I just finished up a pictorial project in our 240d series that outlines what I did to get the car ready for painting. So far this is the biggest pictorial with the most pics of any yet.

Time span was about 2 months of off an on work. The finished product has me grinning from ear to ear.:D

I hope you enjoy it.

http://dieselgiant.com/mercedes_paint_preparation.htm

Very nice write-up!!! Thanks for doing this!

I will be doing something very similar, very soon to the Euro. It's singin' the clear-coat blues too.

ooooo...the best pictorial ever!...

this will help me do my paint.. one day.. my clear coat on my roof is gone and its in need of some minor body work... wish i had the time to do it


now DG, on the trim peices behind the C pillar i belive that matches the same color of the car, how did you remove those to paint?

Beautiful work. Don't tell the painter this, but a truly beautiful paint job is not what happens at the last step, but the prep work. You did it the right way.

As a professional who does this work every day, I must say, I admire your work ethic and perserverance. You now understand why a paint job can cost big bucks. The one thing I would have done different is pull the windshield and rear window and the rest of the trim that wasn't removed,,, but all in all, a VERY nice job. My compliments.

The one thing I would have done different is pull the windshield and rear window and the rest of the trim that wasn't removed,,, but all in all, a VERY nice job. My compliments.

i plan on doing that when i do the prep work.. but keep the windows in and do the greased rope trick.

It looks like they matched the factory paint job perfectly. They even got the depth and thickness right.

I thought MB painted the car with enamel...


not just base/top coat.

Pete,
How do you get the "pinch" trim off the side windows? Block and mallet? Slim shim?

I thought MB painted the car with enamel...


not just base/top coat.

your thinking one stage....

only $1200? i was quoted $4000 from the supposed best shop in Akron, Ohio. since i live in Arkansas now, i might just drive to Ga to have him do the car. seriously.

Awesome pictorial DG, as usual. I am so glad I am no longer on dial-up......:eek:
That is not a color you see very often, which makes it desirable to me. Somebody will get a nice little car when you sell it.

Well truth be told the paint color is NOT an exact match. He had to get the formula from the DuPont library. Since the paint is in enamel and not a base/clear as the original was, I can tell a big difference. This paint looks like it has more brown in it as the old paint had more yellow. Single stage is the cheapest and enamel is just right under the base clear in price.

I may wet sand it and buff it in about 60 days to get rid of the orange peel, but then it will look like a show car and I wont want to drive it for fear of chips, dings etc. Oh well I will just have to get over it. :P

If I do wet sand and buff it I will do a pictorial on it also.

All in all it looks great and I am very pleased!

This is great and what I was looking for in terms of planning to do the prep work to get my 1983 300D repainted. I'm the original owner so I know all the details and this car is worth making pretty again.

I'm planning to do the same you did but wonder about:
1. Why did you remove only the rear bumper and not the front? Does it have to come off to get the black trim off?
2. You decided to leave some trim on such as the drip edge trim and the trim around the windows. I had hoped to remove this also. Can it not be removed and reinstalled without damage?
3. It looks like three bolts would allow the door handles to be removed but you left them in place. Am I missing something about this procedure?
4. Did you do anything to recolor the black bumper trim pieces before reinstall? I've found a product called 'Forever black' the looked promising.

Charles

Hi,
I want to get my 240D repainted. How did you learn how to remove the trim, and where did you get the replacement trim inserts?

Hi,
I want to get my 240D repainted. How did you learn how to remove the trim, and where did you get the replacement trim inserts?

I'm still learning. The side trim can be pulled off carefully with a plastic wedge. The 'red berries' and side trim can be found on ebay. The trunk trim pieces either bolts on or pulls off - just look inside the trunk lid. The bumpers are detailed on this forum and I've not yet pulled mine. The black trim over the aluminum drip rail is removed by unscrewing starting under the hood - then it lifts off. The black fin insert at the rear has releasing tabs and can be removed and replaced. I've done mine more than once to make sure the roof drain was clear. The aluminum drip edge can also be removed with a plastic wedge pushing up from the leading edge. I took off one side and put it back chipping the old paint. I think it may have to be left on and masked for the spray. Door handle removal is also on this forum and looks straight forward. I'm debating if I want to have a pro remove and install the front and rear windshields and put in new seals. My window trim (next to the glass) looks bad and it can be removed. Unless I can find better pieces to go back with, I'll probably have is masked off rather than risk damaging a piece I can not replace.

I hope there are others with more experience following this thread that will weigh in and give us some advice.

The 'red berries' and side trim can be found on ebay.

Would that be these?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190202793622

Would that be these?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190202793622

They haven't arrived yet and I'll actually end up with two sets as I just ordered a complete 8 piece trim set that includes the berries. Most of mine were pretty weathered on the black areas.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370012916782&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:MOTORS:1123

Looked like a good buy.

Charles

They haven't arrived yet and I'll actually end up with two sets as I just ordered a complete 8 piece trim set that includes the berries. Most of mine were pretty weathered on the black areas.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370012916782&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:MOTORS:1123

Looked like a good buy.

Charles

Just to be extra-clear (I'm new at all this) I should be able to remove and replace my current trim, right? I mean, the trim looks fine, I'd only remove it to get a better paint job. I'm willing to drop $25 on berries but don't want to have to buy a new set of trim.

In theory - yes. However mine has been baking in the Texas sun for 25 years so the black is badly pitted. A couple of the studs snapped off when I removed the trim so go slowly and apply pressure out closely to the stud. Good luck.

The side trim can be pulled off carefully with a plastic wedge.

What sort of plastic wedge did you use? Is it something you bought that's made for removing trim, or did you just take a piece of plastic from something?

Does this apply to the trim along the bottom edge of the car as well (specifically, above the front jack tubes)?

What sort of plastic wedge did you use? Is it something you bought that's made for removing trim, or did you just take a piece of plastic from something?

Does this apply to the trim along the bottom edge of the car as well (specifically, above the front jack tubes)?

It looks like a plastic putty knife but the blade tapers. I think I got it in the paint section of the hardware store. The lower panels pop off except for those on the doors. You should be able to open the door and remove a plug at the back edge of the door to access a nut. Remove that. Pop off the others from the rear going forward (except the one that is on the leading edge of the door. It slides to the rear after the others are out.) A plastic wedge for removing door panels might work but may have a less sharp edge and harder to start. It's desiged to wedge to either side of a fastener and that's probably the best way to avoid bending the trim.

A screwdriver will probably leave another paint nick to repair before you paint.
Where I needed to remove a door panel for other reasons, I pushed the fasteners I could see from the inside.

TIP: Go to a local u pull it salvage yard and practice!

There are a set of three plastic wedges that I bought some time ago that are supposed to be clones of the MB tool set, made of vinyl(!). The set was around $30, and I wondered why I just spent $30 for some pieces of plastic. But these really work - I've removed window trim, door trim, stuffed weatherstripping, popped off trim, etc with no damage (and with the shop manual and a lot of care). I actually broke the end of one but I sanded it to new. These are not thin bladed tools, they are pretty thick, maybe 1/2" at the fat end of the largest of the set.

I got a $3 paint edging tool at Home Depot. It's plastic so it shouldn't cause any damage, though I'm not sure it's thick enough to do the job. It was the most appropriate thing I could find there.
The welder isn't calling me back right now so I guess I've got time to try it out.

That was a great write up with excellent pictures. Thanks. It's good to know what goes into a good paint job even if youre paying someone else to do the work.