Paint recommendations

[63-230sl]

I'm in need of a full respray and light body work and I'm having trouble finding a good quality shop to perform the work. I am changing the color (back to the original color) so will need a full spray to include engine compartment and such. I'm located in Nashville. Any recommendations? The closer to Nashville the better but I am willing to ship the car to a good reputable shop with experience dealing in these cars.

Thanks

[doitwright]

I went on the same hunt your are undertaking. I found one guy who talked the talk. Even showed me some faded polaroids of SL's he did years ago. After visiting his facility to see a project he was still working on months after he said he would be ready for my car, I decided to pass. I found several hot rod shops who did great work including one with an SL near complete. They also had at least 30 cars in the works with only a count of about 6 workers. The shop Forman used to work for a well respected shop who specialized in SL's and since closed. Yet I could see some minor details they were overlooking.

I concluded that the best approach for me was to find a shop run by someone I could work with and had examples of the quality level I was looking for. If cost wasn't a factor (which it was in my case), I would have given it to a shop that had done several SL's and had one listed for sale. After a call to the shop, they told me they had over 400 hours into that car. You can do the math from there based on rates for a quality shop. Around where I live, I heard rates between $75 and $100 per hour for the shops that met my criteria.

What I ultimately decided to do was prepare a detailed document describing what I was looking for. I included many photos of the car highlighting the problem areas (already stripped to the bare shell) and example photos from several of the cars done by MotoringInvestments.com. I think the document was over 25 pages.

This turned off several shops. They did not want to get into details. Mike, the guy I went with, (30 minutes away from me near Joliet, Illinois) has been doing lots of Camaro's including one for a guy considered to be the authority for the late 60's muscle car. He told me about how this guy obsesses over paint overspray correctness and texture and pattern of seam sealer. Sound familiar? He is also doing a 1939 LaSalle.

You may not be planning to do a total restoration, but even good painters can fill in the little distinguishing details like headlight notches, spot welds along the fenders and not prep for ground points. My advice is find a guy you can work with and prepare a detailed document that leaves nothing open to interpretation. It is similar to preparing plans and specifications for building a house.

It was important for me to work with someone local. Even though Mike takes a lot of photos of the progress, he and Fred still have questions and sometimes a visit is needed to review and clarify. My car needed some metal work done and some previous work corrected. Body work is now complete, Mike sprayed it with Polyester primer, sanded then gray primer. He will let it sit for 3-4 weeks before paint. So far, everything has been done to my expectations.

Good luck with your endeavor.

[mrfatboy]

@doitwrite,

I think having a detailed painting document to hand over to the painter is a great idea. I will be looking for a reputable painter soon for my 280sl. I don't look forward to it😖

Is your document in a state that others could use it as a basis for their future paint jobs? ?  I certainly would like to use it if so.

[63-230sl]

Thanks for the recommendation on the detailed list. That's a great idea. I have a very short one but it sounds like it is no where near as comprehensive as yours. I would love to compare your list to mine to include the items I am overlooking if you are willing to share. Thanks

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

I recommend you pay your local Mercedes or BMW Dealership a visit (or give them a call) and ask them who they use for exterior paint work. Those dealerships research very closely before they let anyone work on there cars.

In my area there is a body shop that has certified technicians (certified by Mercedes or BMW) that do the work. I never went wrong with my daily drivers when I had work done in the past (BMW's and Benz). My 2 cents on the subject.

Dieter

[doitwright]

I tried what you recommend and I believe you are right about them doing their research. In Westmont, Illinois we have Import Row. Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, BMW, Infinity, Lexus, Acura and Toyota are lined up one after the other.  Directly behind them, is Westmont Body Werks. A huge facility. They do all the work for these local dealers. Got to take a tour once with the local Mercedes Club. They do impressive work. However, they are a collision shop. When I approached them about my car, they said thanks for stopping by but we can't help you. Collision work is different than restoration work. They are not into rust repair and fabrication. At least that was my experience with some of the local shops I visited. That is why I thought at a hot-rod shop, they will fabricate as needed and replace with parts when it makes sense. In my case, we bought a patch panel for the left rear quarter, the larger patch panel with the complete wheel arch for the right rear quarter and the small patch panel for the right side of the trunk. All bought from K&K and fit beautifully. Other areas that received attention were the frame below the battery, a small section of the passenger side floor, a small portion of the bottom of the rear panel below the tail light. The guys I use are able to shape and form metal. They even filled in the holes a previous owner made to install speakers in the rear soft top compartment panel and included the vertical depression.

Another thing I did that I did not mention previously, was to have the car media blasted prior to selecting the body shop. Ron at MediaTech in Naperville, Ill. was the right guy for the job. Here again I had talked to a few shops for this part of the process. Did you know that since we have aluminum and steel panels on our cars that they use different media? When I told one shop that my doors and hoods were aluminum, he said he would have to chemically strip those because his process would distort the metal. I did not use this shop but when the car came back from MediaTech, the aluminum parts were not primed like the steel was and still had some bondo. The body shop said they did the right thing and they would take it from there.

I can email the PDF (it is 9MB and too large to post here) of what I did to explain the process.

Media blasting revealed previous repairs that were poorly done by today's standards. Most competent shops no longer braze metal.

When I originally prepared my document, I included photos of  my car as it was in its "as I bought it" painted state and did not look too bad from 5 feet away. After getting it back from MediaTech, I replaced those photos with photos of the real state of the car.

Again, it all depends what you are trying to achieve. I had several guys ask why I would bother to strip the car to bare metal. Answer: Because I need to know everything under the paint was done right.