I am almost ready to paint my '61 W111 coupe and I am wondering about engine-bay paint color. Mine is black and I don't think that it had been repainted. I have seen several restoration photos of cars that seem to have original, body-color bays.

My car is DB516, medium red but I can't see any evidence of that color in the engine bay.






I have read pretty strong proof that the W113s were body color, but not a lot about the W111s....just images of other cars that seem to be body-color.

Mine is pretty early 111-021-12-017097 and has number 000026 of the .984 engine that only the coupes and cabs used....but I would think the first coupes and the thousands of sedans from '59, '60, and '61 had the same engine-bay paint plan.

In doing our strip-down of the car, we have seen evidence of panel repair (right door, right fender, hood) and respray, but I can't believe the whole car was painted or that the engine was ever pulled to paint the bay. And if it was, it wasn't a respray as on the body panels, because careful sanding never showed a layer of red in the bay.

I'd love to see anyone comments about original paint spec for engine bays on W111s and how folks think I should paint mine.

Thomas

Attached Thumbnails

   

Hi, I have the same dilema! I have an early 61 coupe as well and the engine bay is black & rust! same as yours. Definately original . At some point they went to colour matched to exterior paintwork.( anyone know? ) I prefer the photos on the web of engine bays painted in body colour.Depends on how original you want it.purists would say it has to be black in the correct factory finish. On the up side, if you ever want to change exterior colour..the black engine bay doesnt have to be touched.My car will never be original as v8 transplant in works so it comes down to personal preference to me.
It may be just a first year thing, the black engine bay as i have only seen 61's in black.

This is a very interesting question that has not been raised previously. From original examples in my possession, '61 is black and '64 is body color. Perhaps more stewards will chime in to help narrow down the time of changeover.

I think you guys just made a discovery! As the owner/operator of The Coupe Group I find this very exciting. I responded on the other forum but that was before others chimed in with similar cars. I would dare say, if at all possible, you may want to either preserve the engine bay as-is or at least repaint your early car the correct black. It truly must be a first year only thing, as even my model year '62 is body color (DB 050 white) BUT it was ordered in '61 and is a low serial number car. This must have only lasted for a very short period of time, would be interesting to track serial numbers and see where this ended.

Mecoupman and Ejboyd5, are you comfortable posting your car's ID #? If not, would you be willing to PM me for our Coupe Group archive? I'd love to nail this all down.

__________________
1962 220SE W111 Coupe, 2nd owner

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../SideSmall.jpg

The Coupe Group (W111/112 coupes and cabs) official website
The Coupe Group on Facebook
MotoArigato: Roadworthy News & Humor

Marrs,
I am the OP. Car is back from body shop with its DB 516 body and a satin-black engine compartment. I've done more research and discovered that #019044 is also has an original black engine bay and that #019309 currently has a black engine bay. That car has been restored and while I cannot say that it was always black, repainting it original certainly would fit with what seems to be a very detail-oriented restoration.

Another piece that I'd love to see a bit more discussion on regarding early coupes is the early 5-pleat seats vs. the 4-pleat version used throughout most of the W111's run. Mine 017097 and 019044 have 5 pleats, every other one I've ever seen has 4. I think this change happened in November of 1961.

My 63 Fintail is body color.

My three w111 sedans have body color engine bays (green, blue and white).

__________________

1962 220Sb ~ The Emerald Bullet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx6tN1W48_o
1957 Ponton 220S
2001 S600 Daily Driver
The Universe is Abundant ~ Life is GOOD!http://www.classiccarclock.com