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  #1  
Old 02-10-2015, 11:48 AM
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As part of a Larger "Refreshment" Project...

i decided to re-do the wheels to my 84 123 sedan because they, like much of the rest of the car, had been ignored for the past however many years. here is a shot of the car not long after i got it just before christmas 2014:


they were dirty, the clear-coat long since mostly peeled away, and so forth.



so i asked a friend of mine who is an excellent painter how to prep them and he suggested scotch-brite and comet. i cut the scotch-brite into small manageable pieces and scrubbed the wheels thoroughly, followed by a washing (including the tires) with a diluted ammonia solution. probably about 15-20 minutes per tire altogether.



I bought a cheap gravity feed paint gun and a water separator from harbor freight, and some medium quality (still very expensive) auto paint, MB #735 astral silver, clear coat and hardener, and reducer.



i had two nice days in a row (70 degrees in denver in january) and having cleaned the wheels the first day, the next i hung the separator in a tree and stretched a tarp to create a place to spray. i would spray at the predicted warmest time of day, about 2 pm.



earlier i had masked the wheels away from the tires and stems





and then set the four of them up on the tarp



shot the silver on



i did two coats with about 15 minutes between



and then i shot the clear on. the clear behaved much differently than the color. the color dried really fast, probably because it was 50% reducer. the clear on the other hand, is mixed 2:1 clear to hardener, and is not sprayed with reducer. needless to say, i over did it, and after two coats noticed it puddling slightly at the low points. for this reason i didn't shoot pictures because i was busy first tilting each wheel to drain the excess clear off, then i laid them flat so whatever excess remained would flow out evenly, which it did. later that evening after i was confident the clear had fully kicked off, i stripped the masking



the next day i washed and scuffed up the center caps and painted those (in retrospect i should have done them alongside the wheels but whatever...) and later that day they were all complete and looking really good.



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72 280SEL
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  #2  
Old 02-10-2015, 12:01 PM
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Nice!
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  #3  
Old 02-10-2015, 02:48 PM
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Very slick!

It looks like you coud benefit from some new coils...
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  #4  
Old 02-10-2015, 04:08 PM
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How much did all of this cost you? My brother wants to paint the rims on his 300SD
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  #5  
Old 02-10-2015, 04:34 PM
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coils

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jooseppi Luna View Post
Very slick!

It looks like you coud benefit from some new coils...
actually, that car was lowered using different springs (yeah, i know). anyway, i do have the original springs - they came with it. it drives ok as it is though, and i don't plan to keep it too long so i'll let someone else change them out if they want to.
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72 280SEL
85 300CD 288k
00 E320 Wagon 4-matic 100k
11 E350 Wagon 4-matic 45k

73 VW Westfalia Camper
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  #6  
Old 02-10-2015, 04:41 PM
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cost

Quote:
Originally Posted by w123fanman View Post
How much did all of this cost you? My brother wants to paint the rims on his 300SD
the comet was about 84 cents at that big box store where everyone buys lumber nowadays.

the scotch-brite costs 23.40 a box, not including shipping from Jamestown Distributors in rhode island.

the paint supplies were about 185, but there's enough silver there to do like 40 or 50 wheels and enough clear/hardener to do probably 8. i probably used a fourth of the reducer mixing and cleaning.

the gun was about 25 or 30 if i remember correctly, and i think the separator was 10 or so, i could be low on that. i had one of the hoses and paid 10 for the orange one. i had to buy a couple fittings too, but they weren't much.

also figure 10 or so for masking tape and paper.

i hope this helps.
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72 280SEL
85 300CD 288k
00 E320 Wagon 4-matic 100k
11 E350 Wagon 4-matic 45k

73 VW Westfalia Camper
67 VW Westfalia Camper

66 Porsche 912
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  #7  
Old 02-19-2015, 02:12 PM
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Wow, beautiful. Just great.
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  #8  
Old 02-19-2015, 06:07 PM
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Yes I concur, these look fantastic. great commitment, and clean wheels do make such a difference, how about a comparison before and after of the whole car?

I am commenting to track these wheels for inspiration when it comes time to do mine someday.

Makes me slightly embarrassed at my weak cleanup attempt of my own bunts.
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  #9  
Old 02-20-2015, 09:30 PM
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[QUOTE=rjz5400;3444160]Yes I concur, these look fantastic. great commitment, and clean wheels do make such a difference, how about a comparison before and after of the whole car?

When the weather is right and I have a moment I'll get the "befores" together and then do some "after" shots, as the car is now complete.

Thanks!
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72 280SEL
85 300CD 288k
00 E320 Wagon 4-matic 100k
11 E350 Wagon 4-matic 45k

73 VW Westfalia Camper
67 VW Westfalia Camper

66 Porsche 912
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  #10  
Old 02-22-2015, 10:20 PM
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Very nice indeed!
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  #11  
Old 04-04-2015, 08:40 PM
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Ok I know you are in denver but as soon as that weather breaks, we expect pics
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  #12  
Old 04-09-2015, 01:18 PM
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Before and after shots

All right, as promised, here are the before and after shots. This will be divided into two posts because there is a limit to the number of pictures per post. First the befores

The paint was chalky and dirty


The license plate was bolted to a piece of aluminum right angle stock bolted to the underside of the bumper. I found the proper license plate bracket in the trunk


The interior was just really dirty. Check out the two gauges someone mounted into the ashtray. One was a boost gauge and the other a water temp in Fahrenheit


here's a better look at those gauges, and at the glove compartment, inside which were the original books, etc.


the trunk was dirty and full of stuff, including two full cans of starting fluid. The glow plug relay was faulty and kicking off after only a couple of seconds so the thing had no chance to start. Not only that the valves were way out of adjustment and the number two glow plug was no good. I'm just glad the PO didn't do any lasting damage trying to start this engine in the Denver winter under those conditions.


The netting on both seatbacks was pretty marginal.


Engine-wise, there were only a few things. I mentioned that the valves needed to be adjusted, one glow plug replaced, and the glow plug relay replaced. Other than that, just new oil, fuel, and air filters (and new oil) and it runs fabulously. At idle there was a lot of noise associated with the vibration though. It needed air cleaner mounts and heat shields, and engine mounts.


I stripped all of the seats out and cleaned the interior thoroughly




all the vinyl and plastic would later get a 303 Aerospace treatment, but besides the cracked dash and some chipped wood veneer everything else was pretty much ok



I did, however, strip the gauges out and replace the ashtray with a normal one


And replaced the motor mounts with OEM Lemfoerder. Notice how crushed the one that came out (on the left) is compared to the new one


I cleaned the heat shields, which were filthy


Cleaned the hardware associated with the mounts and the engine shocks


The threads of the driver's side inside motor mount fastener would not accept the bolt so I had to chase the threads out with a tap. Of course it's the hardest of the four to get to.


the sunroof was non-operational. When you hit the switch it blew the fuse. Following the Factory Service Manual I used the "emergency" opening procedure, and then removed the whole thing. Turned out all I had to do was take the motor out and connect it directly to the battery. That woke it up and from then on it worked fine.


But the sunroof was missing one of the felt pads on the leading edge. Here's the one that is there


And a look at the one that's not


So out of the handle of a plastic cleaning brush I fabricated a new pad




And installed it


I don't know what to call this part but it is the thing to which the driver's door check is attached. Anyway, it had broken loose from the pillar and it made a lot of noise each time the door was opened or closed. I found a thread on this forum that addressed this problem and followed it. First drilled three holes (these are pilot holes, I would later increase their size to 3/16ths of an inch


Had it plug welded


And finally put some touch-up paint on it. Not perfect but at least quiet




There was rust-through behind both rear wheels that I later had properly repaired
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Will



72 280SEL
85 300CD 288k
00 E320 Wagon 4-matic 100k
11 E350 Wagon 4-matic 45k

73 VW Westfalia Camper
67 VW Westfalia Camper

66 Porsche 912
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  #13  
Old 04-09-2015, 01:37 PM
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And the afters

I buffed the paint out, had the carpets professionally cleaned, thoroughly cleaned everything else, repaired the seat netting, had a couple of driver's seat springs repaired, replaced the (cracked) front windshield, and maybe some other stuff I'm forgetting, but here's the finished product


















I did put the proper license plate bracket on along with a chrome frame


sunroof is 100% operational










All the glass (except the windshield), and much of the paint is original


There is the occasional door ding but overall the paint is really quite good after being buffed out


It is impossible to tell there was rust repair to both sides behind the wheels






All the books were there, and even a snapshot of the original owners?


High mileage but it runs like a sewing machine and three degrees of stretch on the timing chain (specs allow up to 7!)


No other rust


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Will



72 280SEL
85 300CD 288k
00 E320 Wagon 4-matic 100k
11 E350 Wagon 4-matic 45k

73 VW Westfalia Camper
67 VW Westfalia Camper

66 Porsche 912
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  #14  
Old 04-09-2015, 10:48 PM
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Oh man so much better than I was expecting, full on restore huh!
More inspiration for my upcoming work.

Really great job, so you buffed the paint yourself and had someone do the rust repair and touch ups?
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1986 300D(LUCO) SOLD
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1984 240d (Executive)SOLD
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1982 300sd SOLD
1982 300sd (Ambas)SOLD
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  #15  
Old 04-10-2015, 12:37 AM
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Yes, exactly. I buffed it the old fashioned way with a hard disc/wool pad on a Milwaukee angle grinder?? (variable speed trigger and limiter). I had a body shop do the rust repair and a couple of prominent touch-ups, and he gave me a little container of the paint so I could finish off the really little stuff with that.

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Will



72 280SEL
85 300CD 288k
00 E320 Wagon 4-matic 100k
11 E350 Wagon 4-matic 45k

73 VW Westfalia Camper
67 VW Westfalia Camper

66 Porsche 912
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