What kind of paint did you use to get that star on your hood pad? I just got mine and I'd really like to do what you did before I mount it.. thanks ..

I'm afraid that's highly confidential information, critical to the success of my upcoming "vanity hood pad" business, sorry!































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1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon

Ok, ok, you drug it out of me...



I used the "High Heat" ceramic (seen on the right), which is probably overkill, but figured better safe than sorry, and it was surprisingly cheap anyway ($7 or something).

I used the Aluminum DH1606 color, which gave a nice metallic look. A moderate coating clings to the fibers of the pad nicely, I didn't try to make it completely opaque. I haven't had any problems with discoloration or flaking.

I handmade a stencil with paper, sprayed it with removable/repositional adhesive, and stuck it on the pad.

Unfortunately as I sprayed the paint, the solvent in the paint fumes seemed to affect the adhesive on the stencil and parts of the stencil peeled up. Luckily the overspray touched up pretty well afterward with some acetone. If I were to do it again I'd try to figure a better stencil technique.

And yes, it was far too much time invested. But hey, if we wanted boring and hassle-free we would have bought a Toyota Camry, right?

__________________
1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon

End result... looks white in photo but a matte aluminum appearance in real life:

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon

Hahahaha Thank you so much....and don't worry your secrets save with me

Wow, that's pretty cool! Unfortunately the hoods on 116 chassis cars like mine don't open all the way to vertical like yours, so it would be far less visible on my car.

Great idea, though...

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1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
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1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
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1985 300TD
270,000 miles
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1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

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I noticed that your oil dipstick is lime green. Is that the OE stick or did you originally have a red one? Reason I ask is that my OE oil dipstick was red, and it broke, so I bought a new one from a MB dealership and it was lime green like yours and about a half inch shorter than my red one.

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-Paul-
'01 E430, Sport 72,000 mi
'98 C280, 126,500 mi

A half-inch short dipstick doesn't sound good. Better than a half-inch too long, I guess.

My green one is a replacement, but was the same length as my original red one.

The only reason I bought a new one is that the O-ring was deteriorated so it was a little loose. I was going to just buy a new O-ring when I saw there was an updated part number for my car. I'm a sucker for new and improved. It was cheap through PartsShop too.

But when I got the new one it wasn't much difference in how it sealed, and I couldn't see any real difference other than the color. Maybe they improved the materials of whatever broke on yours.

If you want my original red one, send me a private message with your shipping address. You could swap your new O-ring onto it too if needed.

__________________
1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon