1979 Mercedes 450SEL 6.9 Oxidisation Treatment

A car that probably needs no introduction for car fanatics. The Mercedes 450SEL 6.9 made famous by the film Ronin starring Robert De Niro! A real piece of automotive history and engineering – now 1 of 26 road worthy examples left in the country!

The job was nice and local in Buckinghamshire on a scorching day – the plan was to enhance the paintwork via a 1-step machine polish to remove the oxidisation (especially on the “top” panels: bonnet, boot, roof). This ended up becoming a 2-step cut and refine on these panels, whilst the rest of the car received a 1-step enhancement.

The package performed on this vehicle was Gold.

On Arrival

Looking ok, relatively clean just very dull in places!

Closer Inspection

Oxidised & lifeless bonnet… as was the case with other areas on the vehicle:

Plus the expected swirl marks:

First up were the alloy wheels.

Alloys Before

These were treated with an APC, followed by a wheel sealant later in the detail – tyres & arches were also treated.

Alloys After

The vehicle then received the standard Refined Details wash process including the 2 bucket method and snow foam:

Nooks & crannies agitated:

Once washed and dried it was time to clay the vehicle to remove any bonded contaminants before machine polishing:

Not to bad considering the age of the vehicle!

Correction Process

Door 50/50:

Bonnet 50/50:

Bonnet After:

3/4 Panel/Boot 50/50:

Once the machine polishing was complete it was time to add the finishing touches. The vehicle was protected with Valentines Concours Wax, plus the chromework, glasswork and plastics/rubbers were treated.

The Results

Before

After

Thank you for looking and reading as always… A real pleasure to get the opportunity to work upon such an iconic vehicle of the late 70s and early 80s!