This Sunday was spent stripping the paint on my 59 Ford F100. With the new arrivals, the workshop is full and I still have three cars waiting to go in.

So the plain is to strip, patch and paint the truck so that I can take it out of the workshop without fear that it will be towed.

I started stripping the paint initially with a wire brush and angle grinder. The work was slow and I burnt out an angle grinder in about two days.

So this time, I decided to use a chemical stripper. Things got a lot easier and I was able to strip the entire hood, most of the fenders and the roof of the truck in one day.

In some areas, the paint is really thick form multiple resprays. I'll probably need to apply stripper multiple times. All said, it's a lot cleaner as I don't have to deal with so much dust. I got a little above my on myself, just above the glove. Man that stuff burns!

Here are some pictures of the progress.







This is the shop, it's full of cars right now. The blue 6.9 is now for sale. A gentleman called to look it. I explained that it's an Arizona car that had a very dodgy spring conversion and is very hard to start. But it had very little rust.

He stopped by, looked at the car, tried to start it but it wouldn't play. None of that phased him. Then he opened the rear door and saw a one inch rust bubble on the rocker and said it was too much rust. I was gobsmacked! I guess some people really don't like rust.



For the coming week, I'm lending my black car to a good friend and colleague of mine. She just turned in her lease and may wait around for the new C-Class to come out. This means I'm driving the 73 280SEL and the 450SEL 6.9. It should be fun without A/C.

I suspect that we'll have a weekend wrenching that covers A/C very soon.

__________________
With best regards

Al

Coming along nice. Paint stripper is GREAT when you need to go all the way to the metal because of multiple resprays and questionable bodywork. I did the same thing on my 190e.

Little blog:
http://190e.pocketrubbish.com/

Out of personal interest where did you get to with the Rover and MGB ?

The Rover has been painted and is now running, and it now starts and stops (but not very well). There is still so much to do to it however it still almost makes sense to find a good one.

The MGB has fresh paint and a good body and interior. We did however discover a bad cylinder so the engine is currently out and disassembled. I found a rebuilt short block here locally that I purchased and the head is done. So it's just a matter of putting it all back together again.

I've also bought an MGB GT parts car for it's wire wheel axles. I need to swap those out as the steel wheel axles are too wide with the 15 inch Dayton's.

As it's now June in TX and the car has no A/C, I'm in no huge hurry.

Here are some pictures of the B.

__________________
With best regards

Al

Wow. Nice Job !

The best thing I have used to remove paint is from 3m and looks like a brush made out of sand paper. You have to use a pnumatic die grinder to spin them fast but they are amazing. They are available in all grits.

Is she gonna make it worth it?

The stripper will work alot faster if you cover it with clear plastic after applying then seal it with duct tape so it cant evaporate. Often one coat will work. Then use a 3 inch bondo squeegie to remove paint. Before you primer be sure to wash with something that will neutralise the stripper.

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1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

I ran into a sweet deal for this weekend's work. I picked up a '74 280C for $300.00.

The car runs but since this is Arizona the paint and rubber are powder.

I've already snagged all the body trim, cleaned them and installed them on my wife's 250C. It had a Holley conversion kit from Jam Engineering so that went on my 280. I re-furbished the stock air cleaner and installed it.

Next step is to remove the seat locking latches, rear seat belts and install them on the wife's car. Lots of little goodies to strip and install on my rides. THEN it's time to assess the car for a possible restore.

Easy Off oven cleaner is a great paint stripper

Good deal on the 280C. $300 dollars is what I paid for mine when I first got it but man was it a rust bucket.

How did the holly conversion kit work out and how much did it cost. I've considered buying a carb 280 or 280C in the past but have been put off because of all the issues that I've heard about.

Here is my 250CE, it's still parked outside my fathers house in London, I still check on it every now and then on Google maps

If your car is a flat colour and not metallic, I would consider trying to use a cutting compound to see if you can bring it back. Old MB paint is very resilient, you would be amazed at what you can achieve.

__________________
With best regards

Al

THAT is what made this car a sweet deal. It had the Holley on it.

The PO had removed the fuel line Tee (fuel return on the Solex carb) and connected the return line to the breather vent of the Holley. Every time it got hot ouside and the fuel expanded it would backfeed the carb and flood the carb. I don't mean just stall I mean Noah's Ark type flood. Fuel would be coming out of every orifice in the carb. Pouring out of the top, escaping out the throttle plate bushings, everwhere. It only did it when the car had a full tank so it drove him crazy. He quit driving the car in '02 and it just sat.

Of course since it just sat he never washed it and the paint went away (a nice charcoal clear coat, mores the pity). Someone had broken the right rear window and the interior (a fabric not MB-Tex) has been destroyed. The trunk is rust due to the rear window seal. No pack rats but cats peeeyooo!

Good straight body, all the trim and a converted Sandan style A/C system. I've got it sitting in my work area and next week I'll strip out the carpet and check for rust in the floor boards.