I would not do a color change unless it could be done absolutely right. That includes removing the engine, transmission, the entire interior, doors, hood, trunk lid. Basically stripping everything off of the car and having nothing but a body so you can hit all of the areas that were painted the original color at the factory. That would probably cost much much more than what the car is worth.

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

There is a Maaco here in Dallas that does pretty decent work. I know the owner and we seem to have hit it off well so a couple of weeks ago, I put my money where my mouth is and sent my 450SLC 5.0 in for painting. He let me strip the car at the shop so that I dont have to trailer it in.

He will do the rust repair and paint it another color. (it's originally Ikon Gold, but was repainted some time ago to thistle green). I'm providing the base coat because he does not have the code for Ikon gold on his Mixer.

He uses Sherwin Williams Dimension brand which is one of Sherwin's lower brands but still a brand name so I wont worry about how well the paint will hold up.

Maaco is a franchise so it really depends on which one you go to, this guy is more interested in the bodywork and insurance repair side of the business so he hires good people to work for him. It's good to check out the work sending your car into Maaco as every one will be different.

But for a $900 base coat clear coat paint job, you really can't go wrong. I've painted cars in my garage and it's horrible. It takes ages to prep and clear coat is nasty stuff. Your almost always into it for about $300-500 in materials. Depending on what your time is worth it may be worth farming it out at that price.

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With best regards

Al

I appreciate everyone chiming in with thier experiences. I think I will try paintscratch.com. I will attempt to do the hood, roof, and trunk, and see what kind of results I get. The trim has a green haze all around it. I can use a 3m pad to get through the green stuff and then there is a blue-ish silver color and then I get to anthracite grey. It takes way too much time to get to the original paint. So, if the paint works out on the hood, I may try to the trim, at $24 a can (12.5oz) this could get to be expensive. Thanks again for all the info.

BH

Post some pictures and your process and resulting opinion of their product. I'd be interested in hearing how it worked out for you.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles