1979 Benz - Detail or Paint or Both

[saronian]

My mother loves her 26 year old Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC. The car is silver, and the paint is in good shape, except for stains and some small hairline cracking on the hood and top front fenders. (see photo, the uneven spots are dark stains below the clear coat). The car is in Bakersfield, CA which is hot and dry. It`s driven about 3,000 miles a year and I`m questioning the idea of spending $5,000+ on a new paint job.



I live about 300 miles away and was trying to locate a good detailer in her area. Hoping they could detail the car and suggest a good place to repainting the stained portions. Can anyone advise me on a good way to proceed?

[jerry@robs]

Nice car... :) It`s hard to tell with the pic alone, are the blotches stains or worn out paint? Seems to me it`s the latter due to the fact that they start off from the edge of the panels and not on the flat part of the car. If so, a repaint will be necessary.



Best if you can bring your car to several painters, then several detailers in your area for assessment. If painting is your most probable answer, I`d take the plunge and try to wetsand it a little followed up by a compound and polish. If it improves, continue, if not, decide whether or not a repaint is worth it.



If the car doesn`t have any serious rusting, I`d say restore it. It`s a great car... I don`t know how much painting goes for in the US, but $5000 is worth more than the car itself so you might have to do some serious thinking.



I drive a 79 W123 200D and it`s due for a good painting session... But it needs a lot of rust fixing so I don`t think it`s worth it. I`ll just use the car till it can`t go any farther and get another workhorse instead.

[saronian]

Thanks for the suggestions. The spots are like nothing I`ve seen before. While the surface is still somewhat glossy clearcoat with little oxidation the paint is clearly damaged. Almost looks tarnished in spots.



Guess I should get a few quotes for repainting.