Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => Wanted To Buy => Topic started by: AndrewB on February 26, 2021, 12:00:30
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Hello All,
My 1970 280SL is being restored at present, and the Grille Star has broken. I have asked for repair quotes, and have also been advised that the price new is the equivalent of more than $4,000. This seems pretty steep and I guess reflects the concern many of us have regarding the cost of spares for our Pagoda's
I thought I would ask whether anyone here has a good used one for sale at a more reasonable price ?
Thanks
Andrew
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Many grill stars are hardly repairable, and that's part of the issue.
There are actually three pieces to the assembly which I believe was only sold as a complete assembly; someone correct me if I'm wrong. I had a new one in the OEM box.
There is the barrel, and the star which is two pieces. Cast of pot metal which has very little strength in any metric, it usually breaks where the star attaches to the ring. You cannot weld pot metal. You can try some kind of goop such as JB Weld, various epoxy or other resins, but you won't end up with anything nearly as strong as the original which wasn't strong to begin with.
Some years ago, a creative enthusiast (don't ask, I don't know him, it's just a story told to me by others) cast the star assembly in brass/bronze and made it available. That was great until the Daimler attorneys got wind of it.
Andrew you'll appreciate this story. When my car was being restored, it didn't have any grill star or barrel. So my restorer found a used one for maybe $50. It was good, but not great: the chrome was flaking off in a couple of places. A few years later a friend offerered me a NOS OEM unit in the original box for like $300. At that time the new ones were maybe $400 or $500 from the classic center. So, I jumped at that, and swapped it out. I eventually sold my used one for about what I paid for the new one...
Meanwhile, at that time on the forums, people were SCREAMING at the totally outrageous price of $500 for a new grill star/barrel assembly. While they were kicking and screaming and not buying what they needed, the price kept going up. And up. And up. And yes, as you point out the new ones when last sold by the Classic Center were in the thousands...there's probably a few who are kicking and screaming that they should have bought one at $500...
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Incredible ! $500 seems like a bargain now
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Andrew,
The star can be repaired by someone who is comfortable and experienced with solder/welding onto pot-metal. Not everyone does this but I had it done and it worked out just fine. Repaired, then took star and grill to chrome shop. You will need to find someone local as this was done in California.
https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=19591.msg137883#msg137883
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Thank you Oz. I have an excellent and experienced restorer doing the whole car, and he is going to investigate a repair to the grille star with his various trusted suppliers. I am encouraged by reading your story of how you managed to have yours repaired and rechromed.
In case a repair is not possible, I thought there would be no harm in testing whether any members have a spare they would like to sell, so I don’t kick myself for paying full freight on a new one only to have someone on the site post one for sale just after I pay for a new one !
I appreciate all the advice and hope that the current one can be repaired. In case this is unsuccessful, I hope someone might have a spare to sell !
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I have also done a star repair using a silver smith who worked magic. Saved a lot of dollars.
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Should be quite easy to replicate. I understand Mercedes don't like that, but what do you expect when you offer a $75 part for 'thousands'.
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Should be quite easy to replicate. I understand Mercedes don't like that, but what do you expect when you offer a $75 part for 'thousands'.
Right. The brass ones, apparently, were a bit stronger than the original pot metal. They also needed some work as the casting was rough...there are probably some still floating around the cosmos somewhere though few would ever admit to it...They were probably made of brass since 3D printing didn't exist 20 years ago like it does today, in the hands of desktop enthusiasts.
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The problem with a casting in brass or aluminum, is an original part is used as a pattern. A mold is made of the original part and a new one is cast. Now with a casting shrinkage occurs and the new part ends up being a bit smaller than the original (maybe 3-4% smaller). The way to resolve the problem is to make a new pattern (3-4%) larger than the original to make the mold from. In this way after shrinkage occurs the new part will be the correct size. 3D printing would be the way to go these days!
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Hi I just saw a used one which seems in a good shape for 485 US dollars
Kind regards
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Andrew,
Laser welding of the grille star works well. I got this done on mine once.
The star does not need to be de-chromed before welding,
and afterwards re-chroming is not (supposed to be) necessary.
Came out very well.
Achim