Scratching My Head - engine bay paint !

[stickandrudderman]

There's no way your going to get any change out of 20k for changing the colour back to silver (for a decent job), so if you are on a tight budget it should definitely be ble engine bay. As for the original firewall pad, you're car is not going to be "original" anyway and few buyers will notice or care if the firewall pad is not original.
Just paint the engine bay, put it back together with ALL new rubbers, springs and shocks and then you'll have a good looking car that you and your new bride will thoroughly enjoy.
If you get to keep the car for 20 years then you can think about originality then.

[KevinC]

Just to chime in...I have a shop that can do a color change on a W113 for $10k. Collector-car quality. 100 miles west of Kazoo. PM me for photos of their work.

If it were me, unless your car is a good deal less appealing in person than it is in the photos, I would paint the engine bay blue, change the dash color to match the interior and enjoy it!

 

[Kazoo]

Garry,

That looks really great, what are you interior and exterior colors.  That interior doesn't look like my bamboo??

And what exactly is dash re-coloring?  Is that spraying the parts a different color with dash type paint, or is that covering the dash pads with a layer of leather of vinyl?

Also, is your interior leather?

[Kazoo]

And to Kevin...

Sometimes there is the voice of reason...thanks Kevin. If left to my own devices, I would have it all apart, be spending way more than I should given that I have kids getting ready for college, and all the while I will never get to enjoy driving it!.

SO here is what I am thinking with all of your help...

1. Paint the engine bay blue to match the body, and get onto getting the engine down and back in so we can use her
2. Enjoy the car for 5-10 years, and if they keep going crazy in value, then consider the original color change idea... and yes it will be more expensive since the engine will need to come back out for bay painting
3. When the top needs replacement switch to navy blue
4. Not sure what to do with the interior. Which could be a next winter project.

SO we are not done bantering yet!  Unless you want to be...

INTERIOR OPTIONS

Some day I just really want to have a leather interior, so at some point stuff is going to have to change inside.

For now as many have said, since interior is in good condition, just drive it as it.  The dash pads are original BLACK and everything else is Bamboo MB tex, but the average Joe doesn't know that the dash pads are supposed to match so its not a terrible fashion-don't for local touring.

Options for when the time comes...

1. Switch the interior back to the original black to match the original dash pads - not sure how well black goes with Lt blue so thats a question.  Anyone seen Lt Blue with Black, was that combination delivered or recommended by MB originally -- how does it look??  If a black interior would go well, that might be the best since then the interior would be the original interior color code - and I like black interiors!

2. When I make the move to leather, move to some other good typical combination...which I imagine would be a tan shade.  Im not crazy about blue interiors so thats not an option for me, especially if I go to a Navy top.

SO....Light blue body, Black Interior, navy blue top ??  HMMMMMM... that is what I will be ponder today as I drive my E500 wagon up country for some skiing!

Happy New Year!

[Garry]

Kazoo,

My colour combination as per my data card is as follows:
 car is Lt Blue 334G, Top is 350H, and the interior icolour is 213 and is Leather,

The colouring I have done came in small plastic bottles that I has to use/mix three different colours to match up to my seat leather.  I applied it with a small foam pad and some small cotton wool buds in the tricky places. Also used an artists brush to put into the tight corners. It took about four coats.  Some use small paint brushed.  I am not sure how well it would go with black but it is a solid colour so should cover it.

Here is the Australian company that supplied me but I am sure there are some in the USA and it was throught this forum that I learnt about the process.

http://couchguard.com.au/leather/dye/colours.php?gclid=Cj0KEQiA_ZOlBRD64c7-gOzvrP0BEiQAAYBnd9ZSGWoY-uERp5hKsU0sd-kFOc6hg0nlR_SyvVLJsBkaAjcq8P8HAQ


Garry

[KevinC]

Here's a "Horizon Blue" Pagoda...

http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1971-mercedes-benz-280-sl-9/#prettyPhoto[gallery1]/6/

[Flyair]

Woods are of stock Far East origin... question of taste, but not original look

[Kazoo]

Well, I have confirmed that the color is 334 light blue....so back to work getting the engine bay prepped for paint and then off we go with a 334 application...