Restoration - Preservation Guidance Please

[royroberson]

Would a few wise Pagoda owners please give me some suggestions on what to do with the engine bay, underside and related parts of a worn original car?

My engine is out and sent away to Metric Motors. I know it will come back very nice as will the fuel injection pump I also sent out.

My intention for this car is to drive it frequently like my father did before he passed on and perhaps leave the ratty seats and cracked paint with a lot of dents alone. However, if I ever elect to do a repaint and new interior, I would like to be able to leave the engine and bottom alone.

Because the car is original and has a thick breaking apart undercoating, I wonder if it is best to keep it in place. Should I spray a sealant over it or just leave it as is with its cracked patina showing or remove and replace it?

Should I paint the white bay engine or just clean it and leave it as-is?

Everything we re-build (I am the owner not the mechanic) I would like to see looking both new and original.

What should I tell my mechanics? Clean the engine bay but do not re-paint it? Replace every rubber item and use the correct old style clamps?
Paint everything that we rebuild (like the brake booster) but what about the unfinished metal parts? Sand, bead blast, zinc plate?
Replace the old brown brake and water reservoirs with new white ones?

What about the underside? If the diff and trans come out to get checked and possibly rebuilt, should they be blasted to look new?
What about the exhaust manifold? should it be ceramic coated in black? The exhaust is all new Mercedes parts.

I am going with the petronix for reliability. there any other good reliability suggestions?

I have new Koni Classic adjustable shocks installed and they were hard to find, plus all ne engine and suspension mounts,

Metric tells me that will re-bore the cylinders to the first oversize and that the rest of the engine is good. perhaps this will add a small amount of power.

The car has a Buds AC and it works well but does not look completely original.

All the instruments have been rebuild and work fine . My only complaint is that the "light tube" on the heater blower is almost impossible to see and the light tubes inside the ventilation levers are dim too.

I see some zinc and some gold plating on restored cars, but I am not sure which is right.

Does anyone have time to give me a few word of wisdom?

Thank you

[Bonnyboy]

Lots of good questions - I'm sure others will comment but based on what you said, the first thing I would do is get a manual and read through and identify different part of the car - then get a proper degreaser (see what the local auto detailers use) and a brush and clean the engine bay by hand and leave as is unless there are rusted out sections or stained - small areas of newer paint may not be noticeable once engine is in - go to pep boys and get some color matched spray paint which is good for touchups - mostly with a toothpick after you spray the paint in the cap.      You should be able to clean it yourself - see if you can come in at night and work on it when the mechanic is doing paperwork. 

Then lift the car up somehow and scrape all of the loose and cracked undercoating off.  Cracked undercoating wont protect anything.  check for rust and if you have some give that some attention - remove / replace / or if minor, sand it down and hit it with rust preserver - paint - undercoat and then protect with something like RUST CHECK.   You really don't want rusted areas staying in the car as it will spread everytime it gets wet.   To me this is more important than having the correct hose clamps and finished fittings.   

If there is a part that is out of the car take it from the mechanic and paint it yourself - have mechanic inspect and rebuild if necessary then take it home and repaint it.    If you have a bench grinder - put a brass wire wheel on it and carefully take your time to clean fittings.  I prefer that look to freshly anodized. 

Doing as much of the fun little work yourself will pay dividends when it comes to understanding your car and developing an appreciation for how these cars were built.    If the mechanic doesn't keep the old clamps - buy a few packages of original clamps and give them to the mechanic to replace as needed.  They can always be replaced later but if the car is out do it now.

Also before you drive it depending on how old the brake lines are - replace them and probably the engine mounts / sub frame and tranny mount.  You want the car to be safe so I did the brakes before I took the car out for the first time. 
 
But - attend to rust first......or at least identify what you have so that later on when the car is driving like a dream and you have down time you can attend to it then.  There are parts of the car that would be easier to fix rust issues with the engine out so take a really good look for rust. 

I have seen too many people spend big bucks doing the mechanical and then realizing the car is rusted out and find it would have been much more cost effective to do the work when the engine was out - then they get disenchanted and sell the car for cheap.  Hopefully you have no rust but take a really good look - especially if there is cracked undercoating.   Leave the weathered seats and dents for a later time but be prepared you may need to rip out your carpets anyways if there is rusted floors and areas hidden by undercoating.  Then it may be time to redo interior anyways. 

[behnamlaw]

Some suggestions:

High pressure wash the engine bay and underside and carefully inspect for issues, rust, prior accident
If none and depending how far you want to go and spend with the resto

For me I did the following
1. Painted engine bay, underside of hood, new firewall covers, and rubbers everywhere
2. Painted Wheel wells
3. Pressure washed the underside, new sub-frame mounts, rear bushings, shocks
4. Greased all fittings
4. Replated all the engine components, linkages, new hoses, new clamps, FI pump parts
5. New water pump, belts.

[doitwright]

And down the rabbit hole we go.

Your story reminds me of......me.

I wanted a clean engine bay, a decent looking body and interior. I even removed enough of the engine peripherals to clean the grease off and paint the engine block while it was still in the car. I discovered that Rustoleum Gloss Ivory was virtually an identical match for my H670 light ivory body color. I sanded the rough spots and used a foam roller to apply the Rustoleum and make the engine bay look like new. I was so proud of my accomplishment. Then, after a while, in the back of my mind, something just did not sit right. Then, like many others before me, the disassembly just did not stop. Now everything had to be perfect. After the body (which was sold to me in 2006 as a rust free car....it was’nt) was stripped and went into the shop for body work and paint. And while the time still escapes me to get it all back together, I do manage an hour here and there to work on it. But I would rather be driving the car.

Anyway, enough about me. Back to your questions. My feeling is that only you can decide how deep you want to go. If you are not sure, get a professional to go through the car and give you an idea of what it takes to make everything right while weighing the balance of restored and original. Personally, original cars are nice but hoses, seals, bushings and fittings age. And don’t get me started of the owner who is proud to display the original spare tire. Even the “Holy Grail” cars who are referenced at MotoringInvestments.com have had paint and certain parts replaced. Does that make the car original? If you spend enough time on this forum, you will find that this subject has been debated extensively.

Plated parts were originally plated with Cadmium. Some shops still do it today. My understanding is that Zinc is now allowed by judges due to the dangers of working with Cadmium.

As far as A/C goes. There is no such thing as original A/C since Mercedes never produced these cars with A/C. Frigiking and Kuehlmeister (manufactured in Texas) were generic kits added on by US dealers after cars arrived in the US. Also been discussed on these forums.

Some people like the Koni’s, some like the original Bilstein’s. Both good products.

You are faced with the dilemma many owners must face when they have a very nice car. Good luck with sorting it all out. It can be part of the joy of ownership.

[Garry]

You asked for some suggestions.


First one would be to join as a Full Member so you can have a good read around the Tech Manual which will give some answers and suggestions on some of  the questions you have asked.  I am biased as the Membership Administrator of course.


I had the same dilemma with engine bay and not wanting to lose too much original paintwork if possible.  I went with a light repaint of the bay (not bare metal) and i am glad i did as i made a world of difference.  I left the underside alone other than cleaning it up.


Air conditioners were an aftermarket fitted by dealer and i agree they don’t look like they are a factory fit.  I removed mine and whilst i have had a couple of days where it would have been nice, with the top down it is all irrelevant.


Another thing i did on both Pagoda’s i have owned was to do a full suspension overhaul, replacing all the rubbers and key wearable components. It makes the world of difference and i would recommend it as one of the first things to do so you get the best driving experience these cars can give.


Lighting, zinc and chromate, electronic ignition, etc all covered within the tech Manual and the use of the Search engine.  The Search button in the “home” line is your friend here.


Garry

[royroberson]

Thank you for your suggestions.

I may be lucky enough to have an almost no rust car. It has been in our family since the 1970s in a dry climate.

I intend to replace everything that normally wears and do the hard work myself... pay the bills.

[JamesL]

You've asked some really good questions about how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. Agree entirely on the comment above about cracked underbody protection. Any damp will find it's way through cracks and do it's thing.

Pertronix is a good choice. As would be a 123 distributor unit

Good luck

[behnamlaw]

Use a 123 distributor?what else?

[royroberson]

Thank you so much for your advice.

I would like this car to perform perfectly and look like a concourse car after it has been driven a few years.

I attached a few photos of the undercarriage, I am thinking why scrape away something a master installed and replace it with the work of an amateur. I think it is rather cool to see some of the the original work with no rust.

All alternate opinions are welcome.

I am having to trust my mechanic not to cut corners to save him self time and money. I hate paying too little and getting a poor product that has to be done again Later. But even more, I hate paying too much and not getting what I expected. I do not have the skills, manual dexterity and equipment to do any of this properly myself and I understand why some people stop with the areas that are the easiest to see. But it annoys me when I see where just a little more effort could have made an impressive difference.