Builds 1973 Mercedes R107 build (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Couldn't stand the primer spots and it needed a sealer coat anyway. It has some creative filler work. The dogleg flutes were sculpted out of short strand. New dogleg and wheel arch panels are available for $90. I might see what I can make with the bead roller.

I like the color. If it was on a 4Skinner Toyota would call it a special edition.

Poor neglected Lincoln.

22452.jpeg


22453.jpeg
 
Last edited:
AC works. Pretty happy about that. HVAC doors do not. Stuck on defrost. Hopefully not the vacuum actuators, but probably. I put in a $20 Ford heater valve once I saw the replacement cost of the OEM one with a blown diaphragm. Might be a simpler alternative for the door actuators too

Floors need sealing first. Exhaust gets hot. Nice when it was cool and I hadn't fixed the heat. Not nice now.
 
My bet actuators or vac leak. Owned a 300D. Twas the issue you are seeing.
 
Installed the blower motor. The drilled and threaded Allen bolts worked great to extend the broken studs. Turned on the AC and the vents worked fine. Fixed itself.

Pulled the seats to get the floor patches better sealed. Found a bunch of holes in the firewall behind the insulation. Painted it all with POR 15 and hammered in some patches.
 
Fiberglass was a disaster. Wasted a bunch of time and made a mess. Should have went straight to epoxy and short strand.

My almost full can on SEM spray texture had no propellant, so I used some undercoating for texture. It's textured. It'll do for now.

Rebuilt the mount in the middle out of some ABS. Radio and hvac panel fit tight now.

Glued down some rubber back loop pile carpet. Might be nice to use a chrome piece between the carpet and vinyl.

23809.jpeg


View attachment 3347825

23804.jpeg


23802.jpeg
 
It's gonna need a new console. This one is still pretty bad, but it's tolerable now. Radio is nice and tight. The console lines up at the dash better. And it's not whatever color moss turns into when it sun fades completely away.

Carpet is in-ish. I needed 3/4 of an inch of rubber sound deadener. MB will sell me some for about what I paid for the car. I got some rubber floor mat. Bezos called it exercise mat. HF calls it utility mat. I bought the latter after using the former for a mat for a week while I was waiting on carpet. It's pretty great in front of the bench. It's like $10, water resistant and cleans easily.

Cut two layers pretty tight to a paper template. Wrapped in carpet it's an interference fit in the foot well. If I use a trim tool I can just wedge the rocker carpet in. Good enough until I do floors next winter. I still have to trim the rocker carpet in around the seat sliders and do the front of the package shelf.

Interior is all black except the windsheild trim and the top tonneau trim.

I love having cars that make you stop and look at them when you walk past.

23912.jpeg


23956.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Interior is all black except the windshield trim.

Felt a little silly putting trim on over epoxy sealer, but the top doesn't latch well without the trim. I'm glad I pulled the trim. There was a pretty big ledge of paint there and there was rust starting at the bolt holes. SL Shop has new trim screws for $7 each plus VAT and shipping from Old Blighty. I bought a pack of 100 button head 4mm stainless bolts for $7.50 shipped free tomorrow. I can grind a button head into a square. The vinyl is shrunk in a couple of places. It's an easy fix if I just replace it when I paint it.

It does kinda tie the room together.


Car has been painted a few times.

24150 (1).jpeg


24149 (1).jpeg


24148 (1).jpeg
 
This thing is more of a gas station people magnet than my snorkeled 80.

Gets a solid 12 mpg. About what they get.

Had to keep track because the fuel and temp gauges pegged like they weren't grounded. Turns out that's a thing with these. Easy fix to jump the trace that burns out. Topped off yesterday morning. Filled up this afternoon at 200 miles. Put in 16g

If I'm pulling the cluster it's getting LEDs and repainted needles.

24451.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I should been working on something else, but the wife is having back surgery tomorrow and I need some inside stuff to do for a couple of days. So I popped out the cluster. It's super easy. It was so easy I took the cluster all apart before I remembered I needed it to keep me busy. Still needs diagnosing, cleaning and touch up. Warm white LEDs for dash lights. Maybe bright white for warning lights. The interior light pententiomer is all fuzzy. Probably why the courtesy lights stopped working. I'm sure I messed with it trying to figure out what it does

Popped the clock out because i could. I'll take it apart. I suspect the auto winding coil is bad, same as the Lincoln.

While the steering wheel was out, because the giant wheel needs to come out to get the cluster out, I looked at the lower dash that was still green. I ended up taking out the headlight switch and the key bezel. I scrubbed it and the windsheild surround with soap and a scotch Brite, then SaEM prep cleaner, then acetone, and then wax and grease remover. Hit it with plastic adhesion promoter and SEM vinyl dye.

Keys are hanging from the oil pressure line to the gauge so I won't start it.

Dash is still the moss green. I'll glue the dash cap in when I put it back together. The quality of the stock dash is better than the cap, but it wouldn't be after the amount of repairs it'll need. And all of the repairs I'm doing are to make it a decent driver until I can find a parts car to donate the interior.

Needs a multi-function switch too. The stalk is super wobbly

24535.jpeg


24538 (1).jpeg


24537.jpeg
 
Just like everything, someone has been in the cluster before. Russo, apparently. Maybe that's who overtightened the circuit board. It drops voltage across the cracked area. Before that has good ground, after does not.

I made a harness that attached to the gauge mount bolts, the board ground to the speedo housing and the steering column mounting bolt. Works as it should again.

The interior light pot was crusty. I put it in the sonic cleaner for 30 minutes and now it's not.


24637.jpeg


24636.jpeg


24633.jpeg


24635.jpeg


24641.jpeg


24642.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Pop the rubber cover off the T/S lever and see if the screws are loose. If the lever won’t hold position when signaling for right hand turn, take a small fine round file to the detent notch and give some fresh “groove” to catch onto.
Screws were loose. I'll take a better look at the detents tomorrow.

Edit: I looked at the threads on benzworld and attacked it with a carbide bit. That was the fix.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Took the VDO Keinzle clock out because I could reach behind the dash. It took some interwebs research to find out nobody had opened the clock before. It still had a tamper proof plastic thing over a nut. Once I had the knowledge to break that plastic thing it came right apart. They are so cool inside.

The Benz has a pair of contacts soldered together with low temp solder to,protect the coil. It's a simple thing to re-solder. Mine were melted or fell apart.

24650.jpeg


24648.jpeg
 
Used that diagram to test the LED orientation with a power probe before putting the cluster back in. The panel bulbs would not work with the leds, but I got both incandescent bulbs to light. They are a super goofy bulb.

There's little things to do, but for the most part the interior is done enough until some of it comes back out for floors over the winter.



24785.jpeg




24791.jpeg


24792.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Warning: not for impressionable eyes. Pics of how the sausage is made and partial Benz nudity.

I couldn't leave well enough alone. Had to go explore some bad spots. There was paint bubbling bad on the right wheel arch and a big rust spot on the passenger door. A little paint unevenness at the belt trim.

The two spots on the door were easy. No previous repairs. Just wire wheeling, rust encapsulator and, after 24 hours, some short hair.

The arch had a terrible repair, but the rust is manageble. By far my biggest conundrum so far.

1. Fix it by making a patch and then prolly cut it out later as the arch comes with the patch for the dog leg, which, like the ds was sculpted from
short hair.
2. Make the patch and make the dogleg. I have a bead roller with the correct bead die.
3. Leave it until I start the welding in the winter. Then buy the patches for $90 each and be done with it
4. Drive the mofo during the 2.5 weeks it's nice here.
5. Abandon the Lincoln Project and go balls deep in the Benz now.
6. Eat cheetos and watch porn.


What would @Jman do?

24916.jpeg


24917.jpeg


24918.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom