99 Mercedes C43 AMG - Cleaning it up Dropping it down

[D&W]

D&W, if you were out here on the East Coast... my garage would be the new home to your C43.

I'm keeping this C43 for now, If you'd paid my asking I probly would have covered the cross country shipping for you man i do smile everytime I drive this car.

[D&W]

busted out the polish on some very faint scratches that have been on the car since I bought it, seems like a PO must have visited a 'brush' carwash on the regular

only visible when the light catches em on a certain angle, but I masked up some area on the car and did a test panel, they are coming right out, so now I will proceed, onto the other panels and get it all cleaned up

Left side is with scratch removal, right side without. looking at the drivers door handle down the door

[D&W]

Been working on a project this long weekend

I've done some small bits and pieces with paint before but never used bondo or anything like that... time to change that!

When I bought the car it always had a big chunk missing out of the side skirt, so annoying as these skirts are rare as hens teeth to find used. basically non existant. and a dealer skirt unpainted is about $700...no thanks.

removed skirt (wink wink)



see missing chunk, light sanding around edge



bought supplies



test cut a piece of paper to use as backing support - trial fit



cut from formable metal mesh







bondo'd up



start sanding




sanded smooth




shaped





came out looking like crap with primer



i went back in with spot filler and some careful sanding and got the lines looking much better - about 95% happy here



tomorrow ill come paint and clear then await a few new clips to arrive and refit

[D&W]

Today I did a final sanding on the primer with 600 grit

Painted it with Mercedes 744

Clear coated it - I still need to do some clearcoat buffing and then some polish and wax to finish it off but overall I am very happy with how this came out

A new skirt was $700 from the dealer unpainted and all said and done I'm into the project for $80 including materials / paint and some new mounting clips

BEFORE



AFTER - I was happy how I was able to match the factory lines how it kicks back in at the end, so when the light hits it, the highlights and shadows fall in the correct places - You will notice how the little bit at end is 'highlighted' due the the shape in this pic. Stoked. I ended up spraying about 1/3 of the skirt to blend it in smooth and it allowed me to cover over some other scratches it had at the same time



Will include some pics mounted on the car once it's back on

[TeckniX]

For having no experience at all it came out really nice. How did you paint it?

[martinm13]

That looks really good! I suck at bodywork.

[D&W]

For having no experience at all it came out really nice. How did you paint it?

thanks! i just used aerosol primer, paint and clear.

Ive painted a few small things before like skirts, bumper etc with cans and it's come out great so just used the same process this time

if you prepare well and take your time it comes out looking like factory paint

[SD202]

looking good ! I **** working with bondo. lol

[D&W]

Side Skirt is mounted back on the car - I had to buy some clips that broke during removal

Stoked on how it came out - you'd never know there used to be a big chunk missing out the back end of it

Total cost of materials/paint/clips around $60

[D&W]

Next Project: Matte Metallic Moonlight Vinyl Wrap

I've never really been a fan of Silver cars I think it's time to tackle a new project

After seeing matte finish viny's wraps around, they have always appealed to me in one respect, however don't think straight up MATTE would really suit my car, so as I learnt of Matte Metallic Vinyl's they really caught my eye.

As the car has Black/Navy leather I thought a Matte Metallic Navy would be a really good fit for the car, and I found Oracle has a color JUST like what I had imagined.

Here is the test piece I put on to see the color, I'm diggin it so next step is to buy the materials and get started, sometime in the next month or so, I predict it will be a gradual process of wrapping trim and body panel pieces so if I'm done by the end of January I'd be stoked

I think the color will really suit the chrome wheels/grill etc - included a pic of the seat so you can see why i am going for the dark blue

[Bystrov]

970RA is the way to go. way better than 1080 in my experience. Let me know if you need some help, i can give you my dealer if anything.

[D&W]

970RA is the way to go. way better than 1080 in my experience. Let me know if you need some help, i can give you my dealer if anything.

thats right you do this for a living!! I forgot! so the 1080 is the 3M stuff whats the 970? is that the Oracle?

[D&W]

oh yes, it is. well good to know, as Oracle is the only place ive found that does the color im after!

[rsingh3g]

That color is going to look dope

[D&W]

That color is going to look dope

thanks man, I was really happen when I came across it!

I just wanna order it already and get started haha, soon i will!