Classic 500 SL Looks New After Paint Correction & Detailing
You don’t need a brand new paint job to help your classic Mercedes look like new. A Paint correction does wonders!
When it comes to car shapes, the 500 SL is one of Nabil Naamo‘s favorite designs. When a neglected example came to his shop, Topaz Detailing, to be detailed, he was up to the task. Naamo introduces us to the car in the video, and the challenge ahead saying, “it’s a 500 SL, 30 years old with 100,000 miles on the clock.” As the video unfolds, all of the procedures are outlined. “Paint correction, engine bay detail, some bits of cosmetic restoration… I want to show you exactly what we did through the processes,” Naamo states.
Standard washing is an expected first step. Washing away road grime and dirt is important in order to allow special cleaners to do de-grease and de-oxidize on the exterior surfaces. The clear coat and the wheels receive an iron fallout remover as part of a treatment to prepare the paint for buffing and polishing. A clay bar treatment removes additional contaminates from the clear coat.
Before a polisher can be used, theres a lot of prep work to be done. Masking off the brightwork is important, as well as rubber seals to prevent staining. Spot sanding helps minimize minor clear-coat issues such as bird droppings and small scratches. The paint correction process utilizes two stages. A swirl remover addresses the deeper scratches, and a polishing compound brings back a like-new shine. Large buffing pads are used for the panels, and a smaller set of pads are used for smaller panels.
Treating the engine may with a de-greaser restores shine to the original plastics. The same swirl removing process is applied to the interior wood trim. One unique aspect of this cleaning is performed on the leather. In the before/after images, we are shown leather repair and re-dye. Of all the steps here, rips and tears in leather are typically not the most DIY friendly and should be brought to a specialist. But the difference is stunning. As a final step, the car is given a ceramic coating to seal in all of the paint that was just brought back to perfection.
Naamo is proud of his work. He says, “it’s so satisfying for me and so satisfying for all the staff to work on this kind of car and really see it turn from a rough diamond into a beautiful car as it is now.” With the right tools, you can do all of this in your driveway.
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