Paint and Body Blues

[FloridaBIll]

Hello everyone...well here is my current story; my 250SL is completely apart and ready for Body and Paint.  The estimates I am getting are too high for my limited budget (10,000-12,000+).  Can anybody recommend a decent paint & Body shop in the Melbourne to Orlando region, that could do a great job for a better price?
   One thing I am finding out is no-one really wants to touch the car with the fear of what they may find underneath.  It has some rust and maybe (not sure) some bondo lurking underneath but is for the most part very solid.  Bad news is I want to change it from Signal Red to black Db040 (sorry Dad).  Of course black will show every body flaw, etc.  This may push the color choice to silver (db180) which is very nice but seems to be too many silver autos around these days.
Thanks in advance for your replies....

[Chad]

I think silver db180 was not a very common color for the w113.  Seems like it took off later in the 1980s; painting silver is very nice looking really on an older car.  

One thing you might want to think about is addressing rust issues prior to spending money on the repaint, but this may quickly eat up the budget you have allowed for painting right now.  Fixing the rust will be far better for the car in the long run.  It might not be that bad!  I suppose there are different ways of doing it too, meaning different levels of expense. Good luck.

1967 230SL

[bpossel]

Hello Florida Bill,

All I can say is that your estimate is in line.  My car is also completley apart and the body shop that I am dealing with estimated 8k, but would not finalize the price until the paint was off.  When my paint came off, luckily there wasnt any rust, just minor surface rust.  They did discover a few areas where the car had been hit before and added 1700 to the price.  So ~10k for body strip, repair and repaint.  Note: this is with me doing all of the labor to take apart and put back together again....  lots of labor hours!

Use this as a gage.  Very expensive, but I know that I am getting a very high quality job when complete.  Of coarse this does not include powder coating all of my suspension parts and some engine parts.  Not to mention sending my engine to Metric for a complete rebuild....

Restoration is fun, but $!  I now understand the comments made such as "buy the most you can afford", etc....

Good Luck!
Bob

bpossel  (Memphis, TN.)
'71 280SL  /  '97 E320

[dldubois]

I would agree.  I paid $7500 to strip and repaint mine and did all the dismantling myself.   All my bodywork consisted of was door dings and the like.

Dana DuBois
1969 280sl
Corinth, TX

[rwmastel]

Florida Bill,

You should contact (click on username and send e-mail) the people in these threads.  They may have recommendations.  I would also recommend going to their event and meeting them.  I'm sure you'll make some friends and learn quite a lot about Pagodas.
http://index.php?topic=8026
http://index.php?topic=7914

Here's an idea found through the Search feature:
http://index.php?topic=6056,body

Rodd
Pagoda Technical Manual
please contibute: http://www.sl113.org/wiki/pmwiki.php
1966 230SL
2006 C230 Sport Sedan

[john.mancini]

Hi Bill,
Just to add my 2 cents, your body and paint price seems to be in line, especially where there is known rust and bondo. If you are going to spend thousands on paint, go that extra bit and correct the rust issues. Regarding black, I owned a factory black 280SL. It was a stunning car BUT you are right, if your car has any imperfections the black shows them all. Silver is beautiful also. Have you looked at grey/white? I saw one recently and it's my new favorite.
John M.
68 signal red/cognac 4 speed
69 horizon blue/drk blue auto

[graphic66]

My 230SL is original black, w/ Black [caviar] interior. I love the color, it looks great. I wouldn't want any other color. It goes like this, Drive, wash, drive, wash, drive, wash, etc. But I love it.

[rwmastel]

quote:Originally posted by FloridaBIll

Bad news is I want to change it from Signal Red to black Db040 (sorry Dad).  Of course black will show every body flaw, etc.  This may push the color choice to silver (db180) which is very nice but seems to be too many silver autos around these days.

Have you looked at all the color options available?  There's quite a variety, both metallic and non-metallic.

My car is 124 arabian gray with 158 white-gray hard top & wheel covers.

Rodd
Pagoda Technical Manual
please contibute: http://www.sl113.org/wiki/pmwiki.php
1966 230SL
2006 C230 Sport Sedan

[seattle_Jerry]

Ahhhh but German cars are suppossed to be Silver. It is their official racing color.

1967 230SL Havana Brown Auto with A/C

[rwmastel]

That's an odd statement coming from a person with a Havanna Brown car!  [:0]

Rodd
Pagoda Technical Manual
please contibute: http://www.sl113.org/wiki/pmwiki.php
1966 230SL
2006 C230 Sport Sedan

[seattle_Jerry]

Actually some previous owner changed it to something like metallic tobacco brown...poorly. I am deciding on the new color...I'm leaning towards siver-beige metallic with chocolate interior.

I scored on my car, while I don't like the color...it is the closest thing I've seen to "rust free" on an old car.

1967 230SL Havana Brown Auto with A/C

[hauser]

Bill, does your estimate include the hardtop?  If it does you may be getting a good deal.  From what I've read here the hardtop can run you upwards of $5K.

1969 280sl 5 spd
Gainesville, Fl.