Mercedes A45 AMG - Less than 3.000 miles and paintwork in a horrendous shape

[vinharski]

Yes...It took me by surprise the overall condition of this paintwork.

In my mind, german clearcoat means hard clearcoat. Did some reseach on ceramic clearcoat and I was sure it was the case for this A45...looked for that 'C' character on the paint code and...for my surprise it was not there...still could be a hard clear coat case.

Did a test spot using the 'least agressive method', which was:
- Flex DA Polisher
- Old and Soft yellow Polishing pad
- Menz SF 4000.

It did remove a good amount of defects...I would say 40 to 50% and confirmed that this car had a SOFT Clearcoat :props:

But, since the had possibly neglected the car's paintwork, we had to move up in our setup. We ended up doing this:

- Rotary + polishing pad + FG 400 for severly scratched areas.
- DA + polishing pad + PF 2500
- DA + finishing pad + SF 4000

For every step, after buffing out the compund we also wiped the area with IPA for inspection.

Later on the entire car, wheels and brake calipers were cleaned with IPA in preparation for the coating...done via spray gun.

Hope you guys like it.

:dblthumb2::dblthumb2::dblthumb2::dblthumb2:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9xzcUbWPXWk/VgC_BC3AlnI/AAAAAAAANek/iJ__ifajKCM/s1000-Ic42/01.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PYqMPtIJqGs/VgC_BRc7LuI/AAAAAAAANeo/8HsmEBPc5l0/s1000-Ic42/02.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9raSHRhZhbM/VgC_Bt76gII/AAAAAAAANes/DuT32fMYcrg/s1000-Ic42/03.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p3uJdlIvsaw/VgC_HpnCVeI/AAAAAAAANfA/cSFjBoWSxpw/s1000-Ic42/04.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tY8AvIXgSdI/VgC_IQQLRpI/AAAAAAAANfE/V4p1H70p4Yc/s1000-Ic42/05.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R3a7j6Ix9q4/VgC_H2We3TI/AAAAAAAANe8/C_CKmysJilE/s700-Ic42/06.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B71DLzx2nPQ/VgC_M4j7GXI/AAAAAAAANfQ/H87uvEjN52g/s700-Ic42/07.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UYhh4HKmG2c/VgDE59avqYI/AAAAAAAANiA/PMtvbcpKoq4/s1000-Ic42/08_1.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XajrTeMqxCo/VgC_PIPE1NI/AAAAAAAANfc/DKFeUptgQgw/s1000-Ic42/09.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9g2vGOeafss/VgC_UH-3qBI/AAAAAAAANfo/pXRN_6JLXac/s1000-Ic42/11.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pVg1eb_5Dvw/VgC_UlsxEOI/AAAAAAAANfw/M7dNe2YonJQ/s1000-Ic42/12.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MW8rVuouFis/VgC_VYY08EI/AAAAAAAANf0/SvSNKMTYaRU/s1000-Ic42/12_1.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hHFzM6cRe4w/VgC_bLPxpwI/AAAAAAAANgA/IWS8l9bXvKM/s1000-Ic42/13.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cZsJ9trnrS4/VgC_bxQBFrI/AAAAAAAANgE/LcM202hwWCw/s1000-Ic42/13_1.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ilojZOQ4FOg/VgC_eAB3NkI/AAAAAAAANgM/WWzm5fDpcdc/s1000-Ic42/14.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gQTo8wO8UOM/VgC_im1q2aI/AAAAAAAANgU/RTM_QbOb0G8/s1000-Ic42/15.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-id-JeOsQlvU/VgC_jxNrr2I/AAAAAAAANgg/k5kURVqRGL0/s1000-Ic42/16.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7ERnJrACT5U/VgC_lHUttFI/AAAAAAAANgk/nJicgMG10wI/s1000-Ic42/17.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sXZqourV1WQ/VgC_qgZl1WI/AAAAAAAANgs/5xkOQX3UFuQ/s1000-Ic42/18.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fpmSc9lQMAM/VgC_ssGzVBI/AAAAAAAANg4/bZKWS3qnlH8/s1000-Ic42/19.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8HuriscIVHc/VgC_tYouRJI/AAAAAAAANg8/17zxZg5bZYE/s1000-Ic42/20.png

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vH5vGaKNZaA/VgC_va2gLNI/AAAAAAAANhE/IvRVOT4CkFI/s1000-Ic42/21.png

[custmsprty]

Great work!

[rbss]

Cool car and fantastic work!

[Kamakaz1961]

Beautiful work!!

[DragonHawk]

Looks awesome. You spray the coating on with a paint sprayer? That's new to me, can you share more details about that?

[AGOatemywallet]

Great write-up

Thanks for the photos...close-ups and 50/50's were great


Any tips on applying a coating with the spray gun?

[Sicoupe]

Fantastic work! I want it!:)

[NIS240SHU]

Bom trabalho!

[alpha]

Very nice!

[lawrenceSA]

Very nice :dblthumb2:

[vinharski]

Thanks a lot guys...really appreciate your kind words and feedback.

[vinharski]

Looks awesome. You spray the coating on with a paint sprayer? That's new to me, can you share more details about that?

Tks DragonHawk
Yes we used a spray gun on this car with a 0.5mm nozzle. Setting the air pressure to 2 BAR max (we have a pressure regulator with water and oil filter) then you just need to adjust the ammount of product that will be sprayed on the spray gun.

We used water for testing first and sprayed on a glass window so we could see the coverage and how much product was being sprayed.

:props::props::props: