Some info on my car to share...

[Eryck]

Dear friends,

Just thought I would share some info on my car with you guys. At the very least, for the sake of a conversation!

Bought it about a month ago here in HK. A 1965 230SL. It's a HK car - originally registered here in 1965 (many cars are imported later, mostly from the UK). 3 owners since 1980 - registration information only goes back to 1980 in terms of no. of owners.

The car is a user. Starts and runs well but definitely need costmetic care. The weld marks in the front fenders are there on both front fenders. I am happy about that! Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the guide marks near the headlights are there.

The number on the ID plate matches the softop cover. It looks like it matches the hood number but I cannot be 100% sure since the repaint is so thick that it's hard to see. Have not been able to locate the hardtop number yet. Overall, an honest car with no superficial attempts to restore it cosmetically - at all. Just gone through its life serving the previous owners as a user and not a show piece.

ALL chrome parts look like they need to be replaced. Paint is still okay but I am wondering if I should just repaint it since re-chroming (or replacing) all the bits will mean that the car will be stripped anyway.

I have been thinking a lot on how to go about restoring this car and I am just going through some confusion at the moment. Repaint the whole thing? Re-chrome or replace (with OEM or repros)? Totally restore to concors level or just a nice user?  (I love it since its white and plan to keep it for a long time!)  

I am just confused and perhaps that's why I am posting this in the first place.  Apologies to anyone who gets bored by this posting...

1965 230 SL White Manual
Hong Kong

[Kenneth Gear]

Confusion is par for the course with classic car ownership... there is always something else you could do or different directions you could take.

My advice is to focus on one area at a time, do it right and move on.  Start with the mechanicals and move to aesthetics.

In other words don't,settle for a cheapo paint job to hold you over until you're ready to do it right.  Polish up that old paint and get it looking as good as possible while you work on other things, when those are done get a top notch paint job -- which can be expensive on these cars.




Ken G
1971 280 SL
Silver/red

[Douglas]

I think most of the chrome is extremely easy to remove, so that shouldn't be a factor in the timing of your paintwork. The grill, beltline trim, bumpers, tail panel trim, boot lid handle, headlight surrounds, etc. -- all of these come off very easily.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[gugel]

quote:
I think most of the chrome is extremely easy to remove, so that shouldn't be a factor in the timing of your paintwork. The grill, beltline trim, bumpers, tail panel trim, boot lid handle, headlight surrounds, etc. -- all of these come off very easily.

This is true, but the chrome trim on the hardtop is usually very difficult to remove, and the caps on the ends of the dash aren't easy either.  If these chrome pieces do need attention, one should definitely do that at the same time as painting.

Chris Earnest

[Douglas]

Isn't the A-post chrome hard to remove as well? I know someone who's having a hard time taking that off a parts car.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[gugel]

quote:
 Isn't the A-post chrome hard to remove as well? I know someone who's having a hard time taking that off a parts car.

As I remember, mine wasn't too hard to get off, although it did take some learning and some care, and I wouldn't have wanted to do it for the first time with new paint on the car.  Reinstallation was actually trickier because the new leather was very slightly thicker than the original.  Tolerances in that area are very tight indeed.

Chris

[Jazn]

I'm with Ken on this one.  I have a 20 footer paint job and I'm not even thinking about it until I get the majority of the suspension and mechanicals out of the way.