Painting the 109

[tosbt]

Time to apply the paint. I'm going to require a really nice "show" paint job. Could anyone advice me on what kind quality steps that I must insure the painter provide before I give him my car. I've seen some of this mans work but I am not sure how to get from A to Z. How many coats of paint, clear coats anything will be helpful as I am totaly blind in this type of job. What would you require? Thanks.

[deanyel]

Very complex subject - I would say go to the library or bookstore and get a book or two on the subject. It's mostly a question of how much you want to pay. BTW, it's not a foregone conclusion that you want base coat/ clearcoat. You might want single stage - which is probably what your car had originally. That is what I would want but that's just my opinion - that why you need a book.

[Tomguy]

Actually, I believe all 108 and 109's had clearcoat. I know mine does, because it's chipping off due to age, and makes it look quite bad in some areas (it makes it look VERY scratched on the pass side because of the way it's peeling - horizontally!)

Probably the best bet is to strip it down to the body (take the engine, interior, etc out), sandblast it, then apply primer, paint, and clearcoat. I don't know how many coats of paint or primer Benz used originally, but I bet it's >1 coat of paint, due to its sheer thickness. A true, full stripdown of everything is probably the only real way to get a true show-quality job, from the undercarriage to the engine bay to the doorposts. Don't forget to do the inside of the trunk too!

[tosbt]

Pull the engine and interior? You are talking 10K, thats a little over budget. I'm thinking about 6K for a really nice job - one that could stack up to any benz just off the production line or better. I'm thinking the only way to express this effort is in terms of money though I would like to know the key points to watch for if there were any.

[j9fd3s]

well painting a car is kinda tricky. its very labor intensive, and the amount of labor is dependent on the amount of work the body needs (dents, waves dings, rust etc). the nicer the car is to start with, the easier it is to get it looking good. the other part is that the body was painted without all the trim on it, so it all needs to come off. if you can take it off it saves labor time in the shop (bumpers, lights, all the chrome, windows, etc; a concours job would take the whole car apart and paint the bare shell, but i digress...)

plus painting is messy, body shops are messy. theres lots of dust, and it gets EVERYWHERE. so if you can pull the carpets, seats, door panels, its a faster cleanup and less chance they get painted by accident.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING is to MAKE SURE that the bodyshop/painter KNOW in exactly how nice you want the finished product. make sure they know you will dissapointed with an average job.

can you tell i just got my 93 rx7 back from a bodyshop?

mike

[deanyel]

Originally Posted by Tomguy

Actually, I believe all 108 and 109's had clearcoat. I know mine does, because it's chipping off due to age, and makes it look quite bad in some areas (it makes it look VERY scratched on the pass side because of the way it's peeling - horizontally!)

Some 108s and 109s would have been clearcoated - a few colors of which go back into the 60s. But single stage was more common. There has yet to be a Mercedes model in which all cars were clearcoated - 040 black goes back to the early 50s and was a single stage urethane through 2003. Some of the whites and reds and midnight blue were single stage into the 90s.

[tosbt]

Well I think this one was clearcoated. Inside the doors is a very fresh deep glass looking gold. If I can get that at the very least I will be pleased.