Horror story to share

[Eryck]

There was a leak in the exhaust manifold so I took it to a friendly garage that a friend uses for his MG. I only use this guy for simple stuff because he doesn't really know these cars.  Anyway, the problem is fixed and it drives like a dream - compared to what it was before. The mechanic (his own business) finished the job early and had some spare time. The problem - he got creative and painted my engine bay! Painted the engine silver, some parts green, red, yellow....he was hoping that I would be overjoyed but I was speechless.  Didn't tell him off since he had good intentions. Looks like I'm gonna be spending a lot of time with that bottle of thinner!

1965 230 SL White Manual
Hong Kong

[rwmastel]

Eryck,

Depending on how original your car is, you should be very upset regardless of his intentions.  I don't know about Hong Kong, but in the USA I would have a reputable and trusted company make the engine bay correct and charge the guy who painted it.  If this were done to my car, I would have to be physically restrained from hurting the person.  A service provider should only provide the services agreed apon.

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[hauser]

If this had happened to me I would have gone ballistic! :twisted:   It is inconceivable that a mechanic take this upon himself to deface ones proberty.  I don't know how the legal system works in Hong Kong but I would seek payment for damages.

1969 280sl 5 spd
Gainesville, Fl.

[Bearcat]

Give us a chuckle and lets see what he did before you use your thinner. I would explode if some one did that to me.

280SL 1970

[ChrisInNashville]

Well, I'm looking for the bright side..hummmmm...here goes - you must have a really clean engine!

In the southern US, we would call your mechanic "bubba" and you wouldn't be able to punch his teeth out because he would have lost them to poor hygiene years ago.

[DaveB]

You are a nice bloke for not blowing your top at him Eryck - I can only imagine the look on your face!

DaveB

[Cees Klumper]

Priceless story - I might have kept the paint on until the next rebuild, but then that's just me. P.s. is there a website with Bubba jokes out there?

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[n/a]

Can we have a picture?  It must be quite a sight.

Louis 70 280sl red

[hauser]

Cees, I don't have any Bubba jokes but here's something else you may want to check out.  

You might be a Redneck if....

http://www.frontiernet.net/~tzuleger/webjokes/redneckjokes.htm

1969 280sl 5 spd
Gainesville, Fl.

[Eryck]

Okay guys, here goes the pics.  Might be dissapointing for some of you since it doesn't look so bad in the pics but believe me, it's BAD in real life!



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1965 230 SL White Manual
Hong Kong

[n/a]

I think it looks pretty nice.  It makes it so much easier to ID all the parts.  It sure looks better than my engine.

Louis 70 280sl red

[ChrisInNashville]

Eryck:   You have the automotive equivalent of the kids clothing line called "garanimals".

To a novice like me, it's much easier to say "tighten the yellow thingy where it attaches to the gold thingy"  

By the way...as I said earlier - it is a clean engine!

[drewsalisbury]

Speaking for all the 'Bubba's' out here, we are offended by the suggestion that this color scheme is our taste...all you need to finish an engine compartment, or a complete interior or bodywork for that matter, is to put some duct tape and spray primer on that sum b**ch.

Drew Salisbury
1971 280sl auto

[TheEngineer]

Eryck: Looking at your photographs: I think he did a nice job. He must have taken the individual parts out and painted them individually. The way you described it, I got the impression he just used a brush and painted all over; but he didn't. This job looks rather nice. I like the black color for the oil filler cap. I painted mine silver. Recently I saw a setup where a fellow cadmium plated small parts in a one gallon plastic container using a flashlight battery. He bought the chemical solution. Parts turned out just fine. But there's`nothing wrong with a clean paint job, such as yours.

[J. Huber]

Well, I'd say that part of Eryck's shock and dismay comes as a result of the collective ambition of this site to have a correctly restored Pagoda. (Don't get me wrong, that's a good thing...)

If I had an old vintage car -- and didn't see others around me setting an example, I'd probably see a gesture like this as "better than what was there". Kind of Magic Bus-like but a nice gesture. But because I've seen many engines that have been detailed "the right way," something like this would drive me crazy.

James
63 230SL

[dldubois]

I wonder how he decided on what color to use for the various engine bay components?[:0]

Dana DuBois

1970 280sl White (050)4spd
Corinth, TX

[joelj]

Wow that is upsetting. Though I can understand the good intentions of your mechanic. You'd wish he did some research and got the colors corrfect. I agree with you, gotta get the thinner out.

Good luck

[gc]

Well! Let's see...
I would have definetly killed the guy.What was he thinking? Does a W113 look like it was part of a finger-painting contest?
I guess not!!! So congrats for not going out of ur mind and giving the guy a smack or two
GC