The 560SL Black Headlight Door Modification Narrative

[BabyBlueBenz]

Back when I owned a 1978 W123 240D, I considered opening up the headlight door (also known as The Clear Plastic Frame That Surrounds the Headlights) and painted the louvers within black to match the engine grill. It never happened, because I had found a used parts supplier and procured a pair of european headlights. Back then, the Euro lights were very cool in a land filled with generic-round (and some generic-rectangular) automobile headlights.

Fast-forward to today, and I find myself in possession of another Mercedes equipped with federally mandated round headlights and the option to exchange them for european-style lights. But, as someone posted in a forum somewhere, the round headlights are now in retro with the roads now populated with car lighting unique to each model. I like the look of my SL's four round headlights because it makes the car look wider. I think the bigger european-spec lights make the car look smaller. Besides that, a pair of Euros is damn expensive!

But one aspect of the four-light arrangement is that from certain vantage points, my SL looks bug-eyed. Getting those two bulbs into each corner required a noticeable bulging of the side-marker lens. Not a terrible thing, but a bit weird looking from certain angles.

Well, I thought I would see what might be done about my "issues" by painting the interior of the headlight doors black. Since my doors were in rough condition with several dings and a bad crack, I considered this an experiment. If my eyes fail the results, then a fresh pair of doors will be ordered. Many of the steps detailed below would be performed in pursuit of restoring the headlight doors of many MB models, as suggested by John Roncallo with his post at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r-c107-sl-slc-class/1382074-then-there-silence.html#post2929641 (sorry no relevant posts found on this forum).

[BabyBlueBenz]

The headlight door on each side of the car is held in place by two Philips-head screws situated in the gaps between the two lamp openings, making them easy to extract.

Here's the left door as it was removed from my car. Both are probably the original Bosch-made units:



Here's a view of the back of the door:



The backsides of the doors have small plates of zinc in them, for the purpose of reflecting ambient headlight output throughout the door. Over time, the zinc gets dirt-fouled and corrodes.

[BabyBlueBenz]

The zinc plates are held in place by several melted tabs. I found it easiest to cut the tabs off with a Dremel rotary-tool equipped with a cutoff wheel.



Do this outside or in a well-ventilated area, as the melting plastic gives off a noticeable fume that probably isn't healthy.

[BabyBlueBenz]

With the dozen or so plastic tabs cut, extract the zinc plates from the back with a small flat-bladed screwdriver or knife blade.



The plates are not too fragile, but might bend if you get too aggressive in prying them free.

[BabyBlueBenz]

Here are my left side parts oriented as they would be on the car:



The zinc plates are downright nasty, and the plastic door above it is holding a lot of dirt and fine dust within its crevasses, as seen in this backside view:

[BabyBlueBenz]

As John Roncallo suggests for most of his dirty plastics, put them in a dishwashing machine for an effective cleanup. But, at least rinse them off first! I started washing my doors by hand in the sink, but it quickly got too tedious trying to reach in the deep recesses with a brush. So into the washer they went. An hour later, they looked much better:



If you are restoring your doors, see Strife's post at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r-c107-sl-slc-class/1329816-how-replace-front-corner-lens.html#post3002757 for additional suggestions. For my modification, the old zinc plates were dropped into the trash bin.

[BabyBlueBenz]

My initial choice to paint the interior of my headlight doors was one made for the model railroad hobby, specifically POLLY Scale's "Grimy Black". My bottle had been sitting a long time, and I didn't shake it well enough before application, so the paint was runny and thin. One half of one door was painted this way before I looked for something better.



The remainder of the door interiors was painted with the contents of an old can of Rust-oleum's flat black.

[BabyBlueBenz]

Since the first coat didn't cover well enough, a second application of paint was necessary and done on the next day. Another day to dry and this was the result:





The front view now amplifies the severe crack in the lower edge of the right opening. Also, the subtle difference between the different paint shades can be seen with Grimy Black on the right half and Flat Black on the left.

[BabyBlueBenz]

Here are the modified doors on my car:



My camera's flash went off during these shots, so the contrast is a bit pronounced (and so is all the filth).



My initial reaction was favorable. I had hoped that the Grimy Black (on the right half of the left door) would match the car's existing faded black finishes, and I think it does. The Flat Black came out too dark, and in these photos reminded me of the images I had Photoshop'd in research of this mod.

Ok, let the comments fly! Lemmee start: "It looks like a raccoon!"

Regardless, my plan is to acquire a new set of doors...and paint their insides with (a well-shaken bottle of) Grimy Black. If I don't like the mod by the time the new doors arrive, I'll just put them on "plain".

[BabyBlueBenz]

Since I'm shopping for new headlight doors, I would like to know if anyone has purchased any from brands other than factory-original (and more expensive) Bosch. I've seen the following alternatives listed at differrent sources:

APA
Uro

Thanks in advance.

[Strife]

I have (APA?) spares and the difference is undetectable except by purists who will look at the manufacturer. I will say that when they are "new", they may look "too new" because the zinc plating is very shiny. But this is what they looked like on the car when it was new.

I used a technique similar to that described above on my old Bosch headlight surrounds except:

1. I buffed the plastic with PLASTX and a drill-mounted, SOFT buffing wheel, being careful not to overheat the plastic, which will melt and ruin the piece. This (with 1500 grit sandpaper on rock-pitted spots) really makes a difference.

2. I recovered the zinc plated parts in aluminum HVAC tape (which I've used in reflectors before), and used a soldering iron to re-stake/melt the plastic to hold down the zinc plated pieces. I didn't polish the aluminum so that they would not be "too shiny".

The result was indistinguishable from new, even up pretty close.

BTW, virtually all used headlight surrounds that I've found crack as did the one pictured above.

[donbryce]

I've been reading all of your excellent and informative threads, much appreciated and enjoyed. Nice to have someone on the board who is willing to take the time to document his work, and does it so well! Anyway, this thread might be a nice accompanyment to your headlight mod. thread Headlight R&R (USA Version) Lo-buck retaining rings and headlight door renewal

I'm not sure yet if I like the look of the black surrounds. I do like the blended look of the lights and grille, and assume you also painted the grille insert black? Mine is stock, dark gray. I also wonder if those aftermarket tri-bar style 'Jag' bulbs would look neat in there, or if it would be overkill, having 5 MB-style stars across the front.

[dugald]

Originally Posted by donbryce

......and assume you also painted the grille insert black? Mine is stock, dark gray.

Were they grey when new? I always thought they started out black, then faded.
Anyway, I painted mine black and I think it is an improvement on the grey.

P.S. Here is a pic of an 800-mile car. Is the grille black or grey?

[BabyBlueBenz]

Originally Posted by donbryce

Anyway, this thread might be a nice accompanyment to your headlight mod. thread Headlight R&R (USA Version) Lo-buck retaining rings and headlight door renewal

I missed that one, and apologize for my thread's duplicity.

Originally Posted by donbryce

...and assume you also painted the grille insert black? Mine is stock, dark gray.

I haven't touched my grill insert...yet. I'll probably paint it black, which now suggests to me that when I redo the new headlight doors with my black treatment, that I should go with the blacker Flat Black vs. the Grimy Black. Looks like another task for my To Do list: Paint grill insert black, then match headlight doors with result.

Originally Posted by donbryce

I also wonder if those aftermarket tri-bar style 'Jag' bulbs would look neat in there, or if it would be overkill, having 5 MB-style stars across the front.

I've no clue what you're referring to. Picture please! EDIT: NVM, I found one:



Five MB stars...I get it now.

[Strife]

I repainted both my grilles engine flat black, as well as the insides of the stars, and have never regretted it. I think it just looks better. Ironically, 30 years earlier, I had done exactly the same thing for the same reason on my first car, a 1968 Camaro.