280SL bodywork expert SW England

[jmn]

A friend has taken on her late fathers 1982 280SL.
The car needs welding to its sills, and possibly complete replacement of the sills.
Can anyone recommend a good bodyshop in SW England?

 

[Will]

Where abouts in the SW of England? That's quite a big area

Will

 

[SilverSaloon]

If its close enough i'd go straight to Roger Edwards motors for this work. well renouned in R107 circles.

BUT most welding places should be able to do the work but you need to make sure its done right (decent guage of metal) and treated etc at the same time rather than just patches welded over rot to pass the mot.... my car had previously had sill repairs done and were purly patches over rusty metal to pass the mot. not good in the long term and by the time i cut it all out (about 3 years later) the new metal was rotted through.

see my blog here for my restoration details on my 280SL:

R107 280SL Restoration

my sill repair is detailed there. i opted to repair the damaged area rather than replace the whole sill as most of the sill was fine and it keeps the structure intact. whoever does the replacement though, make sure they brace between the door

this link is also good for the sill repair:

http://classiccar.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=574

 

[nick mercedes]

A friend has taken on her late fathers 1982 280SL.
The car needs welding to its sills, and possibly complete replacement of the sills.
Can anyone recommend a good bodyshop in SW England?

Here:

www.andysautobarn.com

 

[Will]

Yep, Andy is v.very good and knows plenty about the correct ways to look after MB cars - always takes his time and does first class work. He doesn't cut any corners either which is always a relief when you're entrusting your pride and joy to a bodyshop!

I've seen a few jobs of his and they always look factory perfect

Will