R107 Restoration

[SilverSaloon]

I thought some of you may be interested in my restoration of my 1985 280SL (euro) here in the UK.

the restoration is ongoing and will be updated:

http://r107restoration.blogspot.com/

i'd appreciate any comments/questions/advice etc on my work so far!

Car is starting to go back together now the warmer weather is here in the UK.

thanks

Derek

[alabbasi]

Hats off, pretty amazing work. I paid particular interest to the sill repair as I have rot in exactly the same area.

[donbryce]

Yes, my compliments as well. I live on the Canadian east coast, just across the pond from you, and we are familiar with the kind of rust you are dealing with. I assume the car was dirt cheap, as I guarantee, 9/10 of the members here would call it a 'parts car' only. Looks like you've turned the corner on the front end anyway. Keep us posted on progress.

[Gurunutkins]

very nice work Derek, especially on the hand made panels. Thats the hardest bit of all. I will keep checking the blog to see how it goes.
cheers
Barri

[Graham]

Interesting thread! Car looked petty good before - amazing how beauty can be only skin deep. Surprised at that much rust on an '85 car.

One rust prone member that I worry about, is the hollow structural beam that runs across the firewall. I had some rust adjacent to the battery years ago. I PORed it and it looks OK still. But maybe I am afraid to look too closely!

[alabbasi]

They salt roads quite heavily in the UK, you can expect to do some Chassis welding before a car is 10 years old.

[SilverSaloon]

yeah i'm afraid our UK cars seem to be a lot worse!! SALT!!

anyway, the car was cheapest one in the UK when i bought it (for a runner with an MOT) and probably is bottom price and a bit of a bargain for one in such general good condition and running with a valid MOT (road worthy certificate)

Apart from a couple of parts, everything has been very cheap so far, but of course doing all the work myself has saved thousands in garage bills!

It was probably heading towards being a parts car - if i hadnt restored it and the next owner ran it as it was for a few years, i suspect it would have been scrapped. The car is a keeper for me but it should now be good for a good number of years ahead.!

[alabbasi]

Well done!

[ericdee]

Wow, that's a lot of work.

[meltedpanda]

wow , nice work - I did something similar to an old 220 - look forward to seeing your finished product. I LOVE the euro headlights, if you run across a pair for sale over there let me know I have a 72 450, but varrious years will fit

[alabbasi]

Originally Posted by meltedpanda

wow , nice work - I did something similar to an old 220 - look forward to seeing your finished product. I LOVE the euro headlights, if you run across a pair for sale over there let me know I have a 72 450, but varrious years will fit

Right hand drive car, the lights will point in the wrong direction

[meltedpanda]

wow I never thought of that??

[Fulcrum525]

Thats almost unbelievable I'm scared by the two little spots on my front fenders never mind how that looked. Very very well done

[Strife]

Actually, I'm pretty sure that only the front glass are different on 107 Euro's between left-hand-drive and right-hand-drive countries. So, you could get a set of Euros from England w/o front glass, put in LHD units, and they would (PROBABLY) be OK.

[SilverSaloon]

you'd be best getting the euro lights from germany. LHD and have the Euro lights.

yes i am 99% sure that the lense glass is the only difference. i've had mine apart and there isnt really anything else to go from left/right