Keep it beige!!!!

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Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Sorry, I know this is a really old thread, but I was wondering if you ever ended up painting your car and if so, what single stage paint did you end up getting? Also, are you happy with the results? I'm going to be painting a W123 300TD wagon sometime in the near future and I'm trying to figure out what my best options are for single stage paint.

Great thread. Thanks for digging it up. I missed it the first time.

I don’t plan on color changing my beige car. I keep touching up the paint chips and the paint overall looks great for a 40 yo car. They must have used some really good paint back then. The beige is hands down the winner in longevity on our cars.

I can see on my rock chips how thick it is. It buffs out great. Not only am I not going to change the color, I’m going to probably never repaint this car. I’ll just repair chips till it’s one big chip repair.

I’ve wondered about what that OE paint was. BASF? It’s remarkable how many cars are still around with passable beige paint. Yes it’s boring but it is really tough.

My diamond blue metallic 300d has had a bad respray of the OE code. It looks like a kid did it. Must have been Maaco or Earl Scheib. I was going to have it reshot in two stage urethane but my teenager is driving the car now so I’ll just let it be. I’ve had dreams of painting it in my garage but I think I’m finally growing out of that fantasy. I’ve never painted a car but I’ve always dreamed about it. Right now I’m in a place where it would be more reasonable to just strip the car and flatbed it to a good shop. After my kid wrecks it of course.

Nowadays when I look at w123s for sale I look for the solid colors. The idea of dealing with peeling 1980s clearcoat just isn’t worth the beauty to me. If I see a really mechanically sound car with bad clearcoat I may try vinyl wrap. It’s a cheap way to cover up a weekend car.

Eastwood sells a lot of single stage metallics on their website. I wonder how good they are.

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79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles
97 C280 147k miles

I wouldn't use a basecoat/clearcoat since the clearcoat fades to look horrid in the CA sun and paint damage can't be easily fixed, and the car will get scratched within the first week or month. Upside is that after enough scratches and dents 3 years later, you won't notice the new ones. Car paints are very expensive. One of the most read web threads is "Paint your car for $50" (or such) by a guy with an old Dodge Charger. He used Rustoleum, but others go bigger with Interlux Brightsides polyurethane "boat paint". Both use the "roll & tip" method of boat painting.

I began that on my 1965 Dodge Dart, so far doing the interior, trunk, engine bay, and door jambs when I had it apart. I still need to do the exterior, but that is actually easier. You can also spray it, which I did in the trunk since many struts and cavities. But, it is self-leveling so you can use a coarse sprayer. I used an electric sprayer with no air, which is also more efficient (little overspray). I might spray the outside since I can shield the interior fairly easy. I first used the roll & tip on my camping trailer (Brightsides white), which was fairly easy since mostly flat panels. I was amazed how smooth it came out and only had trouble with a few runs on the vertical sides at protrusions and corners which skim paint off the foam brush, but wiped them flat before they dried. One advantage of brush application, is that you can do jambs and such without overspray messing up the interior.

Re color, that is a moving target. Remember the ridicule Al Bundy got for his Gold Duster on "Married with Children". Such bright colors were popular on 1970's Mopars, but only a few lasted like their Plum Crazy. Ditto for the "new colors" starting ~2015. Will "swamp-mud green" and "cow-poop brown" look dated in 10 years? I like the light gray, and light-dirty green and blues today, but they may not age well. One guy here has a nice color in his avatar. Might be in Gainesville, FL (forget). BTW, after decades of fussing to get the smoothest shiniest custom paint job, the rage now among tuners is flat black or even wrapping the car in vinyl, some of which makes it look like a rusted heap with riveted panels, definitely channeling the "rat rod" concept.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

Paint it kristallgrün just for fun...

Steve

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Steve A
92 W140 OM603
97 VW Jetta TDI
90 Passat variant TDI 6 speed MT
94 Chevy K1500 6.5TD
05 E320 CDI
+ others

about 2 years ago I bought this 300CD in light Ivory. First picture. The paint was in perfect condition. But, I'm not a fan of beige so I had it painted Sahara Yellow. This color choice was worth the expense. I had to weigh the advantages of having a car in the color it came from the factory in vs having the color I wanted. (I'll have this car for life) I couldn't be happier with how this Sahara Yellow looks. The car was invisible before. Not now. I also added color matched hubcaps. I think they are a better looks than the bundt rims.

I have to say Light Ivory is literally my least favorite color on the W123's. I think it's because I feel like 75% of the W123's I see are Light Ivory. Don't get me wrong, if it's in very nice condition it can look good but I just think it's one of those colors that can look really tired and dingy pretty easily. I don't think there is really any in between with that color. It's either in great condition or it looks like crap. Yours looked to be in nice shape but the Sahara Yellow is a big improvement for sure. Did you use single stage paint? If so, do you know what brand you used?

It is not single stage unfortunately. But, I'm able to park in the shade and covered while at work. So, I expect it to last a good long time.

Why paint it a color you don't like??? It's your car. The KBB value is probably what, $1,500, so why try to keep it like original? Are you afraid the value will go down???

Paint it whatever color you like and maybe you'll start a whole new trend. Maybe paint it 2 tone. The lower part of the car original and the upper part a color that contrasts nicely with that.

Have fun!

That Sahara Yellow is definitely a shocking color, indeed like one of the wild colors on 1970's Mopar Scat-Pack cars. It looks like many new cars of 5 years ago, so definitely in-style today. Who knows what will be popular 10 or 20 years from now. The body style on your 300CD may come back in style, along with sedans, and perhaps even chrome trim, though that adds cost.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans