# Horribly faded red Mercedes back to vivid red.



## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

Evening!

Had a 65 year old friend of my Dads ask me if I could have a crack at getting his paintwork back to standard on his H-reg Mercedes after it being on his driveway not doing much for an unhealthy period of time.

When I got to his house to pick it up I realised it was going to be a pretty big challenge, my first detail for someone other than a family member too.

On arrival:



















I gave it a wash down with fairy liquid initially and began on the tight work, using a detailing brush with a strong mixture of APC in a spray bottle.

Inbetween the door shuts.










You can really see the build up of general dirt inbetween the lines of the car.









Attacked around the headlights and front grill using the same method of APC and a detailing brush.










The wheel trims were actually not in a bad state, I sprayed on some degreaser, left for a minute and agitated with a brush and the grime simply slipped off. Easy.










And after.










Used degreaser on the steel rims, even though they won't really be noticed underneath the trims, stops any dribbling dirt coming beneath the trims when rain hits or whatever.




























Popped open the filler cap, wasn't as bad as I expected. Before.









After.










The badges were pretty shocking inbetween.









After the tightwork was complete I started claying the car.

Claying was a breeze, my Metro took so much longer but this just seemed to pick up the contaminents with ease.

Pretty bad.










Then we started to get a bit more colourful.










This was after claying, can see how badly the car really has faded.




































This was Tuesday night and I had just finished claying intending on cracking on with machine polishing the following day but just had to see how well it was going to come up.

Results after using a light cutting pad with a low cut polish.




























Next day I started early and began taping up the trims etc



























Removed the boot badges.



















On with the correction. Little 50/50 of the bonnet.


















Bonnet nearly done.










Just a few general pics of how bad the sides of the car was.



























Front door done, rear not.










More shots of the front end after being machined.



















Top part done, bottom not.










One side of the car done.




























One side not done 










Now done!










50/50 of the roof although i got a bit carried away and turned out to be a 40/60 lol










More shots after machining done.

It actually started turning pink again in places so went round with a finishing polish on a finishing pad which solved the little patches.




























After a wash with Durogloss 901 I went over with SRP and finally waxed with collinite #915. Here it is curing.










Trims back on.










Buffed off. Wax really made a huge difference.










Dressed the plastics.










Front grill 50/50










Done.









Final Shots! Had to wait for some double sided sticky tape to be delivered via Mother so the last few shots have the rear badges back on.


















































































Badges back on 



















The owner has just collected the car 10 mins ago and he was absolutely gobsmacked. 
Comments and criticisms welcomed.

Dan!


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## dazzyb (Feb 9, 2010)

deffinately looks alot better now. gotta love a pink to red thread


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## [email protected] (Apr 28, 2011)

Looks alot better mate good work.


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## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

Excellent work mate, what a difference, not surprised he was gobsmacked :thumb:


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## ArcticVXR (Apr 10, 2007)

Nice work Dan looks great :thumb:


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Fantastic work..you did a great turnaround..


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## awallacee30 (May 4, 2011)

Don't think there'll be any criticisms on this!

Nice work mate, done a great job :thumb:


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## shaunwistow (May 13, 2011)

No negatives here, what a turnaround, bet the owner was chuffed. Well done.


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## greenwagon (Dec 31, 2008)

That's fantastic


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## m411mtf (Feb 10, 2008)

Great turn around, you did it proud.

I must admit I was a bit  when I read "I gave it a wash down with fairy liquid initially".


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## DD1 (Apr 25, 2011)

Very nice bit of work mate :thumb:

wish I could get the wifes Fiat Puntot as good


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## AaronGTi (Nov 2, 2010)

Cracker!! Well done


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## markbob917 (Aug 31, 2010)

nice job!! well done


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## ovolo (Jun 7, 2009)

Fantastic matey what a great turn around very well done :thumb:


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## Demetrios72 (Jun 27, 2011)

Great work matey:buffer:

Well done :thumb:


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## mark328 (Aug 1, 2010)

Im dying to do a pink to red job, must of been great fun! Well done:thumb:


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Looks miles better mate, great job.


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## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

Stunning mate. Love seeing pinkys turn into perkys:thumb:


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## 335dAND110XS (Dec 17, 2010)

Brilliant job! Sorting faded red paint is no easy task!


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## waxy (Feb 27, 2006)

That's great work there,always rewarding working on single stage:thumb:


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Great work a grand old girl looking darn good again...:thumb:
Only thing missing would have been the tyres dressed thats all great job done there...:thumb:


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## cotter (Aug 31, 2008)

Great turnaround!


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## IbizaFR (May 22, 2010)

Nice work mate, typical unloved red car brought back to life.


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## MatthewR (May 15, 2011)

Brilliant work that mate!

i have to say though i prefer it without the badges on the back, however thats up to the owner obviously!


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## David-R (Apr 18, 2011)

really nice work, bet the owner felt proud to be driving it again :thumb:


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## AygoGUMMY (Nov 21, 2010)

Brill turnaround.


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## Strothow (Oct 29, 2009)

Looks fab now, would like to do one of these


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## Strothow (Oct 29, 2009)

Mat J said:


> Good job, I think you wasted your time with the clay bar if you hitting it hard with the machine! I'd recommend using machine glaze on red with black super soft head, especially on plastics as it will really deapen the shine.


And scrub all the crap around with the machine?


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Mat J said:


> Good job, I think you wasted your time with the clay bar if you hitting it hard with the machine! I'd recommend using machine glaze on red with black super soft head, especially on plastics as it will really deapen the shine.


Still sound to clay, and always before machining...:thumb:
You dont want something stuck in the pad getting dragged allover the paint/lacquer...:thumb:


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

Nice work :thumb: I likes an old Merc.


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## Obsessed Merc (Apr 10, 2011)

I've always wanted to do a pink to red job too. 
Nice transformation !

Itching to know how long it stays red, or whether it will fade back ?


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

wow thats amazing turnaround there, you haved this car from the hard times ahead.

I better the owner wants to keep it clean from now on.

Once again stunning transformation.

Why does red paint on cars change to pink.


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## Strothow (Oct 29, 2009)

Trip tdi said:


> Why does red paint on cars change to pink.


Something do with the pigment in the colour apparently...


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

Mat J said:


> Good job, I think you wasted your time with the clay bar if you hitting it hard with the machine! I'd recommend using machine glaze on red with black super soft head, especially on plastics as it will really deapen the shine.


Sorry but thats the kind of absolute tosh that creates a false catalogue of rubbish.

Claying should ALWAYS be done before polishing. Your probably going to ask why now, if you don't know, you shouldn't be machine polishing.

Let me guess, your favourite polish is G3??


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## alfajim (May 4, 2011)

saved. great job :thumb:


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## shabba (Sep 28, 2008)

nice job mate!


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## shabba (Sep 28, 2008)

Miglior said:


> Sorry but thats the kind of absolute tosh that creates a false catalogue of rubbish.
> 
> Claying should ALWAYS be done before polishing. Your probably going to ask why now, if you don't know, you shouldn't be machine polishing.
> 
> Let me guess, your favourite polish is G3??


:thumb:
second that!


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## stargazer (Aug 9, 2006)

Well done there. Great work and a nice 190!


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## robtech (Jan 17, 2011)

fantastic stuff ,i would rather see work like this on older cars rather than some fancy new car.great stuff and a real credit to you.


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## 335dAND110XS (Dec 17, 2010)

Strothow said:


> Something do with the pigment in the colour apparently...


It's all about the level of Titanium Dioxide in the paint. It's used in white colours but mixed with red. The red deteriorates, the white doesn't - a bit like gradually adding more white. Very hard to make red paint that doesn't fade.


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## CliveP (Feb 1, 2009)

Fantatic job - I love pinks to red and first once I've seen on a Merc!

Really great, I think the most pleasing thing when doing them is the contrast is so stark -machining makes any car look great but when it effectively changes its colour it takes it into another league of satisfaction.

Also one of the most striking differences (in a picture) I've seen from before to after wax. 

Think you've at least doubled the car's value.

Regards,
Clive.


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## toomanycitroens (Jan 14, 2011)

Excellent mate, great report and final finish.
Top marks.


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## Bezza (Oct 6, 2010)

Great Job!
I love beginning to end progress threads, the whole story in one rather than "pics to follow" or "will finish it next week"


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## Brummie_Nige (Sep 5, 2011)

Fantastic transformation. Makes all the hard work worthwhile when you look at what you've achieved!


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## TelTel (Aug 21, 2010)

great work mate, thanks for sharing your work! keep it up. so what was the owners response then?


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## matt_83 (Apr 28, 2009)

Lovely turn around mate :thumb:


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## npuk (Jul 3, 2011)

Saw a link to this on a mercedes forum. Great work.


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## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

npuk said:


> Saw a link to this on a mercedes forum. Great work.


:O really? Do you have the link please?


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## npuk (Jul 3, 2011)

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/detailing-mbclub/116997-190e-cleaned-pink-red.html I got your PM but but cant PM back yet, not enough posts.


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## GrahamKendall (Sep 8, 2009)

Great work! I love these old mercs as well. Getting quite collectable


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## Sportspack Mark (May 24, 2007)

fantastic work Dan


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## L4CKL (Nov 27, 2010)

what a transformation. great work. i bet that earnt some well deserved beer tokens. You have probably doubled the value of the car.

should have left the badges off though, but thats just me.


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## optical (Nov 12, 2005)

Wow . Amazed at the transformation.


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## Gambit (Sep 28, 2014)

Fantastic effort ! Really impressive work


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## Grin (Jun 13, 2012)

Looks great. I like it with the badges on. Nice and original. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Fentum (May 1, 2017)

Fantastic work! 

I had a silver one of these back in the day. From an era when engineers built Mercs, not accountants - this was a basic but bombproof vehicle. 

Still miss mine but full reps to the OP for transforming this one!

How was the interior BTW?

Peter


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## Slammedorion (Apr 13, 2014)

Nice job :buffer:
Red's a messy job but very rewarding :thumb:


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## LSpec (Apr 7, 2013)

I think is a fantastic job but I wonder .
How much do you think is going to last ? I have to do something similiar to my car


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## percymon (Jun 27, 2007)

LSpec said:


> I think is a fantastic job but I wonder .
> How much do you think is going to last ?


after 6 years i suspect its pink again


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## Grin (Jun 13, 2012)

percymon said:


> after 6 years i suspect its pink again


I love it when we don't look at the date of the last post. Be good to have an update to see what happened to it!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## GP Punto (May 29, 2007)

Nice job, I had one of these Mercs, and in that colour, really enjoyed it and wouldnt mind buying one again.

You got the car back to a like new state, very nice.


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## mickmills (Mar 27, 2017)

Good work and good results and lets not forget this is a 27 ? year old car


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## sshooie (May 15, 2007)

mickmills said:


> Good work and good results and lets not forget this is a 27 ? year old car


21 year old when the thread was done....


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## Rían P (Jun 2, 2014)

Great thread that I've never seen before. Paintwork has (had) come up seriously well.


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## NornIron (May 12, 2007)

Brilliant turnaround on a straight, unmolested 190... easy to forget that it's 26 / 27 years old!


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## andyfish (Feb 4, 2006)

Fantastic job mate. Can I ask what you used to dress the plastics?

cheers.


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## c87reed (Dec 9, 2015)

Judging by the age of the thread you'd better get back round there, it'll be pink again now. It was a great job done on that.


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## ibiza55 (Feb 22, 2008)

Lovely Jubbly, steel wheels on a Merc, those were the days, a new set of number plates would set it off a treat, well done, the owner must of been well happy.


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