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Cloudy Finish on 1990 560SEL

6K views 58 replies 17 participants last post by  ianrandom 
#1 ·
These last few years I've had to keep my Benz outside, and I noticed that the roof is now completely cloudy, as is parts of the trunk hood. Since I had tried to clean it with everything possible (short of sandpaper) I'm assuming that the clearcoat is gone. Sound right? Anyway, anyone have a place to bring it for refinishing here in Central New Jersey (Monmouth county), or even where to start to look. I guess I could turn to the Mercedes dealership, but I'm not always sure if I'm in their best interests.
 
#2 ·
Has your car been repainted in the past? Or still original paint?

Metalic paints of that era had clear coat placed, but you usually see cloudiness in the clear in states with a lot of sun... i.e. Arizona/California/Texas
 
#6 ·
Possibly, hard to tell from the picture. The first thing a pro does is measure how much paint is left using a micrometer to know how far they can go, then they workout a buffing plan based on that.

And, of course, there are cases where so little is left that it can't be saved.

But most importantly, what kind of leather is in your car. :nerd
 
#7 ·
bon ami works to remove the oxidation as well, especially on white paint. Cant hurt using some with a LIGHT touch on a wet surface with a wet applicator.
 
#10 ·
yes, it is a "lace fabric" seat cover only covers upper half of the seat back.
My paint is really bad and looking for someway to somehow improve it if I can, but it is a old car already.
 

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#12 ·
Always worth a shot to try buffing yourself, but use quality materials.

Mine did not look that bad, but after buffing it looks good as new.

You will need:

D/A buffer - I purchased one from autogeek. The dual-action buffer is safer to work on your car than a rotary which could burn off your paint in moments.

buffing pads for your machine. Also got these from autogeek. Get a pad specific to cutting (1), polishing (1) and waxing (1).

I used Meguiars 105 ultra-cut compound and 205 polish. Follow up with a liquid carnauba wax of your choice.

Autogeek has a video tutorial of the proper procedure to do this. All I can say was it worked for me and the car gets compliments. A decent "10 footer". Meaning car looks good as new from 10 feet. Cost of all materials was around $250 at the time.
 
#15 ·
Forgive my ignorance, but will a detailer really be able to determine the cause and then repair the cloudy surface. The ads I find for detailers here in Monmouth, NJ basically describe them as high-priced car washes.
The folks that do the type of work you need are pretty specialized and you probably won't find them on-line or in the yellow pages (anybody use those still?).

Call the service departments of a couple of dealerships. They'll know who they are and how to find them.
 
#16 ·
What Ian said. Paint correction (some places call it color sanding) is what you are looking for. Call and ask them.

If you are not sure it can be done, let them show you. A small section can be used to draw your own conclusions as to whether is worth the effort or not. This also applies if you're doing it yourself.
 
#19 ·
OK --- So, I found a local auto body shop with a very good reputation, who tells me the cloudy finish is the clearcoat deteriorating and about to start flaking off. The three panels: hood, trunk and roof would need to be repainted and clear-coated back to Mercedes standards for about $1600. However, to do a professional job and not see a difference in the 'depth' of the color between new and existing, the whole car should be repainted: $3000.
 
#21 ·
If it were my money and my car, I would repaint. Do door jambs and such, and if you need to replace any of the seals, please for your sanity use only MB rubber. It will cost more up front but will last you 25 more years. Be very careful removing the seals, if the paint shop removes them stipulate early that you will only want MB rubber seals in your contract. If they break them, they buy them.
 
#22 ·
Hey, guys, I know it's been a while, but I didn't give much thought to painting the car over the winter we've had. But now that it's Spring, my thoughts turned to the Benz. I decided to get a second opinion. This time I approached my local MB dealership (whom I really trust, BTW) and contacted the autobody shop that does their work exclusively. These guys know what they're talking about and estimated the new paint job to be closer to the $8-10,000 range --- WOWZERS! And if that doesn't frighten me enough, they pointed out that at 25 years old, things can fall apart to the touch as they try to remove everything from rubber washers around the headlight wipers and antenna, to the rear window, to the headlights, to screws holding the trim in place. There seems to be no upper limit to how much this can cost ... and most frightening, that if and when we start, there is no turning back!!! I guess, I'm turning to all of you for your opinions --- this car is really in excellent shape otherwise and has only 120K miles. And the second bit of advice, should I just keep piling wax on the cloudy surface and keep it alive as long as possible and wait until the paint actually starts to peel away?
 
#24 ·
I think the $3000 was an Earl Scheib type paintjob (albeit a very good one) where they mask the trim, etc and spray the car. This $8000+ is actually removing all the trim etc. so that even those parts of the metal that are concealed behind other pieces are painted --- much like would be done at the factory (IMHO).
 
#27 ·
Unless you are looking for a concours quality show car there is no need to do that level of paint job. The shop is correct that removal of all trim can have great costs and reveal worn rubber gaskets etc

I assume you just want a car that looks nice to drive for the next Several years , and for $2-3k you can get a paint job like that
 
#29 ·
"I would just do the needed top panels for $1600. The sides do not deteriorate like the top surfaces "
The problem with that is it works fine for the hood and trunk but where do you stop painting when doing the roof? It is very hard to blend in without a defined stop point.
 
#32 ·
I'm pretty sure Maaco or Earl Scheib will pull all the trim and do the door jambs and everything else for $3K on most any car. They will usually sand it and spray it for $500 or $600 I would think. It will probably look pretty good for a year or two but that's about it.
 
#34 ·
Hey guys! OP here! I decided to commit to the $3K paint job. I kept replaying the restoration guy's comments over and over in my head and particularly his story about a guy who went in with a commitment of $20K for a restoration of the exterior and ended paying $57K for virtually a rebuilt car! But the real difference, was that the restoration guys were continually trying to talk me out of doing the work (or warning me off of any fixed price) ... even to the point of not providing a promised quote after 72 hours --- while the 'spray paint' guys (for lack of a better descriptor) were constantly telling me how happy I'll be with the work and that the $3K, although expensive (to them), was well worth it. I'll let you know in a few weeks, how it turns out.
 
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