Dark Blue Mercedes 300SL, don`t seem to get it right...

[Jan67]

Hello,



I`ve been polishing car for some years, using regular brands like Turtle Wax, Sonax and so on.



I recntly bought a 1987 Mercedes 300 SL in non metallic dark blue. It is very low mileage (28.000 kilometers, about 17.000 miles i guess). The paintwork is good but it is covered with light scratches from washing and removing dust. Almost no deep scratches.



The problem seems to be that the polish i am using seem to leave its own scratches...it is a very challenging colour, almost black. Im am using 3 polishes starting with coarse (commandant 5 light scratch remover, probably not known to you)), moving on to autoglym super resin, then finishing with regular green turtle wax. I am polishing manually, not using a machine.



It may be difficult to give advice from a distance, but i would be gratefull for any advice you can give.:2thumbs:



Bye,



Jan

[velobard]

Dark colors, especially non-metallic paints, show scratches and swirls much more than lighter colors. You`ll also have a *very* challenging time correcting the paint by hand. I`d say that scratch and swirl removal and prevention is the single most common topic overall on this forum so there`s lots of good information and opinions on how to accomplish what you`re desiring.



My first recommendation would be if at all possible to obtain a PC or other good-quality orbital polisher (not some cheap thing common in retail stores) and order some good polish, and get some good foam pads ranging from cutting to polishing grade.



If that` not possible, there are some decent polishes on the market that will break down well by hand, along the easiest to find (not necessarily the best) is Meguiar`s ScratchX. You`ll discover quickly that it`s a tremendous amount of work to do even a section of the car by hand, that sort of product is really intended for small areas. The diminishing abrasives in many polishes don`t break down properly by hand and thus will add to the scratches on the paint. I`m not sure about the ones you`re using, but I suspect this might be happening, especially with the coarse polish.



Overall probably the best place to start is the Learn link at the top of the page, then just read the forums to see what works for other people.

[whitejavaS500]

Im guessing its a single stage? If so, I would highly reccomend geting a PC. TO get that great finish in a reasonable amount of time, its necessary. Also, what are you using for towels? From your listed products, it seems it might be time for a product over haul. Id go with a PC/Pad/Product kit from autogeek or somwhere else. Btw, Id stay away from turtle wax.



Hope this helps,

[Jan67]

Thanks,





The learn link and some of the forum threads are real eye openers to me. There`s not much of a detailling culture over here in Belgium. Tried to find a PC but it`s not on the market here. So I bought a cheap polisch machine this afternoon, but in combination with the polishes i have the result sucks...



The towels i`m using? Old t`shirts and pijama`s...



If i don`t find the right products i would consider having the job done by a professional, only thing is finding one i can thrust with my precious (te me) SL...



Bye and thanks again for a great forum.



Jan

[velobard]

First order of business then is get some microfiber towels!!! Much more important than a PC or anything else at this point!

[imported_Frugle]

Welcome to the forum! Glad to hear of your interest in keeping your car clean and looking good. very important!



to be honest...all the products you have listed aren`t neccessarily on the good list for a lot of members here. And by using old clothing as the wrag I would say (to put it bluntly) you might be doing more damage than good. I would stop working on your car immedately and invest in some different detailing equipment.



Old shirts, pajamas, etc. are not meant to be used on very delicate vehicle paint. They contain stitching, dyes, and materials that actually cause fine little scratches (also called marrs) in the paint. when you look at your car, and see the reflection of the sun, do you notice what looks like circular swirls? that is what causes those.



Microfiber is the most comon towel used by detailers, cheap versions of it can be found (in the US at least) at most auto parts stores, wallmarts, and dollar stores. These towels are specially designed to be super soft and not cause any of these scratches.





Next you will need proper waxes and such to use. there are BILLIONS to choose from, how do you find the right one? I would suggest just reading this forum. spend a couple of days searching and reading posts, find out what people are using. If you have turtle wax there, you might also have other brands such as Mothers, Meguires, and P21 that everyone here would recomend substantially over turtle wax.



Also, it will be extremely difficult do get rid of those scratches in your paint without a Porter Cable Dual-Action/ random orbital buffer. You can get different buffers cheap at most stores but I would suggest staying away from those. Either they don`t have the power to actually be benifical, or the pads used on them will do more damage than good.



I hope this helps.. again, stay for a few days and just read this forum. Read every thread you can find. It will be like drinking from a fire hydrant, but it is worth it! Soak it all in, and then start working on your car again with your new equipment. :)

[Jan67]

Hi,



Thanks for the replies.



I`m investing in some towels this week. Maybe looking into a polishing machine too. Things are looking a bit better in the mean time. I seams that the remaining scratches/swirl was not caused by the polishing itself. The paintwork is quite badly scratched. Im using a more agressive cleaner now and results are much better, although i`m taking of quite a lot of paint in the process, so i wonder how durable the shine will be. Since i`m stil going manual, it`s a lot of work (too much), i spent 5 hours on 1/4 of the hood today...:rolleyes:



Still can`t get a perfect finish, but i`ll keep on trying and reading this great forum. I`m glad i discovered it, although most of the products are unavailable in Europe, similar products exist (more basic offer though, not as much variety).



Maybe perfection is an illusion if you buy a 19 year old scratched car in very dark blue and place in in you garage under a row of fluorescent lamps...:nervous2:



Greetz,



Jan

[imported_paradigm]

Maybe perfection is an illusion if you buy a 19 year old scratched car in very dark blue and place in in you garage under a row of fluorescent lamps...



it`s not an illusion...but if you`re polishing by hand it`ll definitely be a labor of love...for a looooong time. ;)

[Way2SSlow]

Still can`t get a perfect finish, but i`ll keep on trying and reading this great forum. I`m glad i discovered it, although most of the products are unavailable in Europe, similar products exist (more basic offer though, not as much variety).



Maybe perfection is an illusion if you buy a 19 year old scratched car in very dark blue and place in in you garage under a row of fluorescent lamps...:nervous2:





I think you pretty much answered your own question there. It`s 19 yr old paint, so what you really should be looking for is "good enough" rather than "perfection." I know that isnt what this board is all about, but you obviously had no control over how the car was treated before you adopted it. :D I have a 94 Impala, which is quite a bit younger, and I have just sucked it up and accepted the fact that it`s not going to be perfect. I`ll get it painted eventually and then I`ll be a little more picky about it, but the fact of the matter is that I enjoy driving it so much that I realize...They dont stay perfect if you use them, and laying two nice patches of rubber is a lot more fun than polishing the car. :D



My .02



Welcome to Autopia

[Jan67]

Hi,



Just to keep jou posted. In the mean time i kept experimenting with products, still polishing manually though.



Result are getting very food/excellent. Seems i`m getting the right combination of products. I got some microfibre towels: awesome (compared to the old old pijamas and underpants i was using anyway...).



I bought an excellent swirl remover from 3m (extra fine polishing paste 80349). Started with a quite heavily scratched/marred dark blue paint job, now getting to a deep mirror like finish...i`m very happy with the result.



Greetz,



Jan

[Zet]

Glad it`s working out for you.



When I used to polish my car by hand (before I found Autopia), I had pretty good results with Sonax Xtreme polish+wax 3, I found this to finish down nicely by hand, and I think it`s available all over Europe. 3M is also a good product, but I think it`s meant to be aplied by machine. But if you say you get a mirror like finish, you must have found something that works :)

[velobard]

It`s great to hear you`re getting good results. Keep us posted and post some pictures!

[Jan67]

Hello,



I`ve finished polishing the SL some time ago. I`m very happy with the end result i got. I`m amazed by the difference made by good polishes, waxes and most of all microfibre towels.



The course of action i used:



- wet sanding with 2000 grit to locally remove some deep scratches (after filling them with paint).

- commandant 4 cleaner

- commandant 6 polish

- 3m high gloss machine polish specially for dark colors

- Meguiars NXT wax



Its a pity i don`t succeed in puting some pictures up. The SL is looking good...



Many thanks to the members who responded, you got me on the right track:woohoo:



Greetz from Belgium



Jan

[Jan67]

Hi,



Another try to post some pictures:geez



Jan

[pogo123]

Wow that`s some nice work on a nice car, especially doing it by hand! Looks great. Do you have any pics of the Alfa? :2thumbs: