My Custom 1980 300SD Project

[Squiggle Dog]

Here is the housing all polished up. So far there are no leaks from it, except the aluminum crush washers of the oil pressure line fitting really had to be cranked down upon tight to stop leaking. The EPC doesn't list the sealing washers for the oil pressure lines, but they are the aluminum ones that come in an oil filter kit that fit the oil pan drain plug.

[Squiggle Dog]

Here is the whole engine with the polished valve cover and oil filter housing.





I removed the emissions-style linkage pivot and installed one from an older vehicle. This didn't seem to affect the adjustment of the linkage.

[Casey]

If the lines are taking too much force to loosen and it's starting to round the nuts, you may have to cut a slot at the box end of the wrench so it will slip over the line and grip the nut.

You can just buy a set of flare nut wrenches, which will hold up better when used in this way since the metal is hardened favoring less brittleness.

[John Hubertz]

I am amazed at how good those standard parts look once they are polished.

I'm surprised more people don't do this to their W116 engine bays - I'd love to see a 450SEL done in the same fashion.

[John Hubertz]

I am amazed at how good those standard parts look once they are polished.

I'm surprised more people don't do this to their W116 engine bays - I'd love to see a 450SEL done in the same fashion.

So I did a search....  and voila!  A 450SL engine bay with plenty of polishing.

[Squiggle Dog]

That 450SL looks amazing! These aluminum parts can look really great with polishing. Polish by itself doesn't do much, but sanding with proper grit then polishing will bring back a nice, clean, original-looking shine. If you sand off all of the texture, you can get it smooth enough to look like a chrome-plated part.

[John Hubertz]

Squig, I really think your car looks far and above better than the V8 engine bay.

That big hunk of diesel iron looks like a vintage steam engine with all the pipes and shiny bits.  The V8 is all air cleaner and "hey look at me" when polished - I think they look better stock.

I love that oil filter assembly you polished (I'm assuming that is what that is).  Do you have to change those from above when servicing the oil?  Looks like it could be messy.

[ADV_rider]

Squig, I really think your car looks far and above better than the V8 engine bay.

That big hunk of diesel iron looks like a vintage steam engine with all the pipes and shiny bits.  The V8 is all air cleaner and "hey look at me" when polished - I think they look better stock.

I love that oil filter assembly you polished (I'm assuming that is what that is).  Do you have to change those from above when servicing the oil?  Looks like it could be messy.

I also think the same.

it looks great

[Squiggle Dog]

Thanks! I wanted it to look nice and clean without being too blingy.

That piece I polished is the oil filter housing. It's actually really easy to do an oil change; put down a pan, remove the oil pan drain plug, loosen the two nuts on top of the oil filter housing, raise the lid, let the oil drain for a while, then lift off the lid, grab the filter by the handle, lift out the filter and throw it away, replace the large O-ring on the lid, set in the new filter, set down the lid, tighten the nuts to 25nm, put a new seal ring on the oil pan drain plug, install and tighten plug, then fill with oil.

[Casey]

I love that oil filter assembly you polished (I'm assuming that is what that is).  Do you have to change those from above when servicing the oil?  Looks like it could be messy.

It's about 100x nicer than the nightmare that is changing the filters in the pointing-down housings on V-8's or earlier-model diesels. No alternative then to oil running all over the housing every time you remove it. I hate changing the oil on my 450SEL compared to the 300SD.

[gavin116]

Hi Squiggle

What a great write-up notwithstanding the fact that your engine bay is looking real tidy.  I hate to have to be the one to mention it, but I think your engine is missing three cylinders   On a more serious note, what does the finish look like if you just use the sandpaper?  Would there be something you could put onto this keyed surface to prevent stains from ingressing into the recently 'keyed' surface?  (I was actually thinking of having my valve covers shot blasted.)

Keep up the good work,

Gavin

[Squiggle Dog]

On a more serious note, what does the finish look like if you just use the sandpaper?  Would there be something you could put onto this keyed surface to prevent stains from ingressing into the recently 'keyed' surface?

If you are thorough enough with the final grits and remove all the sanding marks, you have a surface that is light in color, smooth, but still somewhat dull. The polish is what removes all traces of the sanding marks and makes the surface reflective and sparkly. It also cleans out dirt and tarnish from inside the pores. All you need is an aluminum polish paste and a rag.

The surface may develop a patina over time, but will be less prone than it was before due to the surface being a bit smoother. I've noticed that a couple drops of oil I spilled on it wiped off much easier. Time will tell.

[Squiggle Dog]

It's been a while since I have posted on here. I have been looking hard for a decent-paying job and have recently gone to a few job interviews. Apparently, the pay in Arizona is much lower than it was in Washington. At least the cost of living is much lower, as well. I did well on a few sales of wrecking yard parts, but these past couple of months have been so hot that I just couldn't make it out to the yards anymore without getting sick from the heat. Even though it's barely gotten hotter than 110F lately, the humidity has been up around 40-60% at times, which makes it feel much hotter.

I renewed the 300SD's registration and went in for my annual emissions test, and it passed--with a 3.1 opacity reading (permissible reading being 20.0). This is good considering the high mileage and the fact that I disabled the ALDA system. The 300SD has been driving well.

I picked up an armrest with a locking lid out of a W126 at the wrecking yard and decided I would install it in my vehicle. The color of the vinyl was wrong, but it was in good condition, so I decided I would buy a can of bamboo vinyl dye spray from World Upholstery.



I thought the W116 and W126 seats would be close enough that the armrests would be interchangeable, but there were some differences. The shape of the mounting bracket of the W126 armrest installed on the W116 seat kicks it forward and makes it set up higher, but it actually looks good on the vehicle and is more comfortable. The W126 bracket also lacks the threaded insert where the retainer screw goes in, but it does have a cutout.


I decided to remove the captive nut from the door of a Mercedes to put in the cutout on the bracket.


It was a perfect fit, and still gave me room to put a wrench on the end to keep it from turning.

[Squiggle Dog]

Once I had the mounting issue worked out, I removed the skins of the W126 armrest. Underneath was foam wrapped in plastic, most likely to make installing the skins easier.


The foam on the sides was a high-density rubber that held up well. The lid and lower edge were a different type of foam that shrunk and dissolved over the years, making for an uncomfortable resting surface.


I removed the disintegrated low-density foam and used some scrap padding left over from a headliner installation, applied with 3M high-heat adhesive spray.


I left a gap on the sides so that the piping of the skins would have a place to fall. I wrapped the parts with stretch wrap to make installing the skins easier.

[Squiggle Dog]

While the skins were off, I soaked them in a bucket of Simple Green, then scrubbed the surfaces with a brush. After this, I rinsed them and wiped off the surfaces with rubbing alcohol. The dye from World Upholstery came out with a lot of force, and it is rather thin, so I had to be careful to use quick motions to not let it run. Any small runs were wiped off with a towel. There were several bubbles that appeared, but when the dye dried, it came out nearly perfect. After it dried, it looked like the vinyl was originally bamboo in color. It is really amazing. It was definitely worth the money; not only for the quality of the dye, but also for the color match. I would be willing to use it to touch-up sunburned spots of the seats.

The W126 armrest was missing the cap on the side, and had no provisions for mounting one--so I removed the cap and bracket from another W126, and then used some hardware to make a way to mount the bracket for the cap. I attached a pair of hex key screws to the armrest with locknuts on the outside to prevent them from turning once I had the height adjusted.


This allowed me to slide the cap bracket over the screw heads, and then rotate it. The cap itself snaps in and has holes in it which fit over the heads of the screws, thus locking the assembly in place.


The color match is very good. The grain pattern of the vinyl is different, but the color is so close that it's not really noticeable.