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#1
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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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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 |
#2
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Nice!
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Current fleet 2006 E320 CDI 1992 300D - 5speed manual swapped former members 1984 300D "Blues Mobile" 1978 300CD "El Toro" |
#3
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Very slick!
It looks like you coud benefit from some new coils...
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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes 1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod 2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die." |
#4
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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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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon. |
#5
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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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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 |
#6
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cost
Quote:
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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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 |
#7
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Wow, beautiful. Just great.
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#8
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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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1983 240d 5Sp SOLD 1986 300D(LUCO) SOLD 1983 300TD(dreamboat)SOLD 1984 240d (Executive)SOLD 1984 240d (Euripides) SOLD 1982 300sd SOLD 1982 300sd (Ambas)SOLD |
#9
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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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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 |
#10
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Very nice indeed!
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http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...aman/Fleet.jpg Peach Parts W124.128 User Group. 80 280SL 85 300SD 87 300TD 92 300D 2.5 Turbo 92 300TE 4Matic |
#11
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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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1983 240d 5Sp SOLD 1986 300D(LUCO) SOLD 1983 300TD(dreamboat)SOLD 1984 240d (Executive)SOLD 1984 240d (Euripides) SOLD 1982 300sd SOLD 1982 300sd (Ambas)SOLD |
#12
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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 |
#13
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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 |
#14
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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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1983 240d 5Sp SOLD 1986 300D(LUCO) SOLD 1983 300TD(dreamboat)SOLD 1984 240d (Executive)SOLD 1984 240d (Euripides) SOLD 1982 300sd SOLD 1982 300sd (Ambas)SOLD |
#15
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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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