My 1985 300SD could use a paint job and I am curious as to what it would cost to do it right.

I did body work for about 5 years and could actually do it myself if I had the time. My cousin owns a shop and I could pull it off.

At the very least, I could take off all the chrome, etc.... and bring ot to a place to have it painted after I repaired the 3 small dents it currently has.

My biggest concern would be this; how much should I pay to have the piece of sheet metal replaced that sits under the under the rear windshield?

Mine has a few rust spots on the surface. which made me investigate further. Upon further review, it is really rusted underneath and is only a matter of time before it gets worse.

Maybe I could have a shop other than my cousin's replace this piece and repaint at a later date. FYI, my cousin is great at what he does, he just feels the need to do the work for me for free and will make me wait for 6 months with my car sitting there collecting overspray as parts mysteriously disappear.

Thanks for listening.

A really class job will be from $3000 to $5000, which is why I'll be doing my own.

The rust is from a bad windshield gasket allowing dirt in, and than grinds off the paint. It can be repaired fairly easily so long as it hasn't actually perforated the metal. Wire brush, coversion primer, feather fill, and paint. Paint must be smooth for gasket to seal rear window.

I'd do it myself. That way you have some control. Remove ALL trim (you don't have to remove the doors unless you are changing color), including the windows and channels. Sand, primer, paint. You can do the painting in a weekend if you can transport the car in stripped condition.

Peter

Be sure to check the Alldata.com ( or similar list ) for tech bulletins which might affect your rear glass leakage .... I saw an update for the area under the rear window on some of our cars...

See if you can find someone who needs the bucks to do the work.

I hired a guy who does body work for a living, had him do it as side work. He took a week off work and his boss let him use the booth when the car was ready.

He did the car correctly, Silver/Blue 1983 300SD, fixed a lot of dings and one wrinkle, spent 700 on materials and I paid him $1,500.00 total cash.

Not sure about the repair, but the body guy/side work action saved me a ton.

Next, he's gonna get my 300SEL 6.3 tomorrow, then maybe the 87 300D

I am getting my wifes Jetta repaired/painted now. I found a good body man through a car detailer I know. He likes cash, gets me the parts at his cost, let me do a lot of the prep work like removing all chrome, bumpers, mirrors, lights, doorhandles, etc. myself to save a buck. He also has a really cool "spot blast" sandblaster that allows small rusty areas to be totally cleaned up without messing up the surrounding area. I would pull your rear-glass yourself along with all other body bits. Take out the sunroof too so that the felts/weatherstripping doesn't get overspray on it. There is no good way to mask off the sunroof. The more you take off the car the better the result will be. RT

I have worked on cars which have been sandblasted the old way.... just taken to a room and blasted....
You can not believe how much sand can get into every crack and crevice...
That spot blaster has to be the ideal tool for rust control and surface prep.