New clean and painted parts all waiting to be assembled. That's what I have ahead of me for the restoration of the 1983 200E BIG RED and I am happy. The assembly always takes me longer than I planned due to the attention to detail. For me a great restoration can be affected by taking shortcuts or not putting in a complete effort. If 100 parts look good and 1 looks bad the bad part will stick and get all the attention. The extra time spent is being careful during assembly so you don't chip that new paint. You also need to take the time to make sure all the little things are correct like the wire and cable routing. Also making sure the cable ties are in the correct places and the correct parts are used. Maybe it's my OCD but I am picky to make sure all the bolt heads are correct. Also adding the correct decals in the correct places really make a restoration stand out. All these things add up and after spending a few hours in the shop I step back and think man this is all I got done? Experience tells me the extra time now will be worth it in the end when the last piece is installed.
