"I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly. I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky."
—Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway
Recently I was introduced to the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, described by the company as the successor to the SLR McLaren and a spiritual successor to the original 300SL Gullwing.
This car was only six months old and yet the leather driver's seat already had minor scuffing due to friction wear at the point of entry.
One of the main challenges of a job like this is getting the colour right. The leather upholstery in the SLS AMG is not just any old red; it is based on the original classic red of the seats in the 1954 300SL. As anyone involved in colour matching can appreciate, there is red, and then there is candy red, fire engine red, tomato soup red, wine red, and a myriad shades in between. On some jobs (as was the case with this one), I can spend more time on getting the colour right than on doing the actual repair. This is because the colour will look different under artificial light, natural light, and direct sunlight. The gull-wing door also cast a shadow over the work area, which added to the challenge. Therefore, I had to move the car a couple of times for examination purposes (and not just because I loved the howl of the 6.3L V8 and its throaty exhaust note), although I chose not to take up the owner's offer to "take it for a spin."
Once the colour was matched, it was a matter of masking off the affected area, preparing the damaged panel, applying the colour, blending it out, then applying the clear finish. When the car's owner turned up at the end of the day, he examined the seat and told me, "You have done a beautiful job!"
This car was only six months old and yet the leather driver's seat already had minor scuffing due to friction wear at the point of entry.
One of the main challenges of a job like this is getting the colour right. The leather upholstery in the SLS AMG is not just any old red; it is based on the original classic red of the seats in the 1954 300SL. As anyone involved in colour matching can appreciate, there is red, and then there is candy red, fire engine red, tomato soup red, wine red, and a myriad shades in between. On some jobs (as was the case with this one), I can spend more time on getting the colour right than on doing the actual repair. This is because the colour will look different under artificial light, natural light, and direct sunlight. The gull-wing door also cast a shadow over the work area, which added to the challenge. Therefore, I had to move the car a couple of times for examination purposes (and not just because I loved the howl of the 6.3L V8 and its throaty exhaust note), although I chose not to take up the owner's offer to "take it for a spin."
Once the colour was matched, it was a matter of masking off the affected area, preparing the damaged panel, applying the colour, blending it out, then applying the clear finish. When the car's owner turned up at the end of the day, he examined the seat and told me, "You have done a beautiful job!"
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