Mercedes-Benz 190E

Starting point

Under the motto that old love never rusts, a married couple treated their long-time companion, a Mercedes-Benz 190E, to the LZ 730 paint sealant. The car is finished in a single-component solid paint without clear coat. These paints need particular care: over the years the sun’s UV radiation had leached out the red colour pigments, and the top layer was chalking with white patches. Paint damage of this kind occurs mainly on modern classics and classic cars, since modern vehicles are finished with UV-resistant clear coats. We are often asked whether such paint can still be saved before a trip to the paint shop becomes necessary.

Work

Paints like this must be worked gently, and that takes time. The dead paint, visible as a dull, white, chalking layer, was removed carefully but abrasively. That cannot be done without some loss of paint. Step by step and with a great deal of material, the car revealed its original colour again, a rich red. Because a 1K solid paint does not stay that way for long after a conventional polish and the chalking continues, we applied our LZ 730 brilliance sealant in several coats. By filling the valleys in the paint surface, water and dirt particles can no longer take hold, and the paint becomes less sensitive to UV radiation.

Result

The Mercedes-Benz 190E shows its rich red again. There are projects whose result astonishes even us, and this is one of them. The sealant protects the colour pigments from chalking again.

Workshop archive, original report. Product details reflect the state at the time.