Pagoda’s Reborn on Petrolicious

[Tyler S]

Dont know how many of you watch the Petrolicious channel on youtube but the Pagoda was just featured. 

https://youtu.be/bfnJPig4Zxw

[Jonny B]

Very nice.

[Sam SL]

Great video with a huge buildup on their passion for perfection.  Ironically, at the end of the video a grey 280 SL is featured cruising down the road.  I noticed the side moulding behind the driver's door (ahead of wheel well)  is missing.  Go figure!

[Erics]

Hemmels really are pushing hard on the media front.

I saw their cars at the classic car show in London last year. OTT for me. A bit like a classic beauty who did too much plastic surgery. The headlight notches for example were like 2 inches lng and very deep.

I much prefered the brabus cars on the nearby stand.

Hemmels were £200k, Brabus cars were 300k euros...

[Shvegel]

I really don't want to step on their toes but I just don't see the point in spending that kind of money on a car that is purposely incorrect.  I get that you might want to personalize the color and interior but their engines which most owners never see are so far off in their "restoration" it would take a small fortune to even get it close to correct.

[mdsalemi]

What's interesting here is Brabus doesn't care much about the USA market. At best they have a two dealer network, one in CA and one in FL--but try speaking with them about their products. They focus on Europe, same as Kleemann.  How often have you seen a Brabus on the road in the USA? Now that I've cleared the crickets, let me remind everyone that about 50% of the market for SLs was always the USA...and yes it's no mistake that Hemmels is serving a market in a slightly different way than others already do.

I don't know where one gets the idea that the engines are so far off in restoration, maybe some of us have been there and seen them do it wrong? They advertise only MB parts in an engine rebuild, so I don't know exactly how far off--certainly not a small fortune--that can make the rebuild. FWIW, Metric Motors in California, arguably the premier dedicated MB engine rebuilder in the USA advertises the same--OEM parts. They supply many of the dealers in the USA...

[MikeSimon]

Having worked in the automotive industry all of my life, I am a little skeptical about some of these statements.
A great amount of parts in any car are not manufactured by the car company but by suppliers.
Suppliers have an obligation to provide parts after end of production for a limited time only, usually 15 years.
Due to proliferation of models and their parts and the market pushing for faster turns in models, this has been "enforced" by both OEMs and suppliers since the late 80s. Usually, the OEM exercises a "one-time-buy" where they purchase a certain amount of parts, the number based on past and "forecasted" demand for, maybe, 10 years.
It used to be, that Mercedes had one of the best parts systems in the industry, where many components were carried over and were used across the model line-up. 
That is not the case anymore and thus parts become obsolete and NLA.
It is up to the suppliers to continue production and interest groups to exercise pressure on the aftermarket industry to make parts available.
In some cases it is possible to have a company make "pattern" parts, if the demand will justify tooling investment.
Some times parts just go away and even repair is difficult.
Another issue that will lead to parts being discontinued is the change in manufacturing processes and environmental regulations dictating changes.
We can only cross our fingers.

[Shvegel]

Michael,
You must have missed this thread.

https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=25261.0

Look under the hood of your car then look at the completed engine.  The fuel injection pump alone is riddled with wrong finishes and would have to be practically rebuilt in order to bring it back to original.  Some things like the ends of the oil cooler hoses which were once date stamped yellow anodized aluminum are just flat ruined.  On most of their engines the valve cover and intake are polished.  Not a big problem to bring a valve cover back to original but if you polish an intake it you remove the original casting texture.  You can't bring that back.  On the short block look closely at cyl #1 on the right.  See the dark mark about 1/4” down from the top of the cylinder wall?  That is cylinder wear that was still there after honing.  At the highest point of piston travel when cylinder pressure is highest the cylinder is not round.  I might be wrong as I have only been spinning wrenches for 40 years but I would be willing to bet they honed it and installed new rings and the old pistons.

I wanted to add that I am not pointing to them and saying that they are not up to my standard.  I too have used used pistons in my engine and that I did it for a very specific reason but I would also like to point out that I have never referred to myself as the world's finest anything.

[mdsalemi]

For those picking things apart here, you've made as assumption that the marketing photos you have seen, of uncertain age, are indicative of everything they do. Have YOU done everything the same way, exactly, forever? I think not.

I do know that "CAD" is unavailable in Europe, period. Not discussable. If anyone is doing it, they are violating EU rules.

Hoses? Most everyone sources these pre-made from a number of people, and to even think that a hose you get today from MB is 100% exactly the same as one you bought 50 years ago is a fantasy.

Wrong finishes on a FI pump? There is no finish on my FI pump. It's raw. Some of the relays and such on the pump have finishes on them, and yes in the photo shown, they are black. That's incorrect. So's the oil filter canister in the photo.

What makes one think that the partially disassemble engine in the photo, is fully complete? To judge used vs new pistons should be made not from a marketing photo, but from the contract one has with whoever is doing your work, wouldn't you say?

I could go on just as other have--but there are, on a daily basis, more and more NLA parts (including an astounding amount for 230SL and M127 engines) that restoring any of these cars--i don't care if it's Paul Russell, Motoring Investments, Hemmels, or someone we have not heard of--is a challenge. I don't believe there is even consistent agreement on every part.

The bottom line as someone pointed out, is they are NOT trying to please YOU, me, or even us. They are pleasing the person who has the money. If they don't want a polished intake or valve cover, for certain they won't get it...

[JamesL]

Just for fun - and is a reversible modification

[Ebbe]

Hemmels have been commissioned by Mercedes to restore several classic mercedes cars for the official Mercedes Museum - also a Pagoda. So they must do something right:)
And I'm sure they make the cars their clients want - and would like to pay for. I think the cars look quite amazing - although they are not as when they left the factory some 50 years ago. And so what ..?