My full restoration video

I collected together a set of pictures covering the full 9 year rolling restoration of my car and stuck it on youtube for anyone interested.



Its a fairly condensed summary but gives a good insight to the work I carried out.

Thanks Jim,

that`s very impressing.

Hi Jim
what a wonderful Car.
Respekt.
Best Regards
Ralf

Respect Jim!!!

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhh
myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
goooooooooood

Did your wife ever see you all those years?

Marinko has already said it right, oh my god!
I can only say, hats off Jim. That has become more and more. I would be desperate.
Great result. Congratulations.

Im part way into the discovery stage with my SLC and its nice to see im not the only one struggling with that underbody muck lol
Although Australia doesnt get Ice and Snow or Salted roads my SLC has exactly the same rust spots which leads me to conclude that its the underbody sealant that may well be causing this issue trapping road grime and chemicals underneath it.
So far the stripping process on mine has consumed 3 knotted wire cup brushes and killed a cheap angle grinder I bought specifically for that purpose.
My SLC is however a 1973 model so a few more years on the road and a 3.5 M116 D jet.
Between Pelican, FCP and Raybucks though the genuine and quality parts and panels all seem to be available, the rest as you demonstrated can be made with time and effort.
BTW did you scope the firewall between the skins?

Thumbs up for the work, Jim. I am always fascinated seeing others doing this kind of work and trying to copy, however I am too impatient, sometimes...

Gratulation, toll gemacht .
Hier sieht man mal wie rostig ein Fahrzeug sein kann obwohl es bis auf ein paar kleine Rostbläschen doch noch gut aussah .

Wolfgang

tony66au wrote: BTW did you scope the firewall between the skins?

I am not sure which part you mean, one of these areas?













]

Great job Jim! Respect...

But now I'm absolutly scared about my project! After the first pictures I'd never expected, that this car is changing from Dr. Jakyll to Mr. Hyde...

What will happen, if my car offers also his "dark side of the force"?

Impressive, Jim, very impressive!

Enjoy the result of Your hard and handy work.

Cheers,
Tom

Jim, it is impressive. I wouldn’t have the nerves to do it.
Rudiger

Hi Jim,

great job and many thanks for this perfect documentation!

I discovered some copper-parts in your cooling-system (heating cirquit). You should reflect this by the time, because in combination with aluminium and the coolant you created a perfect battery so the ion-activity can cause stress corrosion cracking in the cylinderheads or oher aluminium parts!
If you have only one or to two of these copper-bracktes, the overall-surface of the copper may be very small, but in fact this is not a desirable condition.

Regards Martin

OK, thanks, but that is a PITA!

Here are the copper parts.



It would be possible to get access and paint the inside of the pipes with either epoxy paint or PU sealant. I could also have a look for brass fittings but don't really want to remove the heater box again.

Other suggestions welcome!

However is it possible that the heater matrix itself is also copper, in which case, no need to worry? I can't see from the picture what the small tubes are made of.

LOL Obviously yes you DID check and repair the car from end to end.
Firewall or engine bay bulkhead is a weak point on 107's and I was warned over and over than Mine (Actually my Wifes) would be rotten which fortunately it wasnt.

BTW regarding the Coolant versus Copper and brass issue?
I believe its a simple matter of using a different coolant.
One struck before by car manufacturers where the alloy components over time and due to an electrical charge created in the cooling system virtually electroplated the non alloy parts of the system using the alloy components as the sacrificial anode.
However I believe that the Blue MB Coolant addresses this issue and its only a problem using green coolant but its worth an hour or so of googling.
I have a number of W116 S class cars (280S, 350SE, 450SE and a 450SEL and they all have copper and brass cooling system fittings and with the MB coolant it hasnt been an issue.

Hi,

you did an awesome job here !!!!!!

Hallo,
ausgezeichnete Arbeit hast du da abgeliefert.!!!!!!

I just collated all the invoices for parts, consumables and paint, so what do you think the total came to. All car related expense over the 9 and a half years of ownership and a few dedicated MB tools.

Just a guess - 20.000?

Best regards
Martin

Hi Jim,

Caution: These kind of papers and documents need to be stored out of sight in a Safe!

OK, the total is ~£14k, I am sure there are a few invoices I have lost but think I have captured all the major ones.

Jim,

Danke für alles, ich habe mich schon mehrmals bei dir inspirieren lassen.

Dein 450SL steht jetzt wie eine "1".
Respekt für die Arbeit.

Gruß und weiter viel Spaß mit deinem SL. Pawel