Paint Recovery and Advice...

[ps2cho]

Hey guys,

Below is my 1988 Mercedes 300TE /w 120k on her.

I need to advice on what to do with the paint. As you can see, the hood is done for, and the roof is starting to go too. Both of these are not recoverable...
I am just confused on whether I should have the entire car resprayed, or just have the roof and hood done since the rest show no damage yet.

I believe this is single stage, 099 Diamond Grey Metallic paint.
Any advice for me?

I've kept the car washed every 1-2 weeks pretty consistently and she's had a number of claybars and waxes over the years so I think that has helped fend off the wear to everywhere but the hood and roof.

Photo's below using my girlfriends D5000!

[ffboy]

Re: Paint Recovery and Advice...

Sure you can, but I would base it on how the rest of the car looks to make sure that the respray of the hood and roof looks the same in terms of shine and how even the paint looks. If all the other panels look great after a thorough wash, clay clean and wax, then use that as the basis for the quality of the respray. Sometimes respraying only a few panels may leave it just slightly a bit off relative to the other panels, if it's something you're OK with, then have it resprayed. My car while still in decent condition has had some unwanted brushes/ scratches on certain panels, particuarly the hood and being metallic I had to repaint the entire hood to ensure even finish, you can just about notice the slight difference in finish vs. the factory paint on the rest of the car. Not a big thing to me, as long as the scratches are gone.

BUt of course a full repaint would be better, but we all know it would cost more, and money doesn't come easy.

Suppose you went on and resprayed the hood and roof, I would have the rest of the car buffed to "equalize" everything then wax everything EXCEPT THE REPAINTED PANELS.

So for me at least, I say yes to repainting only the hood and roof as long as the painter is a trusted and very good one.

[CHzo6]

Re: Paint Recovery and Advice...

I say polish her up and run it!

[ffboy]

Re: Paint Recovery and Advice...

And remember, no wax after a respray. Use a pure, non-abrasive polish (deep crystal polish, M07 show car glaze or new car glaze) for 30-90 days or whatever the repainter tells you.