1973 Mercedes 450SL, 3 shops said no Shine left!

Previous client recently purchased this car and had taken it to 3 shops local to him who told him the paint was to far gone. One shop even tried a small section with who ever knows what and gave up! They didn’t even wipe off the product! Now just so you know, we were just looking for Shine, not perfection by any stretch.
What we found that worked the best after many test sections, was Griots finishing Sealant on a white fast cutting pad. Several were used! Finished with best of show wax. Polished chrome with Griot’s 3in 1, tires with Griot’s black satin. I think from what we started with, we were able to improve the condition a little! Thank you for looking!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d708469ef7.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...03c8611147.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e594b81446.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5323029349.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2b7e431eb3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...83681cd7c5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f45269ecf6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...74d27399fa.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bfd86c4a5a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...36ef49b140.jpg


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Much better! I’ve always liked that style Mercedes. A doctor here in town had two in baby blue that I listed after when I was young.

Well you certainly delivered!!!!!!

Thank you!

[INSERT usual praise for Mike lambert`s work HERE..]

Mike lambert- Is it still single stage or was it reshot in b/c? Sorry, I can usually tell but can`t this time :o (OK, I`ll guess that it`s b/c.)

Nice work! I thought it was white in the first pic! ;)

Single stage, and thanks!

Awesome work!

That 50/50 is extreme! And also shows what it does to a paint even if only going for the shine and not defect free. Nice car and the owner must be thrilled with the results after those 3 let downs.

/ Tony

Love these old Mercedes. Have had my hand on a few of them and the factory single stage is very nice.

Great turnaround

Thank you guys!

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Originally Posted by rlmccarty2000

Much better! I’ve always liked that style Mercedes. A doctor here in town had two in baby blue that I listed after when I was young.

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Ha ha, I didn`t lust after it, but a guy up the street had one around that vintage, it may even have been that color (actually I think it was a pea-soup green). I can still picture him driving up the street with a cigar in his mouth and his golf clubs poking up out of the back.

Excellent work Mike!
LOVE LOVE LOVE your signature "Maryland Merlin" shot of the bare deciduous trees in the hood.

I can see why Accumulator asked if this was a re-painted (reshot) vehicle, as some of the photos of the door looks like it has orange peel in it. I cannot imagine a Mercedes-Benz of any era having orange peel in its paint from the factory.

Two questions:
1) Was this paint faded that it lacked the shine/luster that the customer wanted, or was it somewhat burned or etched from harsh chemical automatic car washes?
2) How many white pads DID you go though or more succinctly, how often did you have to change pads?? I assume this was done with a BOSS G21 polisher.

Maybe a couple touch ups over the years, couple larger measurements in sections. It had sat outside for 10 years prior to purchase. As for pads, 1 pad for each panel, blowing out as we went. Probably could have gone further but didn’t want to totally trash the pads. Thank you for the kind words!

Sorry, all done with the 15, and the 6 with a 3 inch pad

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Originally Posted by Mike lambert

Single stage, and thanks!

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So much for my guess (based on the oxidation)! :o Thanks for the info though, nice that it`s still wearing that (soft spot for those cars; my mother traded me her 450SL for my Eldorado back in the early `80s).