The "Goldilocks" restoration thread

[floyd111]

Did you see what happened there, with your view-count? You just went up 3000 views in 4 hours.
Pretty amazing, condidering there arent' 3000 members here, haha.

[ptashek]

We're going to miss yet another deadline (tomorrow), by at least a week, all thanks to the seat/door upholstery job which is just taking forever for no reason (ok, the guy's a total douche, that's why). That last mile is excruciatingly slow, and my patience is really tested... but I have this to look out for...

Anyway, bad karma aside, here a couple pics fresh off the press. Goldie in her nearly-finished glory:

[gavin116]

Hi Lukazs

Goldilocks sure is easy on the eye!  Not much further to go.  I see we have the same headlamp deflectors for travel in Europe.  As we usually use Mrs White for trips to the Continent, I haven't bothered removing them.  I hope to spring Mrs W some time in May for a weekend.  I do so miss driving her.  I need to get more organised and see if I can get a UK W116 get-together organised again.  It would be great to see a couple of 116s together.

As Churchill once said, "If you're going through hell, keep on going!"  I'm sure the upholstery and rear tail-lights will materialise...

Gavin

[Zaxxon]

She is stunning! Love the gold! That home-stretch is always the worst, but hang in there, it will be all worth it! Can't wait until I am that far along with mine!

[Peter]

Love that car, top job.

[karmann_20v]

Looking great!!! When do you expect to have everything finished?

[revilla]

what a sight Lucas.  I can imagine anxiety levels going up to get your hands on the wheel after so long especially now that spring/summer is here...keep us posted pls

[ptashek]

Looking great!!! When do you expect to have everything finished?

Well, let's see: end-of 11/2015, 02/2016, 03/2016, 04/2016 and as of now 05/2016... You get the picture.

There's some contracted hard-set dates after which stiff penalties will apply, but we haven't got there yet. And I hope we won't.

Hopefully, my first post in June will be made from somewhere on the Autobahn

[karmann_20v]

Looking great!!! When do you expect to have everything finished?

Well, let's see: end-of 11/2015, 02/2016, 03/2016, 04/2016 and as of now 05/2016... You get the picture.

There's some contracted hard-set dates after which stiff penalties will apply, but we haven't got there yet. And I hope we won't.

Hopefully, my first post in June will be made from somewhere on the Autobahn

I get it. Good luck is all I can wish you 

[ptashek]

Another small update:
- door panels and rear bench are back in
- new carpets and headliner are in
- front seats are done and will go in shortly

The main heating valve decided to start leaking, and the part is NLA from MB. But I think one from a W201 will be a good replacement. At 15EUR, at MB, it's worth a try.

Some pics...

[karmann_20v]

Looking good there! One question: what headliner material have you used? OEM or repro?

[ptashek]

Looking good there! One question: what headliner material have you used? OEM or repro?

Repro from World Upholstery. It needed some small mods to stitching to fit well.
I've opted for a grey one, instead of a cream one as well. The cream one made the car look as if it was smoked in all its life.

[karmann_20v]

Looking good there! One question: what headliner material have you used? OEM or repro?

Repro from World Upholstery. It needed some small mods to stitching to fit well.
I've opted for a grey one, instead of a cream one as well. The cream one made the car look as if it was smoked in all its life.

Thanks, I've heard that before. Knowing what you know now, would you attempt those mods yourself or leave them for a professional?

[ptashek]

Thanks, I've heard that before. Knowing what you know now, would you attempt those mods yourself or leave them for a professional?

I'd leave it to a professional, unless you have some experience with such work. In my case it was maybe 10cm of stitching that needed to be made at an angle, rather than straight, around the sunroof opening.

In general almost all the pieces I got from World Upholstery needed small fixes, with the armrest having the worst fit as supplied. I certainly wouldn't buy from them again.

I had hoped for a good fit and reasonable  price, stemming from their production volume and experience, bit in the end, with fixes accounted for, it ended up costing more than if I had the pieces custom made locally.

It's just one of the lesson's learned in the last two years of this project 

[karmann_20v]

Thanks, I've heard that before. Knowing what you know now, would you attempt those mods yourself or leave them for a professional?

I'd leave it to a professional, unless you have some experience with such work. In my case it was maybe 10cm of stitching that needed to be made at an angle, rather than straight, around the sunroof opening.

In general almost all the pieces I got from World Upholstery needed small fixes, with the armrest having the worst fit as supplied. I certainly wouldn't buy from them again.

I had hoped for a good fit and reasonable  price, stemming from their production volume and experience, bit in the end, with fixes accounted for, it ended up costing more than if I had the pieces custom made locally.

It's just one of the lesson's learned in the last two years of this project 

Exactly the answer I was looking for. Thanks again!