Restoration Progress Report - 230 SL

[FresnoBob]

On New Year's Day I decided to kick off the year by beginning a major restoration.  The non-numbers matching engine consumed oil, belched smoke and had low compression.  The body needed new paint from a terrible attempt to repaint only one side of the car from a "road rage" incident many years ago.  The body also has considerable rust from living in Germany for the first 15 years of its life. 

I was able to buy a Metric Motors rebuilt 250 engine from Rick Iknoian, a fellow Pagoda SL Group member and Gus is rebuilding the injection pump.  I'm now mostly through assembling the rebuilt motor and beginning the body work.  The largest battle seems to be scope creep.  I've now rebuilt the drive shaft, horns, fuel tank, fuel pump, and a multitude of smaller items.  Glass beading of the valve cover and intake manifold came out particularly well. 

[JamesL]

Love seeing this sort of thing - keep the pictures and updates coming.

[johnk]

On New Year's Day I decided to kick off the year by beginning a major restoration.  The non-numbers matching engine consumed oil, belched smoke and had low compression.  The body needed new paint from a terrible attempt to repaint only one side of the car from a "road rage" incident many years ago.  The body also has considerable rust from living in Germany for the first 15 years of its life. 

I was able to buy a Metric Motors rebuilt 250 engine from Rick Iknoian, a fellow Pagoda SL Group member and Gus is rebuilding the injection pump.  I'm now mostly through assembling the rebuilt motor and beginning the body work.  The largest battle seems to be scope creep.  I've now rebuilt the drive shaft, horns, fuel tank, fuel pump, and a multitude of smaller items.  Glass beading of the valve cover and intake manifold came out particularly well.

If you bead blast your aluminum be extremely careful not to get any glass in the channel inside the valve cover. It’s very difficult to remove and can cause damage to your engine. Also I was recently advised that the heat from bead blasting opens up the pores in the aluminum making  it easier to absorb dirt down the road. I coated mine with a good hi-temp clear satin paint to prevent this.

[FresnoBob]

Thanks John - I was planning to coat my intake manifold and valve cover with Cerakote, but I think a matte finish is better than gloss.  What clear, high temp product did you use?

[Benz Dr.]

I've noted that after painting, if you leave paint on the areas where a gasket will seat, you can have coolant leaks. I always remove any paint or try to mask those areas off before assembly. Saves a lot of '' go back and do it again '' work.

[kampala]

Looking very nice.   Keep the photos coming many like to see naked pagodas.

[FresnoBob]

I've completed all the body work I'm doing at this stage and now having someone paint the engine bay.  The engine is coming along nicely and the injection pump should be fully rebuilt by the end of the month.  It's amazing how much time I spend cleaning and repainting parts, not to mention the big box of parts sent for electroplating. 

[Shvegel]

"Scope creep"  Bwahahahah!

[FresnoBob]

Engine bay painted today.  I guess this is the bottom and I'll start reassembling parts tomorrow.  Now to remember where everything goes...

[Paul Cain]

Great photos. Keep them coming.  When will you be applying the color / base coat?

[johnk]

Fresno
Are you going to support the wire harness above somehow?  I tried to tape mine up when I primered my engine compartment but realized I had to pull it out before I applied the color and clear coats.  Too much dust and too difficult keeping it out of the way without bumping into the wet paint.

John

[FresnoBob]

John - I used wire from above to hold the harness in several places to keep it away from the paint.  We still had to move the wires by hand to get paint everywhere it needed to be.  Almost done assembling the engine bay, so the engine should go in next week. 

[beachbear]

Currently, mine is in a similar condition. I have chosen to forgo cad plating since the logistics are overwhelming to me in Hawaii. I've chosen to paint clips satin black and lines or rods clear using Everbrite.

[Paul Cain]

Just put down color on my engine compartment. Excited to start reinstalling the gold zinc hardware.

[Paul Cain]

If you need gold zinc. I have a guy in Orange county, CA who would return ship to HI.  Let me know if you want contact details.

[beachbear]

Thanks Paul. I really appreciate the recommendation, but I’m too far along in my project.

[johnk]

John - I used wire from above to hold the harness in several places to keep it away from the paint.  We still had to move the wires by hand to get paint everywhere it needed to be.  Almost done assembling the engine bay, so the engine should go in next week.

Good idea. I couldn’t do that because the ceiling in the barn is about 12 feet.

Looks great. Hope you were able to keep the little dust and dirt particles out of the crevices when you paint. Makes a big difference in the appearance when you are done.