Here in Rockport we don't have Maaco, we have Martin Barrera. If he says he can make it right, it's right. What you have to look at in a body shop is who is doing the work, not the name. I can paint an airplane, but I'm not a painter, nor a welder! ( that's another story) When it comes to finishes, the basecoat/clearcoat is the way to go (or so Martin says!!) it is the most forgiving of the errors we all make and when polished out gives the the best bang for the buck. And it's more impervious to the daily challenges a paint job meets.

being in tennessee, I may just go for the brush and some camouflage technique. I've always wanted to go out huntin' sumthin', see... (in europe killing animals is not seen as a cool sport)

Ohhh.. you guys are taunting me.

I am still in D.C. and my car has been finished at Maaco since last Friday.

I fly home tomorrow night and pick her up Thursday.

I hope I don't have to schedule dates on rainy nites anymore.

Got a date Friday and another Saturday, double header weekend.

If I could get her in the car before she noticed the paint all was well.

Did I mention these SDL's have more room on the back seat than a 65 Galaxie.

SO will report in Thursday nite after I pick her up.

Shaggin' wagon,
Dave

Hey thar fellars,

Picked up the ole 300sdl from Maaco.
I was in DC for the last 10 days and had to endure the mystery as to how she looked.

She looks fine. Not a $3000 restore but a $1184 nice job.
They had to strip all horiz. surfaces and fix 3 palm sized dents.

From what it was to now is amazing. The car had lived under a Hickory tree that inflicked hail-like dents. They took some out but again not a restore.

Funny I think cars have "karma". Because since some attention she shifts smoother, runs awesome, sits up straight, is a joy to be with......Oh crap the danged car is a woman.

Perfect I have a date this weekend and I can schedule it without rain to hide my car.

I will get pict's later

Dave

Henry --

But you're perfectly willing to eat animals that others have killed for you, right?

Think they are capable of some minor rust repair?

If you call smothering the problem with bondo capable.

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

I have painted a lot of cars; basecoat clearcoat is the way to go. That clear is much harder than the paint and will give you a great gloss over the years.

Let the paint harden and fume off over the next few days before washing; the car sitting out in the sun helps speed this along; the paint wont really be 'hard' for a couple or three months..
Don't let any water drops sit on the car for any length of time ; clean up bird poop right away. The paint is still soft and vulnerable for a couple of weeks. But you can gently wash it in the shade or cool weather after about 5 days. Don't wax it for 3 weeks or so; you dont want any thinners in the wax reacting with the new paint.
(All of this is being conservative.)

__________________

"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

sure! you kill it, I grill it! but only if they have been fed organic food though. and no hormones. fairly hard to find in the US, hormone free food, yet illegal in Europe. maybe that's why there's so much less cancer and general dis-ease in Europe?

you can't 'repair' rust. unless you either use POR15 or galvanize it, it wil ALWAYS come back. an I'm sure maaco doesn't use either of them. so you have 1 year befor it bubbles back up...

sure! you kill it, I grill it! but only if they have been fed organic food though. and no hormones. fairly hard to find in the US, hormone free food, yet illegal in Europe. maybe that's why there's so much less cancer and general dis-ease in Europe?

The hormone & antibiotic issue is why a lot of hunters hunt - for meat, not trophies.

Most wild meat is much lower in fat, too.

They took care of some minor rust spots I had and it came out beautifully...fixed a dent in the back hatch door, can't even tell it was dented before, and it was a decent sized dent along a ridge.

They ground some rust out from the under side of the lift gate and filled it with bondo, and the front lip under the front bumper had two spots that had rusted away..right in front of the tires...they built that back up and painted it. Looks good, and its got a 2 year warranty. If it bubbles up or starts rusting from underneath in a year, they're supposed to take care of it.

Hell, if this car can keep me out of a car payment for another 2 years, I'll paint her again

I'll see if I can go get some good pics now that the sun's out.

__________________
1985 300TD-euro 352,000 mi
1974 240D (1?)52,000 mi - has a new home now

can we see some pics of this maaco job

I beg to differ. Iam doing some rust repair on my 240D right now. Cut the rust out back to solid metal, cut a patch panel to the exact dimensions of the hole, butt weld the seam, wire brush and paint the area and it is as good as a new panel.

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

mine is at the left rear fender.. on the bottom. Cause : missing antenna grommet.. so it rusted a hole into the fender well and some bubbling on the lower fender..