Am I getting that old?
Anyway the thought has entered my mind to start buying these things at 700 a piece and then stash them until 2015 and sell them at $50K a piece then. They would kind of be like the old fashioned Rolex watches that are so expensive even though $5 LCD washes are more accurate.
But I'm not much into business, its not my nature.
Its like when my wife wanted to breed our Tox Fox Terrier. I said "Honey, you would end up with 7 puppies and become attached to every single one. You wouldnt sell them and we would have Fox Teriiers all over the place pooping, pooping in the kitchen, garage, in our bed and on the dinner plate and in my hair. And I would have to walk them all...

Probably because of the fad-factor of WVO and the respective mechanical aptitude of the hipsters that are buying into the fad.
IIRC WVO requires multi-stage filtering and a well-engineered setup to be successful. I don't think alot of these people know what they're getting into, the time and knowledge involved, thus I believe there will be a lot of ruined cars as a result of half-assing the filtration process.
Used oil is a great idea but I have come to the conclusion that it would be too big of a pain for me. You have to be clean with it, and getting the oil is too much to deal with. I'd probably change out my fuel lines to run B100 though.
WVO= waste veg oil

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

Nah............you ain't old yet.

WVO is waste vegetable oil

The stuff discarded by McD and others after 10 million french fries have passed through it.

Actually, a good paint job requires three things.
(1) a great preparation: sanding, ding filling, and more sanding and prepping. This is the most labor-intensive part. It also requires more than a little expertise and experience.
(2) good paint, good equipment and a good place to use it.
(3) GREAT expertise at painting. Spraying a car is difficult because you only get one chance to get just the right amount of paint on each part.

Most of the prep can be done by a relatively inexperienced owner. There is a lot in books that is most helpful.

Maaco has pretty good equipment and probably their spray guys are as good as more expensive shops. The problem is they like to get the prepping done in a hurry, and their paint is not the best.

$7000 for a paint job sounds a tad expensive, at least in US dollars.
You might buy the best paint you can find and head for a Mexican border town. You could have a fun time and have a beautiful car for maybe half that.
This is what the low-riders do: the cars look silly, but the paint is great.

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Semibodacious Transmogrifications a Specialty

1990 300D 2.5 Turbo sedan 171K (Rudolf)
1985 300D Turbo TD Wagon 219K (Remuda)

"Time flies like and arrow, yet fruit flies like a banana"
---Marx (Groucho)

Carrameow,

Steel gray sounds like it might be the MB color Anthracite. Which is one of the more elegant colors to be found on a Mercedes.

You might be surprised at how much you would really like your car’s color if you had a decent paint job followed by polishing and waxing.

Plus, you eliminate all those door jam and engine bay issues.

I too like the odd MB colors of the seventies, the pee greens and oranges.

My first MB was a ’84 300D in Anthracite and I really admired that color. My current 123 is a ’77 240D in Colorado Beige and I enjoy that color for different reasons.

Embrace the beauty of your current car and keep on the look out for that next, uniquely colored, Mercedes

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Anders

1995 E300
2015 VW TDI Sportwagen 15K
1977 240D (197K)
2002 Subaru Legacy L Wagon (115k) (Wife's)
Gone but not forgotten:
2005 Buick LeSabre
1998 C230
1984 300D
1983 240D
1981 300SD
1974 240D
1974 Fiat 124 Spider
1968 Triumph TR250

You got it. We will have around $1200 to $1500 in paint and materials alone. I am paying around $500 for one gallon of some tints right now and that is sure to go up in the near future. Pay a good tech a living wage, figure all your overhead, and it is REAL easy to get $7000 in a paint job on a Benz. If you want as close to perfect as possible and show quality,,, write me a blank check. You will get what you are looking for though.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

What exactly do you get when you buy a gallon of paint for $500.???

I presume that Maaco purchases a gallon of paint for about $50.

Is one paint 10X better than the other?

Check if your local High School has a Auto Paint and Body class. You'll just pay for materials.

Help support Vocational Classes.

-Alan

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2005 Audi A4 1.8T CVT -Silver/Black "Siegfried"

1982 300D - Silver/Blue "Ralph" -For Sale:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-cars-sale/119226-1982-300d-sale.html#post852260

1989 VW Diesel Jetta Blue/Blue "Bodo" RIP

$500 for a gallon is about what I would expect, it is probably a 2-3 part paint. I know in the marine world Awgrip(sp?) costs a small fortune.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

"just a panel at a time."

I have been saying that this is perfectly feasible for a dedicated DIY'er for some time...

Actually , thinking ahead in terms of wasted paint and time involved in cleaning your equipment after each spray... that you figure doing the amount of area which you can do with one fill of your paint can , whatever size pot you have. This might work out to two doors at a time, the hood and top, that sort of divisions...

When you get ready to start we will talk you through it...
There are some little rules to follow when piecemealing it... like put all your paint into one can and stir right before filling your pot...and stir your pot regularly if you are using any paint with extra suspensions in it ....

I'd love to rehab my ride, and may some day as I am bound for other reasons never to sell it...But god good work is expensive. Bodywork and paint must be the most expensive things you can do on an older car. Also-yes, Mexican border town. I work with a lot of Mexicans in my restaraunt gig, and these guys can pimp a ride the right way. Great looking cars lined up outside, and not gilded lillies, either, just nicely done cars.

[QUOTE=leathermang]"just a panel at a time."

That's how we're doing this one. Did the hood off the car first, then the roof and 1/4's into the rear door jambs, so there would be no paint lines on the rear door openings. Today we will do the four doors and front fenders. The car is a dark charcoal metallic and the paint will match.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

PJG56, That is great, we will be expecting pictures after you are finished ( pun )....

For getting plenty of paint on the car ( which leaves nice options for the polishing afterwards ) it would be reasonable to take the four doors off and sawhorse them horizontally... that would mean only the fenders , and only half of them, would be vertical spraying.... It would make it easy to load up the paint with no fear of runs.

Do the fenders last, after practicing on all that horizontal space....

Leather, I like to paint all adjacent panels at the same angle and position for that critical match. I have seen where we would paint a bumper at a different angle than what it sits on the car, and when we put it on the car it doesn't match because of the way the metallic is laying in comparison to the 1/4 panels. So the doors will be painted exactly the same as the 1/4's so there will not be a problem. We do mix plenty of paint for the whole job before we start so we never have to mix more which could possibly present a problem.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

Some paint types are easier than others... and I was not going to suggest metallic for Carrameow's first paint job..

Special paints with extra things in suspension often require special equipment... like the magnetic/pneumatic constant stirring option to keep the paint moving in the can while painting....

But that observation brings up another question.... does that mean that on your car, since some items are going to be horizontal when painted , they will look different from the vertical items ?