Mercedes 129 titivation

Mercedes 129 titivation

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Discussion

idiotgap

2,112 posts

132 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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Fantastic thread as usual Jonathan, it'll be wonderful when this comes out in boxfresh condition again!

BrightonIMD

14 posts

104 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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Thank you for such a great write up. I've an 1997 SL500 which I've had for 4 years and absolutely love. It too has a small amount of corrosion, front arch, rear arch and a few stone chips. I'm contemplating getting the work done and a wonder whether to go the whole hog like you have or just a few touch ups.....it os Silver though, so maybe hard to do. Can you tell us how much this is roughly costing? It looks such a good job and I do worry that I'll take it to somewhere that doesn't do half of the prep that you're car had received.

I look forward to more updates.

Ian

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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My arrangements with the Man are somewhat unconventional. I give him £500 every Monday morning. My bank manager probably thinks I've got some kind of "problem". But I find the drip of "good cold cash" (per the Boss in the appropriately named "Spare Parts", Tunnel of Love (Columbia, 1987) but we digress) doesn't half-incentivise performance. The discussion at the start went along the lines of this:

Me: Er, I was thinking I didn't want to spend more than 3.
The Man: Shouldn't be a problem.

Then the other day:

Me: Er, how are we doing for money? I think I've given you 15 so far.
The Man: You have. Well, you said no more than 3 but it'll turn out nearer 2, maybe 2 and a ½.

The seat resto was £324 inc VAT. There'll be about £300 of bitty parts on reassembly: the cost of broken clips and stuff soon mounts up. Those sill brackets are either 30 quid each or 60, I can't recall; and it may need a new high level brake light, which is another £60. It could do with a o/s wing mirror glass. It is of the self-dipping kind and it has gone cloudy, but they're something ridiculous like £300 each. I don't consider this a great technological advance. What is the point of inventing a self-dipping mirror if it goes bad after 8 years (as they all do) and costs £300 to replace?

Anyway, at this stage, I don't think I have spent any more than that and I can't really see much more to come. A new hood would be nice (this thought is occurring to me for the very first time as I write this reply, I curse you), I suppose, and with the strong pound, now might be the time to go to KHM. The hardtop will be extra but neither I nor the Man am/is looking forward to that.

0a

23,879 posts

193 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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BrightonIMD said:
Thank you for such a great write up. I've an 1997 SL500 which I've had for 4 years and absolutely love. It too has a small amount of corrosion, front arch, rear arch and a few stone chips. I'm contemplating getting the work done and a wonder whether to go the whole hog like you have or just a few touch ups.....it os Silver though, so maybe hard to do. Can you tell us how much this is roughly costing? It looks such a good job and I do worry that I'll take it to somewhere that doesn't do half of the prep that you're car had received.

I look forward to more updates.

Ian
I'm in the same situation with both my W124 and my 500SL - I have some money to spend, but fear paying someone to do a bad job.

R129 would "the man" be willing to take on other projects? I am very happy to travel and leave the car for an extended period.

Oh and welcome to the 1-5 thread, and Pistonheads BrightonIMD!

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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€812 including tax for a new soft top from KHM. €28 for the little rubber spoiler. Come on Greece, don't let me down now...

http://cabrio.de/khm/en/softtops-models-prices/mer...

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
quotequote all
0a said:
I'm in the same situation with both my W124 and my 500SL - I have some money to spend, but fear paying someone to do a bad job.

R129 would "the man" be willing to take on other projects? I am very happy to travel and leave the car for an extended period.

Oh and welcome to the 1-5 thread, and Pistonheads BrightonIMD!
Yes: He's doing Harry's in September. He did Tianamu's earlier in the year. I'd be happy to call on him once a week, too. I don't identify him for, uh, obvious reasons. Don't want him to be swamped with other people's work, see?

bmthnick1981

5,310 posts

215 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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Great thread, seats look very good.

harrykul

2,770 posts

225 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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r129sl said:
€812 including tax for a new soft top from KHM. €28 for the little rubber spoiler. Come on Greece, don't let me down now...

http://cabrio.de/khm/en/softtops-models-prices/mer...
Lol. I've been buying up benz and porsche parts for the last few months on the continent. The euro has a negative impact on my day to day business so I've got to take advantage wherever I can!

0a

23,879 posts

193 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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r129sl said:
0a said:
I'm in the same situation with both my W124 and my 500SL - I have some money to spend, but fear paying someone to do a bad job.

R129 would "the man" be willing to take on other projects? I am very happy to travel and leave the car for an extended period.

Oh and welcome to the 1-5 thread, and Pistonheads BrightonIMD!
Yes: He's doing Harry's in September. He did Tianamu's earlier in the year. I'd be happy to call on him once a week, too. I don't identify him for, uh, obvious reasons. Don't want him to be swamped with other people's work, see?
Excellent. Don't laugh at my rusty arches though!

BrightonIMD

14 posts

104 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
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Thanks for the info. I live overseas now and the car stays in the UK. A friend keeps it ticking over and I use it every few months. I'm back in the Uk now and thinking about the future....to keep (which I know I will) or to sell! I'll keep it I'm sure and spent a little on the vehicle.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Sunday 5th July 2015
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The Greeks having voted no, I have just fired off an email to KHM (www.cabrio.de) for a new soft top. I don't quite know who to get to fit it. I suspect the Man will be able to handle it.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Monday 6th July 2015
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Paint's on:








r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Monday 6th July 2015
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Pics were the right way up when I posted them!

harrykul

2,770 posts

225 months

Monday 6th July 2015
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Looking good! Are the wings original, or have they been replaced? (sorry if I've missed the answer somewhere)

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Monday 6th July 2015
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Hi Harry, it had new wings under warranty in 2008. They seem to have held up well. The o/s wing was damaged and replaced in 2003 but the n/s wing was original. They have held up well since 2008 and when replaced then were hardly rotten.

tobinen

9,178 posts

144 months

Monday 6th July 2015
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Excellent progress. This will look superb.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Tuesday 7th July 2015
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I go away for 24 hours and the job is pretty much finished. Re-assembly is underway. What these pictures show is the re-assembly in progress, with fresh anti-corrosion gunk on all sensitive parts. Dynax S50 sprayed into the cavities, Dynax UB brushed on under the Saccos and wherever something like a clip penetrates the structure.










This picture shows the removal of corrosion in the wheel arch and a new stud welded into place to take the wheel arch liner.




And this final picture shows an area in the offside rear wheel arch having been stripped of most corrosion, the remainder being treated with Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80.


leglessAlex

5,381 posts

140 months

Tuesday 7th July 2015
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This is going to look glorious when it's done. What condition are the wheels in? Did you get them refurbished while you're doing this or was it not necessary?

Edit: i appear to be both blind and illiterate biggrin the wheels look to be in great nick in the photos and they should be, they're only a year old if I read correctly!

Edited by leglessAlex on Tuesday 7th July 20:53

hoppo4.2

1,531 posts

185 months

Tuesday 7th July 2015
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This will look lovely when it's done.

Interesting that you have had so many problem and so much rust.

My dad has had a 99 320 facelift for 10 years and in that time it has only had a belt tensioner and a ignition switch.

I've just picked up a 90 500 project and there isn't a spot of rust on it anywhere.
Is there some truth to the rumours that merc dropped there build quality on some mid /late 90s cars

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Tuesday 7th July 2015
quotequote all
leglessAlex said:
This is going to look glorious when it's done. What condition are the wheels in? Did you get them refurbished while you're doing this or was it not necessary?
I bought some new wheels about six months ago, so they're in good shape. I have kept my old ones for winter, albeit in future I am thinking about taking the car off the road during the winter months.

Edit: you beat me to it!

hoppo4.2 said:
This will look lovely when it's done.

Interesting that you have had so many problem and so much rust.

My dad has had a 99 320 facelift for 10 years and in that time it has only had a belt tensioner and a ignition switch.

I've just picked up a 90 500 project and there isn't a spot of rust on it anywhere.
Is there some truth to the rumours that merc dropped there build quality on some mid /late 90s cars
I can't say I have had any problems with it, really. In 12 years and 220,000miles it has never let me down. A couple of secondary components have failed, but nothing has left me stranded and nothing has failed which I think is inexcusable. Only an idiot thinks the component parts of a mechanical object will last forever: I hope your dad has replaced more components than a belt tensioner and an ignition switch! As for paintwork, again, I'm fairly astonished at how good it is given its age, mileage, the use I have made of it and the fact it lives 150yards from the north sea. I was expecting a lot worse.

The 129 has fairly consistent build quality throughout. From 1988 to 2001, fundamentally the same design was built using the same materials which were subjected to the same processes on the same production line (actually, it was production circle with robot-assembled bodies coming to be built up into finished cars largely by hand in an 8 station ring). Build quality tends to change more from model to model (sometimes major facelift to major facelift), than from year to year. A good example would be the change from 201 to 202: there is a build quality plunge point. Another would be the facelift late in the w211's life: there you see build quality being resuscitated. But when the youngest of these cars is 14 years old and the eldest now 26, the use that has been made of any individual car together with the care afforded to it are much more important than the date on which it left the factory.

The major change in the 129's life was in 1998 when the 104 inline sixes were replaced with the M112 V6 and when the M119 V8 was replaced with the M113 V8. Now, the M119 is preferred by many: it is a purist's engine, with DOHCs on each bank and four valves per cylinder. But the M113 replacement has proved more reliable, is lighter and more efficient and is more flexible. Similar points can be made about the M112. The quality of the interior appointments actually increased at that point, with the most beautiful (and quite hard-wearing) nappa leather upholstery replacing the somewhat stiff earlier stuff. The cars do not seem to have suffered the rusty fate of many Mercs of the late-1990s, presumably because they were built on a different line (in Bremen).


Edited by r129sl on Tuesday 7th July 21:18