Projects on my new, to me, 1973 280SEL 4.5

[ejboyd5]

Or you could paint the triangular areas surrounding the star in roof color and the circular area outside of that in the body color. Not an uncommon treatment for a car with a contrasting color roof.

[Tomas7]

Originally Posted by jerhofer

Monday the car goes in to the body shop for some paintwork to fix up a few small things on the car as well as paint the hubcap centers. I installed my recently polished hubcaps that had the paint removed. It actually looks pretty darn good without paint.

I love your car, absolutely gorgeous. I am partial to the no-paint on the hubcaps. As you can see from my sig-pic I deleted the paint off of my car. It makes the wheel look bigger and it adds a little bit of elegance to the car.

[bracurrie]

Originally Posted by CTD

If I remember right, two-tone Benzes from the factory came with their wheel covers painted whichever tone was lighter. If the car had a white-roofed blue body, for example, the wheel covers would be white. But this car is unusual in how the roof is a darker colour.

Yes that is true. Typically a dark car would have a light roof, but Jerhoff's car is really striking with the earthly beige and dark brown. Someone should do some Photoshop magic to look at it. Either way it's a really pretty car.

[jerhofer]

I picked up the car from the body shop a couple days ago and am very pleased with the work.

I had a small dent in the lower part of the left rear quarter. Earlier this year, the paintless dent removal guy had taken the dent out but the pain was cracked.






The other area I had repaired was the radiator support where there was surface rust on the top in the latch area and on the lower part from stone chips.












I decided to go with the Harvest Beige on the hubcaps. I had purchased the tool to mask off the star on a hubcaps.

[CTD]

They did a beautiful job on that paint! Makes me want to get a new paint job and re-chromed bumpers on my fintail.

[ejboyd5]

Originally Posted by ejboyd5

Or you could paint the triangular areas surrounding the star in roof color and the circular area outside of that in the body color. Not an uncommon treatment for a car with a contrasting color roof.

Here's an example of the two-tone hubcap as appears on my 1956 300 SL:

[jerhofer]

Originally Posted by ejboyd5

Here's an example of the two-tone hubcap as appears on my 1956 300 SL:

I like that. The Tuxedo Brown in the centers of my hubcaps would look great!!

And I bet i would like the 300SL as well!!! I did have the opportunity to at least sit in a 300SL some years ago. Even that was quite a treat! I did get to close the door to get a better feeling for being in the car. Unfortunately there was no option for either driving or being driven in it.

[Larry Delor]

I was given a ride in a 63 300SL. Not bad, but not as refined as I had hoped. But, when the top is down, and the sun is out, you hardly notice that sort of thing

[ejboyd5]

Although the "two tone" hubcaps appeared on numerous 300 SLs with their inner color matching the interior of the car and the outer ring being the same as the body color, that is not the way my car came from the factory as it was specially produced by M-B as a Standwagen for display at the 1956 New York International Automobile Show.



For reference I've included a picture of the car as it appeared at the Show in New York. Note that only the center portions of the hubcaps are painted body color while the remainder of the caps are chrome. I have yet to see another original 300 SL with this treatment, but make no apologies for changing to the two tone scheme when I repainted the car in 1971 simply because I liked it better and it was "period correct." If some future steward wishes to revert to the display mode they are free to do so with little effort.

It's not my intent to hi-jack this fine and informative thread on the 4.5 (I have an original 1972 59K mile example myself), but I figure anyone interested in following such a detailed reclamation project would be interested in a bit of 300 SL history as well. Merry Christmas to All!

[Tomguy]

Love the work and the way it looks! A beautiful 108 for sure.

[jerhofer]

Originally Posted by ejboyd5

Although the "two tone" hubcaps appeared on numerous 300 SLs with their inner color matching the interior of the car and the outer ring being the same as the body color, that is not the way my car came from the factory as it was specially produced by M-B as a Standwagen for display at the 1956 New York International Automobile Show.



For reference I've included a picture of the car as it appeared at the Show in New York. Note that only the center portions of the hubcaps are painted body color while the remainder of the caps are chrome. I have yet to see another original 300 SL with this treatment, but make no apologies for changing to the two tone scheme when I repainted the car in 1971 simply because I liked it better and it was "period correct." If some future steward wishes to revert to the display mode they are free to do so with little effort.

It's not my intent to hi-jack this fine and informative thread on the 4.5 (I have an original 1972 59K mile example myself), but I figure anyone interested in following such a detailed reclamation project would be interested in a bit of 300 SL history as well. Merry Christmas to All!

Pretty tough to complain about hi-jacking a thread when it concerns info about a 300SL. Thanks for posting the photo. And Merry Christmas to all!!

[jerhofer]

I just noticed the price in the 300SL photo. I would be willing to give you full sticker price for your car...no haggling!!!

[JMela]

Originally Posted by jerhofer

I just noticed the price in the 300SL photo. I would be willing to give you full sticker price for your car...no haggling!!!

Let me know if you want to double your money!

[Pyropete]

In November I purchased a borderline W109 3.5. I have yet to determine if it is a restoration candidate or is destined to keep other cars on the road. I am hoping for the former but more inspection is required.
I have now spent quite a number of hours going through your entire thread during the holiday. I consider this information as another Christmas gift. Thank you sir!
Although the suspensions are very different, I have been inspired and informed.

Wishing you (and the greater community) all the best in 2018!

[jerhofer]

Originally Posted by Pyropete

In November I purchased a borderline W109 3.5. I have yet to determine if it is a restoration candidate or is destined to keep other cars on the road. I am hoping for the former but more inspection is required.
I have now spent quite a number of hours going through your entire thread during the holiday. I consider this information as another Christmas gift. Thank you sir!
Although the suspensions are very different, I have been inspired and informed.

Wishing you (and the greater community) all the best in 2018!

You're welcome!

I am sure you will find other threads here that will be helpful. If you should decide to part your car out, I am also sure you will find people here that will want to talk with you.

Best of luck on your new project and welcome to the forum.