Correcting 21 year old Mercedes paint

[CleanCarGuy]

Well, my fathers 1992 Mercedes Benz S Class is in dire need of correction. Its his daily driver and is always parked outdoors. Swirl marks and light scratches all over it.

I thought, as a gift, I would take his car for the day and get to correcting it and making it look new (semi new) again.

Its a Silver 1992 300SE.

I was thinking of doing the following.

Wash thoroughly then dry completely (using Megs Gold Class)
Compound with Meguiars Ultimate Compound
Polish with Meguiars Ultimate Polish
Wax by hand using Collinite 845.

My question is, should I clay the car even though I will be compounding and then polish. Should I skip the compound, then simply wash, clay, polish and wax?

I am planning on buying a Harbor Freight DA polisher to compound and polish. What colored pads should I be using for the compound and polish, respectfully.

Any tips?

[c8n]

Definite yes to clay.
I heard German cars have hard paint?
If so, you may want to go with MF pads.

[CleanCarGuy]

Definite yes to clay.
I heard German cars have hard paint?
If so, you may want to go with MF pads.


Ok, so wash thoroughly and dry car.

Clay
Compound (using DA polisher and Megs UC)
Polish (using DA polisher and Megs UP)
Collinite 845 (by hand)

If so, what colored pads should I be using for the compound and polish?

Should I even compound at all? Can I just jump to polishing step after claying?

Im a novice at this and havent used a DA polisher before, but have read several articles here and have watched alot of videos.

[parkerslade]

You may need a heavier clay because I'm sure that paint has never been clayed in 21 years, that being said, you may do a little bit of marring with a heavier clay. However, This will save your pads when you start on correction so they're not so contaminated, allowing for better correction.

Do you have a way to clean the pads in between panels?

Another problem I would be concerned with is how much CC you have left on the car, being a DD, outside car, and 21 years old. If you find that you're getting paint transfer on your pads you may want to throw up the white flag :surrender: As always: make sure to do a test spot and start with the least aggressive method first and see if you can get good results for your pops without going too far past the paint. :xyxthumbs:

[CleanCarGuy]

You may need a heavier clay because I'm sure that paint has never been clayed in 21 years, that being said, you may do a little bit of marring with a heavier clay. However, This will save your pads when you start on correction so they're not so contaminated, allowing for better correction.

Do you have a way to clean the pads in between panels?

Another problem I would be concerned with is how much CC you have left on the car, being a DD, outside car, and 21 years old. If you find that you're getting paint transfer on your pads you may want to throw up the white flag :surrender: As always: start with the least aggressive method first and see if you can get good results for your pops without going too far past the paint. :xyxthumbs:

I did clay it last year and gave it a wax, but prior to that, its never gotten a clay. What I want to do now is a full correction. My old man does wash it every week (brushless car wash places) so I would like to wash it now, and make it gleam. The thing runs and looks incredible for a 21 year old car, so I figured If i can make it gleam it would look insane. Would be a nice fathers day gift to him, as well. He loves his car and keeps it clean, but hes quite oblivious to detailing it and protecting it (wax, etc)

Now that you scared me about removing paint, i might drop the compound part altogether and move straight to polishing after I clay it. Walmart has Megs Ultimate Polish for under $10, I believe.

[kimokalihi]

I would plan on a few days if you want a good result. It took me 6+ hours to do the front end of my gf's 2008 jeep and the paint wasn't that bad. I'm new to this but I don't see how someone who isn't REALLY good at this could have sped that up much.

[parkerslade]

If it were me, the main concern would be how thin the paint has gotten. A great alternative to do would get some Meg's D151 and do an All-in-One "correction/protection" with a cutting or polishing pad. This will get you some good shine, take care of some light surface defects like minor swirls and marring as well as protect the car.

Check this out:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/37678-meguiars-paint-reconditioning-cream-d151.html