Touch up paint?

[Mistel]

Spring is here and I want to touch up the little rust spots on my white 1985 300td. So, Do I bother to go to the dealer and get Benz touch-up paint (if they have some?) or do I just go to the auto parts place and get white? I mean, how close would benz paint match anyways on a 23 year old car? Would any white paint do the trick?

Thanks

Peter

[cphilip]

Just order it from Paintscratch dot com or someplace like that if you are not too concerned. Will be around $20 for a 2 ounce bottle. If your paint is a single stage thats all you will need. If its a two stage then you will need a small thing of Clear to go over that. It matches pretty close even on an old one but you might have to buff all the old paint out to see that. Just order it by the paint code on the tag on the radiator cross member support.

[lietuviai]

White is one of the hardest colors to match.

[ndz77-240D]

I just ordered touch-up paint from my local dealer for my car and it was in stock and only $13, so I went for it. I figure it was cheap enough and I'd rather make sure the colour matches. I've seen some bad touch up paint jobs, and some that you can't even tell they're there, as it should be.

I also picked up some extras from iPd, Langka Paint Chip Finisher, and a Spot Prep Pen to hopefully make it look good and last. We'll see how those work.

[kerry]

I've had good matches to MB from www.paintscratch.com.

[Jeremy5848]

I've had Hawley Paint, a local professional place, match paint for me and they have done a good job. They have also been able to look up in a catalog based on Mercedes numbers and mix paint that way. I got paint to re-do my wheels that way and it worked well. Most good paint places should be able to do that. I also had them create paint to match the dark blue of my '85 and '87 interiors, used it to paint a tan first-aid compartment lid that I bought to replace my broken one. The optical scanners that they use work remarkably well.

I have also bought touch-up kits from the dealer. The metallic colors are more expensive because they have a paint stick (little bottle and brush in the cap) plus a clear coat. A white touch-up kit (one bottle only) for my '87 was not expensive -- less than $20, I think.

Jeremy

[barry123400]

In my opinion the white on your car will have changed quite a bit over the years. So having the paint mixed by the paint code numbers may be less than satisfactory.
If you can get say the fuel filler lid off and take it to someone with an optical paint scanner you may get a good result. There are probably hundreds of whites out there and yours has faded or changed with time.
Optical scanners do well with lighter colours I think. So there is hope with old white. Before using on your car try a little on a sample piece of metal and do a direct comparison when it dries. Takes a little effort but beter than having a long way off white glaring at you all the time in my opinion.

[t walgamuth]

Originally Posted by Jeremy5848

I've had Hawley Paint, a local professional place, match paint for me and they have done a good job. They have also been able to look up in a catalog based on Mercedes numbers and mix paint that way. I got paint to re-do my wheels that way and it worked well. Most good paint places should be able to do that. I also had them create paint to match the dark blue of my '85 and '87 interiors, used it to paint a tan first-aid compartment lid that I bought to replace my broken one. The optical scanners that they use work remarkably well.

I have also bought touch-up kits from the dealer. The metallic colors are more expensive because they have a paint stick (little bottle and brush in the cap) plus a clear coat. A white touch-up kit (one bottle only) for my '87 was not expensive -- less than $20, I think.

Jeremy

I usually do it this way. they mix me a pint for about $23 or so. Its a lot higher quality and will keep better in a good metal can than in those silly little plastic bottles which always seem to dry up in a year or so. I keep a variety of brushes around so I can touch up a spot as little as 1/16" in size without over shooting the nick.

I prefer to buy non metallic since its so much easier to touch up or patch in a place.

Tom W