So, I was watching the "Velocity" channel last night and behold - one of the hot rod shops that usually deal with pushrod V8s was working on a 1964 230SL for a client. (who would bring his Pagoda to a place like this???) The owner's name was Gary and he wanted his 230 "restored' on a budget.
This budget was the amount of the perceived value of the car, which was 30K, according to the "experts". The owner wanted it redone, so he could go "racing" with it (the morons are still around..)
They did an interior redo, had a hard time finding replacement wood trim on the dash board, took the seats and some of the interior out, removed the engine and "overhauled" it. Broke the camshaft in the process and acquired another used one, which they had some place regrind (probably to Blue Flame specs) and re-installed a originally previously dealer-furnished a/c unit that a P/O had removed because the compressor coupling was hitting a front sway bar or something.
After everything was done, including a thorough polishing, which allowed to keep the original paint job, the bill was $35,000.-
That's what I call "Reality TV"!
