Paint query

[Bagspacked]

I am planning a fresh repaint for a 280sl I recently bought. The car is a beauty but I’d like a fresh repaint.

Having spoken with a good classic car paint shop they have suggested naturally sticking with the original colour however using a metallic paint which they suggested would make the car stand out more.

Any thoughts whether that’s a good idea or no?

Much appreciated

[Mike Hughes]

Well . . . If your paint is not metallic then painting it the same shade, but metallic, is not painting it the same color at all. Doing a color change right on a Pagoda entails taking a good bit of the car apart, to repaint under the hood and in the engine compartment, the dashboard, and all the hard to reach areas on the door sills, door posts , doors and door hinges. So my inclination would be to stick with the original color, regardless of the advice offered by your classic car paint shop.  I they are any good they should be able to spectroscopically match the color from an unstained, unfaded area like the dash board or one of the door posts, and the new paint should seamlessly match the areas that don't need painting without any overspray.

[kampala]

sticking with the original colour however using a metallic paint

Much depends on if you like the original color or not. 

You can do what your shop suggests if that is what you want.  If you want to keep the value of the car (this may not matter to you, it's personal) -- for many buyers original color is important.  The values of these cars have gone up a bit, so they are no longer just a used car as they use to be.   Adding metallic is the same as a color change in my opinion and no longer original color.     
 
Most Mercedes non-metallic colors were single stage (no clear-coat).  Depending on the color, if you want a bit more pop, you can have them do original color but add clear-coat on top.  This is not exact as original, BUT this is done a lot and in my opinion, does not hurt the value and adds a little pop.   If doing paint to win concours events, I don't know if clear-coat is a deduction if car had single stage to start. I would still add clear, personally. 

BTW:  some color changes to Mercedes Original colors seem to keep the value (if buyer finds the color desirable).

[MikeSimon]

I frown upon painting a car a different color than the original. if you want to do this right, you have to basically strip the car down to the metal parts as there are so many areas that cannot be painted if the car is together. That being said, there are quite a few "old" colors that have "new" Mercedes versions that are very, very similar and an untrained eye would have  ahard time telling them apart. Worth checking the available palette.

[Bagspacked]

Hi Kampala, when you say add a clear coat is that the same finish as metallic or something different?

I’d prefer to do the entire car but not have to do the engine bay, inside bonnet yes but apparently a bigger job not doing the engine bay. Just wondering if this clear coat omission in the engine bay would be less noticeable as I imagine the colour would be similar just no clear coat.

[kampala]

Using Pawel's words -- I am not an expert, but I have learned about paint in doing my restoration.


Automotive paint is basically broken into two categories:

Single Stage - This is what most non-metallic Mercedes and others cars were painted with in the Pagoda Era.   The paint is applied and that is the final coat.  The gloss in incorporated into the color -- all in one - single stage. 

Two Stage - Also known as "Base Coat / Clear Coat. "   The base coat is the color coat and when applied has no gloss to it, it dries matte and is only color. Then a Clear Coat is applied on top of the color coat and this gives the paint the gloss. 

Most modern cars are Base Coat / Clear Coat.   

Clear Coat has no metallic in it.    It is Clear.  Pour water on paint and that is what clear coat looks like.    If one were to paint metallic, the metallic is normally incorporated into the base coat.

You can have your shop spray TWO sample cards for you - one sample of Original Color in single stage, and another sample of Original color done two stage --  base coat / clear coat.   They can order  tiny sample paint (mixed to original color) from their supplier, very common.   

If you are not doing engine bay and other such areas - I would definitely suggest not adding metallic as it usually does not match original color that does not have metallic.   Engine bays and such are typically not very glossy on cars of our era so my thoughts would be that it's okay to have a glossy original color exterior while engine bay is not so glossy but same original color. 

Added note:  If your car is BLACK, two stage looks virtually same a single stage.  The difference is more noticeable on colors that are not extremely dark. 

[Bonnyboy]

Now did the paint shop suggest a metallic paint because they think it will look good or is it because all of their paint is now metallic.

I went to a name brand body shop / paint shop last week and asked about a single stage paint job and was told by the manager that their setup is for metallic paints and they don't do single stage anymore.  They farm it out to another firm who does much less volume and different paint types on older cars. 

 

[Bagspacked]

Thanks Kampala, on further advice and your own I’m sticking to the original and away from metallic

[Bagspacked]

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