My 1st W113 Inspection

[Ostkurve]

I took a look @ my first Pagode this weekend, a 1971 280SL.

Cons:The car had recently been repainted & there was overspray on interior compenents near the the door jambs.

The car had been reupholstered with a non OEM MB Tex looking vinyl material with a faux grain. The trunk floor had obviously been replaced rather poorly,the wholes in the new section did not match with the factory pilot holes beneath.

There was sealer haphazardly sprayed all over the trunk compartment with overspary on the tail light bulb housings & wiring looms.

The hardtop was in need of reupholerstery,apparently the glass had been removed during the repaint & the top was not properly masked  overspray had made its way into the inside of the hardtop.

In addition all of the wood in the hardtop needed to be replaced.

I noticed that both windows were down upon my arrival, I rolled the passenger side window up & while trying to close the door I noticed that it was not possible to close the door without the window pane being pushed out from the top where it meets the hardtop.

Is this indicative of a structural issue? i.e. frame damage


Pros: Nice bright work minus a minor ding in the left rear bumper. The paint was also presentable. The car sounded mechanically sound when started but due to all the cosmetic issues I made no attempt to drive the vehicle.

[TheEngineer]

It is generally a lot less expensive to buy a specimen in excellent condition than to buy cheap and have to recondition. Usually the "recondition" remains a "I'm going to"

[J. Huber]

Well Ostkurve, you didn't give us a dollar range so its hard to really comment on the deal. The hardtop does not necessarily have to be a dealbreaker -- I think they often fall into disrepair because a lot of folks set them aside for years at a time. If you eventually want to restore the HT correctly, you are looking at some time (=$). But I'd focus on the rest of the car first. Some pictures would help.

As for windows. I think the car always looks a little cleaner with the windows down so I'd present it that way too. If they go up and down adequately I'd say you are fine. Having the glass hit the rubber probably just means they are out of adjustment. Not uncommon.

Anyway, more info will help. Good luck.

[Ostkurve]

The car was priced in the high teens. I'm not intimidated by a car in need of a restoration but I'd prefer an untampered with original example as opposed to a car like this that has fallen victim to shoddy workmanship.