Were the 560SL's clear coated? I thought they were. I ask the question because when I used a glazing compound on mine, I got a lot of red paint color on the applicator. In my mind that means that the car was either not clear coated, was repainted without clear coat or maybe has some color matched wax/polish on it that the previous owner used. I know that the left front fender has been repainted, but I believe that the rest of the car is original.

Thanks.

__________________
Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

Most metallic colors were. most solid colors weren't

Signal red wasn't...

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

It depends on the color. Metallics were all clearcoated by then but solid colors may not have been. 040 black was single stage until ceramic paint. Artic white in the 90s was also single stage. Signal red was clearcoated. Depends on what you have.

My PPG color chart shows signal red as a clearcoat but it also shows it from 1969 to 1993 - so it must have been single stage early, perhaps clearcoated in the later years. Midnight blue was like this. Could well have been a single stage in the 80s, if you're getting paint it must have been.

I found this helpful when compounding my 88 300E:
http://www.paintscratch.com/cgi-bin/makepaint2.cgi
go to the homepage and enter your vehicle

__________________
1992 400E current
1988 300E sold
1973 280C totalled
1973 280SEL never got it running
1971 250C my first love but rusted out

My 560SL is signal red. Paintscratch says it was clearcoated. MB DOC says no. I tend to believe MB DOC as always.

Thanks for the replies.

__________________
Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

I beg your pardon, but Paintscratch shows Signal Red as a single-stage up to 1992. I checked 1988 again, and it is not clearcoated. I know that it was single-stage in 1986 because I used rubbing compound to bring back the paint on the decklid of a 560SL, Signal Red.

__________________
1992 400E current
1988 300E sold
1973 280C totalled
1973 280SEL never got it running
1971 250C my first love but rusted out

I just went back to paintscratch and checked again and I am still seeing it listed as a basecoat/clearcoat. What I did was click the box in front of signal red and then go to the checkout page. Please tell me how you got to a page showing it as a single stage paint color.

Thanks.

__________________
Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

Bison Brown Metallic Clearcoat DB-432 Light Beige Metallic Clearcoat DB-441 Champagne Metallic Clearcoat DB-473 Desert Red Metallic Clearcoat DB-540 Signal (Fire Engine) Red DB-568 Cabernet Red Metallic Clearcoat

The clearcoat colors all say clearcoat after the name of the color. The single-stage colors do not. I think that the checkout page assumes that you know if it is clearcoat or not and is the same for all colors.

__________________
1992 400E current
1988 300E sold
1973 280C totalled
1973 280SEL never got it running
1971 250C my first love but rusted out

Okay, I see what you're saying now. The order page definitely says that this is a basecoat/clearcoat paint and you must use clearcoat. Now if that isn't confusing??

Thanks for clarifying what their site is supposed to say.

__________________
Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

That's because paint scratch only makes their paint in basecoat form. Can't really put single stage into a can (requires seperate catalyst) unless you are using an acrylic enemal or lacquer paint.