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Casey's 1979 450SEL

Started by Casey, 14 July 2012, 02:26 AM

Squiggle Dog

I spy Euro bumpers! Hehe.
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

ZCarFan

Quote from: Raptelan on 25 July 2012, 06:49 AM
Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 24 July 2012, 07:41 PM
Wow, the SEL looks like new in pictures! You certainly got your money's worth.
Well, I bought a bunch of Meguiar's products at the auto parts store and detailed the exterior, so that made all the difference. Cost of the car was under $3000, so yes I do think it was a fantastic deal! :)

That is a good deal indeed!  I've got a '78 280 SE on the way this weekend and it will cost me at least that much to get it to the point where your car is already.

It certainly will be a vacation that you will never forget.

oversize

Make sure you replace the window seal before you get her too wet through washing every other day!  Or leaving her in the rain....  She looks great since the detail!
1979 6.9 #5541 (Red Bull)
1978 6.9 #4248 (Skye)
1979 6.9 #3686 (Moby Dick)
1978 6.9 #1776 (Dora)
1977 450SEL #7010 white -P
1975 450SEL #8414 gold -P

Casey

#33
Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 25 July 2012, 05:59 PM
I spy Euro bumpers! Hehe.
I found them along with a driver side euro headlight frame (broken out lens) at a random junk yard stop in Las Vegas, on a 280SE. :)

It also had a custom grey interior...

Casey

#34

TJ 450

Nice shot,

The car looks great, a really excellent buy by the look of things. Yes it's nice to have projects, but sometimes it's nice to just have a good one as well.

It is indeed amazing what you can fit in these cars too... nice one with the Euro bumpers. I've done that with parts as well, with the passenger seat down flat you can fit a lot in there.

The road trip would be a lot of fun too! 8)

Tim
1976 450SEL 6.9 1432
1969 300SEL 6.3 1394
2003 ML500

mirafioriman

Lovely looking car a great buy. Should look amazing with euro bumpers and lights :)
I'm called Dave! I currently own: Mercedes W116 450 SEL 6.9, Mercedes W109 300 SEL 6.3, Mercedes W126 420 SEL, Fiat 130 Berlina, Fiat 131 Supermirafiori, Fiat 131 Panorama, Fiat 132 2000, Fiat Argenta and a Citroen Xantia.

Casey

#37
Converted what I could of  the interior to red.  I still need carpets, skins, a better driver door panel and pull (the pull I have had a break in the previously-weld-repaired front bracket breaking, would prefer to just find an intact piece than trying to get this one mended again), and under-dash panels.  Also the 6 cloth-lined pieces that go around the doors, and the colored pieces that go along the tops of the door windows.  Also the vinyl trim that goes along the base of the rear window and parcel shelf.  Oh, and a left-side lower A-pillar plastic trim piece.

I don't know what to do about the sills - it depresses me that in early W116's they were all grey, and I don't think red was used in late W116's.  That would be a terribly stupid part to try to dye - maybe it's worth looking into custom fabrication?  Alternatively the stainless-steel AMG-style sills I've seen in W123's would be even better if there was ever such a thing made for W116's.

Also I figured out that the early and late-style visors are different lengths!!  So I cannot use my preferred late-style mirror with the early-style visors (well you sort of can, but you have to move the mirror around to to maneuver the visor around it...I took some pictures to emphasize.  It appears the headliner panel was not changed - there's just odd-looking extra space on the centermost edges on late-style headliners that I never noticed before.  Also the early-style use black color for the clip, the clip bar, and the screw-on-base piece of the visors.  Late-style use the interior color.  I might use the only early-style mirror I have out of the '74 and swap late-style bamboo visors into it to make it  work.  I kind of want to keep the '74 entirely early-style though so am on the lookout for another early-style mirror in perfect shape if anybody's got one.  Can anybody confirm or deny for sure if red was ever used in late W116's?  In addition to being different lengths, the early-style visors have a screw near the metal arm.  I've not tried removing it, but presumably this would allow you to replace the arm independently of the visor?  I'd like to do that, because these are a fair bit corroded, at least one of them.

Why are the C-pillars missing??  Well, very interesting that one!  Early-style seat belt cutouts were smaller, and need to be enlarged to accomodate late-style seat belts.  In uncut early-style C-pillars I've got before, I could cut out the specified shape, and then enlarge it a bit with a knife.  I did notice, comparing the original parts side by side, that I cut the green ones wrong actually - I had cut a little extra on the top and bottom of the original hole, but if you put an early and late style panel over one another, you can see that *all* the extra space is supposed to go onto the bottom most curved edge.  Just a quick note in case somebody cares - I'll probably dig up the thread on that subject and add this detail.  In any case, what is interesting about these C-pillars is that they are extra-durable.  I tried to cut them and the knife sunk in only veeeeeery slightly before hitting metal.  The entire surrounding of the hole is a sheet of metal, so I cannot cut it.  by scraping off what I could, I can see the metal sheet right in the center of the foam.  So I'll need to buy a jigsaw or dremel or something to pull this off.

I was worried at first how the red interior parts might clash against the middle red paint.  It actually is a quite lovely combination IMHO, very happy with it.  I think the headliner should be a parchment color rather than bamboo, but ultimately I'd like to have a red one custom made to match the rest of the interior. :)

I didn't clean any of the red parts yet and they are sticky with old protectant residue and covered in age+junkyard grime, so please forgive that - this is just the starting point...












P.S.  I've really been digging this sheepskin steering wheel cover.  It's just a cheap generic one that I found at some gas station on the way back but still feels quite wonderful.  On the large rubber wheel it almost never slips.  Would be about 10 times better if I sewed it to itself on the inside of the wheel to keep it in place, but I'm not going to bother with the effort because it's cheap quality - the wool thickness is different in different places, you can feel the seams quite distinctly, etc.  Even with these defects it's still quite enjoyable to drive with.  Drove my '74 the other day for an errand and the wheel felt awkward and thin without the wool...  But I'm thinking when I order sheepskin seat covers I'll send them the template of the leather from the stitched-leather wheel I had and have them make a sheepskin version to match the specification, then will stitch THAT on. :D

P.P.S. I'm listening to Slim Dusty while W116-tinkering.  It just somehow seems appropriate. ;)

Squiggle Dog

I'm seeing red! Just kidding. That red interior is looking good. It is a shame you didn't get the red interior parts I had, because the door panels were in fantastic condition. I think I've only seen red in early W116s. It would be awesome to see the dashboard and center console in red as well. Man, that is a beautiful car.
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

Casey

Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 11 August 2012, 08:25 PM
I'm seeing red! Just kidding. That red interior is looking good. It is a shame you didn't get the red interior parts I had, because the door panels were in fantastic condition. I think I've only seen red in early W116s. It would be awesome to see the dashboard and center console in red as well. Man, that is a beautiful car.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the dashboard, I was going to mention that.  Because I am planning to convert the climate control to manual eventually, and because the current dash is brown, I'll be replacing it eventually.  It's interesting because my '74 450SE with bamboo interior and manual climate control has a black dash, but '79 300SD with bamboo interior and ACC has brown as does this car.  Black would seem more natural against the red I think.  But it seems that early W116's had green dashes and some other colors; while late W116's are always brown or black or blue it seems.  But as for the dash and center console - I don't think those were ever made in red unfortunately (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong), though they were for the R107.

I black dashes are still available new, but the price being so high, I was thinking it might make more sense just to take an old dash that's still in decent overall shape, and have it fitted with custom-stitched leather like Charlie's 450SEL...  Then I could get red. :)

Back when my only MB was one I didn't like the design of (a 1986 W124 300D), I used to plan on tearing out the horrible cracked ugly anyways dash, and crafting my own out of wood.  I had some really neat ideas in mind.  I also don't like the center console.  I was amazed at how much available space is there when I removed bad ones from my cars.  The climate controls could have been located up on the wood panel like earlier models, allowing a single or split bench seat.  Even with bucket seats, I find that dash layout cleaner (e.g. like the Adenauer).  It obviously goes best with a column shifter.  The only thing that would go on the transmission tunnel would be window switches if you had power windows.  I prefer bucket seats most of the time for everyday driving, but wouldn't it be cool to be able to have a bench seat on hand that you could relatively quickly swap in for, say, your upcoming drive-in date (like cassettes and W116's, some do still exist!)?  Hehehehe...

Squiggle Dog

Yeah, I've never seen a W116 dashboard in red, but vinyl paint or having a dashboard restorer redo it in red would be nice. I had wondered if the W116 ever came with a front bench seat (as was optional in the W108), but I've come to the conclusion that the closest thing offered was a column shift and a cushion on the center console, though the center passenger would have no legroom.

If you removed the center console, you could relocate the window switches to the door panels, just like the rear doors have (though they may be more prone to water damage).
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

Casey

#41
Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 12 August 2012, 11:46 AM
I'd liked how the Adenaur is laid out with power windows - it still has the same style of switches, but they're mounted on the transmission tunnel farther towards the front up underneath the dash, up behind where the ashtray is on a W116.

This one doesn't have power windows, but you can get an idea from the picture what I mean:

This picture indicates that they are in a similar position in a W108 too - up in front of the shifter.  The W108 puts the hazard switch up centered behind the steering wheel on the wood trim, which I personally feel is a bit more sensible location for this rarely-used switch although staring at it constantly while driving might get old...  If this were a console shift, the window switches would be the only thing left on the transmission tunnel.

Squiggle Dog

Center console cushions were indeed an option in the W116. I have seen several pictures of them in factory brochures. I don't think they are practical, though, since the person sitting in the middle would have to sit side-saddle. I've only seen the W108 bench seats in single configuration.

I know you can use a W108-style steering wheel on the earlier W116 columns (like the column shift setup I sold you).
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

Casey

Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 12 August 2012, 09:21 PM
I know you can use a W108-style steering wheel on the earlier W116 columns (like the column shift setup I sold you).
Unfortunately the 108 wheel is not very nice.  The ring in a W108 is purely decorational and cannot move (or maybe it still does only the horn, but not the blinkers).  It's not even round.  Or chrome.  I'd prefer to stick with an early W116 wheel with the chrome trim bits around the horn pad that the later style lost over that.  I just like that earlier round ring with the finger grooves all around and paddles for easier signaling.  Maybe one day I'll have to get an Adenauer. ;)

Beastie

Quote from: Raptelan on 12 August 2012, 11:36 PMUnfortunately the 108 wheel is not very nice.

You are mistaken, it is very nice. It's one of the last wheels they made that had real style and wasn't just a soft rubber ring for clumsy people to safely bang their heads into. ::)


Quote from: Raptelan on 12 August 2012, 11:36 PM

The ring in a W108 is purely decorational and cannot move (or maybe it still does only the horn, but not the blinkers).
Yes, the ring operates the horn but it does not operate the indicators. It's not purely a decoration.


Quote from: Raptelan on 12 August 2012, 11:36 PM

It's not even round.
This is true, but if it were round it would obscure the view of the instruments through the wheel.


Quote from: Raptelan on 12 August 2012, 11:36 PMOr chrome.

The horn ring is some sort of chromed metal, probably steel.
1979 280SEL

"She's built like a steakhouse, but she handles like a bistro."