S550 Ceramiclear Resto! Hardest Paint in the World

[Andr3wilson]

Hello all

So I was debating on posting this, but because this Mercedes S class has the hardest version of the Ceramiclear Ceramic Clear Coat I ever have and will come across, I decided to post it, hoping this may help someone in the future!

So the car is a 2010 S550 4Matic. The owner had taken it to a local speedy franchise detail shop about 50-100 times before I got my hands on her... So you can guess the condition!







Because the car was being sold, he wanted the paint restored (about 80-90&#37 on a one step and the interior fully detailed.

Interior was really clean, but needed some attention







For most of the interior carpet I used CG Fabric Clean and 1:2 CG Lightening Fast. No extractor!













Leather Cleaned with Conolly and Conditioned with SV Leather Milk







Used P21S Total Auto Wash and W99



CG Citrus Wash & Gloss



Followed by IronX, TarX, and Claying. Car was then dried with a Master Blaster


So I did a test spot on the car to see what I was getting myself into.

Upon estimation, there was a coat of glaze on the car, I did not see what was really there!



I am no stranger to Ceramiclear at all. I have polished out quite a few different years and versions of the stuff no problem.

Typically I would reach for FG400 and an MF pad on my Rupes and bang the car out no problem. Only thing was, that combo was making nothing more than a slight dent.



Looks great on camera, but under intense light, there were still plenty of swirls

This stuff though, was on a new level of hard. Upon a call to a good friend at a trusted body shop, he explained the year and the version of the Ceramiclear was in fact some of the hardest CC ever put on a car, let alone an MB. This stuff is were you hear horror stories!

So I stopped over to Autoobessed and picked up a bunch of compounds and pads to try and find something that worked.

I picked up Fixer, Gtechniq P1, and something amazing from an unexpected place, CG 1.0 Cut.

I also picked up a bunch of Surfbuff pads to see if they would help.

After picking and choosing, CG 1.0 Cut with a Surfbuff was going to be my one step!

CG 1.0 Cut is extreme stuff! I had always blown it off until I read the bottle. Made to polish out 700 grit sanding marks!!. It is extremely gritty and has an insane cut, PERFECT FOR THIS CAR!













Sometimes I forget to take after pics... Sorry!

My one saving grace with this car is that it had a full glass roof! a lot less to polish!

Had a quick glimpse of sun to check my work with!





Cleaning Glass



For this colour I went with SV Onyx. I tested a bunch of LSPs and preferred this one the most. It is a very yellow carnuba and adds a warm glow to the car without really muting the metallic too much!

[Andr3wilson]

My signature hand massage application





FINAL! - Perl on the tires and SV Seal Feed on Engine





























Trim Polished with AF Tripple









Thanks for reading!!

[94civicEX]

Wow, awesome restoration!

I have a few questions if you have a moment:

1. What made this the hardest Ceramiclear? Color? Model? Year?
2. What would your method of attack had been if you only had access to a DA?
3. What did you use to polish the pillars between the windows?
4. Did you hand polish the interior trim? What tools/compound?

[Andr3wilson]

Wow, awesome restoration!

I have a few questions if you have a moment:

1. What made this the hardest Ceramiclear? Color? Model? Year?
2. What would your method of attack had been if you only had access to a DA?
3. What did you use to polish the pillars between the windows?
4. Did you hand polish the interior trim? What tools/compound?

1. It was just the specs that MB gave to PPG for the batch of CC they ordered. You have understand paint systems on cars are always changing and being slightly altered. Typically every 3-6 months

2. This was all done with a Rupes DA! Rotary and wool pad on sanding marks for a few scratches I removed.

3. I used AF Tripple on an orange hand applicator!

Thanks

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Nice work Andrew!

Of course it has hard paint. It's Mercedes flagship sedan and its German made. Everything about the car is over engineered in typical German fashion including the paint. Lol

[94civicEX]

1. It was just the specs that MB gave to PPG for the batch of CC they ordered. You have understand paint systems on cars are always changing and being slightly altered. Typically every 3-6 months

2. This was all done with a Rupes DA! Rotary and wool pad on sanding marks for a few scratches I removed.

3. I used AF Tripple on an orange hand applicator!

Thanks

Thanks, the reason I ask is because I have a Cermiclear 2010 GLK350 and I'm trying to figure out the best way to attack it. I only have a a 7424XP, thus my question about how you would to it if that was your only option.

[Andr3wilson]

Thanks Mike! She sure was cool! Auto everything!

Thanks, the reason I ask is because I have a Cermiclear 2010 GLK350 and I'm trying to figure out the best way to attack it. I only have a a 7424XP, thus my question about how you would to it if that was your only option.

Well it really depends on your test spot results. I would say the PC is going to be a little underpowered to tackle the ceramiclear. Definitely use an MF cutting pad. I tried a yellow pad and had worse results. I had to work in 1 sq/ft sections.

Push comes to shove you could always compound it twice. But really see what the test spot is like before you go at it!

[sproketser]

Great results ! Night & day buddy .

[AutowerxDetailing]

Nice work and nice write up. I'm sure this will help those working on these super hard ceramiclear paints.

[MarkD51]

You truly brought this beautiful car back to a respectable level.

You said the interior wasn't too bad, but from the pics, it looked like somebody puked on the gas pedal.

Outstanding turnaround! I know all too well how you pros have to do so much, in so little time! Mark