Dirt Shield

[Gary Baxter]

I am completing a body off total restoration of a badly rusted 280 sl. I have new dirt shields to fit. My question is, are the dirt shields fitter after the car has been sprayed or before and get sprayed as well as the rest of the car? And what holds the dirt shields on?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Jonny B]

Are you typing about the black pieces that fit inside the front fender wells (between the body and the metal going to the subframe?) These are bolted into place, and they should be painted to match the body. So they would have gone in first, then the inner fender sprayed.

On my 280 SL they are held in place by six bolts/washers. Not sure what the bolts screw into.

I am sure someone will chime in.

[Gary Baxter]

Thanks for the information Jonny. I suspect they screw on with self-tappers.

[Scottcorvette]

Mine were painted body colour both sides but only one side had undercoating/stonechip on. There was also no paint on the rubber so my guess is these were hung inside the body when the car was painted having already been undercoated on the outside when the underside of the car was done, then the seals fitted, then fitted to the car.

The paint on them was the original maroon and I'm pretty sure the area behind those panels also had maroon paint on them. This is on a 230SL so I guess this changed somewhere along the line.

[Gary Baxter]

Many thanks Scottcorvette, My impression is that they are put on after the car has been painted, as the rubber is not painted.