Original paint in good condition. Grey/blue.
Should I have the hood painted with original paint (where is a good place to get it). Will it match the 20 year old original paint.

Some people are saying it won't match because the 20 year old paint is faded others are saying to just polish the 20 year old paint.

I was told that for a good paint job, all the old paint needs to be scraped off and then 4 coats of new applied.

What should this cost. If I get the paint


300D 1980.

I need to replace the hood, the broken parts around the lights (what are those called) and have some other body work done.

Got a used hood and grill and probably need junk yard parts as it'd be too expensive.

What's a good place in Los Angeles to do it?

Cost depends on the paint you get. You would need to call around.

The parts around the headlights are called headlight doors.

It would be netter to prep and spray the entire car.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

by prep and spray, do you mean remove all original paint and apply 4 new coats? Is there a big difference in cost between doing that and just the hood?

Prep means removing all the trim, sanding, filling in rust, etc.

Yes, the cost is more, but itis cheaper if you DIY.

Just the hood would be cheaper. After you do the hood, you will want to do the entire car, to make the rest match the hood.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Would it be better then, to match the hood to the rest of the car? Can this be done with original paint or would I use a different paint?

Original paint would be best, but does run the risk of looking darker against faded paint.

It's difficult to match faded paint with new paint.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

so the paint on the car looks pretty good I think the clear coat is still there on most of the car. How would I determine if it's faded or not?

When you paint the hood and it doesn't match the rest of the car!

You could also pull trim that covers paint and notice if there's any delineation between the sun-affected are and the previously-hidden area.

Clear coat looks milky, and missing cleacoat, the paint looks dull.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

If the rest of the paint is OK I would try to match it first. Take a look in the door sills to see what the unfaded color looked like. Many of the old non-metallic single stage paints on these old Mercedes seems to hold up nicely.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

I thought I had original light blue paint but there seems to be a dark blue coat visible on some damaged areas.

Door sills look very similar to rest of the car and probably not faded.

Is the cost of original paint the same as other types of paint. Of course if the paint is not original it'll be harder to use original paint.

I'm missing something here. Is the hood damaged and/or the paint on the hood deteriorated and that's what this is all about? If so, you already know what your choices are: 1) repaint just the hood to correct the immediate problem; or 2) repaint the entire car to ensure consistency in the finish. It largely depends on what your future plans are for the car, and on how particular you are about its appearance. Yes, of course the original paint has faded, all paints fade with time. But a good paint shop can attempt to compensate for that natural fading process and provide a slightly lighter paint. Will it match perfectly? Probably not, particularly if your original paint is metalic, but that may be OK with you depending on what level of result you want to achieve. Provide the paint shop with the correct DB paint code for the vehicle and they'll know what to do from there. A suggestion about finding a good body/paint shop to do the work: if you already have a reliable indy shop, ask the owner for recommendations. If you don't already have a good mechanic, there's no better anywhere than Enrique at Mr MB in Tarzana. He should have a suggestion or two for you. Good luck.

__________________
1988 California version 260E (W124)
Anthracite Grey/Palomino
Owned since new and still going strong and smooth
MBCA member

Past Mercedes-Benz:
1986 190E Baby Benz
1967 230 Inherited from mom when she downsized
1959 220S Introduced me to the joys of keepin' 'em goin'

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world--those who understand binary and those who don't

Hood was damaged, so a new hood is needed.

If the paint is not in fact original, it'll be hard to figure out which paint it was.

I would definitely like it to match pretty well.

I use Mr Mb and he is a good mechanic. Unfortunately the body shop he mentioned in northridge did not do a good job with another car I had.

Can't help but burst the "original paint" idea. You can't buy the "original" paint. No such thing anymore. Like with anything, paint progresses with time. In 1980 the car was probably sprayed with a lacquer paint, which most bodyshops can't and don't use anymore. Of course paint matching has also gotten better too. So, if you only want to do the hood, which will cost roughly a 1/10 of what painting the entire car will cost, bring it to a shop with good recommendations, and see how close they can get it. The sure way to get it to match would be to blend the fenders as well. That process involves lightly sanding the fenders, then blending the new hood paint into the existing fender paint, then clearing both. Of course, even that will be much shinier than the rest of the car, which you may be able to buff to get it close. I wouldn't hold out much hope for buffing the old clear too much, as it will probably burn through.

I haven't worked in the autobody industry in about 10 years, Not sure if you could blend enamel over lacquer. It wouldn't take much of your time to just stop in at a recommended shop and ask.