I have a 86 300E that is metalic thistle green, a very unique and beautiful colour.
While washing it yesterday in the fading daylight. I noticed a cloudy patch about the size of a quarter dollar piece on the roof between the gutter rails. I have never noticed this before and it is not readily visible. The surface over the area is smooth and the patch seems to be in the clearcoat or under the clearcoat. I searched "detailing" and could not find anything quite like this. The paint is in great shape and many people think that it is a new car.

Questions:

1.) I have tried 2 cycles of #9 on the roof
section(entire area between gutter rails)
and noticed no change. Can I just work
the patch area with additinal cycles of
#9?, Or should I repeatedly do the whole
roof section?

2.) How hard can/should I work the #9?

3.) What am I dealing with here?

Thank you all for this wonderful site.

P.S. This colour would look great on a 500E.

It could be a poor airbrush touchup. If that's the case it may never look exactly like the original paint. It almost sounds like there is a color coat there but no clearcoat.

Sometimes it takes several applications of #9 over a period of time to really solve the tough cases. That's certainly the case with tough acid rain etching.

You might also try paint cleaning clay just to make sure the area is completely smooth.

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Bill Wood - Webmaster
MercedesShop.com, LLC

My first question would be what does that spot (vs the rest of the paint) feel like? Is there some texture? If so then detailing clay is a great first step. #9 is VERY mild as far as removing any paint. It will not accomplish much by applying and buffing the crap out of it. It is MUCH more effective to "spot treat" and/or do multiple apply/remove cycles. Once you have the spot/area thrououghly clean try putting a dab of #9 on your fingertip and rubbing it in. Just be sure to keep your fingernail clear of the paint. Try a few apply/remove spot treatments and let us know how it works. You can also try spot treating with #7. If it is oxidation or contaminant based the #7 will be more effective. Of course, once you are done with the apply/remove cycles you will have to rewax the area.

Hope this helps...Lee