News:

The ORG - Truly Independent and Unbiased!

Main Menu

The "Goldilocks" restoration thread

Started by ptashek, 28 March 2014, 07:56 AM

ptashek

To contrast the upholstery drama, some good progress was made with the chassis :)












1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

gavin116

Hi Lucas


Oh my, that's really looking good!  When it's all done, it will surely be better than new. 


Always nice to see your updates,


Gavin



1979 450SE "Mrs White"
2022 Touareg-R 3.0TSi Hybrid
[url="http://forum.w116.org/test-drive/my-first-w116-here-at-last/"]http://forum.w116.org/test-drive/my-first-w116-here-at-last/[/url]
[url="http://forum.w116.org/the-org/british-near-london-meet/msg97613/#msg97613"]http://forum.w116.org/the-org/british-near-london-meet/msg97613/#msg97613[/url]

s class

Very nice to see it being done properly with a white show coat. 


[color=blue]'76 6.9 Euro[/color], [color=red]'78 6.9 AMG[/color], '80 280SE, [color=brown]'74 350SE[/color], [color=black]'82 500SEL euro full hydro, '83 500SEL euro full hydro [/color], '81 500SL

Greg

I'm really enjoying this thread! But what is a "show coat" and whats it about? I am wondering about the white outside colour..................
W108 280SE  (1970)
W108 280SE  (1971)
W116 280SE  (1977)

ptashek

Quote from: Greg on 27 July 2015, 02:23 PM
I'm really enjoying this thread! But what is a "show coat" and whats it about? I am wondering about the white outside colour..................

It's a primer coat sprayed on to expose all uneven surfaces that will need correcting with filler, hence "show coat". It's sanded down, and eventually you end up with a patch of white/black (in my case) hills and valleys, which are then used as a guide for corrections. It won't stay like this for long.
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

floyd111

Even though cheering in the background, I find myself rather green with envy! Looks great!

ptashek

Meanwhile I did get some MB-Tex samples from World Upholstery, and there's a really good match. For the moment that's my first "custom" alternative.
How do folks here judge the quality and durability of their products?
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

floyd111

Are you doing all of this as a one-man job?
I admire your skills and patience.
Luckily, my cars are 40km away, so I can't look at them too often, haha!
My USA mechanic is flying in on Friday, so we can finally get started!

ptashek

Quote from: floyd111 on 19 August 2015, 09:20 PM
Are you doing all of this as a one-man job?
I admire your skills and patience.
Luckily, my cars are 40km away, so I can't look at them too often, haha!
My USA mechanic is flying in on Friday, so we can finally get started!

I source parts myself, which is probably the toughest job I have ever done... Considering how much money all of this costs, you'd think people would actually give a damn about maintaining their stock lists, catalogues and websites current. Wishful thinking.

Once I find what I need, everything is shipped straight to the restorer. They're the main contractor for the restoration, and all third-party jobs they can't do themselves. One shop runs everything, and there's one person to deal with, and yell at if needed, for the whole job. It's the best possible approach I think, with the added advantage of their bulk discounts with other shops passed on to me to some extent. My dad, himself a master-craftsman of the trade, supervises everything on-site for me, and keeps the shop honest and all work billed accounted for. My car is a 4h flight away - I see it once a year in person, if at all, so consider yourself lucky :D

Fingers crossed for a speedy take-off of your own project, and remember to keep us in the loop :)
All those restoration threads here are my personal favourites.
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

floyd111

He, that's not to different from my project! (besides the 4hr flight!)
My mechanic will supervise, and luckily the workshop guys are friends. Honest guys.
I source everything myself, and yes, WHAT an epic job, considering I am no mechanic, and had to learn everything from scratch.
1.5 years now, and all I do is source and shop. Speaking 6 languages helps.

If you want it fast, everything comes at top dollar, and maybe not even top quality. It'll raise the average price by 100% in the end.
I will find the time and take photos of all the goodies I bought over time. There are some gorgeous items, rare items, and stuff I bought at prices you wouldn't believe. -in both directions.
I expect my restoration thread to come alive next week.-with a vengeance!
Off to the airport today, to finally meet my savior from New Orleans.


ptashek

#56
Well, I've decided to give up my quest for the elusive "moss green" velours seat material, and have ordered a set of MB-Tex seat covers in "avocado" from worlduph.com. The samples they've sent me, are a near-perfect match with my door panels, dash and centre console - bar the 35 years of fading. Not original and quite a downgrade, but still model and colour correct.

The existing carpets will be replaced with a fine velours, RHD specific, set from cabrio.de in dark green (they call it "moss green", albeit it's anything but). Their carpet material matches quite well with the vinyl from worlduph.com, and comes with a good foam backing for improved soundproofing. Hopefully it'll all fit well too. Headliner, trunk and parcel shelf carpet will also be replaced.

The chassis has been sanded down, and they're finishing all the bits that could not be done using brass/tin, with filler.
Goldie also has new neighbours in the shop - a completely rotten 230SL Pagoda, and yet another Iso Grifo.
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

slfan

Ptashek,

I am going through the same ordeal as you with the Velour Moss Green interior.  A previous owner foi one foi my cars swapped this interior for green leather in a non-Mercedes pattern.  The car came with three seta of used Moss Green covers.  However, as I am doing a bare metal restoration, it does not make ano sense to restore the entire car and utilize used/secondhand seat covers.

I am considering the GAHH Avocado seat covers (still deciding between leather and MB-Tex) and the carpete from cabrio.de.  Quick question:  I could not find a crédit card payment option in the cabrio.de.  Are all payment via bank transfer?

Regards,

Slfan
1978 - 450SEL 6.9 - 3170
1978 - 450SEL 6.9 "Parts Car" - 2973

ptashek

Hey Slfan,

I found that the texture of the leather samples was not very appealing, and wasn't a close match - at least with the "parchment" interior I have from my parts car. The vinyl was near perfect.
Also, looking at other W116s on the road I've realised the MB-Tex is holding up much better over the years than leather does, and this swayed me in its favour. I just hope I won't regret going pre-made instead of custom made locally; but samples of the worlduph stuff on the web all looked rather well.

As for cabrio.de, as far as I can tell, yes they only take payments via wire transfer.
Maybe they'd be able to take credit card payments over the phone, but I've never tried.
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

floyd111

I still have a completely new FULL carpet kit lying around from GAHH.
I bought it as parchment, but what arrived was green. It would make for a great moss green combo, I think.
It is a LHD, but the missing carpet pieces will have to be made anyways, since nobody sells the RHD carpets.
I can arrange for GAHH to ship a few yards of the same material to you.
I will part with the whole kit for 400usd, which is a bucket less than buying regularly.
Just so you know.

Stan