Presidential Detailed: 2001 Mercedes Benz SLK230

[presidential_detail]

With all the Kevin Brown craziness/hype going on, I thought I would make a nice thread showcasing the results you can achieve using his method using a rotary which is slightly different from his method with the foam pads. I have been working with Kevin for the past couple weeks trying to perfect this method, now I just need to get a DA so I can finish it off! For some reason I have not been able to get a ZERO hologram finish using my rotary and M205 or M105 on a finishing pad. I spoke with both Kevin Brown and Jason Rose today on the phone, thanks to Kevin once again for the contact. The first thing Jason pointed out was that I was not using the new Soft-Buff 2.0 Finishing pad which M205 was specifically designed around and apparently does not play well with others UNLIKE M105. Not even other Megs pads, I was using both the Soft-Buff(non- 2.0) Yellow and Tan and could not get the desired results I was looking for. I even tried both M105/205 on black Lake Country Finishing pads with even worse results. I was running out of time to experiment with my new bottle of 205, so I ended up finishing with 3m Ultrafina on a 3M UK Finishing Pad. I will be purchasing some more 2.0 pads and give it another shot. Once I get my DA, I am positive I will have a better experience as well. WARNING: If you are not open to learning new skills, please press the back button on your browser. :hide:

What I have learned:
-Kevin Brown IS THE MAN!
-The KB method DOES INDEED WORK! AND VERY WELL!
-You can almost get LSP ready results even using a heavy wool pad, of course this is dependent upon the paint, but even on the softer paints with a foam cutting pad you can achieve great cut and an even better finish!
(my new favorite is the Megs Soft-Buff 2.0 Burgandy FOAM)
-M205 apparently is pad temper-mental. Im going to give it another go with the new pads and hopefully Ill get me G110 this week as well!
-Kevin Brown IS THE MAN!

This is how the car looked when it arrived..I got this 2001 Mercedes SLK230 two days ago, and we'll just say it wasn't in great shape...AT ALL! In fact, the paint(specifically the trunk)was in probably the worse shape I had seen. I was only hoping and praying M105 would be able to tackle it even using the KB method.

 

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:har: Im guessing at this point your asking yourself, THATS IT?!?

Well of course not! I saved the good ones for its own post! :dance

This is what I was working with on the trunk. Apparently the owner took some sort of "rocks in a bottle" compound by hand on a rag to try and remove some swirls, only putting some more MASSIVE swirls into the paint.

I never thought I was going to be able to correct this, and if I did I thought for sure there would be a significant amount of RIDS left over..WRONG.

The first combination I tried was M105 on a Megs Solo Yellow Wool using the instructions given to me by Kevin months ago. Just to avoid the confusion:

Since you've already got the M105 and the wool pad (plus plenty of others)...

Go ahead and try this:

1. Prime the pad THOROUGHLY.
Rub it in with your hand. It'll take a bit more than you're used to applying.

2. Apply a bead of M105 to the surface, pull it in, and polish at low speed (1000 rpm).
Try 2-3 passes, or until the M105 is just starting to dry.

3. Using a fine mist, spray the surface with water.
Do not add additional product- Just re-polish with what's already in the pad.

I think you'll see a 50% improvement in the cut, but you'll probably see an increase in swirling (it can be easily removed).

After trying this method (count it as one cycle), spur the wool pad (blow it clean with compressed air if you have it).

I won't PROMISE a better result, but I am pretty sure you're going to GET a better result.

Even in my first pass, I removed MOST of the heavy swirling but there were some RIDS still visible.

I then decided to step it up to the Megs Solo Burgandy Wool just to see if the left over swirls were worth the chase. To my surprise, they were nearly COMPLETELY removed. After TWO passes with this combination, I got what I was looking for. PERFECTION!

These pictures were taken directly after M105/Burgandy Wool. There was no middle or finishing steps taken.

The same panel under the halogens..

 

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I then moved on to the rest of the car, the other panels weren't nearly as bad as the trunk, but there were still some pretty deep defects throughout requiring two passes still.

Note. These pictures were all taken directly after M105/Wool, no finishing steps taken.

Passenger Rear 1/4 Panel.

Some very deep defects on the passenger door.

50/50 after M105/Wool. Here, you can notice a very faint hologram, but still not bad for how aggressive this product works!

Same Door.

Door Corrected. Fender Not.

Front Passenger Fender Uncorrected.

50/50.

Fully Corrected.

 

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I then moved onto the hood, which wasnt in the best of shape either.
50/50.

Corrected.

Besides the trunk, the next worst panel was the Drivers Rear 1/4 Panel. You can see even without any lighting just how swirled and hazy it is.

A little closer inspection.

After ONE pass with Burgandy Wool/M105. You can still see some deeper RIDS left over.

50/50.

Now after TWO passes. Fully Corrected. Sorry about the fiber on the lense.

 

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I removed the license plate so I could fully polish the entire trunk. Of course I cleaned up the mess from under the plates before polishing! :nana:

Uncorrected.

The trunk only required 1 pass be made with the burgandy wool/105.

Here, you can see what my Menzerna bottles are getting used for these days. :nervous:

A shot of M105 after polishing, ready for wipe-off.

I forgot to add befores of the wheels, so Ill throw them in here before the final shots! :heelclick

 

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Uh ohh, is that what I think it is...:nixweiss

Yep, thats the beautiful FL sun after finishing polish!

 

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Now for some reflection shots! My favorite part, this is where I can get creative with the SLR :grinno:

 

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Here are some overall car shots. The car was sealed with Opti-Seal and two coats of P21S 100% Paste Wax.

 

[artofdetail]

The merc looks incredible! i can't wait to see the write-up of the KB method from Kevin

 

[presidential_detail]

Thanks! It should be out soon...