I spent the weekend cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. I can't stand a dirty vehicle, and this one's gone 30 years without ever having been cleaned by me. I started with the wheel wells and back sides of the wheels (the latter being almost a lost cause). I ordered a gallon of Meg's Wheel Brightener just for this job. If this cleaner wouldn't cut it, nothing else will besides media blasting. Unfortunately I didn't get after pictures of the wheels. They came out about 90% clean. I didn't even bother with the 'rear face', it was too far gone. I had to use a combination of the acidic cleaner and #0000 steel wool to even get the rest of the barrels clean. Very tedious job with a wheel that has so many holes.






Brought the car in the garage for buffing. The paint is original I believe, and in really, really nice shape considering the age and mileage. The only picture I took was after wash, clay, wash. I even used a mild degreaser to strip anything left on the paint from before my purchase. It was hard to capture, but the vertical line separating the left and right side of the trunk shows the 'haze' on the paint before buffing. Haze on the left, buffed clean on the right.



Restored the grill and faded plastic/rubber trim. I used a charcoal plastidip on the grill, flat black on everything else, with a satin clear on the bumpers and mirrors.








Depending on how I feel when I get home from work tomorrow, I still have to detail the interior. The paint has been buffed and sealed (Meg's #83 DACP, Klasse AIO, 4* UPP x2), the windows have been buffed (Klasse AIO, cutting pad), wheel wells thoroughly cleaned, backsides of the wheels cleaned. Still need to polish the metal trim and I'm debating on redying the faded portions of the MB Tex. I'm trying to find a local car wash with heated water on their pressure washers so I can get the engine bay done. I'm pretty sure I have 3 leaks. Valve cover, oil pan, and the third I forgot what it is. Back of the engine, driver's side, right next to the valve cover.

While the W123 was in the garage, my AMG and BMW bike had to sit outside. I caught this cool picture of the AMG to show off the surface tension of the freshly detailed paint as it started raining:



And the whole car. It's hard to make silver look special, but this car is glowing. No filter on this picture: