After all of the sanding marks were gone I was left with a matte surface. I used rubbing compound over this area and polished until the surface was smooth.


Next I used Meguiar's Deep Crystal Polish over the entire piece. This made it very glossy and removed the surface imperfections. After the polish I used Meguiar's Gold Class Wax. The damage from the rotary bit is no longer visible and the chipped area is almost invisible.


The clock knob fits through with precision and almost no play.


I felt much better once the piece was repaired. I shouldn't have had to drill the hole, especially since it is there in the seller's display photos. This was my first time working with wood and lacquers.


I had another nasty surprise along the way. As can be expected, there really aren't any dress-up items made for the W116 chassis--however, this sedan shares some parts with the R107 and W123, so sometimes they interchange. This wooden instrument panel cover is actually for a R107 chassis, not a W116 chassis. I found that the mounting rods were much too long to accept the threaded extensions from the W116 cover.

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DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles