What a detail!!!!*

*Stunning work!!!!:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: *


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## john250505 (Sep 28, 2007)

Superb as usual


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## Brisa (Aug 9, 2006)

Those 50/50's are something else, paint that hard on a car that size would make anyone re-consider pricing haha. Great as usual.


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## tdekany (Jul 22, 2006)

Clark, just one question - do your pictures go through photoshop in any way?
Thanks!


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

That is an excellent demonstration of what correction work can be achieved with care, a lot of skill and plenty of time. The car looks absolutely mint in the after shots. Superb work :thumb:


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## Frothey (Apr 30, 2007)

Gobsmacking :thumb:


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## visor (Sep 8, 2007)

excellent finish as always! :thumb:


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Wooooow that was some hard graft ay, respect for taking the extra time to get it bang on, i thought i was mad working till 10-11PM but 2 am, you deserve a day off paid


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## drive 'n' shine (Apr 22, 2006)

Top work fellas - but remember no point in working yourself so hard that your health suffers, take it from one who knows


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## Kadir (Jun 14, 2007)

As ever, awesome.. :buffer:


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## NN1 (Nov 11, 2006)

excellent work mate, its always nice to read your write ups.


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## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

Cracking work Clark the diference is amazing between before and after!!!! it almost looks like a new car! go on admit it!!!! its a spare one in a carcoon u used for the afters!!!!:thumb: 

Faultless and stunning as always!


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## Slick 77 (Jun 19, 2007)

wow :thumb:


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## Mr Mike (Oct 2, 2007)

Great work again, can see now why your were working till daft o clock the other night. After me doing my car Fri/Sat i now fully understand how much work goes into that.


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

tdekany said:


> Clark, just one question - do your pictures go through photoshop in any way?
> Thanks!


Just for re-sizing and to put the frame around them, other than that they're taken straight from the camera 



Ronnie said:


> Cracking work Clark the diference is amazing between before and after!!!! it almost looks like a new car! go on admit it!!!! its a spare one in a carcoon u used for the afters!!!!:thumb:
> 
> Faultless and stunning as always!


Damn, you got me!


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## gj777 (Feb 16, 2008)

Great piece of work and transformation! The neighbours across the road from me have a silver S class and it certainly is quite a substantial machine.


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## dillon733 (Feb 18, 2008)

excellent work!!!:thumb:


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## MK1Campaign (Mar 27, 2007)

If you look on the vin sticker in the drivers door shut and find a C or K in front of the colour code that means the car has ceramic lacquer. Its much harder to correct than normal lacquer.


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## jonnie5 (Jul 21, 2007)

Great work as always.


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## N8KOW (Aug 24, 2007)

Clark you really do run this forum, imo!


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## KKM (Dec 10, 2007)

top dawg

:thumb:

the bint better be happy when you gets collected in that:doublesho


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## Rich @ PB (Oct 26, 2005)

MK1Campaign said:


> If you look on the vin sticker in the drivers door shut and find a C or K in front of the colour code that means the car has ceramic lacquer. Its much harder to correct than normal lacquer.


You don't say! Aye, it was indeed a ceramiclear finish; I double checked when polishing the shuts.


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## Angela @ PB (Jan 3, 2007)

james b said:


> you deserve a day off paid


If I could get him to take a day off! He complains if we try to make him go home early or take a day off!


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Mrs Bliss said:


> If I could get him to take a day off! He complains if we try to make him go home early or take a day off!


Wind yer neck in! get back in that kitchen and make some more flapjacks! I dont want to get Rich to shorten the chain! :lol:


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## Deanoecosse (Mar 15, 2007)

As you say Clark, "you get out what you put in" and you certainly put in on this one. The results of your hard graft are stunning. Fantastic job and one to show the guy earlier who questioned how it could take "14 or 18 hours to detail a car"


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## Ruth M (Feb 27, 2006)

brilliant job.. once again. Looked to be an absolute pain tho


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## Offyourmarks (Jan 4, 2006)

fantastic dedication again from you guys! although the write up is amazing - i just dont think it conveys the sheer mountain you had to climb to get that looking how it does!

truly awesome work guys

matt


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## Phil H (May 14, 2006)

excellent work again! i have found that 2 days is nowhere near enough for some cars.


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## BNR32 (Feb 1, 2008)

Good as new. Top work as always


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## CK888 (Apr 23, 2006)

Another fantastic detail, outstanding effort guys:thumb:


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## ryanuk (Jun 22, 2007)

nice work again mate! love your jobs!


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## chrisfoster1971 (Feb 16, 2008)

Wow the work you put in shows through in bucket loads, fantastic to see the before and after shots. It really shows that you are a perfectionist. I am in awe


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## Tyke (Jul 25, 2006)

Frankly, stunning.


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

cheers folks


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## transtek (Mar 2, 2007)

Great work as always Clark,
but I'm struck at how every time these jobs seem to be get worse and worse, and more time consuming, and I think i know why...
before, when detailing was just starting, only people who were really into their cars knew about it and got professional detailers like yoursef to do the work, and such cars were pretty well looked after anyways... whereas now, detailing is known to a lot more people who aren't really into cars and cleaning them, so they are worse as they aren't looked after...
either that or people are getting lazier after seeing what can be done to restore them after really badly treating them!!
Just a thought!


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Once again, stunning work Clark :thumb:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

transtek said:


> Great work as always Clark,
> but I'm struck at how every time these jobs seem to be get worse and worse, and more time consuming, and I think i know why...
> before, when detailing was just starting, only people who were really into their cars knew about it and got professional detailers like yoursef to do the work, and such cars were pretty well looked after anyways... whereas now, detailing is known to a lot more people who aren't really into cars and cleaning them, so they are worse as they aren't looked after...
> either that or people are getting lazier after seeing what can be done to restore them after really badly treating them!!
> Just a thought!


To be honest i dont think its either. We've just been unlucky to have had our fair shair of majorly swirled cars, and the reason they have gotten more time consumimg is down to the fact that our own standards have risen again - hence the increase to 3 days for full correction and the increase in price


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## saxoboy07 (Oct 20, 2007)

awesome work mercedes looks so much better:thumb:


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## bleached (May 3, 2007)

Outstanding turnaround Clark!!!! Your talent always amazes me.


PS: nobody noticed the car wears Conti EcoContact on the front wheels?? I took them off my Corsa because they're s***t


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## IVSPAUL (Dec 15, 2007)

*ivspaul*

beautiful work. i was suprised that the paint was rock hard


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## Nica (Jul 4, 2007)

Wow what a detail and super job on the write up Clark :thumb:

Lovely pictures too very nice.

Thank you for taking the time to share with us, keep them coming


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## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

WX51 TXR said:


> You don't say! Aye, it was indeed a ceramiclear finish; I double checked when polishing the shuts.


I noticed this on my neighbours C class. I polished out some cat scratches and the laquer seemed bullet-proof.

Another cracking job Clark


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## phil440 (Aug 19, 2007)

amazing job as usuall looks better that new


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

CupraRcleanR said:


> I noticed this on my neighbours C class. I polished out some cat scratches and the laquer seemed bullet-proof.
> 
> Another cracking job Clark


Bullet proof indeed, but they scratch what seems easily but so darned difficult to remove.......why?


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## Monza Man (Aug 11, 2007)

Great job, well done guys, Regards, Eamonn


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