Is the Modern Clear Coat Paint Really Better than the old stuff? PART 1

We recently worked on an older Mercedes SL for a Portland businessman who was looking to sell it.  It was an 86 380 SL that had been pretty neglected and reminded me of all the old stories one hears in automotive lore about the proverbial "barn find".  (You know, where the story teller claims the old farm lady widow was finally selling her sons FIAT that had been in the barn since he went off to war and it turns out to be a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa!!!)

The Mercedes had cobwebs all over it and looked to have been sitting in the same place for years.  When we got there it was hooked up to a battery charger (the battery is in the trunk on the old SL's!) and we were sure it wouldn't start.  It was covered in dirt and in some cases mud and at least one entire body panel was completely flat as if all the clear coat was gone.)  I almost stopped and called the owner right there and offered to leave without charging him anything.  It was that daunting.  The interior wasn't in great shape either but I want to focus on the exterior in this post.

We cleaned the car to get an idea of what we were dealing with.  The paint really looked dull and awful in many places.  I didn't think there was much I could do to the panels that were completely flat, but I gave it a shot.  Using a simple retail scratch remover/compound, I sprayed the rear trunk panel down with water and started buffing with a 3M waffle pad.  I could not believe it but the dang thing looked amazing within 30 seconds of buffing.  When I looked at my pad it was covered in blue paint.

This was not a modern clear coat paint.  This was a hand-painted enamel paint and a very, very good one.  We buffed that whole car and it looked like a different machine when it was done.  I have to say it was one of the best paints I have ever seen from the factory.  It was far easier to an amazing result with this old enamel paint than it is with modern clear coats.  So why did factories go from this two stage method to the current three stage method?  A lot of reasons boil down to environmental regulations and enforcement.  The old paints used lead in their makeup which became a big no-no for the environmental groups and ultimately the old lead based enamels and laquer paints were phased out.  There are some other reasons which we will cover in part 2 of this post.  Check out all of our recent work at http://www.blmmobiledetail.com

The 1986 Mercedes SL with after market O.Z. Rims