paint under the hood

[Jack Jones]

I have never been a proponent of restoring a vehicle and duplicating the imperfections. It is not in my DNA.

[wwheeler]

Speaking of painting the trunk. I could never find the paint as given above, so I had to make my own. I used Sherwin Williams enamel and got them to match the very dark grey. That is very hard to do because it is sooooo dark and the light level really changes the tone. To get the semi gloss, I had to add flattner to the paint at about 30 to 35%. Looks great now. Good pictures are hard to get of dark trunk but I will try to post one.  

[wwheeler]

OOPS! I posted the trunk pictures under this thread. http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=17477.0

Still relevant to the other thread but in the wrong place. This is a W111 trunk by the way. Still should be the same color and gloss.

[Flyair]

Guys,
many thanks again. I sent the pics of two hood undersides showing the paint runs and my painter just responded saying that he does not believe the hood was dipped in the paint, but rather painted in vertical position and left to dry without polishing. Apparently, he thinks this is quite easy to replicate.
I take the point posted by Jack that reproducing imperfection is "too much", but I found that the underside runs as the best marks of originality are better than marks by headlight or welding spots is also very appealing.

I am glad (not to say proud... ) to have raised such a debate    

[Wolfmann]

I can no longer see the underside of mine as I fitted a slightly trimmed W107 under bonnet (hood) pad to mine simply because the fuel pump noise was a little tedious on long runs. Of course it is easily removed and it really does quieten the car and make it rather more Mercedes like or is that more modern Mercedes like? I only mention it here because it does make the car far quieter and transforms the driving experience in my mind. The standard paint runs are safely behind it though as are the ones in the dark grey of the boot (trunk) lid.

I also employ a gas strut in place of the crude spring beam to keep the hood open, I do not trust the original device and it seems so un Mercedes like, in addition I have heard from several sources that the constant pressure can open up seams on the hood.

These are the only "horrible" things that I have done (except 123 electronic ignition and a modern fuel pump) and of course they are both easily undone. It just makes the car more pleasant to live with and removes my worries when there is a high wind and I am checking oil etc.

Sorry to the purists here! Were these "improvements not reversible I wouldn't have even contemplated it but I am not interested in concours competition and just want to drive a reliable car that is easy to live with.

Steven.

[Neil Thompson]

Good debate Stan!

Neil

[Flyair]

Steven,
as long as you don't pretend to have your Pagoda appear at any contest for original car prize, you should be safe. I believe myself that certain safety features cannot be discarded, such as better light (more powerful) bulbs, three point safety belts etc etc.

[Wolfmann]

Flyair - I forgot those, I did fit 3 point inertia reel seatbelts and that is the one thing I simply do not care if people do not like !

[Flyair]

Hi Wolfmann,
i did the same, and similarly… I also don't care

[Jack Jones]

Along with the non-run paint scheme on the underside of my hood, I too will be fitting retractable belts. I'm such a rebel