Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => Photo Gallery => Topic started by: mmizesko on January 16, 2014, 00:55:59
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Hi folks,
Thought I'd share a peek at my naked 70 280SL. Sans Chrome, windshield, Tops, wood, tach, speedo, radio, glovebox and door panels. Will have it down to bare metal in a week. The paint shop owner is enthusiastic about it, which helps a lot. Joe A. and I stripped it in the paint shop which saved a ton of time. Will send updates as they occur.
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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Great project. I wan't to do the same to my car. The condition seems very similar even if difficult to state without a proper look.
Are you doing also the floors?
As said, I want to do the same and most probably will do it in December 2014. Do you know how long it will take a indicatively the cost?
In the UK I have been quoted something like GBP 7000 for a proper job. I found it maybe a bit tooo expensive. Attached some photos of my car
thanks
Filippo
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FillipoShould take 3 months. Stripping all the lacquer off down to bare metal. then fixing all the dents and dings. The base coat and 2-3 clear coats. Should cost $7-8,000 US, +/- $1000. We are handling all the chrome, so it hopefully could be less by $1-2k, but I won't know until they have all the paint and primer off. The new windshield and rubber for doors/trunk, soft top hatch will be another $1,000. I have to decide about the leather replacement on the boot cover and the dash and the wood refinish, (another $1,000). So I guess I'm well over $10k. Didn't mention the tach and speedo refurb and radio refurb, right hand side mirror, and some side trim pieces, and new headlight door and trunk mat......
Oh Hell, I'm having an anxiety attack.
I am holding off on the carpet for now, and the door panels and pillar covers, as they look good enough for now. Maybe next year.
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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Mike,
So you think the chrome will come in around $2K for the lot, bumpers, grille, etc?
If so, that's a pretty amazing price.
JH
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James
No, the chrome is in great shape and in my garage. We just need to screw it back on. I do need to find some stainless screws for the side chrome though, and some new blue clips.
Mike
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We thought the chrome and stuff we had to take off had less of a chance of getting lost if we kept them out of the body shop.....
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I see. I'm looking at getting my rear bumpers and possibly the grille redone in Germany and the prices vary, but are all around 1200-1500 euros. That said, these are supposed to be the best guys in Germany, although even the less good ones seem to charge the same price.
My bumpers have a few dings, and the grille needs a little work, but nothing vast.
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thanks. Pricings seem very similar apart from the currecy convertions......
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Even Nakeder!
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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These are great pics.
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Thanks Kevin,
You ready for another project?
Mike
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More 113 nudie pics?
not sure if people are interested in these. I'm documenting for the guys doing the work too.
Mike
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Great photos Mike, Keep them coming.
Are you going to take the engine out for an engine bay respray ;)
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I think the nudes in here are much sexier than that other grubby thread that everyone seems to be ogling at the moment :D
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Garry,
I'm going to leave the bay alone for now. Back in the day, I think someone sprayed the whole bay with a varnish of some kind. Been using thinner on the intake and some of the bakalite and it's improving. I'm going to have them spray the bay with thinner and then powerwash. If that doesn't improve things, then that may be next year's project.
Mike
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As a friend said to me once on my 280Sl, if you dont pull the engine you will forever be regretting it and it will be the one item that grates on you after you have done all the exterior.
He was right so the first thing I did with my 230SL was to do the engine bay. Best decision I have taken on the car.
Garry
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I think Garry is entirely right. Given where you are with your car, a few hours spent removing the engine would seem to be time we'll spent in the long run. Removing the engine isn't too hard.
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I hear you guys, but that ship has sailed. I've decided to come back to it in a year or two. Getting it back to Joe's at this point to remove the engine and trailering it back to the paint shop, and back to Joe's again will foul up the project. And it is running so well that I don't want to mess with it right now. When I "detail" the bay, I'll clean up the engine, paint the exhaust manifolds, mask off the rest of the car, and have my painter spray the bay. I'll have more energy for it at a later date. If I do it all now, there won't be anything to play with later..... ;)
But I appreciate the advice. Noted.
I am going to cad up the fuel lines while it is down there, however.
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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In the early 70's, detailers and used car dealers (in California anyway) were spaying the entire engine bay with clear from spray cans. It was abit garish and within a year it started yellowing. They sprayed everything, hoses, chrome, wires... I bought a dodge dart for my wife where it didmn't matter, but I saw at least one w113 completely clear coated. Fortunately the fad didn't last long.
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The one thing I wouldn't bother to do is paint the exhaust manifolds. Despite knowing I'm about to be contradicted, I've never seen that job produce a result that lasted much more than a few months on regularly used car. Some folk have had success with ceramic coating, I've read.
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James,
I just hate that Leprosy look of the cast iron under such beautiful intake manifolds. (apologies to any members afflicted with same).
Mike
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James and Mike,
the job can look good a bit longer than just a few months. In my case about 4-5 years or 20K miles. :)
BUT you must follow the instructions very closely. After cleaning the exhaust manifolds (media blasting?) make sure they are free of grease then use VHT ceramic paint and cure the paint as described http://www.vhtpaint.com/products/flameproof/:
Off the Vehicle
Paint must be completely dry before curing
Heat to 250°F (121°C) for 30 minutes
Cool for 30 minutes
Heat to 400°F (204°C) for 30 minutes
Cool for 30 minutes
Heat to 650°F (343°C ) for 30 minutes
Caution: Do not exceed the temperature of the least heat tolerant component or the base metal
I used a gas grill for curing and measured the temperature of the manifold using a tele-thermometer.
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I knew that would happen! ;D
I've never had any luck with those applications, but Alfred's process sends suitably thorough.
When you remove the manifolds for painting there are a lot of other jobs you can do around that side of the engine to tart it up a bit. Just give the bolts a really, really good soaking for a few days in Plus Gas or similar and they'll come out like a charm. You'll need a new manifold gasket.
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Hi Mike,
key thing is... are you going to be ready in time to drive her in the summer?
More seriously, you mention that you hope to detail the engine bay in the future. Do you think you can mask off all the mechanical bits and still get at the engine bay without pulling everything out? I'm facing the same situation. With the rebuilt engine running so well, it seems like a waste to spend money to pull it. But I kind of took it for granted that the engine must be pulled so that the engine bay can be made to look pretty. Am I missing an opportunity?
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Peter,
I don't think I would do it by masking. I'd probably pull the engine back to the tranny, and remove every hose, line, and wire. That's why I wasn't anxious to do it in this project, as it would add a couple of months to the project. I put 9,000 miles on her last summer and anticipate the same this year. I hope to have her back on her feet by May 1. The painter said he would powerwash the bay before she leaves, so we'll have to foil off the alternator and electrical components. I think we'll us a lacquer thinner brushed on before we blow it, to get that old spray varnish off. I'll let you know how that works.
Mike
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More Pagoda Porn!
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Here are some new pics. In 1971, The front left fender was replaced, and whomever did it, did a crappy job. They riveted a patch behind the headlight door and bondo'd over it with no undercoating, so the water wicked back underneath and caused the bondo and paint to crack off after 40+ years. Here's a before and after being fixed the right way. Also a fun welding pic of me welding the rivet holes in the door for the chrome trim (not the lower clip holes) and the upper rubber chrome aftermarket trim someone put on years ago. (just kidding, not me)
Mike Mizesko
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Joe Alexander and I took the fuel lines and plated parts off the engine today. Making progress.
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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Found some rot behind drivers side wheelwells and rear tail. Brian Hoover does a great job of cutting and replacing metal and making it look great.
Mike
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Found a creepy friend (desiccated mouse skeleton) up in the driver front fender. Must have been up there for at least 5 years as a passenger. Bates motel..... :o
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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Getting closer. Should be done by April.
Sent off the fuel lines for cad plating, ordering stainless screws and a bunch of other parts. Not doing dash leather this year. Something to work on next year.
some rot in the lower tail panel. Using a patch panel from K&K in Michigan, rather than having Brian have to re-fabricate all those curves.
Primed the rear right quarter, doors and trunk lid are primed and wet sanded, Front Drivers fender is almost done as well.
Didn't do a full tear down on the hardtop, but came out great.
Autobody Specialists here in Columbus is a great shop to work with. Their people are happy and eager to work on the car, and it shows in the quality.
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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Mike,
Are you keeping the original paint 291H Dark Olive? At one point the pictures were not giving any indication :) I find Pagodas in that color very attractive.
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I've decided to keep the silver and pink and blue, with a little primer and 3 clearcoats... ;D
Yup, Keeping the 291H Dark Olive. It is the reason i bought the car in the first place.
I coveted this car as a teenager growing up in NY on Long Island. A red one on the North Shore kept my attention as I would try to find it after seeing it a couple of times. I also fell in love with a Jaguar XKE in British Racing Green I'd seen at a dealership there.
After my Dodge Challenger, an education and a few years of a career, I test drove an 1969 XKE, (it was white), and I couldn't get this old shotput and discus thrower body to fit. My head popped over the windscreen, and I couldn't get out of the thing. The car rattled and didn't run well at all.
But I still loved the BRG color. So when I finally got to the point when the kids went off to college, I stumbled across a Dark Olive one in my own backyard (here in Columbus), that had spent 30 years in Washington DC and South Carolina. I'm still picking pine needles out of the air vents.
It was robust, with little rust (that I could see) and a good drivetrain. It had been hit in the first year of its life in the front right fender, so I knew it had some work done. I did find a Hypodermic needle under the passenger seat, which may have played a role in the accident..... The son of the prior owner had brought it up to Columbus after his mother's passing, and started to restore it. He sent the heads off to California to be reworked, replaced the tie rods, subframe components, fuel injectors, lines, and pump, and took care of the smoking engine. It did leak a lot of oil though. Because of the leak, the engine bay was coated with blown oil, which was a bear to clean off. To make matters worse, the engin had been sprayed with a lacquer, which made a mess over the years. After a bunch of thinner, we cleaned up the engine a bunch.
Joe Alexander and I changed every seal in the engine, and all the mounts, etc, and he got it running superbly. Then, I replaced the cracked seat leather, pads, and the canvas top, bought new whitewalls, and drove it 9,000 miles last summer. Took it to the PGA championship at Oak Hill, and up to Michigan. I also bought a hardtop (w/ rear defroster) and a becker stereo europa to replace the mono europa, and even found a Kaco trouble light in Germany to buy. pulled the dash apart and had the tach and speedo serviced, sent the radio off to becker to be serviced (my am would cut out), and finally put in LED's in the dash to brighten it.
Next was the exterior paint. Which is where I am today.
After this comes the dash and side leather, and new carpeting.
No hurry though, as I don't want to finish too soon, as I need to have something to do with it, lest my eye stray to another vixen, like a 1958 Imperial with Fins and a Hemi.
Sorry I rambled, but a good Cabernet will do that sometimes.
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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The body shop has been busy with this winter's road casualties here in Ohio, but we're getting closer to completion. Soft top frame TIG welding is finished, and the lower tail panel was replaced (including fresh spot welds), and the front notches are back. That's it for the major body work, except getting some dents out of the aluminum soft top hatch. A week or two out from final paint. In the next week, we'll reassemble the soft top frame section, and put the newly cadmium plated fuel lines and linkages back in the engine bay.
The weather is getting nice........
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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Wow. Big job. Nice work!
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Hi Mike,
Just curious, how did they put the notches back? Did they remove the old body filler? If not, what did use for references and dimensions?
Alex
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Alex,
The notches were sanded out in 1971. All the prior body filler and primer was removed from the whole car. They simply added some material like they would have back then, (not lead). We used pics from Motoring investments, and I took measurements from other cars (3/4" in length).
Mike
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OK. She's primed and ready for a week of wet sanding. Close to painting.
The we put the fuel lines and linkages back on (yellow cad), windshield, chrome trim, and put the dash back together.
30 days? It's 81 degrees today and I'm ready to drive her.
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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I am so Psyched. A week away from rolling her out in the sun. Here is the hood and trunk lid. ready to rock.
Mike
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Hi Mike,
Once you're rolling, feel like making a trip and getting together? I would really love to take a close look at the end result and chat with you about the issues, because my SL needs similar attention soon. We could meet at Dan's, if you can cross the border, or I could cross the border if there's a convenient way to avoid Detroit. There's a ferry right near Dan's shop that's much nicer than the big bridges. Maybe Michael S or Ken O could join us and make a dinner out of it.
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Peter,
I've got a son in East Lansing, so a Detroit stop might work. May have to wait till sept though. Taking it east into PA this summer for a Golf weekend with some old buddies (buddies I've known for a while, and yes, we are old!).
Thanks for reaching out.
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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Taking it east into PA this summer for a Golf weekend...
Where will you put the clubs??? ???
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Mike,
Clubs fit fine in the trunk. (I don't have one of those five foot putters that are about to be illegal).
Here are pics from this morning. So close...
Just paint the rockers, black grille between chrome and radiator, and air intake cowling.
Then comes a couple of weeks of putting it back together.
Mike
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Here are pics from this morning. So close...
When my car was restored, it was about 6 months from when it was in the same condition as yours, until I drove it home. I hope whoever is putting yours together works faster! Sometimes these projects are maddeningly slow, especially when they appear so close...
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I've got Joe Alexander 5 miles away....... I think he wants to see it finished as much as I do.
But, I know it will take longer than I think....
Mike
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Hi, no doubt removing the engine is the way to go if you have plenty of time and money, however I have cleaned up and resprayed quite a bit of my enginebay with the engine in-situ, with pretty good results. I couldn't really get to a lot of the engine block itself however. Also I wanted to get the enginebay back up to where the rest of the car was, not concours.
I removed the entire brake mastercylinder/booster, the air cleaner, the air intake manfold but not the exhaust manifold. Removed the radiator, water pump, coolant reservoir etc and the front grille. The battery and all the support for it plus all the fuel lines to the injectors plus the alternator. The bulkhead was in quite good condtion from a previous repaint. I used a spray can with etch primer after cleaning, degreasing, and sanding back, and then had some of the original paint the previous owner had kept put into a spray can and gradually worked my way round the engine bay.
The brake booster, air cleaner body and coolant reservoir were also done with matt black. The manifold etc were beadblasted and treated and the appropriate parts cleaned and gold passivated.
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Rutger,
Absolutely Beautiful Bay! I didn't go that far, but am thrilled with where the car is, vs. where it was when I started a little over a year ago.
When Joe and I are finished with it, I'll post some more pics. I'm saving leather dash, door panels, carpeting, and engine bay for over the next few years to tackle. For now, I'm just going to drive her and enjoy!
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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Put cad plated fuel lines and linkages back in wednesday. just waiting for the windshield and final rub out on the car. then put chrome back in.
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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I think we'll be driving it home next week...
Paint looks like glass... Especially in the sunlight.
Mike
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very nice... I like the 291H Dark Olive very much and think personally that it's one of the most Pagoda-suitable paints.
Have actually one item I bought in that color and noticed how different it can render depending on light conditions.
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Almost done with the body/paint part of the job. Brian Hoover from Autobody Specialists here in Columbus has been a joy to work with. He loves what he does and it shows. Couldn't be more thrilled.
Next Stop, Joe's Garage (not the Frank Zappa song...).
Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH
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Drove her out to Joe A's last Monday. She ran great! Spent about 3 hours re-assembling the soft top frame after welding, and securing/adjusting the soft top in the well. Then another 3 hours re-drilling holes for side chrome trim after we welded them (before the paint job) shut because the holes were too big (prior owner had them riveted). Drivers side totally done, driver door inside totally together. All that's left is the passenger side molding (and clips), installing the wood on the dash, and putting the tach/speedo, radio and glovebox back in. Also a new RHS mirror. We're putting LED's in the dash, and used stainless spec screws for the side chrome (Thanks Alfred and Dave Gallon), and all those blue and yellow and white clips (including the metal stays that are pointy) on the bottom side trim row. Another 6 hours or so and I think we're done.
Sorry, no pics today.
Mike
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Tsk, tsk,tsk, Mike - you will never be "done" with a Pagoda…..
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With all due respect to Johnny B, I think I have done as much as I want to do this year (except for the shifter gate and bushings, new side mirror glass, a rumbling heat shield, .....) OK Johnny B, you may be right. The project came out great. Final pics are below. I want to thank all the folks who helped me with decisions and information. Alex D, Alfred E, Jack J, Mike S, Dave Gallon, Kevin C, and Locally, Paul Paniccia, My extraordinary Body shop guy Brian Hoover and his wife Neva, and most of all, one of the most benevolent souls on this earth, a man I have come to know as my friend, Joe Alexander.
Now please excuse me, I have to go drive.....
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Wonderful. You look like a proud "dad" after long labor. Well done. Enjoy the baby.
Looks fantastic.
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Beautiful car.
I'm partial to Dark Olive, the color of my 114... 32 years ago!
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And you even got a picture of Joe A with a smile (almost) on his face, perhaps you may be "done" with your Pagoda....!!
Looking forward to meeting up with the current steward of "PAGODA" in Ohio at PUB in 2015.
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Looks fabulous, just love the Dark Olive. I miss my Dark Olive 280Sl 5 speed (its now 350H Blue).
And I can see why there is a smile on JA’s face.
Garry
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... Joe A with a smile (almost) on his face .....
Perhaps not a complete smile but certainly a proud expression.
CONGRATS to both of you!