280" Concourse; Diary of a layman

[ptashek]

Stan, a half-serious question - how on Earth do you plan to fit all those goodies into one car?

[rumb]

wow, you really "cleaned up" with that one.

[revilla]

Stan, a half-serious question - how on Earth do you plan to fit all those goodies into one car?

After all goodies are on-board Stan will replace the 280 by a 6.9 to handle the extra weight. 

[floyd111]

There is actually an order to this chaos (at least, in my universe).
I have an idea about what options will go to the trailer queen, and which ones will end up in my daily driver.
Some of them (like the double mirror) have no business in a museum car, but the W116 ABS-system I bought should be on the museum car, rather than my daily driver. (I have but 1 outfit)
Both cars will have seat heaters, just in case it gets chilly here in the pacific.
The trailer queen gets the Webasto and the full, original B-netz telephone outfit. The daily driver gets a GSM-4-functional C-Netz-looking facade and a Bakelite horn.
I am not sure about the steel-gauze headlight protectors on the daily driver. It may look silly.
I am also not sure about parking pennants on the museum car. If anything, it should have a flagpole. But, I don't like flagpoles. I like parking pennants.
Definitely wheel caps on my daily driver. Unsure about the 15' Fuchs on the museum car.
The queen gets the MB trunk-fridge, and the MB suitcase set
The driver gets the 70's Samsonite set, and maybe an MB fridge as well, if I am lucky.
Queenie gets the retractable rear seat. I just get rear seats..
In the end, it's not that many items, spread over 2 cars. I sure don't have everything twice.

The dealer-accessories I collected are a different story. The idea is to supply a retro-looking MB cupboard WITH the museum car.
The cupboard would hold a series of W116-related items, like snow chains, battery charger, vacuum cleaner and such.
It would also hold road maps and atlases from 77-79
Just like at the dealer's, back in the day, there would be lots of official MB-gadgets on sale, or to be gifted to loyal clients; powder boxes, Swiss army knives, combs, etc.
All of those would have a spot in the cupboard, with almost all items still in the original packing, most of it NOS.
Add to that , a little library corner with all the the original W116 manuals and suddenly we're at the Mercedes-Benz dealer's in Hannover, August 1977.
That's what my attic looks like.

[floyd111]

It sure is quiet out there... days, weeks go by without any surprises on the auction sites. It's a dry spell, for sure. If it doesn't change within a week or 2, It may as well be a sign that we've entered a new era, where daily W116 NOS offers have come to a virtual end and we enter the realm of very limited W108/110-like NOS parts availibility. My guess is that we are already there.

Luckily I still have 1 storage room abroad, left to raid and sifting through that parts list seems a neverending task.. Still 3-500 part numbers to go without much of a description, so it's tedious and slow, trying to source data in order to decided whether to buy or not to buy.
Like I said in the other thread, once I'm done with that one, I'll post the list here. Prices are pretty good, comparable or cheaper that Silverstarspares.

It was a tough decision and costly, bit I bit the bullet and bought the mid console armrest with lid and storage chamber that my friend had on offer.
The rarest of options for the W126, and easily modified for my daily W116.
Tough, because this is pretty much a line I wasn't going to cross, modifying stuff, installing non 116 parts.
Since this is for daily use, I considered how much use this box would be in the future. It's worth it, I hope.
With Webasto buttons,car phone, keypads, lighter, ashtray, seat heater switches, window switches and and outside-temp gauges, the mid console would be so full, it would barely allow for a piece of paper or pen to be stored.
I also guessed that since I have already decided to install the W126 electric seat-internals, there would be no more originality prices to win for my daily.
But yes.. dodgy..

[floyd111]

What else is there? Found some more rare window trim in 2 places in Europe, one seller overpriced, one seller underpriced.
Pretty good average in total, luckily, but this is a chrome quest that is becoming more and more impossible.
Bumped into some door catch mechanisms, NOS, for the front doors. One one side..At 75usd each is a sure bargain, compared to the (400usd?) cost at MB.
It's not that they ever break, but shiny new items on front doors are likely to make a strong case when people question and judge restoration standards.

[floyd111]

And then there's the suitcase quest..
After getting horribly stung by the guy who sold me the first set of W116 suitcases, the second set I found remains incomplete. The alternative? Buy the first set AGAIN, but now at 2500euro on ebay. No way.
I really hope anyone can point me towards another seller.. Thin chance, I guess.

The daily driver has a classic Samsonite outfit reserved for it in white marble color. The Silhouette series from the 70's
Not an easy path neither.
I had to search forever and ended up with 8 different cases/bags from 4 suppliers.
Just when I thought I was done, with the last batch arriving to complete the lot, I found out that there were actually 2 Silhouette series in the 70's, both in marble with the only difference that the first series has matt aluminum handles and the second series has shiny aluminum handles.
So, I ended up finding 2 more suppliers, sending me the last 2 missing cases from the matt series.
Safe to say I have ample suitcases in the Silhouette department! Ai ai ai...
I'll post a photo of the complete kit when the last case has arrived here.

[floyd111]

It's a sad state of affairs that I have but stories about Samsonites and toolbags for now. It's quite, very quite on the W116 front.
Little to buy and even less work done on the car itself. Still nothing done, to be exact.
My mechanic has gone on a holiday, back in Blighty, as is the workshop owner.
Upside is that he may have time to drive across Europe and check out the 1st owner 280SEL that I am planning to buy.
It is yet an investment I had never counted on, but if I am going to achieve the goal of building/selling the most valuable 116 ever, the car should be 1st owner with fully documented/complete history, preferably ex-royalty. Could not afford King Carlos's 6.9 , so this is as good as it gets.

Tool bags.. I spent the better part of 2 years sourcing mint tools from 10 different countries at great cost. Now this whole box of wrenches is awaiting nickel-plating so they will all have the same shade and color.
Job well done, I'd say, if it were not for the fact I just found 2 brand new kits for 116, NOS, in plastic for 25 euros each.
It was all I ever needed and could not find. Guess I am gonna have the best-stocked MB tool shop on ebay one day.

On the suitcase front, the drama continues. 2 more cases arrived, meant to -at least- complete a set of 8. No such luck. Apparently there are/were 3 variations within the Silhouette I/II series, so now I am looking at a set of 7, a set of 4 and a single.
I really need a way to sell some of them but considering all of these were shipped from far-away countries, all I can hope for is a hand-out at a loss. And, the set I was aiming for with the shiny chrome handles is the set of 4. The set of 7 has matt chrome handles.
This is a great example of me being out of my depth, again. Don't try this at home. It's bloody stupid and costly as well.
Unless I find an enthusiastic buyer for the set of 7, this is where that journey ends. It borders on insanity, considering these are meant for my daily driver.

I DID find quite a pile of chrome window trim over the last month. 3 different suppliers popped op, all 3 offering a variety of parts, but all 3 also had some identical parts. This is where Ptashek is so much more organized than me. Me, I did not have all the data required at the moment of (costly) purchase and now I am overstocked on the long-NLA rear window top trim.
Sure, some of them were bought at 50euros a piece, but I also bought those same  part numbers at 70, 100 and 125 euros a pop.
More visions of future ebay shops come to mind, but who else is in the market for such pieces for these prices? People that do 6.9's have enough on their plate, and enough investment worries vs. market value considerations.
Shipping is another risk. Some of this trim is wafer thin.
Ah well. I just hope that I succeed in completing at least 1 car with all chrome trim being NOS. I don't think I am there yet.
For those dabbling in projects like this, or planning to go there, may I suggest NOT to try and find the window trim in NOS?
Just get undented pieces, used, and have them re-plated, even though you may end up with a slightly different shade of chrome.

On a similar note, may I suggest that such entrepreneurs purchase the main bumpers and front seat spring units before they run out?
The way MB has doubled the pricing for these over the last 2 years seems a sure indicator that they will soon be no more.
Bought the first seat spring for 250 euros, 1.5 years ago. Recently bought the other 3 for 500 euros each.
The rear bumpers now also sell well above the 500 euro mark. It's a terrible state of affairs and little chance we'll one day have the comfort of buying them aftermarket without loss of quality, chrome color and fitment issues.
The idea of having to buy -any- parts from Turkey reminds me of the much hated Top Gear spare car that follows the circus on their adventures.

[UTn_boy]

For the sake of your restorations, and possibly others, I sincerely hope that you know that aside from the door handle, everything on the out side of a W116 door along the subject of trim is bright dipped anodized aluminum.  Aluminum does not take well to chrome plating.  Also, the rubber/metal trim on the doors that is mounted halfway down is polished stainless steel, not chrome plated or aluminum.  These pieces are so inexpensive new it's not worth trying to restore them. However, if the rubber is in good shape, the all one has to do is polish the stainless steel. 

On another subject of trim, I've noticed lately that many believe that the Top bumper covers on U.S. bumpers are chromium plated.  Not the case.  Again, there are polished stainless steel......that's why they scratch so damned easily.  If a parts supplier is offering chrome bumper covers, be very cautious.  If a parts supplier doesn't know the difference between polished stainless steel and chromium, then they don't need to be in the business. 

[ptashek]

I DID find quite a pile of chrome window trim over the last month. 3 different suppliers popped op, all 3 offering a variety of parts, but all 3 also had some identical parts. This is where Ptashek is so much more organized than me. Me, I did not have all the data required at the moment of (costly) purchase and now I am overstocked on the long-NLA rear window top trim.
Sure, some of them were bought at 50euros a piece, but I also bought those same  part numbers at 70, 100 and 125 euros a pop.
More visions of future ebay shops come to mind, but who else is in the market for such pieces for these prices? People that do 6.9's have enough on their plate, and enough investment worries vs. market value considerations.
Shipping is another risk. Some of this trim is wafer thin.
Ah well. I just hope that I succeed in completing at least 1 car with all chrome trim being NOS. I don't think I am there yet.
For those dabbling in projects like this, or planning to go there, may I suggest NOT to try and find the window trim in NOS?
Just get undented pieces, used, and have them re-plated, even though you may end up with a slightly different shade of chrome.

I haven't even tried. What was on the car, went back on the car. Sure, the bumpers and other chromed pieces got re-plated, but none of the aluminium trim or door handles got touched. The handles I have brand new, and can swap them out at some point if needed. I'll do that when the ignition lock gives up, so it may still be years away. The trim carries some battle scars of 37 years of existence, but I just couldn't care any less to be honest. It adds character, and is just not worth the expense required to re-plate all of it. There's few who can do it properly. I don't mind paying specialist prices for specialist work, but in this case pricing was extortion re-defined (3-4x the cost of re-plating all the chromed trim!) so I've happily extended my middle finger to the lot and moved on.

Don't loose the fighting spirit! You'll get there.
Trust me - now I know

[floyd111]

For the sake of your restorations, and possibly others, I sincerely hope that you know that aside from the door handle, everything on the out side of a W116 door along the subject of trim is bright dipped anodized aluminum.  Aluminum does not take well to chrome plating. 

I should have said "anodizing".  Indeed, there is no chrome-plating aluminium, but new processes allow for chrome-color anodizing.

[UTn_boy]

Very true, indeed, but why would we want to color anodize our aluminum trim?  During anodization, if a color is desired, it is added at the end, and the colors will be of a transparent and/or opaque nature. 

Our pieces on WE116 cars were bright dip anodized (clear).  This process requires a bath of 70% Phosphoric acid and a 5-8% concentration of nitric acid, both of which are extremely hazardous to be around.  The temperatures at which this process is done is a bit of a hazard, too, at around 190 degrees F. 

My point here is that there are companies all around the world that still do this type of anodizing.  For example, if any of you have at home, or have seen elsewhere, glass shower doors with aluminum framing, this is bright dip anodizing, too.  These are made on a daily basis world wide. 

One of the problems that comes about is when a piece needs re-anodizing, the old anodized layer must be removed.  This perplexes both finishers and consumers alike.  Well, just like paint work, the surface preparation is crucial to a perfect finish.  So in order to remove the old anodized coating, find some sodium hydroxide (also known a lye, Draino, Oven cleaner in spray can, etc).  use outside, wear gloves and goggles. and a mask, and use a container meant specifically for this purpose that won't be used for anything else.  Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, scrub off the old coating of anodization, and rinse clean with a clean water supply.  Lye is an organic compound, but hazardous to us.  It may kill your grass, but past that it's not too much of an environmental hazard. 

After it has been rinsed and dried, it must be polished to a high sheen before re-anodizing.  Unfortunately, it'll oxidize between the time you polish it and it gets to whom ever is doing the anodizing.  So let them polish it.  The key here is to buff out any superficial scratches while it is in its pure form.  Go easy though.  4 alt steel wool or 2000 grit sand paper is as coarse as you'll want to go. 

So in closing, I'd like to make it clear that this elusive part of out W116 cars isn't as much of a lost cause as it's made out to be.  Stripping it yourself and having a plater re-anodize it is much less expensive than buying new, and if the plater's know what the hell they're doing, the end result is "as new" or better.  Ptashek, I don't know where you were going to have such high prices thrown at you.  It's not supposed to be an expensive process.  I have to wonder if some places take advantage of people like us that are restoring a car? 

[ptashek]

Ptashek, I don't know where you were going to have such high prices thrown at you.  It's not supposed to be an expensive process.  I have to wonder if some places take advantage of people like us that are restoring a car?

It's a function of location, general need for the service, and expert knowledge availability mixed with willingness to take on a job like this.

[UTn_boy]

That makes perfect sense, but I still don't agree with the prices some places charge.  It's not like the have to "set up" to do the job.  This is one of the aspects of restorations that can take all the fun out of it.  A lot of new cars use this same finish on what few pieces of metal trim are actually present on a new car.  I can almost promise that he cost of buying that trim new is far less than what some places would charge to re-anodize the same piece. 

[floyd111]

that sure is true, depending on your location, but the problem remains that finding new trim is a bastard, if not impossible.
I had aluminium re-anodized in the past and found the coating pretty fragile. Gorgeous, but fragile.
From my viewpoint, there is no way I would ever undertake an anodizing process at home. Besides the risks involved, what about the massive pieces along the sills, or the front/rear windows? uh-uh. Not me.

Are you sure about the original trim being clear-anodized? The clear-anodized products you speak of do not resemble the trim color on the cars, as far as I can judge. bathroom trim is matt, or bronze, not shiny chrome-color.
My anodizing company also confirmed this to be a different process. They explained that the old-skool aluminum trim was done using chemicals that are now banned in most countries and what we have available now to achieve the same finish is an inferior process from back in the day.
I wish I was a chemist myself, so I would not need to guess..