The Correct resotoration over time.

[Arjun]

Being a new owner and throwing the word 'restoration' in many questions I have the following two extremes.

1. Just do the rusted floors and change the upholstry.
2. Don't do ANything until you have shown to a professional (with respect) whether it is worth it. And then if it is... you might as well go all the way because...  .

The problem is I do want a fantastic car, but over time. ( a few years (3 to 5))

What is the way to go. What is first base and so on...

I need to understand step 1 to 10 for a condition 2 car over 3 years.
 



1967 250SL 5-Speed

[Chad]

I am going proceeding through the steps myself, whatever they are, learning along the way.
Anyway, if you have a nice car to begin with, then I think that step #1 is going to involve a bank account with sufficient funds.
Steps #2,3,4, and so on will depend greatly on the individual vehicle, very different things can happen.  As far as my experience has gone with various Italian and English cars.  Maybe one of the many experts on this forum lives nearby to you and can come take a look???



-CD-
1967 230SL, 113.042 10

[Douglas]

Not as easy a question to answer as you'd think. I guess the easiest thing to say is that interior work and chrome trim could theoretically wait. But just doing the floors is dubious since mechanical issues like the typical leaking front engine seal or leaking differential make a tidy undercarriage impossible. This means there's generally a lot more than welding down there if you want to make it look really nice.

If it were me, I'd probably try to enjoy the car for as long as possible and get a feel for whether I'm absolutely certain it's the right candidate for a full, heart and wallet-wrenching restoration. You best be certain before opening that door......

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[Chad]

I agree with Douglas, Arjun.  I made a mistake of purchasing a 190SL a couple of years ago thinking it was a project.  The thing is, the car had rust issues and soon learned that the $$$$ involved were very real, but what convinced me to sell it was the fact that I didn't want to put new steel in everywhere. I wanted an original car.  So I sold that 190SL without ever having heard the engine turn over.

Spent about a year looking for a rustfree w113 and finally found it.  Seeing it in the shop stripped down to metal now is very satisfying, it is dry and no rust at all.  I will tell you that even an original and rustfree car can cost you $$$$$, though. I am holding off on any engine work cause it doesn't need it now (based on what I read in Dan Caron's postings on compression, etc.) but changing color, refurbishing the mechanical systems, etc. etc. is expensive.  You should have one of these experienced guys come and look at your car before you start sinking the bucks in it.  After all, if you bought it for X dollars, then you can resell it for somewhere around X dollars if you back out of it.

-CD-
1967 230SL, 113.042 10

[Cees Klumper]

Arjun's car was in fact looked at by several pros at Joe Alexander's tech session last July in Ohio (Arjun drove all the way from NY) and from my recollection the rust issue was not deemed to be that bad.

What I would do in your case is decide whether you really want a correctly restored beautiful correct car, or one that, to the untrained eye, looks and drives just about the same. In the first case count on spending about $75-100,000 if all the work has to be done by well-known professionals. In the second case, you may be able to get away with a fraction of that amount. Of course, a total and expensive restoration will make the car last another 40 years while a cheaper route will probably require more work earlier than that. But, depending on the use you make of the car and how you maintain it generally, that time may never come for you.

The example I always cite is my own experience when I got some body work (read: rust repairs) and a repaint done in 2001. The well-known professionals wanted $10,000, the shop that ended up doing the work charged $900 for the same tasks, and did them with 90% of the quality that the first shop would have delivered.

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic