Greetings. Some context to begin...
My 500E has been in south Florida since I bought it on BaT roughly seven years ago. When I picked it up, I was disappointed that the clearcoat was crazed with hairline scratches throughout; apparently this is somewhat common in '90s German cars with the advent of water-based paint systems (as I understand it).
Since purchasing, I have been on a quest (think Holy Grail) to find a conscientious, trustworthy paint shop that would deliver a very high quality, long-lasting repaint. To be clear, I was willing to pay -- quality costs something and I am a firm believer in doing things 'right' the first time -- but the car would continue to be driven and seasonally enjoyed; it would never be be a garage queen, though snow and salt are verboten.
My search included conversations with MB Classic (very expensive), MBNA, MBCA members, friends I know in the car business, this forum, and searches that went as far west as Chicago, north to southern Wisconsin, to Vermont (where I live), Boston/New England and literally everywhere in between. There were many recommendations but most shops were focused on collision, and I feared a "collision mentality" when having a full repaint. Many of the ones that were classic car focused disqualified themselves for reasons I won't go into here. For six years I bugged Pierre, who does all of the mechanical work on my car, and he could not recommend anyone in Florida, let alone anywhere else...until late last year.
Pierre introduced me to a guy named David Forman of Forman Garage in Palm Harbor, FL (Tampa area). Pierre had two customers who had taken their cars to David and the results were very good, good enough for him to suggest I contact David.
On March 4th, the car and I showed up at David's. There was no visible rust except a small bit on the surface near the passenger-side front corner of the sunroof. David and I had a fulsome discussion of the process and his recommendations: We were going down to bare metal (do it right) and the front/rear glass was coming out...David came up with an estimate, along with the usual caveats. We shook hands and I left my car with him. And, to be clear, we had spoken on the phone a few times before I stopped by and dropped off the car.
From the start, my definition of the "ideal" body person (or mechanic, or employee, etc.) would reflect these traits: 1. Super conscientious 2. A perfectionist mentality 3. Pride in one's work and 4. Attention to detail x100. David hit every one of these areas squarely on the head. Frankly, I could not have asked for anyone better -- period. Full Stop. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have been introduced to him.
Below is a photo journey of the process. One thing that came up as a cloud (with a silver lining) was rust that I did not even dream was there. I'm the third owner, and the first one (CEO of a well-known company) lived in Cleveland but spent winters in AZ -- the car was in a climate controlled garage while he was away; the second owner (a physician) lived in temperate North Carolina. Didn't matter. You'll see rust that appeared/destroyed the driver-side accumulator bracket, and appeared around the rear window thanks to a ham-fisted replacement (we think) by a previous owner. There's more, but in small doses, thankfully. The silver lining: David is an insanely talented welder, and very well educated on our cars. He knows that the metallurgical properties vary depending upon the part of the car we were dealing with, so he made sure to match those qualities/properties with each area he treated. How? He found MB parts with matching metals at a salvage yard and applied them to the corresponding areas. In the case of the accumulator, the bracket was so far gone he had to re-fashion a new one. You'll see that below. While I am not a welding expert by any stretch, I have friends who are and they spoke highly of his craftsmanship.
You'll see that we added weep holes to the bottom of the rocker panels behind each front wheel to avoid any sitting water/elements in the future. It was clearly a design flaw not to have them in the first place, IMHO.
Thanks for getting through a long pre-amble but I thought it was important to create context. Right now the car is getting PPF applied to the front end, including the (insanely valuable) headlights, full hood, mirrors and rocker panels down the length of the car. For those that are interested, Auto Paint Guard in Tampa is doing that work, and will add a ceramic coating to all surfaces when I'm back in a month or so. Yes, Pierre recommended them and so did a number of other people I know/trust in the area.
Finally, thanks to all of those on this forum who helped me out, especially Dave and Gerry; Pierre and his right hand man Jesse, who was valiant in procuring/delivering parts and advice; and of course to David Forman who made it all work just as I had dreamed. And before anyone asks, I have zero affiliation or commercial connection with anyone mentioned other than being a full-paying customer. I do, however, like to promote great work -- which is rare these days -- and David certainly deserves it, as does Pierre.
While not clear from a distance, one can really see the crazing in the clearcoat on top of the trunk and below the C-pillar/sail.
Areas of rust (below)...
The last shot (on the right) shows some of the issues we had around the rear window.
Below are shots of the driver-side brake accumulator as we found it. In the first shot (on the left), you can see David's hand/blue glove holding the front rocker and all of the debris that was accumulated in it, hence our weep hole additions (a picture is farther down the page).
New rocker attachment, accumulator bracket, etc., below. The last shot is of it dry-fitted before final assembly.
And the weep holes we added to the forward rockers...
Rear window rust below, and it's repair afterward...
Body sanding, prep-prep and more prep, etc.
And voila! Pictures from this past Sunday when I picked it up. It was harsh, midday sun so detail is missing is some shots, but trust me, David's work speaks for itself and I was over the moon.
My 500E has been in south Florida since I bought it on BaT roughly seven years ago. When I picked it up, I was disappointed that the clearcoat was crazed with hairline scratches throughout; apparently this is somewhat common in '90s German cars with the advent of water-based paint systems (as I understand it).
Since purchasing, I have been on a quest (think Holy Grail) to find a conscientious, trustworthy paint shop that would deliver a very high quality, long-lasting repaint. To be clear, I was willing to pay -- quality costs something and I am a firm believer in doing things 'right' the first time -- but the car would continue to be driven and seasonally enjoyed; it would never be be a garage queen, though snow and salt are verboten.
My search included conversations with MB Classic (very expensive), MBNA, MBCA members, friends I know in the car business, this forum, and searches that went as far west as Chicago, north to southern Wisconsin, to Vermont (where I live), Boston/New England and literally everywhere in between. There were many recommendations but most shops were focused on collision, and I feared a "collision mentality" when having a full repaint. Many of the ones that were classic car focused disqualified themselves for reasons I won't go into here. For six years I bugged Pierre, who does all of the mechanical work on my car, and he could not recommend anyone in Florida, let alone anywhere else...until late last year.
Pierre introduced me to a guy named David Forman of Forman Garage in Palm Harbor, FL (Tampa area). Pierre had two customers who had taken their cars to David and the results were very good, good enough for him to suggest I contact David.
On March 4th, the car and I showed up at David's. There was no visible rust except a small bit on the surface near the passenger-side front corner of the sunroof. David and I had a fulsome discussion of the process and his recommendations: We were going down to bare metal (do it right) and the front/rear glass was coming out...David came up with an estimate, along with the usual caveats. We shook hands and I left my car with him. And, to be clear, we had spoken on the phone a few times before I stopped by and dropped off the car.
From the start, my definition of the "ideal" body person (or mechanic, or employee, etc.) would reflect these traits: 1. Super conscientious 2. A perfectionist mentality 3. Pride in one's work and 4. Attention to detail x100. David hit every one of these areas squarely on the head. Frankly, I could not have asked for anyone better -- period. Full Stop. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have been introduced to him.
Below is a photo journey of the process. One thing that came up as a cloud (with a silver lining) was rust that I did not even dream was there. I'm the third owner, and the first one (CEO of a well-known company) lived in Cleveland but spent winters in AZ -- the car was in a climate controlled garage while he was away; the second owner (a physician) lived in temperate North Carolina. Didn't matter. You'll see rust that appeared/destroyed the driver-side accumulator bracket, and appeared around the rear window thanks to a ham-fisted replacement (we think) by a previous owner. There's more, but in small doses, thankfully. The silver lining: David is an insanely talented welder, and very well educated on our cars. He knows that the metallurgical properties vary depending upon the part of the car we were dealing with, so he made sure to match those qualities/properties with each area he treated. How? He found MB parts with matching metals at a salvage yard and applied them to the corresponding areas. In the case of the accumulator, the bracket was so far gone he had to re-fashion a new one. You'll see that below. While I am not a welding expert by any stretch, I have friends who are and they spoke highly of his craftsmanship.
You'll see that we added weep holes to the bottom of the rocker panels behind each front wheel to avoid any sitting water/elements in the future. It was clearly a design flaw not to have them in the first place, IMHO.
Thanks for getting through a long pre-amble but I thought it was important to create context. Right now the car is getting PPF applied to the front end, including the (insanely valuable) headlights, full hood, mirrors and rocker panels down the length of the car. For those that are interested, Auto Paint Guard in Tampa is doing that work, and will add a ceramic coating to all surfaces when I'm back in a month or so. Yes, Pierre recommended them and so did a number of other people I know/trust in the area.
Finally, thanks to all of those on this forum who helped me out, especially Dave and Gerry; Pierre and his right hand man Jesse, who was valiant in procuring/delivering parts and advice; and of course to David Forman who made it all work just as I had dreamed. And before anyone asks, I have zero affiliation or commercial connection with anyone mentioned other than being a full-paying customer. I do, however, like to promote great work -- which is rare these days -- and David certainly deserves it, as does Pierre.
While not clear from a distance, one can really see the crazing in the clearcoat on top of the trunk and below the C-pillar/sail.
Areas of rust (below)...
The last shot (on the right) shows some of the issues we had around the rear window.
Below are shots of the driver-side brake accumulator as we found it. In the first shot (on the left), you can see David's hand/blue glove holding the front rocker and all of the debris that was accumulated in it, hence our weep hole additions (a picture is farther down the page).
New rocker attachment, accumulator bracket, etc., below. The last shot is of it dry-fitted before final assembly.
And the weep holes we added to the forward rockers...
Rear window rust below, and it's repair afterward...
Body sanding, prep-prep and more prep, etc.
And voila! Pictures from this past Sunday when I picked it up. It was harsh, midday sun so detail is missing is some shots, but trust me, David's work speaks for itself and I was over the moon.
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