Some fresh pictures of the project
 

Got the seats installed and cleaned up. Mounted the monitor, and fabricated the wood piece for the heat controls. Rear door panels are mounted. Note the new lower trim on the exterior from a 91.

new engine ground wire, and batt ground wire.

Do not worry about the fuse less 0 gauge wire going into the cab, this will soon have a circuit breaker installed. Here is one more shot of the car next to my fathers 500SEL.

Looking awesome. Cant wait to see the finished product!

If you're going to have those smooth fender panels on there, you're gonna have to dump the bundt cake rims for it to look good. :cool:
-Joe

Yes, I know - but the wheels I want - well I will just have to wait until I have enough in the car fund for them..... someday tho... (amg monoblock)
I leave on the 17th of may for the military, so the car must be done by then. Good thing I have paid vacation until then....

I'm not worried about that, I'm worried about no grommet between the wire and the firewall! :eek:

Ahhh, good observation. Yes when I am done running wire I will harness it all --- no fires wanted here!

What are you going to do with the monitor? Radio, GPS? I like how it's integrated in the dash, almost looks stock.

That will be the monitor (touch screen) for the onboard PC. Took awhile to fabricate the mounts and notch that console though..... I estimate 2.5 hours or so only on that.
Someday I will get a sat receiver and software for GPS, but I usually am not in an un-familiar area so I cannot justify it at this time.

I will upload photos of today’s 8 hours of progress tomorrow:
Installed sunroof headliner
R+R of sunroof mechanicals
lubed all sunroof mechanism with MB sunroof grease (that stuff is magic!)
Installed pass rear safety belt
Installed pass rear c pillar cover
Installed rear deck cover
Installed grab bars
Re-stretched headliner due to shift during grab bar install*1
Wired USB hub
Installed drivers side ventilation ducts and vents
Installed headlight switch w/modified circuit for fog 2 relay*2
Installed front headliner panel
Installed sun visors, rearview mirror
Re-soldered dome light timer circuit due to cold solder joints and installed
Installed drivers rear door ashtray and door light
Installed new door lock vacuum actuator in passenger door
A few other mundane details were completed as well as several hours of cleaning. Most of the parts I am installing have been sitting in my storage for some time and have collected quite a bit of dust*3


*1 - note to those of you replacing your headliner, install grab bars before attaching sides of headliner!!!

*2 - Where can I get that small light bulb for the headlamp switch?

*3 - If you store a large quantity of auto parts. PLEASE cover them before setting them aside. It will save you much grief down the road!

Some more pics of the past couple days work.... Now just waiting on parts to get the dash together!

New downturn tip in an attempt to stop the “black ass syndrome”

The monitor looks great. I would love to see more "behind the scene" pictures of that. What are you doing with the sunroof, defrost, recirculation, & hazard switches?

Chtis

I like the way your project is coming along. You're making your car look like a 90-91 style W126 with a OM617. I've always wanted to do that. I would love a 1981-1985 300SD with the 1986-1991 exterior treatment. If I won the lottery, I'd find a nice 300SD and I'd place brand new OEM tail lights to get rid of the smokey look, post 85 bumpers and door trim, 3rd brake light from another newer W126, 15" flatface 86-91 rims or the 8 hole 15" ones, Euro headlights with euro wipers and vacuum control, interior seats from a 1991 W126, and a SLS system from a 560SEL, so that means the OM617 would have to come from a 1981-1985 300TD, as you know all the 617s in the wagons were equipped to handle a SLS system. I would have the nicest 300SD around.
-Joe