[mbz180]

Originally Posted by a_nan

Hi Mbz180

I ended up summing up the courage to go out and pick up a 1982 w126 Mercedes 280se. It has some mechanical issues to sort out, little rust here and there, but still has original paint and It has a pioneer stereo that is definitely going out, will source a Becker and get the correct speaker covers, etc.

By the way, we are still waiting for updates mbz180. The suspense is killing me.

Hey a_nan! Thank you for the kind words and congratulations on your new acquisition. I'll PM you the details of a contact in Bangalore who'll be able to help you out with mechanical parts should you need them. He used to have a large inventory of MB parts all the way upto the 1950s Pontons! I'm sure he still has parts for later MB's.

As I've been saying, I have no updates to share other than a continuous inflow of parts which are yet to go onto the car...the suspense is killing me too

[Merc_lover666]

Hi Mbz 180,

I have been reading your thread over the last 1 year now and have used yours and some other threads on this forum as a guide for the restoration of my car.

If you do not mind I wish to know as to what amount of funds have you already utilised for procuring all the parts that were needed and what is the approx total expense that you think will be needed to complete the restoration process?

Also if you can explain the quantum of work that has been undertaken and what still remains to be done. As I can then get some clarity as I dont want to end up making unrealistic expenses in restoration of my vehicle and therefore seek this guidance.

[mbz180]

Originally Posted by Merc_lover666

If you do not mind I wish to know as to what amount of funds have you already utilised for procuring all the parts that were needed and what is the approx total expense that you think will be needed to complete the restoration process?

Also if you can explain the quantum of work that has been undertaken and what still remains to be done. As I can then get some clarity as I dont want to end up making unrealistic expenses in restoration of my vehicle and therefore seek this guidance.

Hi Merc_lover666,

Expenses etc. I don't wish to discuss on the forum. I'll send you a PM regarding this. I have bought 90% of the parts to finish the restoration.

Basically the aim was to fully restore the car to the best attainable standard possible and to try and return the car to factory specs. Initially, I deviated from the latter goal and bought a lot of trim parts that are found on the 220S, to add some 'bling'. But the pace of the restoration gave me ample time to revisit this and now I'm going pretty much stock; no added bling. I'd like the car to look as it should and not dressed up to look like something else. I have however taken the odd liberty here and there in using a few parts from earlier Pontons because I think they serve the purpose better and look nicer.

Work details:

a) Full engine rebuild - done
b) 100% replacement of floor board and trunk sheet metal - done
c) Replacement of major sections of the integrated chassis frame - done
d) Rear axle/differential rebuild - done
e) Overhaul of entire suspension and front/rear axle with new parts - done
f) Subsequent installation of sliding roof frame - done
g) 100% replacement of wiring harness colour coded as per factory - done
h) 95% of body panel/tinkering work - done

In progress:

a) Complete exhaust replacement in stainless steel - all associated parts bought

b) Renewal of entire brake system - items bought - all new wheels cylinders, master cylinder, rebuilt power brake booster. Brake lines have to be fabricated and shoes have to be relined.

c) Radiator was from an early flat-head Ponton and under capacity. Correct radiator and ancillary pipes came in a few weeks backs from the US and now being fitted.

To do after completing the above:

a) Road test
b) Detailing of engine, engine ancillaries and engine bay
c) Re-chroming chrome parts
d) Paint
e) Upholstery
f) Hooking up all the electricals
g) Installing the sunroof sliding hardware and fabric material (yet to order the material; it comes as a pre-sewn kit)
h) Reassembly of all body and interior trim

mbz180

[kasli]

Originally Posted by mbz180

Hi Merc_lover666,

Expenses etc. I don't wish to discuss on the forum. I'll send you a PM regarding this. I have bought 90% of the parts to finish the restoration.

mbz180

When do we all see the beauty

[Merc_lover666]

Hi mbz180 whats the progress on the restoration bro???

[mbz180]

Originally Posted by Merc_lover666

Hi mbz180 whats the progress on the restoration bro???

Well the car isn't presentable yet because the engine is going to come out again for detailing. But there actually has been some progress.

I had mentioned earlier that we got in a correct radiator from the US for the car and it's a good fit.

Correct radiator now mounted onto car




The water pump and housing were not correct for the car so I've replaced that with a NOS piece.

NOS water pump assembly now fitted





The car was missing its original dynamo which we now have and it's been fitted.

The miscellaneous dynamo mounting parts, timing pointer, exhaust bracket etc. (these were missing from the car)




If you look above the engine mounting, you can spot the dynamo which was missing




I was in the workshop 2 weeks back and the exhaust system is finally taking shape.

We are starting to work on the brakes and I recently brought in a new master cylinder.

New ATE master cylinder




Unfortunately the rebuilt brake booster got lost and I had to get in another piece.

Another brake booster, this time for rebuilding...ugghh



The restorer and I spent 4 hours disassembling it and although the fixed parts inside the booster are in good nick, the moving parts all need to be replaced. When we opened it, decades old sand came out (this booster was from a car in the US which I'm guessing sat in arid weather for a long time).

Moist sand inside the power booster meant that all moving parts will need to be replaced.








The power booster kit on its way along with the correct fabric braided hose for the vacuum line from the intake manifold to the booster







Regards,

mbz180

[Merc_lover666]

Quite a meticulous restoration job in progress I must say. You are really very very hands on in every aspect of the restoration, if I may say so and anybody looking to do a restoration job on a classic Mercedes would greatly benefit by seeking hour guidance for sourcing parts especially the right ones....salute!!!

Btw...by when do you think you will be done with this project as I am really really super duper excited to see the end product.

[mbz180]

Originally Posted by Merc_lover666

Btw...by when do you think you will be done with this project as I am really really super duper excited to see the end product.

Thank you for the kind words. Progress is better now and although I can't say when we'll be done, I'm eagerly looking forward to see the completed car too

[Merc_lover666]

Hi any updates for us???

[mbz180]

Originally Posted by Merc_lover666

Hi mbz180 whats the progress on the restoration bro???

Still some way to go but slowly getting there brother!

Will post an update soon.

[mbz180]

Hello all,

It’s been a while since I last posted an update.

Aside from a steady stream of parts coming in (yes, there’s more on the shopping list!), there has been progress on the car itself.

If you go back several pages on this thread, you’ll see that we had previously finished the undercarriage in satin black. The thing is, when these cars left the factory, the undercarriage was painted what I can best describe as a sort of grey-beige. Mercedes calls it “STEINGRAU HELL” or Stone Gray Light, paint code DB 169. To make matters more difficult, the lower part of the monocoque frame upto the front cross tube remained this color while the visible upper part, was painted the colour of the engine bay and the rest of the car. Similarly, the outer, visible part of the spare wheel wells were body colour, the inner surface was Stone Gray. What exactly was MB’s reasoning for doing this in the 50’s and not painting everything in the body colour is not clear (even MB doesn’t have a plausible answer), but they followed a similar pattern till the 70’s. I decided to be at my finicky best and follow suit - we dropped the front sub-frame with the front suspension assembly, engine and transmission. The rear axle was left on. When prepping the surface for the new colour, a few areas showed corrosion so we stripped the surface to bare metal, replaced steel where required and then came up with a close match to DB169 in epoxy.

Rotten patches




Cut




Copy




And paste!




"STEINGRAU HELL - ya"

We then started work on the brake lines which had completely disintegrated. Detailed photos/measurements from the Ponton group guided us and we now have the brake lines sorted. MB painted the brake lines “Olive Green” (I forget the code) so olive green it was for the brake lines.

Plated tabs and ATE flex hoses to go with the new brake lines in "Olive Green"

Completing the engine area has been on the cards for a while and it was high time to settle on a colour for the car; I wanted a medium to dark blue but wasn’t quite sure what would look nice. We went through several Mercedes blues (pun not intended) and settled on DB900 “Surfblau” (Surf Blue) and painted the engine bay – it looked nice but not quite what I had in mind. In the meantime, I realised that the bulkhead panel in the engine bay was fabricated in the previous workshop and looked nothing like it should. So we decided to fix this. I then got this nagging feeling that the inner partition may need some attention, so the panel was cut open revealing a house of horrors!

Previously made bulkhead panel needed to go - hmm, I wonder what's underneath?




Let's find out!




Aaagghhhh!

After replacing large segments of steel and coating the insides to prevent rusting, the area was to be closed. Hang on. Originally, the flat surface would have had indentations so after an exchange of some mails to obtain measurements, the said indentations were made and then we closed the area.
All this meant that the surface had to be re-prepped for paint. It was now a toss up between 3 blues, DB 350 “Mittelblau” (Medium blue), DB 904 “Mitternachtblau” (Midnight blue) and DB 332 “Dunkelblau” (Dark Blue). Getting the mixing ratios for these shades would have been a cinch had Standox or Glasurit been available in Calcutta but neither is. The workshop has had good results using paint products from PPG so after obtaining the corresponding mixing ratios for PPG from cross-ref paint sites on then net, we made small samples. Dark blue was verrry dark. Medium blue appeared too dull. This left us with midnight blue. Dad immediately liked the shade. I wasn’t as sure and Mr. Sircar, the restorer, thought it was bordering on black. So we had sittings at the paint shop for a few hours over a few days and progressively reduced the black component in the midnight blue. Finally, we agreed on a shade and painted the engine bay but to my shock, it took upon a violet hue and looked horrid!

Before





And after



But why the violet hue?

This gave me plenty of time to think and midnight blue started to look rather appealing - back to the paint shop (I juts get this feeling that I’m not welcome there anymore) to get another sample of midnight blue which was then sprayed on a small area of the engine bay. Bingo - just what I wanted! So midnight blue it is and no going back on that.

The shade on the lower right section is Midnight Blue as opposed to the rest which is...umm, I'm not quite sure!

We also started the process of detailing the engine and tranny case. The cast aluminum parts such as the tappet cover, bell housing, tranny cover and oil sump, when buffed, became far shinier than we expected – not good at all. I was told that it would oxidize and lose some shine in a few days but even then, I’m not happy. So we’ve put this on hold until we figure out on how to obtain a clean, flat/mattish aluminum look.

A bit too shiny for me - STOP!

It’s tedious but I’m glad we got a chance to take a step or two back on several instances before starting out again because the results have been more to my satisfaction than the first time around. Equally satisfying is the fact that the restorer gets me with regard to what I want for the car and we've been working in close collaboration on the car.

Please feel free to make suggestions, I look forward to them!

Cheers,

mbz180

[crdi]

My knowledge about mercs, either the new ones or the vintage ones are as good as what Maria Sharapova knows about cricket. I know that getting spares for vintage cars won't be as easy as finding a maruti genuine part. Even so, six years seems quite long for an incomplete restoration of a persistent owners car, at a full fledged garage. Please correct me if i am wrong. It is almost as if, you finish patching up one area and another area starts to rust. The mechanics are trying to keep your spirits up by comments like "you saved her from death", but still. Kudos mate , any normal mortal would have gone bonkers by now. Hope the craftsmanship meets your expectations and you will not end up making compromises after such a long wait. Good luck.

[coloneljasi]

Oh, how I wish you you were a little closer to where I live, mbz180. Your restoration is painstakingly meticulous, there's no doubt about the fact that the completed car will be an absolute stunner. Can't wait!

Had you been somewhere down south, I'd beg you to let us put the finished car in our showroom. Not for sale, mind you!

Just to showcase a pristine Mercedes Benz Ponton to the digital generation.

[mbz180]

Originally Posted by crdi

Even so, six years seems quite long for an incomplete restoration of a persistent owners car, at a full fledged garage. Please correct me if i am wrong. It is almost as if, you finish patching up one area and another area starts to rust.

Well, what to say, you are correct After 5-6 years, certain areas need attention again. And they are being done, no comprises at all, for sure. As to the length of time, all I can say is that some factors are beyond my control!

Thank you for the kind words coloneljassi. After 6 years, you have no idea how I'm itching to drive her again!

Oops, didn't realize I was making back to back posts. Mods, please combine them if possible. Thanks.

[mbz180]

Work progresses slowly on detailing the drive-train before we put it back in. Not yet complete but getting there. Next step is to sandblast the exhaust manifold and coat it with POR-15 High Temperature cast iron grey paint. What now looks like a mostly complete unit now is in fact an amalgam of many missing parts such as the dynamo, timing pointer, fuel line clamp, waterpump etc.