Last Job of the Year

[Markbhai]

Coming up to my second winter with my Pagoda, which I see as an opportunity to get things done (whilst wishing I was out driving her!).

This year I am treating the old girl to a full engine bay restore.  The engine bay is showing the 45 years, there is some rust in the deep bowels of the bay, the engine is grey, the black things are turning brown and the firewall has just about had it.

Gratt Motors in Manchester have her booked in for a bit of a Spa treatment, where she will be whisked away and spend two or three weeks having the MB equivalent to a few pedicures.

She is having, Engine out and re-annodising, Black bits re-powder coating. Block re-painting, Hoses and clips replaced, Engine bay resprayed, Underside of bonnet resprayed.

Attached is a "Before" picture...(I hope).

In a few weeks I will add the "After".

Mark.

[71Beige280SL]

Look forward to seeing the after!

[gnj588d]

Chris did mine 12 yrs ago and still looks amazing .Cheers .Mike

[Flyair]

Mark
you are being bad to that old gal How could you possibly let her fall into such a devastated and abusive state? Having said that, I have also started the same process here and am looking forward to get a shiny Pagoda smile while looking under the hood in a few month time

[Markbhai]

I Stan...I didn't let her get into such a state, whe was like this when I got her. 

I only got her last year and have been prioritising jobs since then...what is most important though is driving her, so the jobs have to be done over winter (otherwise what is the point).

To be fair, the rest of the car is fantasitically original and in surprisingly good condition , so this was the obvious choice.

Its not easy getting a perfect Pagoda in the UK, the weather is not kind.

[Flyair]

the UK weather is a bad explanation . I am trying to get mine done in Poland, despite "our" weather and average roads . I always thought of the UK as a country where legacy cars live well and longtime  

[Markbhai]

Well, she is ready to come home tomorrow, so I hope to post the after pictures very soon.

I have seen a poor quality photo and she looks great...can't wait.

I had a few more bits done whilst she was at the garage, so I am ready for a nice little winter drive.

Mark

[Flyair]

beware with winter driving in the UK or, with the wet weather, your newly pampered beauty would start accumulate fresh rust again .

I am at the same stage now with my car, expect that I also do some underbody work and wood renovation. Alas, I don't expect her to return before end of February...

[ABikePeddler]

Personally, I like seeing this sort of patina to our cars.  Unlike so many other cars of this era that require nagging maintenance, these old Merc's are tough as nails and they wear it well as the years pass by.  Your engine bay showed it's age, sure. But it also tells of the adventures the car has seen.  I am not a huge fan of the overly restored cars especially cars of such large production runs and of such approachable values.  Still, looking forward to seeing the "after" pictures.  One of these days I will clean up ours I suppose.  I think some of the dirt is holding our car together...     

[Markbhai]

I agree that the pattina looks well, but the bay was beginning to rust, so something had to be done.  I am sure BikePeddler wont like the after pictures, and to be honest, I respect your views.  We all like them in our own ways and we all respect them, but show our respect to these wonderful machines in different ways.

I was shocked when I saw the finished results, it is so different it looks like all new parts, yet whilst hoses and clips have been changed he rest is just cleaned, re-painted and re-annodised.

To add to this, the car now runs better when cold (she used to splutter for a few minutes when cold) and has smoother gear changes.  She also changes down better in traffic.

All in all I am very pleased with the results. It cost me £2,000 for the work, but it is money well spent...a better looking, better running car and I am sure that the work has added at least £2k to the value.

[Markbhai]

A few more...

But just to make the point, the first picture on this post shows the state of the bay, at mid point.

Regards

M

[49er]

Beautiful. Looks better then when the car was new:-)

John

[Flyair]

Mark
looks like job very well done. have they also checked the engine, gearbox, etc, I mean inside, at the same occasion? 


BikePeddler,

The patina…. one thing that is sure about...it will come back rather sooner than later given the pollution nowadays So no worries, just we need to last long enough to see it again on our cars 

[Larry & Norma]

Nice

[71Beige280SL]

Markbhal,

Is your car 181 Beige?

[Markbhai]

Thanks Guys.

Flyair, it was fully stripped and cleaned (engine only) - all of the metal pipes were acid dipped, so that both the inside and out were cleaned.  This has made it much smoother running and I can't wait now for spring to test the consumption and overall ride etc.

71Beige, Yes it is 181 beige, with 408 hardtop (113 interior).  A combination which is relatively rare, I only know of 3 in the UK (mine being one of them) - the good thing about this colour was that when I went to buy it, the first thing my wife said was that she liked the colour...the second thing she said was "buy it"...I didn't wait to hear the third thing.

Chris at Gratt Motors in Manchester was absolutely fantastic - there was a problem with the accelerator last night driving it home and he came all the way across from Oldham to Bradford on a Sunday to sort it out - he said he couldn't rest until he knew what the problem was...Customer Service like that is impossible to find.

Regards

Mark.

[Iconic]

Mark,
That looks great !!
I agree with you, that is money well spent, and it seems like a good value to me.

[franjo_66]

Looks fantastic Mark. Will be the next thing on my never-ending list !

Do you know whether any protective coating was applied to the cylinder head cover, inlet manifold, etc to preserve the finish ? I am looking at a product (called Glisten) that can be applied to aluminium, metals, etc and it creates a hard, clear based coating on the surface (heat resistant). Seems ideal for maintaining the state of the engine accessories once you have gone to such expense to rejuvenating the look.

[71Beige280SL]

Mine is 181 Beige as well. Great color. The previous owner painted the top and hubcaps 181 as well. Data card has the top and caps as 460 Brown. I am going to have it restored to the original this winter. I, like you, like the contrasting colors.

[Markbhai]

Hi Franjo, - I dont think there was any coating added, I guess I will just have to keep her clean.  In fairness the contrast between the before and after pictures took 45 years and 70,000 miles to build up, so by that standard I can keep her until I am 93 before I need to do it again and given that I only really use her in dry weather, I guess I may be able to streatch it until I am 100 !  

71Beige.  - I have added a picture of mine, taken last year, before I had the hub rings re-chromed and the caps re-painted, they look much brighter now.

Cheers

Mark

[Jordan]

Mark, what an absolutely beautiful job they did to your engine bay.  I am seriously jealous.  One question, the rad core looks like it was painted along with the frame.  Do you know if the core was in fact painted (spray I assume)?  My rad is out right now getting recored and will be getting it back soon for painting. I asked them not to paint it.  Just wondering if the core also gets painted as I had assumed not.  Thanks.
Marcus