'71 450SEL Body Shop Hack Up

[MirrorDetailing]

Another vehicle for Buds Benz. Pretty much the same job I do on all the other vehicles they have me do, except this one needed some interior work. Car had been repainted at some point and the body shop left the paint in pretty terrible condition. Buds wanted it cleaned up and looking the way it should for the customer. Under all the scratches and holograms was actually a really nice silver flake red paint job.



The Befores:

Condition of the paint in the sun. Tons of holograms and scratches left from the body shop, which is pretty common.

Once I got it inside, washed and clayed I started on my test area to see what I need for the work.



Before:

Half and Half:

After:

Now fast forward 12 hours worth of buffing, I got too the interior which was pretty dirty. Also shampooed the floor matts and any interior carpet pieces there were.



Interior Before:

After:

Floormats Before:

After:

Windows were all covered in overspray, rear window being the worse. So had to spend a good bit of extra time on the windows and got a good picture of the rear window before and after.



Before:

After:

Once everything was done, a few pictures inside before taking it outside...

Now outside, which it was pretty cloudy so could not get the best sun shots for afters...

Luckily, Buds was not able to pick the car up for a few hours, so while I was waiting the clouds cleared up and the sun came out in full force. Took the car back outside and got some better sun shots.

One thing I love about detailing with a performance shop is while working I get to listen too this music for a few hours. Literally built and colored to a T, my dream fun car.



March 7, 2012 1:33 PM - YouTube

 

[kakeuter]

Incredible work! Customer is lucky to have car in that shape.



-Kody-

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

Nice work! Those old Benzes are just plain full of character.

 

[MirrorDetailing]

Incredible work! Customer is lucky to have car in that shape.



-Kody-

Thanks Kody.

Nice work! Those old Benzes are just plain full of character.

Charles, you have no idea. I love working on these cars. Luckily This one was replaced with a older '71 model.

 

[gmblack3]

Great work Mike!

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

Charles, you have no idea. I love working on these cars. Luckily This one was replaced with a older '71 model.

Nice. I just recently met a mechanic who exclusively works on MB cars, mostly older ones, and gave him a bunch of my cards; hopefully it leads to getting some business and a few of these through my shop.

 

[DCPlus14]

Very Good Job!!

 

[Hey Moe!]

Now, there's a "big cigar" Benz!



Hmmm, where's my "Members Only" jacket and a good '80s tape?



Roadtrip? Yes, look at that trunk!



I'm done cracking jokes. It is a great job on a HOF car. Love it!

 

[A.Bursell]

Wow.



Adam

 

[Nopstnz8]

Incredible turnaround!

 

[mikenap]

That's a night and day difference Mike! What an amazing turnaround. Great job!

 

[imported_DetailDan]

Amazing difference, great work.

 

[Grimm]

Nice job, especially on that interior.

 

[white gecko]

very much improved

 

[Thomas Dekany]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a turnaround.

 

[tom p.]

Ohh!! That's the fabled 6.9 liter. That car had some serious poke in its day. Car came out amazing, Mach! You've truly done right by it.

 

[Accumulator]

MachNU- Ah, a six-point-nine! Somebody's gonna spend a little money on maintenance, hope they have plenty of fun along the way. Shame the shop didn't replace the driver's rub-strip while they were doing all that work.



Nice job, you sure brought it back!



Were you able to do much about the oxidized steering wheel?

 

[DaGonz]

One word.... awesome!

 

[MirrorDetailing]

Great work Mike!

Thanks Bryan.

Nice. I just recently met a mechanic who exclusively works on MB cars, mostly older ones, and gave him a bunch of my cards; hopefully it leads to getting some business and a few of these through my shop.

I love working on these older ones. The one they swapped it with was a '71, which this red one was a '79. Then soon as the one I have now is done, they are swapping that for another one. Best thing about these cars...no front and rear bumpers. lol

Very Good Job!!

Thanks

Now, there's a "big cigar" Benz!



Hmmm, where's my "Members Only" jacket and a good '80s tape?



Roadtrip? Yes, look at that trunk!



I'm done cracking jokes. It is a great job on a HOF car. Love it!

lol Thanks. I still like the '68 280 I did. That thing was pure class.

Wow.



Adam

Thanks Adam. That red really popped afterwards.

Incredible turnaround!

Thanks.

That's a night and day difference Mike! What an amazing turnaround. Great job!

Thanks Mike. I was surprised at how much silver flake was in the paint afterwards.

Amazing difference, great work.

Thanks.

Nice job, especially on that interior.

Thanks. The interior was pretty bad. Had too scrub all the door panels with apc and a toothbrush and even then, they were still someone dirty. But there is only so much you can do with 32 year old interior.

very much improved

Thanks Jeff.

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a turnaround.

Thanks Thomas.

Ohh!! That's the fabled 6.9 liter. That car had some serious poke in its day. Car came out amazing, Mach! You've truly done right by it.

Yeah, it was pretty cool to see that small cubic inch high liter motor lol. Car had no horsepower but was pretty torquey.

MachNU- Ah, a six-point-nine! Somebody's gonna spend a little money on maintenance, hope they have plenty of fun along the way. Shame the shop didn't replace the driver's rub-strip while they were doing all that work.



Nice job, you sure brought it back!



Were you able to do much about the oxidized steering wheel?

Actually the rub rail was in the back seats. It popped off on its way too the shop. They were waiting on new ones as a few of them had broken clips and were needing to be replaced.



The steering wheel was gone. I could have tried coating it with some interior stuff that gives a black look, but did not want the wheel too feel greasy or something. So I cleaned it and left it like it was.

One word.... awesome!

Thanks.

 

[2005GTPinMD]

That is an awesome turn-around. That is actually the top of the line of the time - I think the 6.9 is the biggest engine MB has had in recent years. Ny picture of the engine?