A Blur of Yellow...

So amongst all these jobs the past month we have had one mainstay. Our project 2010 MB Wald CL makeover. Originally approached in May about the job, we had many discussions and absolutely horrid Photoshop examples (I really need to take some courses in PS) sent between us trying to determine a style he would like to go with on his CL. By early June, we had decided and arranged a drop off date to get going.

 
  original matte black paint scheme on the Wald kit...

 can see some of the haziness and blotching in the matte paint here...

This was no normal CL550. Our client had already spared no expense in modifying his CL. He had it sent out to Wald Tuning in California to install their Black Bison bodykit and custom paint the entire vehicle in matte black. To say it looked aggressive was an understatement. But as usual, with matte paint in the Boston region, it is going to get stained, scratched, and just look blotchy at certain angles. He wanted a new look and something completely different from the stealth look. After a few weeks of discussion, he decided on a matte yellow color scheme. In addition to the color change, we also decided to tint the vehicle, tint the taillights, repair the chipping exhaust tips, paint the wheels, and repair some of the factory radar assisted controls of the distronic cruise control, parktronic, and blind spot assist warning sensors that were not operating properly.

The first project we took on was the initial vinyl wrap. We cleaned and prepped the vehicle for vinyl, but because of the matte paint scheme, we could not clay or use any polishes on the vehicle to remove contaminants. To get around this issue, we used a citrus based paint safe cleanser from Optimum and P21S to try and strip as much contaminants as possible.

We first started with the rear bumper and other factory stock panels on the vehicle to get a groove going. Things were going quite smoothly until we realized how hard the Wald panels were going to be wrapped. They were not removable as they are epoxied into the vehicle. This meant we would have to use multiple pieces to wrap them as a one piece vinyl would lift and rip if we tried to stretch in that much.

cleaned and ready for vinyl...

matte yellow quite a stark contrast to the matte black...

trunk and bumper taking shape...

After getting through the rear panels, we moved onto the front fenders which as suspected, were very difficult. We had to lay some under pieces around the Wald vents in the side and top of the fender to allow us more tolerance when wrapping the entire piece. These under pieces ensure full coverage and allow us to cut and manipulate the large sheet used for the entire fender around those ridges and raised vents.

as always, using cutting tape to ensure no knives touch the paint...

a little Bruins love as they were beginning their Stanley Cup series against the Blackhawks...

these vents required two piece vinyling...

Again, due to the Wald kit, we used multiple pieces to wrap the front lower bumper...

After finishing up the front end, we received the wheels back from the paint shop. All scratches, chips, bends repaired and powder coated in satin black to match the highlights that would be left in black on the car. This also allowed us to get the vehicle on the ground again and wrap the side panels with lift posts being in the way.

rear quarter panel being applied, always cool to see...

 

door panel all finished up and ready to attack to roof...

 

At this point we needed to decide on the secondary color to add to the vehicle. The client had told us he did not want your typical yellow and black scheme, so we went a bit different and decided to use matte dark grey to the vehicle trim and roof to provide a nice contrast...

 quite a classy contrast between the colors. The rear roof spoiler still waiting to be wrapped...

 

 Grey accents added to the fenders and all Wald emblems on every panel...

Grille and front bumper grey inserts installed...

After finishing the vinyl, we sent the car over to our friends at Solar Solutions Tinting to have the windows tinted. We decided upon a legal 35% film to provide a nice contrast to the bright yellow wrap.

 

very nice contrast added with the tinted windows...

With the windows tinted and tail lights all done.  We focused in on the exhaust tips. They had been chipping paint off due to wear and tear, so we decided to completely strip, sand, prep, and repaint them all. 

exhaust tips looking ragged...

anatomy of exhaust repair...

Finally it was time to add some final touches such as matte grey highlights and yellow time attack stripes on the wheels. After which, we got a look at the final product...

Quite an amazing transformation to be honest. While the color may not be to everyone's taste, it completely hit the mark for our client's wishes. We are all quite pleased with the outcome and contrast provided by the dark grey and matte black inserts. While the matte black paint looked menacing, it also lost a lot of the vehicles lines and highlights that this yellow really brings out. The longer you look at it, the more details you pick up.