Mercedes Sprinter Van - Paint Restoration

[imported_Dave KG]

It was a 530am start for the Dundee detailing tag team today to head south to Galashiels to tackle a vehicle type we haven't detailed before - a van! The owner contacted us after old sign writing was removed from the van and new sign writing put on - the paint had faded around the old signwriting, leaving the old writing visible and the whole van looked like it has two liveries!



So, the task for the day was just a paint restoration on the van.



When we arrived in Galashiles, a quick check on the car thermo and is was reading -2degC. The van turned up covered in frost - washing outside was not going to be possible. So, we rolled the van into the workshop and allowed it to thaw out while I has a bacon sarnie and a cuppa! :lol:



Once thawed, we decided it would be foolish to take the van back out and power wash it - that would just be asking for it to freeze! Sow we opted to wash the van part by part indoors, using Meguiars Hyperwash and then clay the van using Meguiars Mirror Glaze blue clay.



Now, it was down to the polishing, and we decided to start out on the bonnet to see what we were up against... The pic below shows the extent of the paint fading and why the owner wanted it sorted:







Starting with the idea of least abrasive first, and incase the paint was going to be nice and soft and make our day easy, I set up a Meguiars W9006 finishing pad on the PC and went with Menzerna PO73 Sealing Wax on the PC (very mildly abrasive). PC was initally chosen owing to concern of the rotary's effects on the new signwriting. I didn't think this would work, but nothing ventured and all... Well, the paint just laughed at it! Didn't even pull any pigment! So, up to Menzerna PO85RD3.01 Intensive Polish on a W8006 polishing pad and this time we atleast pulled pigment! But the difference was small... Next up, Power Gloss on a W7006 cutting pad and now we were making progress with the paint finish coming up nicely...



However, this was very smal sections and very slow going, and this van was biiig! :lol: So, i decided to crack out the Makita and test it out over the vinyls... keeping the speeds below 1500rpm no ill effects were suffered on the test patches, so I went with the Makita, W7006 cutting pad and Menzerna PO85RD3.01 IP and this brought the finish up nicely:











In order to offer a degree of protection to the finish, Menzerna PO73 Sealing Wax was applied as a finshing polish come sealent. The owner was shown the bonnet and was very happy with the results, so we preceeded with this method: me on the rotary, Bryan with the PC and Power Gloss cutting in areas hard to reach, and around complex vinyls and above the screen where I simply wasn't tall enough to reach and rotary control at a stetch off the ladder would be dodgy.



Next up was the passenger door. Before, dull lifeless paint:







and after:







Then the side before:











and then the side after polishing:

 

[imported_Dave KG]

And a couple more shots during the polishing process, I was happy with the gloss being achieved on the orange paint:











Alas, by the time we had reached the rear doors, my camera batteries had died, but my new phone has a decent camera but a very bright blue flash... The rear door before:







The rear doors after:







By this time, my mind was also playing tricks on me and reflection in the paint ooked to me like old signwriting, so Bryan and I were constantly checking each other work to ensure colour matching and that all traces of the old signwriting were gone...



Bryan at work with the PC, up on a ladder to reach above the windscreen:







By the time we had finished the whole van, it was well and truly dark outside so I couldn't get any full pics of the van complete I'm afraid... Roll on the summer! But here's a pic of the van rolled back into the workshop completed:







All in all, this was a very hard day's work for sure! One good thing about detailing a can is the large open flat panels, the rotary is so easy to use on these. But on a vehicle this big, even with two of us, we both left Galashiels wabbit! But happy, as the owner seemed happy with his van!

 

[justin30513]

Very nice work. I enjoyed every second while reading your writeup! Very informative and thorough.



Dodge......since being owned by Mercedes now....has that van here in the US. I think it would make the BEST detailing van on wheels! It comes in a diesal too!

 

[imported_doctordon]

Good effort Dave. I would have walked when I saw the new viynl - that was nuts to apply it over ghosts of the old company!? The sign company should have known better and waited 'till you had at it first.



Is the sprinter shot with single stage urethane or basecoat/clearcoat? Cheers from this side of the Atlantic.



Jim

 

[Scottwax]

Amazing turnaround! :bow



Excellent write-up too. Interesting how you had to try different combos, pads and buffers to come up with what works.



I had to do a similar job for a local TV station but at least they had me do the work before the new lettering was applied...then again, I had to do the work after 10 PM when they were on the air and sure they wouldn't need the vans or the camera truck.



Fun working conditions, eh? :hairpull



My son washing it:

CK's Blue Moose Cutting Creme in a few areas, rest with PB's Polish w/carnauba:

Protect All's Fiberglass Oxidation remover and PB's EX w/carnauba: