Upcoming work, MB SL300 late -80

[eric.u]

so heres my upcoming work this weekend.
Som nasty birddroppings and som scratches from trying to wash som tree sap away with what looks like scotchbrite wounds..

think ill go with M205/polishpad and G220, and maybe som 105 just on the tougher spots.. what do you think?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Upcoming work, MB SL300 late -80

The paint looks pretty glossy overall but with obvious swirls and other defects. Late '80s SL in red could very well be single stage paint - we had a late '80s dark blue SL at a recent Thursday Night Open Garage and it had single stage paint, factory original.

But whether this is SS or base coat/clear coat the general approach is the same, and M205 alone may not be aggressive enough to remove the defects. You most likely will need to step up a bit, but not necessarily to M105 - that would be more of a quantum leap! If you can get your hands on some Ultimate Compound, or M83, either will act as a good intermediate choice between M205 and M105.

[eric.u]

Re: Upcoming work, MB SL300 late -80

The paint looks pretty glossy overall but with obvious swirls and other defects. Late '80s SL in red could very well be single stage paint - we had a late '80s dark blue SL at a recent Thursday Night Open Garage and it had single stage paint, factory original.

But whether this is SS or base coat/clear coat the general approach is the same, and M205 alone may not be aggressive enough to remove the defects. You most likely will need to step up a bit, but not necessarily to M105 - that would be more of a quantum leap! If you can get your hands on some Ultimate Compound, or M83, either will act as a good intermediate choice between M205 and M105.

Yes i got the M83 i will try that.
i recon this is a SS paint and some extra lubricant is probably good there are some oxidation too.

so M83, will that be LSP ready? or do i do a run with 205 after 83?

[Selectchoice]

Re: Upcoming work, MB SL300 late -80

Yes i got the M83 i will try that.
i recon this is a SS paint and some extra lubricant is probably good there are some oxidation too.

so M83, will that be LSP ready? or do i do a run with 205 after 83?

M83 should be fairly close to LSP ready with a DA and yellow polishing pad, W800X, however if it's not perfect use the M205 and you shouldn't have any remaining issues. M205 with a W900X pad would be best.

[eric.u]

Re: Upcoming work, MB SL300 late -80

Done!

So i tried the M83 at first, just by hand to se how the paint reacted. it responded well.
so i picked up my G220 and a yellow polishpad and started with the m83. Either i dont know how to use M83 or something because the product dried superfast and was very hard to remove from the paint.

So i tried the M205 instead, new pad etc. Difference! easy to buff, easy to wipe off. And good correction in my opinion. some places needed 2 passes but most areas 1 pass was enough. 1 pass i mean like that brown method, up down side to side etc and then wipe off.

So the car really picked up some color with 205. after that i did a quick wipedown with a product called final inspection to clear away any residue.

After that i took the black pad and some M21 and covered the car. waited 1 hour, of for lunch then finger test, completely dry! took 2 microfibers, and started removing with the first one and final wipe with the other one. 2 hands motion over entire car burned a few calories there yes..

sorry, i did not take any final pictures, time was against me again. i worked the car for about 5 hours. from start to finish, it was already washed.

I dont know how long time you spend on a car like this for good results? sure i could have done much more polishing but would it really have made such a large difference in overall results? also maybe 2-3 more hours of hard work.

Thanx for tips again!! I wonder what will be the next car

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Upcoming work, MB SL300 late -80

Sounds like the final result was a winner then!

If the paint is very badly dried out then M83 may not have enough lubricating oils in it to stay wet for very long. Very dry paint will pull the oils out of a paint cleaner pretty quickly, too, and M83 will be more susceptible to that than other products with more polishing oils in them - M80 or M205 for example. All of which explains why M205 was easier to use, but also why you needed a couple of passes with it to remove the defects - M205 is a bit less aggressive than M83. And if you could remove all the defects with just M205, that also tells us that this was very workable paint.

As for time involved, your 5 hour session sounds about right. Depending on level of defect, desired result, and skill of the operator, a project like this can run from 2 to 12 hours or more.