Hi,

I've got an old diesel, 1984, original blue paint.
And her paint is oxidized.
I did try hard to polish and buff, but there are white
streaks all over.
Really, It takes such work to rub in and I'm not that
strong. Surprised at how hard I had to work....
with not a good outcome.
What would Be the Easiest way for me to go about
getting her shine back a bit. I don't need a custom,
good as new look, but I hate to see her dull paint.
Can I wash her and put on a clear coat?....
I've tried a cleaner wax, and I found it hard to rub in
sufficiently.
Guess, I'm a wimp.....
I'm about 120 lbs, blue eyes, blonde hair, love long walks on the
beach......NOT
Any advice on product or procedure would be appreciated.
Thanks much
LindaJane

If waxing is difficult you probably shouldn't try painting. Preparing a car for a clear coat is much more difficult. The entire surface to be clear coated needs to be sanded. It's not a matter of just rubbing it with sand paper either.

If you will try to capture your problem with a camera and post the pictures here I'm sure the gentlemen on this website will give you excellent advise on your problem and prospective solutions.

From your post I could not tell if you left the wax streaky or if your clear coat is starting to fade or flake. Specificity is paramount in communicating issues.

__________________
84 300SD
85 380SE
83 528e
95 318ic

Can you post a picture?

I'm pretty wimpy. I use a flitz buff ball on a drill with car polish. This works on my car because I have the ubiquitous beige non metallic with no clearcoat. If you have the measled clearcoat over metallic no amount of polish will help.

__________________
79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles

2 words: Power Polisher. Skip the ones you buy at the auto parts store. Buy a professional one for ~$100 on Amazon. Start with rubbing compound, move to polishing compound, then try waxing again.

It does take time, but not much effort. You let the buffer do the work. My SDL had paint that was physically rough to the touch and it came around with the buff/polish/wax routine. Hood still sucks, but the rest of the car looks really good. Took about $15 in supplies and many evenings after work.

__________________
Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

If you can't do it yourself, you might want to take it to a auto detailer and have them do it. For a couple of hundred bucks the car would come back looking like new. Well worth the money, and you don't have to waste your time. Plus you don't end up being sore at the end of the day.

__________________
Von
Fairport, NY
1973 Unimog 416 Doka
1980 Unimog 416 Doka
1981 Unimog 416 Doka
1984 Euro 280CE w/diesel conversion
1985 300TD Estate wagon
(I really need to stop buying these things!)
http://vonsmog.com

Wax on, wax off!

Think of this as a great way to exercise your body, build up your strength, get some sunlight and fresh air! You'll sleep better at night, teeth and shirts will be whiter, make more friends, etc. etc.

I'd say pick a single body panel, like the hood or the trunk, get that done, and then take a break and either re-attack the next panel or rest up for another attack the next day.

I DO NOT agree with the power polisher advice, that's a quick way to burn through and ruin the paint all together. I'd only go that route if you can get some training and advice in person to make sure you don't do real damage to the paint.

__________________
Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC

Not posted as an advertisement, but this kit worked very well for me. Though yes, after 3-hours with it my arms were pretty sore. http://www.chemicalguys.com/TORQ_TORQX_Random_Orbital_Polisher_Kit_8_Items_p/buf503x.htm

If you don't go with this one, there's a dual action polisher at Harbor Freight also, for around $50, you then would just buy the foam pads and compounds.

With a DA polisher and foam pads, burning through paint is virtually impossible. It's pretty easy for a novice to pick up the technique. You only polish in 2'x2' blocks at a time, keep the speeds down to medium, on the above polisher I worked with 3.5, 4 and 4.5 speed settings mostly. The old school system of wool pads and one speed circular machine which doubled as a grinder, it was very easy to burn through paint.

Basically, for bad oxidation (pictures would help) it might be best to hit it first with some 2500 wet sandpaper and a soft block, but don't go nuts with it the paint could also be thin and that could be part of your problem. Then proceed with the buffing stages.

Or you can try the buffer first, see if you get the result you want. You begin with an orange or even more aggressive yellow pad, and rubbing compound or heavy duty rubbing compound if you've really got bad oxidation.

Then go to a white pad with a hybrid compound or polishing compound. Then finally a grey pad with a finish polish compound, and lastly for ultimate shine, a red pad with a synthetic wax. With each step you need to wipe down the residue with a microfiber cloth, so get a nice pack of a dozen of those suckers. Have fun!

__________________
1983 W123 300TD US spec Turbo engine, with Euro bumpers and manual climate control, and manual transmission.

Successfully removed dullness and dirt without removing paint on my 85 300SD using Clay Magic brand clay bar and spray lubricant. Cannot say about other brands as only bought clay bar once. Was lots of slow work. Used it mainly on horizontal surfaces. Is not a wax. Clay bar is supposed to work by removing dirt in paint but not paint unless it is loose and flaking. Your mileage may vary. Do not use on loose, flaking paint.
How I used clay bar.
Wash car. Do do not wax. Use spray lubricant generously so clay bar does not stick. Maybe a square foot area to start with. Rub clay bar on paint. Light to moderate pressure, just to remove those tiny dots of grit you can feel stuck in paint. It is not rubbing compound. When I ran out of lubricant spray, have used water dripping from water hose to generously flood paint with water at all times to continuously remove dirt. Lots of water to keep paint continuously wet or dirt that you just removed will accumulate again. You should not see paint on clay bar but clay bar will get dark with dirt. When you cannot see or feel dirt dots of grit, you are done. Paint should look better even if you do not get it totally clean. Paint should feel silky smooth and dirt dots will be removed visibly if you have white paint. Any color should look more shiny with good depth. When clay bar is dirty, fold clay bar so you get a clean surface to use. When dirty throughout clay bar, throw away and get another one.
Ok to wax after clay bar.
Is very tiring to use. Only did on horizontal surfaces as those are dirtiest.

I used something like this http://ep.yimg.com/ay/rodi/simoniz-perfect-finsih-detailing-clay-bar-kit-8.png

Don't remember price as was so long ago. If problem is bad clearcoat, not much will help except repaint.

I would take a step back and realize that any "polishing" is really just removing paint. Do it enough and you'll have nothing left. You can restore these old single-stage paints with Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #7 Show Car Glaze (which is why I like them versus paint with a clear coat). The caveat is that as soon as you've done that you need to immediately seal it in with a wax or all the oils from the Meguiar's will come back out and you'll be back where you started.

The best way I can describe it is, imagine you're trying to saturate a piece of wood with oil. That's how you apply the Meguiar's, just keep smearing it on and rubbing it in until you can see that the paint is looking good again. You won't have to work hard though. Just like you're staining a wooden table.

Anyone who knows Audi/VW Tornado Red will understand what it means when I say the Meguiar's will take it from pink to red, and that's pretty amazing.

-Rog

I'm tired after just reading it all!....
I have som tinkin to do....