Several Restoration questions...

[cth350]

Next month, a 300se/c shell I just picked goes under the knife. It's already stripped of anything that can be unbolted, except the suspension and steering. The air suspension parts have been replaced with suitable blocks of wood.

She needs all the old paint, underside crud, bondo and rust removed. She needs the weak metal cut out and new panels welded in. She'll get primed and painted some suitable pretty color; probably lacquer rather than a color+clearcoat. I'm not at the point of making a decsion on paint, either brand, technology or color. Right now, lets talk about what needs to be removed.

Should I go with Sandblasting, Soda blasting, Dipping or plain old brute force grinding and scraping?

Not having time to turn around, let alone work on this car, I won't be doing any of the work myself and instead will pay somebody else to make it all happen (Like I really want to do the underside scraping anyway).

Doing the work myself would be an option actually, if I had a means of rotating the car on its side. I'm not rushing out to by a tool to do it, as they tend to be about 1,000$ and need room I don't currently have available.

Costs are obviously an issue here, but lets not discuss that until I find vendors to do the work. I can drop the car off at a restoration shop in WV that charges a bit under 50$/hour and let them do the whole job (not!). I can drop the car off in GA and let some undocumented workers deal with it in their spare time (well, maybe). Considering that I live in NY and consider traveling to PA or WV about my limit on reaching out to a vendor. Can anybody suggest vendors other than...

• Kwik-Strip in Allentown, PA. They would dip the car.
• Blastco in Quakertown, PA. They will plastic media blast it.
• Ludwig Sandblasting in Reading, PA. They will sandblast it, but not the underside.
• www.ctsoda.com in Branford, CT. They will soda blast it at my place. Which means I need a way to turn the car over.

There are a couple of pros and cons with each technique. The simple ones are:

• Sandblasting can warp sheet metal. Not an issue for a car where the sheet metal panels have been removed. Also, the vendor selected will get yelled at if they screw up on something so obvious.
• Dipping can leave residual acid in places that will cause grief later. Anybody have a real-life experience to share on this?
• Soda blasting is environmentally "safe" compared to sand, but most vendors I found are mobile trucks w/o their own facility to work and I don't want them doing it at my place. One point is very good. The other is very bad.

More than likely, once the crud is gone, everything will get a flash coat of primer and the car will sit for a while until I find a shop ready to do the welding, prep and painting.

How long can the car stay in primer like this?

Any issues I didn't address? The details on turning a really pretty shell into a working car are outside the scope of this discussion.

Thx -CTH

[300SDog]

Good lord, gawd almighty.... got your hands on the ultimate rare w112 doncha?

Have you thought about hiring a couple of forklifts to raise or patially and gently flip the car with old mattresses and/or sofas for padding to keep the work in your shop? Thats what i'd do and then rely on the opinion of ctsoda.com for what works best (sand, soda or glass bead) without letting the car out of your sight. Heck how much room do they need to shoot the car? Might not have to be entirely flipped on its side at all.

[t walgamuth]

you dont want it to sit around in primer. primer is only made to help stick the finish paint on the car. it will not protect it from the weather. a primed only car especially one that has been taken to bare metal will rust from being stored inside let alone outside.

so be prepared to follow all this expensive work with finish paint.

sorry for my ignorance but what makes this car worth a full blown restoration?

tom w

[cth350]

The 300se/c was the top of the line coupe in the 60s. Now, I have a pair of them. This shell is better than the complete car I've already got, so the shell will get taken down to bare metal first. I can take anything apart and put it back together again. It's welding and paint I can't do. -CTH

[t walgamuth]

those cars are very handsome.

i tried to buy a coupe with the 3.5 v8 about ten years ago. maybe it was a 71.

good luck

tom w

[meltedpanda]

Jeeez, I thought I had a project, you can do it all yourself, like Dog says, but if you have the ching get someone to get rid of the rust and crap and then take it form there. Questions outside this forum, hmmmmmm, I doubt it
Have we seen pictures?

[Chas H]

I would go with the dip strip in Allentown. A friend just had a '57 T-Bird frame done there and was very satisfied with the results.
Make sure that the chassis can drain completely so residual stripping fluid is not a problem. The car will be rinsed after stripping. Ask about a phosphate dip to inhibit rust while it's there.
I have had cars sandblasted and getting all the sand out afterwards is about impossible. And flimsy or thin spots will disappear.

[Cephallus]

Originally Posted by Chas H

I would go with the dip strip in Allentown. A friend just had a '57 T-Bird frame done there and was very satisfied with the results.
Make sure that the chassis can drain completely so residual stripping fluid is not a problem. The car will be rinsed after stripping. Ask about a phosphate dip to inhibit rust while it's there.
I have had cars sandblasted and getting all the sand out afterwards is about impossible. And flimsy or thin spots will disappear.

A friend who just did a body-off on a '69 Alfa GTV had it chemically stripped, all rust cut out and patched, straightened, lead-filled, and finally phosphate dipped. It cost several thousand dollars, and this was before paint.

[230/8]

I would consider the dip strip method (high pressure blasting, even with plastic media, can warp panels). I suggest you carefully inventory all the areas of the body to identify where the factory placed sealer and sound deadener compounds. All these sealers will be removed with the stripping process and you will need to replace them to ensure a tight seal where the factory intended. The phosphate coat will prevent rust, which will allow you to do the metal work without worrying or fretting over repainting with primer. However, if you do want to prime, you can get some good all weather epoxy primers that seal against moisture. Regular primers are porous and allow moisture to pass through. They are not intended to resist weather/moisture.

It sounds like you are embarking on a rotisserrie restoration project which is pretty common for hot rodders and muscle car guys who have spacious shop facilities. Have you done this before so that you know what you are getting into?

Regardless, good luck with your project.

230/8

[cth350]

I've been planning to do this for the past 20 years. The target car has changed over the years when a better one came along. The first one worthy was a 300sel 3.5. That got supplanted by a 250se/c. That got supplanted by a 300se/c. That one got supplanted by this 300se/c.

The comments received so far are consistent with my understanding of the techniques and their plusses and minuses. Given the 20 years of elapsed time since that first great 300sel, there have been some notable improvements in technique.

Please keep the feedback coming. Thx ! -CTH

[alabbasi]

I think this is a pretty decent candidate. Do you have any plans on bringing back the Mercedes 600 that you own or one of the many 6.9's?

The 6.9 would make a prime candidate to go to the guys who did my car. The 600 in my opinion should be given the same treatment as that 300SE/C.

[cth350]

the 600 is rust-free. It got a respray ages ago that is showing its age. It will be back on the road "some day". I need to make a bunch of the lesser cars happy first. I will salvage as many of the 6.9s as I can. I think 3 can be saved. -CTH