My Custom 1980 W116 300SD Project - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Squiggle Dog · #1 12-11-2010, 09:07 PM

I bought some brown interior parts from bgiovan so I can two-tone my interior. I had thought about having new two-tone seat skins made by GAHH or World Upholstery, but it would have been pricey and that's not including any extra labor costs to make two-tone skins. Then I would still need seat nets and door panels.

The foam in the brown front door panel inserts have broken down but they aren't wrinkled and still look pretty decent, so for now I will use them as-is. I picked out the 4 best tan door panels, cleaned them up, and installed the brown inserts. I really, really like the look.

I converted my car to manual windows so I needed to add some holes for the regulators. There is no need to put holes in the rear door panels, as they already have rectangular holes where the window switches used to attach. To make the holes I started with the centermost perforation behind the hole in the pressboard. I did a test fit on the door to make sure that it was in the right place. Then I took a razor and cut one perforation out, toward the center perforation, making a "+", NOT an "x". This way you get a larger opening and the opening will be undetectable should you decide to go back to power windows.

Here you can see the opening I made. When I remove my finger the opening closes and can not be noticed. If you were to go back to power windows you would no longer be able to see the opening, especially if you applied some adhesive to the foam behind the vinyl to keep it in place.

Here is the door panel in place with the window regulator shaft pushed through. Then I tucked the edges back in and out of the way. The location of the opening I cut was perfect.

I didn't get a chance today to finish installing the door panel as it started to get dark at 4 PM and was raining hard. Also, as I was on my way to the shed in the back yard, as I was dodging puddles and stepping across high spots, I stumbled and after trying to keep myself from falling into the water, I jumped sideways and my foot landed on a piece of wood that had a long nail in it. The nail went into my shoe, into my foot, and stopped when it hit the bone. It was difficult to pull the nail out of my foot as the nail was curved. So tomorrow I will continue.

TheDon · #2 12-11-2010, 09:17 PM

Very cool.

I really like the 200D

Squiggle Dog · #3 12-11-2010, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDon

Very cool.

I really like the 200D

Thanks! It's really nice having two cars, both of which are reliable. But I always keep thinking of what I could do with the 300SD if I got money from selling the 200D (maybe I could start saving for a paint job, ha). But I haven't been able to get a fair price out of the 200D yet, so I'm hanging onto it until I find someone who really wants it.

Both cars are fun to drive. I alternate between the two cars but usually take the 200D for long trips because it's great on fuel and loves the freeway. Also, the 200D has a lot more trunk space than the 300SD.

Squiggle Dog · #4 12-12-2010, 09:03 PM

Today I installed the front door panels. I can't believe how much better my car looks with them. I also installed the passenger side window glass with the Blaupunkt sticker to match the driver side. And I attached a passenger side rear view mirror, so the 300SD looks much more symmetrical. We got about 2.5 inches of rain today but I still got it done. At least all of the rain tends to keep the temperature above freezing.

Zacharias · #5 12-12-2010, 10:54 PM

Very nice touch. Hey is this the car that you had on eBay a while back?

Or maybe I have you confused with someone else

suginami · #6 12-12-2010, 11:05 PM

Man, you're right. Those two-tone panels look great! Even better than new.

Squiggle Dog · #7 12-12-2010, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zacharias

Very nice touch. Hey is this the car that you had on eBay a while back?

Or maybe I have you confused with someone else

I had a 1979 300SD on eBay. I put a lot of time into it but ended up only getting about $700 after eBay and PayPal fees.

I sold it because I was going to buy a rust-free fintail with a bad engine to put a turbo diesel engine in it but the deal fell through and I was left with no car and little money, which I why I bought my 1968 200D to be a temporary driver until I got another 300SD. I have really enjoyed the 200D, however.

In the long run I am glad I have my current 300SD. It has less rust than the 1979 and is an original Walnut Brown car, which is my favorite color (and rare). It was repainted to black but I want to have it repainted back to the original brown, with added beige two-tone paint.

bgiovan · #8 12-19-2010, 09:19 PM

Looking good Squig. I sent the rest of the stuff last week so you should be good to go. I need to run back to the farm and look at that '79 280SE I have stashed. I can't remember if it has a manual sunroof or not. But I do have those fancy tan velour seats, the euro bumpers, manual climate control and of course crank windows. I also have a '79 450SEL with black leather interior up there. Hopefully the mice haven't attacked that interior. I got the tan out and have it in a heated warehouse but that one is still braving the elements.

andersbenz · #9 12-19-2010, 09:33 PM

What a great project--Thank you for sharing it with us.

Squiggle Dog · #10 12-19-2010, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgiovan

Looking good Squig. I sent the rest of the stuff last week so you should be good to go. I need to run back to the farm and look at that '79 280SE I have stashed. I can't remember if it has a manual sunroof or not. But I do have those fancy tan velour seats, the euro bumpers, manual climate control and of course crank windows. I also have a '79 450SEL with black leather interior up there. Hopefully the mice haven't attacked that interior. I got the tan out and have it in a heated warehouse but that one is still braving the elements.

Thanks! Those tan velour seats you have are amazing. I actually have a set of tan velour headrests I've been trying to sell if you decided you wanted to add rear headrests. I think I'm going to need to find a replacement driver door window regulator as it's really sloppy.

bgiovan · #11 12-19-2010, 09:39 PM

Now you've got me thinking of using the black inserts from the 450SEL on the parchment trim! Downside is the back doors are too long but I can always cut and paste. With the 172 Anthracite Grey it might work.

Downloaded the instructions for R&R'ing the head from the W116.org library. Fun times! Plan is to remove the one off the '80 and install it on the '79 with new gaskets, etc. Hopefully there's no block issues. If there is then it'll be a full-on transplant but thought I'd try the head route first. I need to get the climate control sorted. It is still not opening the thermostat. Kilma I and I do not get along.

Cheers mate!

Squiggle Dog · #12 12-19-2010, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgiovan

Now you've got me thinking of using the black inserts from the 450SEL on the parchment trim! Downside is the back doors are too long but I can always cut and paste. With the 172 Anthracite Grey it might work.

Downloaded the instructions for R&R'ing the head from the W116.org library. Fun times! Plan is to remove the one off the '80 and install it on the '79 with new gaskets, etc. Hopefully there's no block issues. If there is then it'll be a full-on transplant but thought I'd try the head route first. I need to get the climate control sorted. It is still not opening the thermostat. Kilma I and I do not get along.

Cheers mate!

How hard is it to put in rear headrests? I love that look and would pop a set in the back of the new one - just need to find Parchment! Perhaps GAHH?

Using the black door panel inserts in the parchment interior would be neat. They would match the dashboard and console. I think the rears would work if you cut them down because, if I'm not mistaken, the SEL uses the same length door handles, etc. as the SD, there is just more room from that point forward.

On my 300SDs I have always bypassed the climate control servo and then removed the buttons except for HI and OFF so it doesn't blow any fuses. It works that way and is very reliable. But having a working ACCII is a wonderful thing if you can afford to get it to that point. Having a working manual setup is even better.

Installing rear headrests is easy. It is bolt-in, but you have to carefully place and cut holes for the headrest legs and install the grommets in the holes. The hard part is finding the rear headrest components. Even the legs of the rear headrests are different from the front headrests as they tilt forward more. I used to have a complete conversion kit that I removed from a 6.9, but they went to a happy buyer in England.

I have seen people make their own before: Installing Rear Headrests / 116 w/ pics I wish I had that guy's car. It is the same Walnut Brown color my 300SD used to be. Too bad I didn't have the $6,000 he wanted. I got mine for $1,100 and by the time I have it all painted up and looking like his I will have spent about that much.

If you can't find any used parchment headrests, you can try GAHH ( http://www.gahh.com/ ), as you mentioned, or World Upholstery ( http://www.worlduph.com/ ).

Ether · #13 12-20-2010, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squiggle Dog

I have seen people make their own before: Installing Rear Headrests / 116 w/ pics I wish I had that guy's car. It is the same Walnut Brown color my 300SD used to be. Too bad I didn't have the $6,000 he wanted. I got mine for $1,100 and by the time I have it all painted up and looking like his I will have spent about that much.

I bought that SD from TClanton and then subsequently sold it about a year later (for $500 more than I paid for it BTW). That's the one car I regret letting go. It was beautiful, new leather interior and the rear head rests were very cool.

Squiggle Dog · #14 12-20-2010, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ether

I bought that SD from TClanton and then subsequently sold it about a year later (for $500 more than I paid for it BTW). That's the one car I regret letting go. It was beautiful, new leather interior and the rear head rests were very cool.

I wondered what happened to that car. I sent him a PM to see if he could tell me what the name of the color of the car was. Now I know it is Walnut Brown (or Moorbraun).

I searched high and low for a 300SD in Walnut Brown, with a sunroof. I scoured all of the craigslist ads and eBay for months. I found a couple of Walnut Brown cars, but none of them had sunroofs, being that Walnut Brown is a 1980-only color for the W116 and it is very rare to find a 1980 300SD with a sunroof.

Then I saw the ad for my car in the Eugene, Oregon craigslist. I am color blind, so I couldn't tell from the pictures if the car was black or dark brown. I looked up the VIN number and it showed it as being Walnut Brown, the color I was looking for, plus it had a sunroof. But, it had been repainted in black at some point. My second color choice was black as I could paint it the color I wanted and having black paint in the hidden spots would be okay.

The seller had a big, long list of parts that had been recently replaced and it sounded great (I later found out that none of the parts had been replaced and were all in need of immediate replacement). He also said that he had another eager local buyer who was ready to give him the cash, so there was no negotiating price. It was the only Walnut Brown (or used to be Walnut Brown) W116 300SD with a sunroof that I had seen for sale other than that really nice $6,000 one, so that's why I paid $1,100 for a rough piece of junk. But once I am done with it, it will be my dream car.

Some day it is going to be painted back to the original dark brown with a second beige color in two-tone.

Squiggle Dog · #15 12-20-2010, 06:05 PM

Look at the original craigslist ad for my car and have a good laugh (I will post commentary in red):

1980 Mercedes Benz 300SD Turbo Diesel W116, 5-Cyl, 4-Spd Auto | 28 MPG

Date: 2010-03-11, 9:04AM

1980 Mercedes Benz 300SD Turbo Diesel
W116 D30A Chassis, 5-Cyl, 4-Spd. Automatic
28 MPG

Great running car. Starts quickly and easily in all weather (all 5 glow plugs were bad, wouldn't start in cold weather). Better pick up speed and fuel economy due to the Turbo Charger (turbo was seized and non-working) and aftermarket hi-flow air cleaner (a cheap aftermarket hot-air kit that was melted by the exhaust manifold). No rust (mostly true), good paint (paint was horrible), but clear coat is pealing up (in large sections).

Powered by the 3.0 L OM617 inline 5-cyl turbo diesel (2998 cc) engine. Power output is 120 hp (89 kW) with MPG consistent @ 28 miles per gallon of fuel. This reputed to be one of the most trust worthy builds of 5-cyl Mercedes Diesels, used in millions of sedans and light duty trucks, around the world. Current tags, expire August, 2010. No DEQ required. This classic is a reliable daily driver (not even close), with a 4 speed automatic transmission (transmission had bad internal seals and needed to warm up for 10 minutes before it would go into drive--and then the vacuum line fell off and it wouldn't shift out of second gear, had to rig it to get home). New brake master cylinder last month (Total lie, it was a rusty one with a cracked reservoir and rotten seals and it wouldn't hold brake fluid. I'm lucky it didn't run dry and kill me because the parking brake didn't even work). Front alignment done by Les Schwab last December (Another lie! The car wandered all over the road and when I took it in for an alignment the shop said it was way off.). Tires 75% (all 4 tires were mismatched, dry rotted, and threadbare--worst peeling chromed bundts I have ever seen).
Front seats are a bit worn and showing their age yet still very firm and comfortable (they were trashed; broken springs, no padding left, and ripped). Rear seat is mis matched color, as well as front floor mats (they were blue and out of a W123). The window switches for the front left, and rear right windows need to be replaced (and the regulators and all parts pertaining to the power windows were bent or broken). Sun roof is working but needs a good greasing (he was right about that). Trunk seal needs to be replaced (trunk seal was good, water was coming in from the taillights). AC is non-functioning (so was the heater).
$1195

The asking price is firm.
Showing by appointment Friday - Saturday - Sunday

ATTENTION:
Due to the high level of SPAM activity on eugene.craigslist.org; All interested buyers must include a PHONE NUMBER to receive a response. All inquiries sent without a valid phone number will be ignored and promptly deleted/blocked.