Introducing our new-to-us 1957 Mercedes-Benz 190SL!

[vwnate1]

Nice ! .

Sloppy shifters always bug me , as you have clearly shown they're easy and cheap to fix .

[Mark at Pelican Parts]

We've been puzzled by a slight lean condition and thought that the fuel may be boiling due to heat transfer from the exhaust headers. So we decided to wrap the headers and here are a few shots from that project.











Soon we'll get the 190 back out for a lengthy test drive to see if our project has positive results.

[Mike D]

Uggh! Clean up that nasty looking starter!

Probably be a good idea to replace the heat shield on it also.

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

We have now installed the thermal and sound deadening material onto the floors before we start to cut some carpet up to make our own carpet kit!





Next, working on the windshield:

[vwnate1]

What , no pictures ? .

I'm interested to see what materiels you're using and how the sound mat is cut and installed .

IIRC that starter is a Bosch EED typ , long obsolete .

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by vwnate1

What , no pictures ? .

I'm interested to see what materiels you're using and how the sound mat is cut and installed .

IIRC that starter is a Bosch EED typ , long obsolete .

We used Cool It by Thermo Tec. It's the Gray Super Sonic Accoustical mat. Part number 14710 24" x 36". In all we used about one 60" x 36" (part # 14720) and four 24" x 36" rolls. We are not yet completely done with it before we put the carpet in so we will update how much we used once we get further with the deadening/carpet project. We used scissors to cut the product. We have yet to stick it down yet as we have just cut them to lay them in for fitment. When we do permanently attach them down we will use a 3M spray adhesive additional to what adhesive comes on the mats already. This particular brand mat is really easy to work with compared to Dyna Mat. They're also a very good value.

[ja17]

On the starter, just scrap the old one. Get the new Bosch gear reduction replacement. It is less than $200.00. It is lighter, smaller and cranks much better.
Also, for the shifter, you can get a nylock nut to replace the castle nut/cotter pin arrangement. Makes the job much easier.

[ja17]

Also, get rid of that heavy copper and brass radiator and install a nice lightweight aluminum and plastic one.

The 190SLs and 300SLs, probably had the best drum brakes ever made. Huge aluminum shoes dual cylinders in each front, aluminum finned brake drums with booster. I never experienced any fade and they performed as well as early disc brake cars. I ran track events with my 190SL for years. The brakes were superb. However, these self adjusting brakes are complex. Skilled technicians are scarce and the brakes seldom performed as they should in later years.

[nicknack280]

Originally Posted by Luccia at Pelican Parts

We used Cool It by Thermo Tec. It's the Gray Super Sonic Accoustical mat. Part number 14710 24" x 36". In all we used about one 60" x 36" (part # 14720) and four 24" x 36" rolls. We are not yet completely done with it before we put the carpet in so we will update how much we used once we get further with the deadening/carpet project. We used scissors to cut the product. We have yet to stick it down yet as we have just cut them to lay them in for fitment. When we do permanently attach them down we will use a 3M spray adhesive additional to what adhesive comes on the mats already. This particular brand mat is really easy to work with compared to Dyna Mat. They're also a very good value.

Looks good. So that's for panel resonance. To further block noise from coming in i suggest adding a layer of Acoustic MLV (mass loaded vinyl). Good resource on sound deadening
https://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

The process of sticking the material down went smoothly. Ended up using the spray adhesive as it seemed that our Cool It product had been in the box for a good amount of time (we had them in the garage beforehand). Therefore, the spray was absolutely necessary in our case. Ultimately, we are only attempting to just make it a bit better than what its current state was.

We had to plug some holes in the firewall during the process as well. We will keep you up to date once we start on the carpet.

Here is a picture of what it looks like now that it is stuck down.

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

We have now measured and cut the carpet, which is ready to be installed. It's highly recommended that you use some sort of paper to fit into the areas and cut to scale. As you can see we used some brown packaging paper from our warehouse to mock up the areas of where the carpet will be installed. Don't worry if you don't get the template paper to perfect the first time. We had to cut new pieces a few times, as you can see with the final ones that made the cut marked with smiley faces.




For the rear we had to tape the templates onto the 190 and together as this piece of carpet will be cut and installed as one big unit.



Here we have the final templates placed onto the carpet to begin cutting.



We stapled the templates to the carpet to insure that they don't move. Don't forget to label them while cutting.



More coming up shortly after this post!

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Once you staple the paper templates onto the carpet pieces begin cutting. We just used normal household scissors to cut the paper along with the carpet. The carpet we used is just German carpet that is used in a Porsche Speedster. We ordered much more than we used, just to make sure we had enough for the job.

Here we see the finish product, almost ready to be stuck down. Some places we will use screws whereas others we will use glue. It just depends on if there is something below the carpet that we will need to access in the future. Some pieces don't need to be attached and will sit in there nicely. Before we do this process we have to send the carpet to the upholstery shop as we are adding edge binding to the carpet pieces. We will post pictures of them once they're done.

[Dr. Benz]

Originally Posted by bstreep

For those of you who don't think these cars are competitive...

The most recent Past President of the 190SL Group raced his 190SLS regularly. He had no problem with any of the 113 cars, or the 107s. Regularly beat them. Even the 300SLs, he was competitive with. You can criticize the car as underpowered. But set up right, on a course with lots of curves, you might be surprised.

If that was Tom Hamilton you're referring to I worked on that car for him after we took it out west to race it a Willow Springs in March of 2001. It had a 4 into one header system instead of the center two flowing together. They made a small baffle for inside of the head so that each exhaust port had its own separate runner. I believe Will Samples made that for him. Car was silver with a green leather interior and early racing seats with small windscreen. Aside from a modified rad and an electric fan, it was mostly a stock car. Head had some porting work and they used solex carbs that you would find on a BMW. All four barrels opened at once.

Flat spots under acceleration are often caused by vacuum leaks in the balance pipe between the intake manifolds. I use a small seal ring on each end of the pipe and then I check them with a vacuum pump. Set up properly it will suck a golf ball through a garden hose.

[vwnate1]

Wow ;

Those carpets look very nice , 50 years in the trade and I still cannot seem to cut the edges that evenly .

What about the KnuckleHead in one of those pictures ? you can't have a thing like that and now expect us who rode them to not notice and ask .

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by vwnate1

Wow ;

Those carpets look very nice , 50 years in the trade and I still cannot seem to cut the edges that evenly .

What about the KnuckleHead in one of those pictures ? you can't have a thing like that and now expect us who rode them to not notice and ask .

That ruler in the above photo helped us get straight lines while cutting.

Good eye! Not to get too off topic, but yes it's a 1940 Harley NuckleHead. It's all stock and we have a side car that we're going to put on it. We are going to eventually paint it back to its original black color.