Possibly getting this car

See! I told you that you wouldn't have any trouble trading for stock wheels...the chrome is very popular.

Travis

[luvmy84300sd]

Thanks texas.thomspons. If I do wind up buying the car...I'll get more information on the wheels and let you know. I did check under the wheel wells in the lip for rusting and didn't see any (to the comment made about the chrome hiding rust). Car seems reasonable and in fairly good shape for the mileage. Not the prinstine kind my local Mercedes dealer would put on the lot, but it's a nice car. He has also offered to let me have it at cost, $7,800.00 saying he's loosing money on the deal thanks to inventory and advertising. Now I'm worried about the old sayings of "beware of a cheap SL..". I'll keep you posted.

The chrome wheels were a factory upgrade like others have said. The chrome fender trim I also had when I purchased my 1988 560SL used. I took them off because I didn't like the way they looked up against my stock painted rims. When I did take the chrome fender trim off, a couple areas of the paint was discolored from the condensation that probably accumulated over time. Using a rubbing compound did the trick to take the discoloration out. If you decide to take the fender trim off, be prepared to work the paint back to its original luster.

[luvmy84300sd]

Thanks for the info slbenz. I did notice there are little rivots all under the wheel casing holding them on....is there an easy way to release them without damaging the 4 wheel wells?? I really didn't want to do all of this to prep a car to turn it into what I want...but this selling figure keeps me coming back.

[MD2B]

I will trade you the painted wheels from my 1989 560 SL for your chrome ones.

Luvmy84300sd,

The best way to remove the fender trim without damaging the fender itself is with a rivet remover. Mine came off in an instant with the rivet remover. After that, lots of buffing wax into the discolored area to remove it. You may be able to find a local sheet metal shop who would be willing to do it for free instead of buying the tool or ask your mechanic to remove the fender trim. After you remove the trim, you will also need to fill in the holes that are left behind from the rivets. I used steel epoxy filler found at your local hardware store. I filled and smoothed out the epoxy, let it dry, then used touch-up paint to cover the epoxy. Even my mechanic couldn't tell where I filled and touched up the holes.

[luvmy84300sd]

slbenz,
Good job!! Thanks for all of your insight and congratulations on a task well executed. Just saw the car again today on the lot and am still debating the issue. Another car has surfaced but again, it has the wheel trim. Since the car is in that 80's teal...it looks worse.