What should I do?
 

I don't know what to do with my car. I have an 86 W126 code 904 dark blue. The paint has normal wear for the age of the car. Swirls, a few surface scratches, and oxidation in places...oh and some water spots. But overall, it is in good shape...nothing drastic. I was thinking about taking it to a detailing place so they can "professionally" buff and wax my car. This place is an exotic car dealer/shop, so I figured if they can buff and wax a 2xx grand Lamborghini, they can sure do my lowly 86 MB. They told me that they use the best of everything, whatever that might be, right down to the towels. But then I have been reading about this Zaino stuff on here and how great it is. So which is going to produce a better result to somewhat "refurbish" my paint to as good as possible? Me with more than a few hours of elbow grease or a shop? Thanks for any advice

I think you need as good a base for your final product as possible. Start with a clean page! I would read the "Lee's Detailing FAQ" article under the DIY tab at the top of the page, and either do the wash/clay/de-swirl/polish/wax myself, or have a pro shop do it. Once the surface has lost all the problems you describe, then you can do tha Zainos, Mequiars, 3M, or whatever floats your boat. But the foundation is the most important thing, IMHO.

JCE is right,

The one thing I always say is by gaining enough knowledge and some elbow grease you'll always do a better job than a paid professional. The reason is you'll pay attention to the details the professional doesn't have time to deal with.

I just purchased a 92 W124 from an exotic car shop and they detailed it for me before I picked it up. Needless to say I wasn't too impressed. They did a good job (Not Great) on the interior however the outside wasn't to my standards. They waxed and buffed it for me but but as JCE said, this doesn't remove surface contaminants. I'm in the process of redoing the whole car.

On the Zaino directions they suggest using Liquid Dawn to remove all greases, oils and any carnauba wax. Use this to clean the whole exterior of your car the first time. They then suggest using a clay bar. I for one was not very convinced that this would work but after using it yesterday I was shocked how easily it removes tree sap, tar and other residue. You'll then have to find a product to repair your oxidation. You might actually want to give Zaino a call, I'm not sure if they have a product that will take care of this. I used the Zaino after the clay and I have to say I've never used a wax thats easier to apply with such good results.

Meguiars also has great products and I know they make a polish that can take care of your oxidation. They also have swirl removers that work great.

Waxing isn't tough its just time consuming....but you'll really appreciate the results when your done.

Placo1, is this '92 W124 you just purchased the 500E?

I've been waiting for the announcement...

I spent most of the day working on the "base" for the 560.

The PO had neglected the paint, as a result the hood and roof are toast, and need to be repainted. We decided we will get the whole car shot, probably early next year. But today I made some real progress and the hood, while still needing new paint, looks 200% better.

All the flat surfaces had crud embedded in the clearcoat and had a "sandpaper" texture. I tried cleaner, polish, clay and wax, with only slight success and was at the point of just letting it be until paint time.

Today I dug out my can of honest-to-god rubbing compound. Not something I would suggest others put on their clear coat, but in my case I had nothing to lose. I started with a healthy rubbing in of the compound, followed by a vigorous buff job. Then I used Meguires paint cleaner and buffed. Followed that with a thorough rubbing with a clay bar, lubricated with Meguires Quick Detail (found I really had to keep the surface wet with spray or the bar would stick). By the time I finished claying the hood, the bar was black.

Wiped the hood down with a soft towel, then put on a good coat of Meguires Polish, let stand a few minutes and gave it another buff job. Finished off with a coat of Meguires Carnuba Wax. In total I spent about four hours on it and now my hood looks great. Yea, it still needs a paint job and the clear coat has cooked a bit, but it reallly looks better, and is super smooth.

After spending four hours just doing the hood I took a break until this evening. I spent another two and a half hours repeating the process on the trunk lid. Still have the roof and the sides to do, there might be enough hours in all of tomorrow to finish.

I even think the color looks better, must be all that work pulling out the dirt and grime, changed the appearance by bringing out the true color.

Now does anyone know if they make the clay bars in a bigger size than those little bitty bar of soap sized bars?

Awesome...will the same stuff that removes oxidation remove waterspots? And Mike, you talk about a clearcoat, but I have an 86 too, and I don't have a clearcoat. ???? Mine is a uni paint (904), is yours metallic and they only put clearcoats on metallic? I know it does not have one because if you buff the car the rag will have blue on it. So since mine doesn't have a clearcoat, is there anything special I need to do or watch out for as far as all this goes? Will Zaino have everything I need for this job from start to finish (with the exception of the Dawn!)? Thanks for all the great info.

If you are using the Meguires 3 step, then the #1 cleaner and #2 polish will take care of the water spots, the carnuba will help keep them away. Do you by chance have hard water where you live? We have real hard water, and the lawn spinklers will leave horrible spotting if the wind is right.

Here is what 12 to 13 hours of rubbing and buffing and rubbing and buffing...produced.

Before (and it's wet in this pic):

http://www.pe.net/~mktangas/washed.jpg

and after:

http://www.pe.net/~mktangas/waxed.jpg

Notice how much the color has evened out. I worked my tail off on paint that will be covered over in a year, but I'm glad I did it. It really looks nice, but my arms are sore :).

I think you might want to check with a local body shop about having them do a wet sand a buffing as an idea to really clean it up.

They should be able to clean up the paint and make it look very nice.

I have a guy who I will be having do my car soon, he will only charge me around $130.00 to wetsand and buff my car up. He looked at my car and agreed with me that it will realy make the car's paint look much much better,

After that is done, regular cleaning and polishing using other methods discussed should keep it looking beautiful.

Alon