1950's Merc SL - Bringing her back to life (and up to date)

[piscola90]

Hello and welcome to my first restoration project.

THE CAR - Mercedes 190SL

These pictures are from day 1:

Edited by piscola90 on Wednesday 5th October 20:45

Edited by piscola90 on Wednesday 5th October 20:47

Edited by piscola90 on Sunday 23 September 13:36

[lordlee]

Great looking project - love those old SL's. Not entirely sold on putting wires on it. Some rudge knock offs on the other hand...

[hidetheelephants]

Not an expert on these, I'm assuming it's a 190, and you're not in the running for Pebble Beach! Rudges get my vote; wires are a bit too boulevarderesque, and the 190 already needs help with that. How about a blower? The 4-pot isn't very grunty, and MB have used superchargers for both track and road cars. Alternatively, would a 6 out of a fintail fit in the engine bay?

[fluffnik]

lordlee said:

Great looking project - love those old SL's. Not entirely sold on putting wires on it. Some rudge knock offs on the other hand...

Wires are wrong.

Slightly wider alloys with the original (style?) painted hubcaps would be cool too...

Get them pics up!

[piscola90]

Wire wheel inspiration:



I'm converted though. Rudges it is... thanks guys.

Pics of the stripped car:

Edited by piscola90 on Wednesday 5th October 20:53

Edited by piscola90 on Wednesday 5th October 20:54

[teen_cerbera]

They trully are gorgeous cars...

Wire Wheels aint a bad idea imo, those ones photoshopped on are all wrong though.

With a white car, and wanting wire wheels, id look at this tyre/wheel combo for inspiration:

[piscola90]

Images to follow.

Edited by piscola90 on Wednesday 5th October 20:57

[samurai]

got these were for my 560 sec never got round to putting them on


any more pics of the resto Cheers john [ 100 spokes would be to many these have 96 ]

Edited by samurai on Thursday 3rd June 02:03

Edited by samurai on Thursday 3rd June 02:06

[va1o]

Love the classic Mercs, will look forward to seeing this once the restoration is complete!

[piscola90]

Thanks for the comments guys. Work is slow, but steady.

Those wheels look interesting... I think too many spokes though. Where are they, and what sizes are they (i've not got much room to play with and I'm not going to be messing about with the a restored shell).

Stu

Edited by piscola90 on Monday 18th April 20:30

[samurai]

Hi, Stu
wheels are at Newcastle ne25 0ef 225/50/R17 94W Bridgestone potenzas weigh 40 kilos each stainless steel spokes
been following this with great interest as i started the thread ... 190 sl 1955 to 1963 anyone got one. When you replied with the picture on the trailer i knew the car as i tried to contact the seller over 20 times never got one reply these are a rock solid investment as prices have shot up in the past 3 years what was 17K is now 30K plus be good if you could pm me pics of resto so far Regards John


never ran these just put them on for a show at Newcastle racecourse

[Olf]

samurai said:

weigh 40 kilos each

that's an impressive amount of unsprung weight!

[samurai]

Olf said:

samurai said:

weigh 40 kilos each

that's an impressive amount of unsprung weight!

Not as impressive as me trying to get them upstairs into the spare room

[piscola90]

God, that is alot of weight... I'm not sure if my little 1.9L will tug those round... or if the drums will stop them?!

I have removed the foor and boot floor, I also opened up all the struts and re-blasting inside them. Lots of welding! So far so good... but it is taking a very long time.

Edited by piscola90 on Monday 18th April 20:34

[JC2012]

If you dont mind me asking - where did you find this SL - was it a bargain or pretty costly from the start? Have you set a budget to the restoration?

[VX Foxy]

bookmarked

[grubnut]

Hope the project is progressing well.

Don't do the Wires!!

Rudge knock ons or original steels with hub caps or as a last option - perhaps minilites might work?

Are you keeping the Solex's or going down the weber route?

If you need to take any measurements or need to check locations or fitting, give me a shout as I can help.

[pmanson]

Just seen this in my book marked topics - any updates?

[piscola90]

I shall have to update the thread! Well progress has been slow, but in four days I will leaving work to spend 3 solid weeks on this car, so things should start to happen.

The running gear is now painted and ready to fit up, the underside is painted and re furbished + painted fuel tank is fitted. The inside and engine bay are now finished and painted. Much of the re-chroming has been done, new shocks purchased, soft top frame mid refurb, panels ready to prime, door glass cleaned + light tint, old style hardtop purchased (so 2 hard tops now), new loom arrived by not fitted... and lots of other smaller boring bits

I'll get a few snaps up, and then keep you guys updated. I've spent most Saturday's on this project... so less than one day a week (with setup and clean down each time). These solid weeks should be just what the car needs

Thanks for the nudge

Stu
P.s JC,the car cost just under 20k in this state.

Edited by piscola90 on Monday 18th April 20:38

[pmanson]

No problem Stu - fantastic project