Restoration
Thank you for your inquiry regarding the restoration of your Mercedes-Benz 113 chassis SL with us. Since the endeavor of restoring an automobile of such quality is a matter of trust, time, and money, I strongly recommend you carefully select an experienced restorer for your undertaking. Some restoration companies will serve you with a medium level of quality at low rate prices which ultimately results in poor long term value to any SL owner considering a restoration. Any ethical restorer will provide you with the most realistic estimate possible in order to give you a good understanding of the financial scope you will be facing.
Since every SL has its own list of needs and thereby related costs, let me take a minute here to ask a few questions about your SL:
- Will the body need complete stripping in order to evaluate and repair the metal properly?
- Is the engine and the drivetrain in good working order and only requires new mounts and reseal?
- Can the exterior chrome be kept or is re-chroming/replacement necessary?
- Will the interior need complete refinishing or only a new carpet and a thorough cleaning?
- Does your car have a hardtop and will it need a new headliner or chrome refinished?
All these questions and more will have to be answered after a thorough evaluation in our shop.
The required man hours for a complete restoration of every component of the 113 chassis SL to "factory standards" will generally take over 1000 hours (at $75 per hour) and up to 8 to 12 months to complete. Depending on the condition of each individual car, such a restoration can cost $150,000 and more.
Not all cars require such a large scale restoration and the prior history of your SL has a significant bearing in the expected restoration costs. An original but worn down SL in need of everything will be much easier (less costly) to restore than one with previous restoration attempts by less experienced restorers. For you, the owner of the vehicle, it is absolutely essential to define your conception of what the final product of this restoration should represent! Regardless of the desired extent of restoration work on your SL, please be assured that all work will be performed to our high standards which equal, and in some areas exceed, the factory standards of that time.
Our first Goal is to retain the originality of a gracefully aged SL and we do not prescribe to the replace everything practice so commonly applied in the Past. However the Restoration and Preservation of the original Materials can be just as costly as replacement with questionable long term durability new Materials. After all a classic car is only original once!
Restoring a Mercedes-Benz automobile is a challenging and sometimes rewarding experience, yet very consuming and unpredictable for any restorer. By defining your personal goals and selecting a reputable and experienced restorer for your model SL, you have successfully covered half the distance to your goal of creating your dream SL.
It will be my pleasure to assist you in any way possible to achieve your goals, I remain with one final note, The Bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price!
Sincerely,
Gernold G. Nisius