380sl euro headlamp question

[Strife]

Well, I'm getting my silvered lights back, and will install them after recovering from the severe beating that I'm going to get from my wife when she sees the bill. Taking some of the sting out of this was that that the seller made good with a complaint I had about this set; they sent me a set of new in the box side markers complete with gaskets. They are for US headlights - hey, it's the thought that counts, I bought a new side marker for the Euro anyway, and I can sell these to recover a little of my expense.

I've been thinking about the side markers. On both the US and Euro lights, these seem to be single-filament and don't flash with the turn signals (they do with the emergency lights). There doesn't seem to be a way to practically install dual-filament bulbs. I'm considering building a little electronic circuit that will sense the state (while not actually drawing any significant power from) the turn signal and driving lights and dim and brighten the bulbs accordingly by modulating the power to them. Given that these Euro side markers are really bright, this might be a useful idea.

I 86'd the amber colored under-bumper lights and re-wired the side lights to be turn signals. Not difficult, just check out the wiring diagram.

Rich Mayer
82 500 SL

[Strife]

Well, I got my resilvered bowls back today and I installed them, using home-fabricated adjusters because the originals were shot. I made the adjusters out of cut-up well nuts and thumbscrews. You would not notice them as being non-stock unless you looked closely. They have springs and seals just like the originals. I am fortunate to have a very well-stocked hardware store nearby.

Decorum prohibits me from explaining exactly what I think of my _very_ expensive silverplating job. Simply, I will say, absolutely do not do this. The quality of the work, to be charitable, was unacceptable. At this point, I just want to finish the da**** things.

My light shields were also rusting, so I brushed them and repainted with high-heat flat black.

I ran into a very interesting problem; I purchased a new Bosch Euro side marker lens. I am quite certain that it was genuine. The bosses for the two front screws were molded quite visibly pointing "inwards", one of them by almost 1/8" inch! This would simply not go into the existing holes. My old one on the other side had the screws and bosses absolutely parallel. I'm certain that I would not have been able to install this conventionally without hogging out the holes in the main frame assembly, or without taking a big risk of cracking a new lens by "bending" the plastic into shape. So, I did something fairly high-risk; I have a electronics surface-mount rework station and I used it to heat the worst of the two bosses up with a narrow stream of high-heat air, and melted the plastic back to parallel. The part then went in no problemo.

Has anyone else had this experience? It is interesting to note that the one I replaced did NOT seem to have been broken from impact, but instead from the cracking of these bosses, which the P.O. had (not very well, and certainly not very transparently) repaired with J-B Weld.

[Strife]

Well, I thought the box I opened today would end my Euro headlamp nightmare, but no luck. One of our illustrious Internet-based parts suppliers whom we've all grown to know and love sent me a partial shipment, with no backorder noted.

Can ANYONE - ANYONE - point me at a supplier in the US who can ACTUALLY sell me two CORRECT, euro headlamp glass to headlamp assembly seals???

Because I stupidly removed the old ones from the gasket channels which destroyed them in the process, I'm looking for alternatives, such as filling the channel with a bead of RTV, etc, or possibly looking into home door/window weatherstripping. Has anyone done this successfully?

Giving really serious thought to selling the SL and getting the 68 Camaro convertible that my Dad wanted me to have...

[Strife]

OK, I went to Lowe's and got Frost King Moderate Compression 3/8" x 3/16" x 17' gray vinyl foam weatherseal, and it seems to fit and seal OK (passed the squirt gun test). I don't think it is the density of the "real" seal, though. It remains to be seen how compression and temperature-resistant, etc it is - I'll have to check on it every so often. But I got a lifetime supply for $1.49, so I can afford to replace it every year!

[Strife]

YAYYYY! I finally installed them - still need aiming. I now sure can see how Mercedes "under front fender" rust starts. There is a significant water trap between the top of the headlight and the fender. It looks like there is some anti-rusting material in there but I'm going to clean and retreat it anyway.

Question: Has anyone tried to run TWO front blinking lights on each side of a Euro setup? I considered removing the front US blinkers but I didn't like the hole it left. I'm wondering if the blinkers/fuses have enough drive for this. I suspect that the blinker relay is electronic to some degree (the old-fashioned blinkers used a thermal relay, so more current=more heat=faster blinking). I have an interesting idea to get the Euro side marker (with only one filiment) to both blink and be a marker light.

[ljmauricio]

Strife, did you see my post to the issue of making the euro t/s also a marker light? On the other forum.

[Tony1628]

I went to pep boys tonight and found a light socket with dual elements. Perfect fit to make the side light both directional and a marker. The part number is 85825. I did have to bent the tabs inward a little to make it fit. The rest was just cut and spliced the wires..

[Strife]

Did you have to remove the plastic lens to install the bulb (or did it fit through the socket hole)?

[Tony1628]

I took the whole light out and installed to the light socket. No problem..just about a prefect fit...

[230/8]

If you have inspected the surface and it appears to be painted, then why not try to re-paint the reflector? You can get several types of good quality high-temp finish in spray cans at most auto parts houses. I've used them several times for tail light reflectors. There is a "chrome" finish and a "bright aluminum" that are both highly reflective. The chrome is not going to fool anyone if you use it on your bumper, but on a reflector it should do the job just fine. Krylon and Plasti-kote are two brands that seem durable and readily available. If all else fails try WalMart.

FWIW

230/8

[Tony1628]

I've tried with the chrome paint on the reflector. I didn't like the result at all. So I found some chrome tape..and taped inside.. A lot better..plus it is metal type tape and don't have to worry about the temp .