Paint problem, can it be fixed?

[pentoman]

Hi,

I've got an old 1990 Mercedes 190 which I'm learning to bring back from 18 year old daily car to something to be a bit more proud of.

Some of it has come up well:
(sorry about the dirt on the sill there..)

But I'm not nearly happy with it yet and unsure why. One issue is the rear door on this side:



Can you see what I mean? The centre area of the door is all a different appearance for some reason. Up close it does not show up to me, it's not as if the clear coat is missing or anything. So what's going on here? Can you help me help myself?!
At this stage I have clayed, then been over the paint with a rotary using foam pad and ultra fine abrasive, and topped with Liquid gold class. But obviously this is no good for that rear door. Is there anything I can try or is it a paint problem or bad paint job or something?

[PorscheGuy997]

Re: Paint problem, can it be fixed?

Is the car single stage or clearcoated? How about the door?

If it were single stage, the door might have been repainted. Or, the car might be clearcoated and someone might have tried to repair the door.

Before you work on the rest of the car, I would find someone to measure the paint thickness on the door and the rest of the car. That will tell you whether or not there is a repaint or not.

What product did you use with the rotary? Did the pad turn a different color?

I have done a few silver cars that had oxidized and turned a lighter shade of silver. By removing the damaged paint, the car revealed a darker shade. Someone might have repaired a scratch and removed the oxidation and made the paint look different from the surrounding area.

[mb911]

Re: Paint problem, can it be fixed?

I love that car though. I'm sure you'll do lots of great things with it. Just gorgeous pictures of it. I may be a bit Merc biased, but again, beautiful car you have there! Enjoy it.

You've already made it a car to be proud of.

[G Force]

Re: Paint problem, can it be fixed?

would try a paint cleaner on the door and apply NXT 2
GC i think is better for dark paints
nice car

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Paint problem, can it be fixed?

Do you know if the car or door has been repainted before?

[Megafast13]

Re: Paint problem, can it be fixed?

Check to see if there is a difference in Orange Peel. It may have been repainted resulting in a color change/difference.

ColorX would help as well.

[beautechnique-scott]

Re: Paint problem, can it be fixed?

thats wet the whistle matey, i would safely say its seen some paint action in a bodyshop, the colours cloudy which i would think is poor paint finish under the clearcoat.

[RaskyR1]

Re: Paint problem, can it be fixed?

Looks like a paint blending job....if that's the case, only a respray will fix it.

From the looks of it I'd say there was probably a scratch or small damage in the center of the door. Since color matching isn't always perfect, they tried to blend to the outer edges of the door to make the color variance less noticeable. Obviously they were a little too far off on the color match.

[Andy M.]

Re: Paint problem, can it be fixed?

I have to agree with the others. Looks like a repainted door.

Since this first your first post on MOL, Welcome aboard!

Andy M.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Paint problem, can it be fixed?

The paint on the entire car looks to be a clear coat over silver metallic.

If that's the case, then if the door has been repainted then it's likely it's just a less than perfect color-match and if that's the case the only honest repair is to have the door repainted to match.

If the door has been repainted then polishing on the surface won't change the problem with the color-match under the clear.

If the door has never been repainted then maybe try a paint cleaner like ScratchX or Deep Crystal Paint cleaner, rub out the door with just one of these using a clean, foam applicator pad and then apply some wax over it and see if it looks better.