July 25, 2006

After reading Part 1 and Part 2 of the 190SL paint process earlier in the year, you may have been wondering where part 3 was. Were we still working on this car 4 months after it was in primer? Are we a lame shop that can‘t get a job done on time? No sir! That green 190SL was finished in mid-May and would have been on the ourSL Tour had the owner not had prior commitments. I simply hadn't the chance to finish the article.

We had numerous emails from readers after the first 2 segments and one asked why we did not simply replace the poorly repaired right front fender with a new item. I gave an incomplete answer that related mostly to labor time comparisons between a repair and replacement. In reality the overriding concern was to preserve the original spot welds used by the factory to attach the front fenders to the inner aprons. If we replaced the fender we would have destroyed these original welds and been hard pressed to duplicate them. When I inspect a 190SL for possible purchase, I check fender spot welds first. Original factory spot welds on any pre 1972 SL make me happy.

I should also mention that when I refer to “we” in reference to the painting process I should actually be crediting Charlie Potts and California Classics, the company I share my facility with. If you need any SL cosmetic issues taken care of call Charlie Potts @ 650-579-1275. He has prepared numerous Pebble Beach winners over the years.

Part 2 ended with the SL in primer. In an effort to allow all the materials to adequately cure before any color was applied, the car was put aside for almost 2 weeks. Not allowing the primer to cure could cause “dieback”, a situation where some of the color is absorbed by the primer thus diminishing the overall appearance. We also wanted any material shrinkage to occur before color was applied.

Primed and block sanded prior to masking and painting.	Water on freshly blocked primer gives an idea of panel quality.	Final tweaking before paint.

Once we were happy with the finish of the primer and after a final round of block sanding, the tedious task of completely masking the car began. Because the car was painted with hood, doors and deck lid removed, the challenge here was not to allow any trace of color to blow into any nook or cranny. This car wasn't going to Pebble Beach but we always make sure the final product is crisp with zero overspray. The masking can take a full day in itself.

With the car in the booth the painter applied about a mixed gallon of color over a 2 hour period of time. A further hour was required to apply the clear coat. Interestingly, the freshly applied paint looked absolutely off due to the artificial lighting in the paint booth. The doors, hood and deck lid were painted separately.

Peering into the booth after color application. Note careful masking.	Final color sanding begins.	Paint depth and gloss emerges!

Even though our state of the art equipment uses force dried curing, we have found that allowing the finished product to sit a week prior to color sanding and polishing gives us the best results. The arm numbing color sanding and polishing will take a further 2 days and then it's down to careful final assembly. Any rubber seal that goes back on the car is new and every piece of chrome is cleaned carefully before being installed. Nothing betrays a nice paint finish than dry/cracked soft rubber or grungy chrome trim items.

Ready for reassembly!	Carefully hanging the doors.	External brightwork going on.

These detail items add $500 to the cost of the job but really allow the car to glow. Crisp is the word we use.

Perfect door jamb!	Hood alignment critical.	Nose edge masked just in case.

We took our time with the reassembly as obviously we didn't need to damage any of the fresh paint surfaces. Installing the hood had the most risk of chipped paint so this was done very carefully with vulnerable sections taped just in case we touched a hood edge to the perimeter coachwork. This final assembly is always the most rewarding aspect of the job as you see the completed car emerge after months of looking quite sad. Our green SL positively glowed once the assembly was complete and its owner's faces glowed as well upon seeing the finished product!

Ready for summer touring!