OT: Starting a new project... MB 190SL

First thing - replace the engine and transmission with a modern V6 and turbotrans.

Nah, this will be all original. Owner has a dual carb kit from a higher end model SL for it that I may put on it. They have a tendency to get loose and develop intake leaks however... need to fabricate a decent support for the whole deal. But first let me see if I can make that engine turn :)

Correction.. this engine came with duals but due to teh inherent loosening problem they were replaced with a single from another MB model. Engine ran great with it but lacked top end. Whatever.

Here are some pictures from earlier this year, this is where it sat since 83 or so. These pictures were taken after some initial cleaning was already done. (Hard to believe, huh)

What saves the day here, is that the door pillars, doors and lids are all aluminum... zero rust there :D

Good thing. From the pix, it looks like a total rust bucket...

Tony

yea well... what can be rusted on it, IS. :D But you wouldn't believe the thickness of these panels, it's unreal. There are spots that were sanded down to metal when it was parked, and are now covered in DEEP craters... but not through. Not even soft. It's like hitting on solid friggin steel. You could probably sandblast it and have more metal thickness left than on any modern car.

And yes, it makes the car very heavy, so they never were very fast. It could have used the 6 cylinder engine of the more coveted and famous bigger brother 300SL

looks like a very good project, Jan.... will be time consuming, no doubt, but at least it's still intact and complete...

Off topic but I thought I'd share...

I took delivery of a 1961 Mercedes SL190 last night, it's a side job for an older gentleman who bought the car in 63. It is is dream car, but sadly due to all sorts of circumstances, it was in an accident and has been sitting outside since 1983. On dirt.

The plan is to bring it back to life as a reliable daily driver that looks authentic. Doesn't need to be a 100% restoration, he wants to drive it, thats all.

I'll post pictures later if anyone cares to see. It's a beautiful car. Or was :D

I'll start with mechanical work first, but most likely metal work and BONDO will follow later :D

Jan

I've always like the styling on those cars.

Make the old guy happy, Jan!

Max

Those were really beautiful cars back in the day. If you get it close to original it will be a really special daily driver. You've got a bit of work ahead, but it look doable. Did the car stay intact enough to keep water out of the passenger compartment all these years or do you have rusted out floorpans to deal with as well?

If you've got rusted, pitted, but still thick sound metal, why not think about using lead (really probably tin these days) filler on the cratered rust instead of plastic filler? It's really not that hard (I've done it myself) and it does restore *some* (but not all) structural integrity to the panel. It is more permanent and more authentic to the era of the vehicle. Body shops were still filling with lead when that car was new. In fact some coach builders like Karmann were using lead to do seams and such back then.

Eastwood sells a decent lead or tin filler kit. Tin takes a somewhat hotter temperature to work (propane works but mapp gas works better as does acetylene) but the good thing about tin is you can use regular power sanders on it (can't do so with lead since tiny airborne particles of lead are a *bad* thing).

Lead/Tin filling is a great skill to learn if you have ideas about restoring truly valuable vintage cars.

I plan on doing just that, I have used lead for 10 years, and if I may say so it, I'm pretty good with it :) I use bondo for a super thin surface coat in areas that need it for paint, not to build structure or thickness.

jan

HEY HEY HEY......................IS IT "AIR-COOLED"? I thought you won't touch a water-cooled with a 10 foot pole! lol

Yeah those classics have some flair to them! The last MB I worked on was a 1953 RHD with Semaphores and maybe Suicide Doors. It needed the center bearing for the driveshaft and had to be ordered from Germany. This was back in 1979 IIRC.

Well it looks better that some cars I have seen up my way! It really doesn't look bad! Have fun and I agree with the metal filler on that heavy beast using the Eastwood products! Nothing like claiming that it is all metal and no BONDO! ;-) My '71 911 had lead filler before I bought it.

Hey Jan Have you used All-Metal it really replaces leading,

The bad boy of VW

it's nothing more than metal particles and resin instead of talcum and such... it's a metal laced BONDO, so to speak... Nothing replaces leading... bodymen know that, you know that.... the dufus of VW doesn't...

Amazingly, all sparkplugs came out without a fight, and so did most of the lugnuts. Most. Still have 4 that are stuck. Soaked them with PB and I'll try again later. BTW the tires hold air and the car even rolls freely. I told the owner to NOT hit the brake pedal for any reason, when he has it flatbedded to my house.

excellent advice, that can save you some work and trouble, and the owner some money!

Ah, you are are a real restorer. I've done tin filling a few times and I think I'm *pretty* good at it, but I haven't done it enough to say I am a pro. Once you get the hang of controlling the temperature so that the metal is *just* at the point of plasticity it's not that hard to do.

Love to hear what you're saying about plastic fillers (bondo). People should really think of bondo as a really thick coat of paint, no more. Some folks just get crazy with the stuff and end up with something that is not a long term restoration.

Yes well that is the hard part, LOL. On vertical surfaces.... not so easy. I have had good luck with a metal spatula, I can bring heat to the backside of the spatula and press it against the lead, and I can feel it starting to give when it gets soft. Sort of indirect heat that's easier to control. Oh yea the spatula is lightly oiled with veggie oil.

The greatest benefit with leading is that the metal underneath HAS to be spotless. It won't stick to rusty or dirty metal. So it sort of forces you to do proper metal work first, can't use lead to hide rust, can't take shortcuts. Even the darkened surface right at a fresh weld seam has to be polished up. :)

Oh yea, I have also used "Spray filler". Like bondo in a spray can. It's thicker than primer, sands great and if the colors you are working with are different enough, it will reveal imperfections. You sand it and go through high spots, while leaving filler in low spots. Some call it a "sanding color" but that may actually be a different product still. Same idea. Goes on after primer.