Yes it is quite expensive, but this is the third Pagoda I own and all have been advertised as rust free California cars. Truth is that most of the so-called rust free cars on the market are more or less rusty - you may not see it at a glance, but internal rot is not uncommon on otherwise superb looking cars. I realised that it was difficult to get what I wanted and decided to go for a full blown body restoration rather than patching up, which will not pay off on the long run. It will be primed with zinc-chrome etch primer and get a multi layer MB 180 silver metallic paint and clear top coats. We have the most aggressive coastal climate here in Denmark and we live 200 m from the sea front, so access holes (8 mm) with plugs will be drilled into all cavities before painting all cavities, and special protective anti-rust oil will afterwards be sprayed into each and every cavity. Hard top will be stripped from chrome/rubber parts and rubbed down and resprayed too. Interior is fine, so is the soft top and transmission etc. Suspension will get new rubber bushings etc. and probably new shocks. Only thing that worries me is to get the engine up and running again - we had a problem with uneven running/jerky ride before we took it to the body shop.
I will post more pics and text along the (hopefully) fast progress.
/Finn