New to me '85 SL Diesel-repair and renew thread
 

Some of you may know already, but for those that don't, I am the new caretaker of the SL Diesel that Paul Christiansen (mach4) built starting in late 2011. The build thread here:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/308791-380sl-diesel-conversion-project-27.html
I will be cleaning, detailing, repairing, and updating the car, so it will be show-car ready. I will be detailing the work here. To start off, I have removed the seats, and will be cleaning and dying the carpets in the cabin and trunk. An NOS set of leather seat skins were provided with the car, and I will be installing them. There is not much else needed for the interior, as the door panels, dash and center console are still very nice. Maybe a little cleaning, that's all. Photos of the interior with the seats removed:

I am jealous. Cool car!

Engine photo
 

For those of you that have not seen this in a while, here is a photo of the engine bay. I have a valve cover at the polisher, and I will install it when it is done. I will do a valve adjustment at that time as well. Since the A/C needs work, I plan to replace the condenser with a parallel flow unit, and go back to R12. Of course I will be cleaning the engine bay and fixing some leaks.......Rich

Whoa ~ this should be fun .

Carpet restoration
 

Today's chore was to remove as much of the carpet as I can for cleaning. There are some pieces I did not want to remove (sides of center console, inside sill etc.), so they will need to get cleaned in situ. My plan is to dye the carpets with SEM Color Coat. I have used it for carpets, and you would be surprised how nice they look after using this product. My local auto paint supply has the Palomino color in stock. Here is a photo of how the carpets look before cleaning. A comparison photo will be taken after cleaning........Rich

The carpets have been cleaned, and they look great! I may only have to dye a couple of them. The trunk carpets actually look pretty good the way they are. I will try the dye on the center console carpet.

What did you use to shampoo the carpets? They really look good.

Spray foam carpet cleaner. It comes in an aerosol can with a brush on top. I wet the carpet real good, spray the foam on, brush, add more water, and then vacuum with a strong wet-dry vac. I then add more water, and vac again. Sometimes I use a high pressure nozzle to rinse, and then vac. Then let the carpet sit in the sun for an hour, and it is nice and dry ready to install.

I used the SEM Colorcoat on the carpets in my w126. It amazed me. The original gray had sun bleached to yellow on one of the front carpet pieces. I followed the directions for cleaning including a tip I got from the senior SEM salesman at Finishmasters in Greenville, SC.

He told me the best thing to remove grease from interior and carpet is ammonia. I mixed a solution of 1/3rd ammonia to 2/3rds water and added a liberal amount of Ivory liquid dish detergent, not the dishwasher stuff.

After scrubbing the carpet with the solution using a stiff brush I rinsed it until the soap bubbles ceased to be present and the smell of ammonia was gone. After drying I brushed it and used compressed air to ensure me that it was dry and clean.

I sprayed the Colorcoat on with a harbor freight detail and touchup, HPLV paint gun, it's the chromed, 40 dollar gun with the .8mm tip and 4oz cup. I shot three coats on the carpet and brushed after each coat with an old medium soft hair brush.

The color is just a slight shade darker than the original but that's comparing it to the best original piece I've seen. I suspect all the carpet in every 33 yr old car has faded a bit.

I've used the same HPLV gun for every piece in the interior including the SEM surecoat on the seats. This was my first experience with a paint sprayer so no one should fear the process.

Read the instructions and shoot something which doesn't cost $111/qt to get familiar with the gun. Don't let the salesmen sell you anything extra to go with the paint. The ammonia and Ivory work great and I believe the money spent on prep products was wasted.

No additives to Colorcoat or Surecoat. Surecoat will hold up to most mild cleaning products which do not have ammonia in them. If you are intending to do your windows with anything containing ammonia you need to cover the leather. The overspray from Windex will leave spots.

If you're going to use an additive to the Surecoat it's $50+ for a bottle which will treat many, many gals of Surecoat.

Surecoat and colorcoat will settle worse than any paint I've seen. Prep your product before you purchase the paint or take it back to the store you bought it from and have them shake it good just before you shoot it. You'll still need to stir it when you get it home.

That's all I got. Best of luck and I have confidence in you.

Re the SEM, you may find that a light coat is necessary on the pieces that currently look pretty good to bring them up to matching the currently less good carpets once they are dyed. Light coats dried then brushed with a soft brush between coats will loosen the nap and make them look better. Having a case delivered was less expensive than buying cans one at a time locally.

There is a thread titled "the best cleaner ever" or something similar. I tried some on the a small area of paint in the engine compartment and it made huge difference with little effort. Sam's Club carries it. Of course, youtube university has vids of engine bay cleaning. I think Chris Fix has some good ones.

Question re: cleaning because the cloth seats in my Dodge Cummins are nasty. Will the same cleaner you mentioned above with small amounts of water with a vacuum cleaner help cloth seats?

The cleaner you speak of is Member's Mark Heavy Duty Purple Degreaser (used to be called Pro-Force). I am out of it now, so I had to use the foaming carpet cleaner.
I did a couple of the carpet pieces today. The rear area back after cleaning, and then after dying half, and then all of it.

I got the rear deck cleaned, and will be dying it. Here is a before photo. I wished I would have taken a photo before cleaning, it is amazing how clean I was able to get it.

That is a cool car. I have driven it, when mach brought it over to my neck of the woods... nice ride, congratulations!
I cant tell from the pic, does it still have the brass expansion tank?

It does not have the brass expansion tank, I think it needs to be repaired. I think Paul is planning to send it to me.

The deck after dying, and the rest of the floor edge carpets before cleaning. It is amazing how close the color is to the original. I was spraying the deck, and the parts that were not exposed to sunlight were the exact same color as I was spraying on.

Carpet cleaning
 

I cleaned more carpet pieces today. The process: I wet the carpet and then spray on the cleaner. Most any cleaner will work. I had some L A Awesome that I thought I would try. Brush the surface with a brush, working the cleaner throughout the piece. I then vacuum the piece with a wet-dry vac. I then place the piece in the water, and vac again. Let the pieces dry overnight, and they are ready to dye.

The vacuuming, rinsing and finished product.

I really like this car! I had a chance to see it in person six years ago and meet the previous owner. If I were to have an R107, it would have to be a diesel conversion like this! How fun.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...quiggledog.jpg

I got more carpets dyed and installed. All the carpet pieces that needed to be glued down are installed and looking good.

Back when I was ~18, a 450SL was my dream car. They in all of the permutations will always be classy.

I got the rear floor carpets done today. I will be working on the seats soon. I have not had much time to work on this project any more than an hour here and there. I will also be working on my set of 15" Bundts. Not sure if I should paint or polish them. I have a good polisher, but if I do go this route, I will need to paint the inside anyway. Any opinions?

Polish them! At their best, the stock finish always looked dingy to me. Chrome doesn't last but a good polish job really makes the rims sparkle. This is coming from a guy who doesn't like "shiny"!

I like the polished look as well, but I am hesitant because I would need to KEEP them polished. That is a lot of work. I could clear powder coat them, but not sure how that would last (or look). Either way, I have chrome lug bolts for them. I think a chrome center cap would look best with polished wheels, and of course painted the same as painted wheels.

Nope, a good polish job is a LOT easier to clean than the stock finish. A quick swipe with a soapy brush and you're done. Brake dust and road grime won't stick to them as they do the original finish. I don't clear coat mine. I've seen it peel too many times. Same with chrome.

There's a thread with pictures somewhere on the site.

I did some work on the seats this evening. I removed the seat tracks on the passenger seat base, and then removed the cover. It seems that I am missing one of the plastic guides. Either it fell off as I was removing the rail, or it was gone before I took it apart, not sure which. I wonder if I can get this part new, or will have to find a junk seat to cannibalize?

Legends License Plate
 

I ordered a set of the new Legends black personalized plates for the SLD the other day. I will probably change my avatar photo when they arrive, and I capture a good photo. It is going to be COOL!!!

I've known several people with polished valve covers on various vehicles. They all said to shoot them with clear after polishing to keep them looking nice.

I like bundts painted and clear coated. Here are mine.

The rims look sharp but dust off that wallet and spring for some chrome lugs for that baby.:D

I would have totally bought Mach4's diesel r107.

At least it is in good hands.

BRB battling Kjet monsters!

Actually I like the contrast of the original lug nuts and the repainted rims; looks real to me.

Carpet cleaning and seat upholstery
 

I had a few hours today to work on the car. I got both tunnel side carpets cleaned. I will dye them tomorrow. I started on the seat bottoms, replacing the covers. I removed the old hog rings with dikes. The new cover has a muslin backing flaps that need to be secured to the horsehair pad. I used 3M 90 spray adhesive. Once it tacked up a bit, I pulled the muslin flaps tight and pressed them in place. A few hog rings along the edge for good measure. All that was left was to press the seat springs enough to get all the cardboard strips in the slot around the edge of the seat. A few hog rings on the back edge, and they were ready for the seat tracks and hardware. There is a flap toward the rear that is stapled. I used a regular office stapler, and it worked great.

Photos
 

I have a hog ring plier with a magazine that holds about 30 hog rings (Bostitch), it works great.

Rollguy- did you make any decision about the wheels?

I will be bringing a wheel to the polisher today to get a quote. Then I will make a decision.

Can, will you report his finding on this. I wasn't sure those wheels could be polished.

I toyed with getting a set of those eight spoke MB wheels and polishing them. I appreciate if you ask him about the process and report that here.

wheels
 

Get Blue to hook you up with a set of caps!!

Is that thing legal in the state of CA?:P

It's ok right now but don't give that state any new ideas.

I don't think I can afford 15" caps (or 14's from Blue, they are way expensive). I will be happy with the 15" Bundt's I am planning to use on this car.

I have seen a few polished Bundt wheels, they do exist.

I've seen polished bundts show up in the wrecking yard, but like the Rials and other rims I've seen, I didn't have the money to buy them so they got scrapped.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/CA...M=w800-h600-no

Bostich Hog Ring Pliers
 

THANK YOU Rich ! .

Once again you've gone beyond the call of duty and supplied not only the details of how to do a thing but the proper tool to use as well .

I found it here : https://www.amazon.com/Bostitch-FB5015-Ring-Pliers-Stapler/dp/B0007LL2RM

@ $30 including shipping I can almost afford one .

I have a couple - three driver's side W123 seats I've been dragging my feet on cherry picking the best springs, covers and sliding adjusters to make one really nice one for my '82 240D .

Bundts
 

True. Those 15" Bundts will be lovely too.

Glad this thing is in your hands! Looking forward to seeing what comes next.

passenger seats
 

You can use passenger seats on the drivers side too. Just swap everything over.

On the w126 you only have to drill out the rivets which hold the seat belt guide in place then drill holes and bolt in on the opposite side. It's one of the least issues you face when using a passenger seat for the driver side and nothing is complicated.

I have an issue with the seat back upholstery. It seems that the covers are for a different model seat. Fortunately, the covers fit a larger seat, so the side panels will need to be trimmed down and re-sewn. I am going to have my local upholstery shop do the work. They will also add foam where needed, and steam the wrinkles out. Thankfully the seat bottoms were the same and look great (post #33).....Rich

More work done
 

I had a few hours today to work on the car. I got the carpets done, and the seat bases installed. They have this funky raise/lower lever that does nothing (as far as I can tell). I am okay with the seat height as it is. I got a quote from my local upholstery shop, and it is going to be EXPENSIVE (at least it seems that way to me) to have them fix the seat skins. Oh well, at least it will be done correctly. The shop comes highly recommended. Another shop would do it for a lot less, but they are two months booked up.



I also got the inside of the four 15" Bundts sandblasted, ready for paint.

Rich - the interior looks like a new car. Great job !

Thanks! I am trying to get it car show ready. It's first show will probably be the Legends of the Autobahn.