We decided to give Griot’s Garage a challenge, and turned its professional car-care products loose with our preferred local professional detailer on a 1976 Mercedes 300D that was in serious need of detailing attention. We seem to have a habit of adopting old cars like stray kittens. In that vein, we found the classic Benz in a field in central Texas several years ago and dragged it home. After 30 years of Texas sun and nary a wash to be found, the car was dull, sunburned and looked like it had spent its life as a taxi in the Middle East — which is not an uncommon fate for tough old Mercedes sedans.
The tough old car still runs shockingly well, but we have been told more than once, “That car would look great if you repainted it!” Trouble is, the car just looks right with its odd green hue. A quick call to the Mercedes Classic Center (an invaluable resource for anyone tackling a Mercedes project of any vintage) confirmed that the Caledonia Green paint (and the remains of the olive-green MBTex vinyl interior) was original, and repainting it seemed like it would take away from the Mercedes’ achievements as a survivor. Still, the paint was faded and sunburned, and even washing the grime off only resulted in a more uniformly dull finish.
Thankfully, there’s a lot that a good detailer can do with old paint. The automotive appearance experts at Griot’s Garage provided Driving Fans with a full suite of car-care products to try out, and after an afternoon of hard labor, the Mercedes actually shines again! This is an extreme example, but many cars’ shine can be restored without repainting.
The first step is always washing the car. If the paint is dull and faded, it may seem like there’s no point in washing, but the heavy surface grime must be removed before applying any additional products. Dirt left on the surface of the car can damage the paint even further when the polishing machines come out. We used Griot’s Car Wash to get the Mercedes as clean as it was going to get.
Once the car is washed, a bar of detailing clay is used to remove flakes of dead paint that are still clinging invisibly to the surface. After that, it’s time to bring back the car’s shine. Rubbing compound is a liquid that acts as very fine, gentle sandpaper that removes small scratches and sun damage from the paint’s surface. For non-clear coat paint, taking a fine layer of paint off exposes fresh color beneath. If your car’s paint has a clear coat that has turned white and is flaking off, the only way to fix it, unfortunately, is by repainting.
Experts recommend starting with the least abrasive cleaner or polish possible when trying to bring back the shine; not all cars are dull enough to require rubbing compound (sometimes called “cutting polish”), and rubbing compound should not be used on dulled plastic parts like bumpers, mirror caps and painted trim.
Driving Fans’ Mercedes was definitely far enough gone to require the big guns. The folks at Spotless Auto, in Wayne, Mich., used rubbing compound to work through the layers of oxide until a shine was reached, and turned a great many buffing towels green in the process! At home, you can get similar results by using rubbing compound with a dual-action polishing machine, and follow it up with swirl-remover liquid to eliminate the swirl marks that may appear after using rubbing compound on a dark-colored car.
Once the oxidization is taken off, it’s time to polish. The car’s shine should be starting to come back by this stage, and the newly freshened paint needs to be protected. A quality car wax should be applied either by hand or with a polishing machine.
After you’ve taken off a few years of neglect, the trick is keeping the neglect off. Regular washing and waxing are the keys to keeping a lasting shine. Even cars that aren’t garaged their whole lives can stay looking new with regular waxing. Experts recommend waxing every couple of months in the summer, weather permitting. A number of sealants and paint protectors are also available, and every car guy seems to have his favorite.
The “detail” part of a detail job is last. Shining up the Mercedes’ chrome, tires and glass was accomplished using Griot’s Garage dedicated products such as Foaming Glass Cleaner and Long-Lasting Tire Dressing. Spotless Auto spent the better part of an afternoon making our Mercedes look good, but the results are more than worth it. After almost 40 years, the Caledonia Green shines once again!
Griot’s Garage provided the products used in this detailing job. More information about the Griot’s Garage line of car-car products can be found at http://www.griotsgarage.com/.
