W116.org

One of the most pleasing things about the switchgear on this car is my revamped switch for the rear interior light.  Oscar supplied me a switch which enabled me to raid the retaining clamp which was missing from mine, not to mention the Becker amplifier which will ultimately go in.

And Koan helped me out with a intrument binnacle lamp holder some time back too.

Thanks to you all, 'aint this group grand?

Regards,

Carl.

Just a quick explanation as to why the bracket I made has off centre supports for the ventilation controls.  It's because the mounting clamps for the Becker radio sit directly under the mounting points for the ventilation controls.  If the bracket was not off centre, A becker Radio could not be fitted.

Regards,

Carl.

 

Carl:  That's all looking so impressive; congratulations!

I'm curious about your white floors.  Are they painted body colour, or is the white some kind of after-market coating?

I have created a new thread titled "under-carpet insulation" so as to not hijack this thread.

The 280 headed a little closer towards completion today, not there yet, but closer after today

I started from the rear, installing the period Becker speaker grilles (Thanks RobertD) on the parcel shelf.  Might need some advice from the experts here....I ordered a set of mounting screws from MBA and according to the 1974 116 parts book, they should be chrome, you can see them here:





I do like the chrome appearance, hope it's correct, anyone know?  I know the post 1976 cars were definitely black in the screw department in this area.

From there I re-fitted the rear seats and carpet after giving them a good clean.  I then went to install the front seats and remembered I had a little job to do on the drivers seat I'd forgotten about.

If you have a look at the pic of the car when I bought it, you can see the front arm rest is bent, it was leaning to the left:



After removing the back of the seat, you can gain access to the mounting hardware which I tweaking in the vice with some mindless violence (After removing the mount from the seat and the armrest).  How it became bent originally is beyond me, I really had to lean on it.  Anyway, it's nice and straight now.





Now here is where I need a little help.  Does anyone have any spare of the following fasteners?

I need two washers like this (Note, do not need the screws).  These washers are used on the plastic panels below the dash in the front footwells.  There are 3 per side.  I assume they only appear on the pre 1977 cars with the plastic trim (Not carpet) below the dash.  Please let me know if you have any spare! 





The other thing I need is three of these spring loaded clips. They affix the trim that runs from the above plastic trim to the firewall.  Again, if you have anything, please let me know!



This pic is with an item I'm sure you'll all be familiar with so you can see the scale:



I was so excited how the interior came up, I forgot to take any pics of the interior, I'll do so this week.

Regards,

Carl.

Here are some more pics of the washers I'm chasing in situ.  Don't look too closely at the last pic, see the dirt on the footrest!!!

Regards,

Carl.

I took some more pics of the interior today.  All I have left to do is mount the Becker amplifer under the glovebox (Still missing the amp cradle unfortunately) and replace the missing screws for the trim on the same side as previously posted.  Then I can finally give it a good clean and be done with it!















Regards,

Carl.

Hi Carl,

Absolutely stunning.

A couple of points.  I love how your sticking to original as much as possible.  I however thought the lower console was tarnished by that chromed toggle switch.  So I was thinking how suitable the console out of the yellow one might be once cleaned up, thinking it hasn't been butchered with extra switches.  To my surprise I found the same setup as yours.  So this toggle switch is factory?? and the other switch is a rotary fader with the hard to obtain correct becker knob, true??




Also, I have the above washers and clips too.  I might mail them to you tomorrow rather than wait till next week when I come down to Melb.  I'm sure you want to get this makeover finished asap.  IMO the washers might need their own little makeover, so to the spring clips.

The trim clips are available almost anywhere - particularly upholstery supply shops.

Hi Craig,

Yes, but the only ones I could find were black, these need to be grey.  Luckily, it's Oscar to the rescue again!!  Thank you!

And speaking of Oscar, what I think happened with the radios is this.  If you bought a 450 SEL in Australia, it came ex factory with a radio.  If you bought a 280 SE, 280 SEL or 450 SE in 1977 or later, it also came standard with a radio, a Becker Mexico for the Australian market.  This seemed to be about the time the models changed to K-Jet and had the full timber trim.  However, if you bought a 280S, 280 SE, 350 SE or 450 SE up until about 1976, the radio appeared to be a dealer fitted accessory.  I was told the wiring and speakers were fitted by Mercedes Benz Australia (Which would explain all the pre 1977 cars having the same fader and aerial switch) but the radio unit itself was fitted by the dealer at the time of sale.  All the cars with the local fitment radio appear to have the antenna mounted on the DSF wing, not the rear like the 450 SEL's and later cars.  Both the antenna switch and fader on my car have "Made in Australia" stamped on them.  For this reason, if you are being fussy, I don't think an original Becker fader knob would have been supplied with an Australian fader.  I am not sure if this is true, but it sounds reasonable from what I've seen of the early cars.



Regards,

Carl.

 

Guess what.........it's finished 

Simply stunning Carl,

What a sight....

Congratulations...

Yeah, I think I'll reserve judgement till I see it.
Just kidding

Our trip's still on, tue/wed, really looking forward to catching up with Carl and seeing this new looking w116. 

Thanks Michael and Oscar,

I'm happy with how it's come up, but I've shown you the best bit.  Notice how I haven't shown any pics of the outside!  It's been sitting uncovered in the workshop for 4 months, it's filthy!  Maybe Oscar can give me a hand cleaning it  .

Look forward to meeting up Oscar!  See you in a day or two.  If any other 116'ers want to meet up, Oscar is coming to town for one night Tuesday.  The plan is to meet up somewhere in Richmond either tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday before his trip back.

Regards,

Carl.

Well, took the W116 out tonight, hadn't driven it for about 6 weeks, disgraceful!  I'm really happy with the car so far, except for one aspect of the interior...the bent glovebox door!

I've seen many a 116 with this issue, if you look at the pics, you'll notice the LHS of the glovebox shutline sits proud.  Looking at the door itself reveals that it has a bow to it.  Has any one ever attempted to straighten the door.............without cracking the timber?

I do not relish the thought of trying to match the veneer grain should I destroy the door!

Thanks for any suggestions.

Regards,

Carl.

I have heard from various sources that the spring loaded switch for the glove box light constantly exerting force against the glove box door is the cause for this. I would certainly have to agree with this observation. There are few cars that do not have this issue. If you were to attempt to straighten the door, I would first remove the woodwork, as I'm sure it would get damaged otherwise. I have noted that on my 6.9, whilst the door is warped, the timber remains straight, as someone has removed all its screws in the past. This might suggest that the timber doesn't get too badly affected by this.

Tim