With nice weather coming, I'm seriously thinking about having my '79 230C repainted. It needs to go to a body shop anyway, as there are rust spots developing on the underside that need to be treated. While I'm pricing that, I'd like to see how much a respray will cost.

The paint on the sides is close to perfect. But the hood, roof and trunk are very sun worn. The paint on the front and rear cowling is also a little bumpy and chipped, with rust starting in gaps. There are no dents/scrapes anywhere on the car.

The problem is, I've got no experience with body work, and it might be easy to get snowed. Could anyone tell me what to look out for, what to ask, and what a decent ballpark price would be? I'm also wondering if there's a way to only treat the sun wear (T-Cut?), as the sides really are in good shape.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Len

 

Not knowing exactly how bad the paint is worn,have you had the cars paint cut and glazed. This is something a quality reconditioning shop could do for a fraction of the cost of painting. On the other hand,( not knowing your finances)to paint the tops down to the side body line shouldn't be to bad. From that point it probably wouldn't that much more to do the whole car I guess.

 

Thanks for your message. I found a top mechanic from a friend's recommendation, and he pointed out the car was previously repainted from the side trim down -- to cover body work to remove fender rust. That paint is fine, but above it was the original, totally faded factory paint. He suggested that cutting and glazing the top half would give a solid, uniform look.

Got the car back today, and it looks amazing. Honestly couldn't believe the result. And the work, plus rust proofing the underside, came to just €300. Completely worth it. Would recommend the same to anyone who has good paint that only needs to be brought up.