Thinking of restoring a 350SL - how much did you pay?
 

Hi,

I am thinking of getting a 72 350SL, which overall is pretty nice, but has some bad points. Id liek an idea of how much it could run me to do a few things:

-New F & R bumpers (chrome is gone and rust has deteriorated them pretty bad. (small type) Are they interchangable with the older series of SL roadsters? The vertical bump pads look exactly the same, but I dont know about the actual horizontal bumper. Havent found anyone selling one of these online, may need to go via MB classic?

-new front grille, the lower right quarter is kind of funny, the rest is OK though.

-new center console (or used one), the current one is pretty deteriorated.

-new center clock

-dash cap

-steering wheel

-Drivers side carpeting

-rust removal body work

Thanks very much, I have attached a few pics to see the body work that needs to be done, seems pretty minor to me, but Im sure pretty expensive anyway...
Thanks

JMH

and another

another

I made them smaller in size -- Ill delete the pics after a few days....

From the pictures that you posted I think you are probably looking at mega bucks, perhaps as much as 8 or 10 grand. The key to rust is not fixing, but replacing unless this is going to be a daily beater. The rocker is expensive to do and the rust around the back looks extensive. Also you probably will need them to take off the front fenders and check for rust in the inner fenders as well as behind the firewall. It's sad because it looks like it was a beautiful car at one time. Depending on where you live, I'd take it to Bud's Benz in Atlanta (they have a website on the internet) and ask for their opinion. They do a LOT of restoration here in the South.


Good Luck and keep us posted!

I hate to be blunt but that is a parts car. For what it will cost you to fix it you could buy one that is almost show quality.

looks really poorley kept... I agree with getting another and parting that out. That said, nice choice in color!

http://thedotcommune.com/tim/E-Codes/newlook.JPG

That is an unfortunate demise of a body, and it appears that salt and other corrosive ice-thawing compounds were allowed to settle on the exterior for extended periods between washings!

The body cancer is typical of vehicles of that age that are heavily used in winter but I have never seen quality bumper chrome deteriorate to that extent! :eek:

Those panels cannot be repaired, so full replacement is necessary. Even so, it appears that rust may have already breached the "good" metal as well. You would be into several thousands of $$$ even before body prep and paint!

It saddens me to see such a nice car treated so poorly...:(

Avoid that vehicle
 

My advice is to never buy rust. Unless the car is super rare, its not worth it. I have a '73 450 sl (same as the '72) that I paid $5800 for with no rust. Its not perfect, but its a lot better than this one. I have seen several here in the Atlanta area in $5000 to $9000 range. Most likely they would not have as much rust. If you can find a good southern car, look for rust in the passenger side floorboard. This is the result of plugged A/C drains and is fairly common on this vintage.

That said, I think the '72-'73 sl is one of the most underappreciated cars of all time. They have plenty of power (240 hp and no emissions equipment), small attractive bumpers, are dead nuts reliable and parts are readily available. Perhaps its because later models did suffer from small design flaws and reduced power due to emissions. Still, it baffles me how Jags of the same vintage go for $30+ thousand while 450s can be had for a fraction. Good luck.

John Ray
'73 450 SL

"Still, it baffles me how Jags of the same vintage go for $30+ thousand while 450s can be had for a fraction. Good luck."
Even if you bleed saurkraut it still is a gorgeous
car.

http://ebay1.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_...10a1/i-1_B.JPG

http://ebay1.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_...10a1/i-4_B.JPG