1st water pump replacement 76 450sl
 

So everything is out and cleaned up. Used to do this stuff with a friend on other cars back in the day, but never a Mercedes. Quick question. Paper gaskets or high temp Permagasket? My buddy and his Dad swore by the goop and bashed paper gaskets. Thoughts?

Your pump should come with the gaskets needed.

I never used any weird gasket goop unless it's specifically called for. Just use the new gaskets and make sure the mating surface is clean.

I have not done it on the 450, but the paper gaskets seemed to fail too often on the jeep. 2 years ago I used the grey sealant for thermostat and water pump from permatex.
In fact a project jeep that I bought for little cash had a RTV gasket for the water pump, no paper, nothing to scrape and it was holding very well with 1 out of 4 bolts holding the high stress points, it was purple blue in color and I was never able to figure out what it was!
The newer vehicles now come with a rubber gasket, no leaks, no sealant to use.