Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => General Discussion => Topic started by: cfm65@me.com on April 27, 2016, 05:12:46
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Hi Gents,
I am missing the VIN plate on my 67 250 SL. Many years ago I got new ones for a few 190SLs that I restored.
Does anyone know how to go about getting a new one?
Regards
Chris
Cape Town
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Chris,
There is a member of our Group who lives in Western Australia that made very good replicas of the vin plate. His handle is DaveB. Maybe send him a PM.
Or as an alternative maybe these people do the vin place as well
http://www.pagode-markt.de/
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TKS Gary,
Regards
Chris
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Hi Gents,
I am still looking for someone who sells repo VIN plates. I have the original registration as well as the original paint plate but the painter lost the VIN Plate.
Regards
Chris
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Did you take up Garry's suggestion?
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Hi Eric,
Yep, DaveB, says he doesn't do them, gave me CraigS, who hasnt come back to me in two weeks. Might have the wrong guy?
Pagoda Markt makes them at a price, but I was hoping to get more leads.
Regards
Chris
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You might try the Classic Center or this e-bay listing for a reproduction. You would have to stamp your own numbers
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-W113-230SL-250SL-280SL-Pagoda-1963-1971-Car-Type-Plate-New-/162037866590?nav=SEARCH
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TKS Tyler,
I'll check with them as well. Tks for your input.
Regards
Chris
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Chris,
Yes my mistake, getting too old. it was CraigS that did them stamped to your figures. Give him another try, they were good later.
Garry
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I got one from Craig, it did take a little time for him to respond to my request, it is interesting to note that the item came from Germany.
Very good product, not cheap.
Achim can probably inform us where they originate.
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CraigS no longer offers these; something to do with the DBAG lawyers.
They indeed did come from Germany, as he had sourced someone who made them one at a time using the acid-etch method, which is the original method used to make them when new. When they were being offered, however, they were offered with the last few numbers of the VIN inscribed into the blank field, which isn't correct; the correct method was embossing.
I got mine from Craig some years ago before the lawyers got involved. I ordered mine blank, and contacted a domestic firm here in the USA that manufactures embossing machinery to make things such as military dog-tags. For a small fee they embossed mine. The results are darn near flawless, but unfortunately unless one wants to investigate and invest in the necessary acid-etch process and materials (n.b. this has Wallace Wheeler written all over it! ;)) and do them ONLY for themselves, I think it is a lost cause.
I did manage to put together the Classic Center in the USA with the Classic Center in Germany some years ago in parallel to getting my other tag made. Finally, they were offering them, but they didn't quite match the originals. The process wasn't identical (it was a photo method, not acid etch) and instead of having many of the fields pre-filled in, most of them were inscribed. It was also pretty costly, not surprising, but with it not being correct, it was not for me. You'll note that things like the tire size and capacity are "pre-filled in" data, not embossed or inscribed. In fact, ALL of the data except for the last few digits of the Chassis Number (in my case, 12-007262) is pre-filled in, and just those last few numbers are embossed. I used a wholly original data tag still attached to a car as an example to get it correct.
It's been posted before but here is a photo of my replacement VIN tag, which is a reproduction, unauthorized, but spot-on accurate. Note also, that I riveted it in place which is how I've seen the originals of this vintage. To show you what I used as an example of an original, both for appearance, embossing, and fastening, there's a photo of an original one in place on another car.