Ideas on this 198x Mercedes 300D?

imported_Astral

New member
A friend of mine just acquired a mid-80's Mercedes 300D diesel. The car runs well, but its exterior could use a lot of love.



I'm looking to majorly improve the looks of car (looking for 80% type of improvement, not a show car). I've never worked with this Mercedes paint though, so I'm not sure if there are any gotchas or anything that works particularly well.



Is this clearcoat? Or is this single-stage paint?



I'd like to hear ideas on what I can do:



1) By hand (first try)

2) By machine (I have a PC)



Absent any other advice, my first attempt would be to wash & clay, and then hit it up with some Jeff's Werkstatt Prime Strong + AJT. Hoping that would clear it up, but I'm not sure.



Here's the car:



dieselmerc-overview.jpg




Here's a closeup of a part of the roof:



dieselmerc-roofdetail.jpg
 
I'd get some Meguiar's Wheel Brightener - it'll save you *hours* on the rims. You might need more aggressive clay for all the buildup on that paint. Follow with a PC and Meguiar's #80 (possibly x2), PS and AJT.



Try PS on that black trim - and if it doesn't work, consider a trim dye kit. The key to getting older silver like that to look great is getting the rims perfect, tires dressed, glass clean and trim black.
 
Thanks for the advice!



Is it OK to use PS on the black trim? I thought that was for paint only.



For machine polishes, I have PB SSR 1, 2.5 & 3, Menzerna Powergloss and Blackfire SRC Finishing Polish. I don't have #80. Would any of these other polishes be a good substitute? (Seems like Meznerna PG may be a good one to try, but maybe it's too aggressive?)



- Oleg
 
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