Mercedes 300SEL 6.3 restoration
Discussion
Hi all, I've been badgered by the barge thread to post up some info on my 6.3 restoration. 
I bought the car six years ago from a nice chap in London. It's an original FSH UK RHD 6.3. 100k miles. Not sure how many are out there but I suspect less than 10 in total. The car was from the north originally, and it's had only three owners since October 1971.
I picked it up from a lockup in London and with a massive degree of trepidation drove it back to Sussex. Clearly the suspension was shot, but the way the engine lifted the entire front of the 2.3 tonne monster it drove surprisingly well. I filled it up with petrol and it took something around 110 litres, not kidding. I was looking under the car for a leak!
The interior on the car was amazing, not a single mark on the original leather, wood not bad, and an 8 track stereo to complete the look.
So anyway, the plan was to restore it, but not go crazy with it as prices back in 2010 weren't exactly inspiring a huge spend on a concours restoration. Now, you might be able to get your money back but thats about it.
Anyway, here's some photos. Right now the car is being stripped back to see what issues we have with it. It's had quite a few minor repairs in the past, and theres a bit of rust, but nothing major and nothing in the strutural regions which really says a lot for the panzer tank build quality.
I've wanted a 6.3 ever since I saw a friend of the family with one back in 1982, it was gold coloured too.
I've had bad thoughts about turning it into a red pig replica but I think I'm going to leave that. I might turn it into a Macau look instead so bumper-less with some banded black steelies on it. Should look good with some dunlop racing rubber, stock car look and easy to put back to standard. I find the standard look a bit plain so probably going for the racey look on this car.
Anyway here's some pics from when I picked it up to the current state hunting rust repairs.
Sneak peak of his brothers!
I bought the car six years ago from a nice chap in London. It's an original FSH UK RHD 6.3. 100k miles. Not sure how many are out there but I suspect less than 10 in total. The car was from the north originally, and it's had only three owners since October 1971.
I picked it up from a lockup in London and with a massive degree of trepidation drove it back to Sussex. Clearly the suspension was shot, but the way the engine lifted the entire front of the 2.3 tonne monster it drove surprisingly well. I filled it up with petrol and it took something around 110 litres, not kidding. I was looking under the car for a leak!
The interior on the car was amazing, not a single mark on the original leather, wood not bad, and an 8 track stereo to complete the look.
So anyway, the plan was to restore it, but not go crazy with it as prices back in 2010 weren't exactly inspiring a huge spend on a concours restoration. Now, you might be able to get your money back but thats about it.
Anyway, here's some photos. Right now the car is being stripped back to see what issues we have with it. It's had quite a few minor repairs in the past, and theres a bit of rust, but nothing major and nothing in the strutural regions which really says a lot for the panzer tank build quality.
I've wanted a 6.3 ever since I saw a friend of the family with one back in 1982, it was gold coloured too.
I've had bad thoughts about turning it into a red pig replica but I think I'm going to leave that. I might turn it into a Macau look instead so bumper-less with some banded black steelies on it. Should look good with some dunlop racing rubber, stock car look and easy to put back to standard. I find the standard look a bit plain so probably going for the racey look on this car.
Anyway here's some pics from when I picked it up to the current state hunting rust repairs.
Sneak peak of his brothers!
Thats a good question. I have the airbags to fix it, but I'm not convinced I want to use it what with the hassle of the pump, the air distribution, valve block etc. No matter how good the system is, the car will sit on it's arse after a couple of weeks of non running. It makes 'stance' seem amateurish when one of these deflate, no joke!
I was going to have a look at a conversion to a more normal shock setup and also upgrade the brakes. Only issue is that I will undoubtedly devalue the car if I don't do it the original way. The car is a keeper though so a modern upgrade makes more sense to me.
I was going to have a look at a conversion to a more normal shock setup and also upgrade the brakes. Only issue is that I will undoubtedly devalue the car if I don't do it the original way. The car is a keeper though so a modern upgrade makes more sense to me.
Slow said:
Lagerlout said:
Thats a good question. I have the airbags to fix it, but I'm not convinced I want to use it what with the hassle of the pump, the air distribution, valve block etc. No matter how good the system is, the car will sit on it's arse after a couple of weeks of non running. It makes 'stance' seem amateurish when one of these deflate, no joke!
I was going to have a look at a conversion to a more normal shock setup.
Dont do it, was a common fix on P38 Range Rovers/certain classic's too. It ruined them is the short answer.I was going to have a look at a conversion to a more normal shock setup.
Love the air suspension on my Range Rover, really would recommend just fixing it. Just turn it on every week or so to keep air in the suspension.
The pic above is with the air system partially down, this is probably the height I want to run on the car and the final look will be similar but with the chrome grille up front, no chrome strip on the flanks, and a couple of spotlights on the front ala rote sau. Should look nice and mean yet easy to put back to standard. I had thought about using an American style height adjustable air system but wouldn't know where to start (without the jacked look of course lol)
They're not that rare really, they made approx 6,500 of them. I'm not sure how many RHD UK they made but there was 17 in 1994 and it says there's 13 today 8 registered 5 SORN. So I would guess in RHD UK spec they are rare, but there are lots of them left in the USA in LHD form.
PS mine is a K reg, was originally owned by a factory owner near Bolton I think.
PS mine is a K reg, was originally owned by a factory owner near Bolton I think.
Yeah saw that one for sale a few days ago, looks like it has a load more rust than mine which is surprising since mine is a UK car. Looks a good price though if it goes for c. 7-8k or less. Problem is cost of restoring these is astronomical if you need to replace parts. A lot of metalwork would need to be hand fabricated as parts are not available. For example a window regulator is about £1,500... each..! I won't bore you with the costs of replacing the valve block for the air suspension, or the air bags or.... lol
Yes, thats the sort of route I was going to go down. I'll have a look at that company. In the meantime I'm getting quotes to renew the system by a specialist in Germany as if I do it, it has to be done right.
For parts, these guys are the best in Europe for old Mercs if anyone else with a classic needs anything:
https://www.niemoeller.de/en/w109/mb-300sel-w10901...
For parts, these guys are the best in Europe for old Mercs if anyone else with a classic needs anything:
https://www.niemoeller.de/en/w109/mb-300sel-w10901...
Well found bunch of decent chaps in Germany who will rebuild the entire lot for about £3,500. Seems like a (relative) bargain so I'm going to head over there and drop the components off after Techno Classica in Essen.
http://www.woerle-fahrzeugtechnik.com/restauration...
http://www.woerle-fahrzeugtechnik.com/restauration...
Took my air suspension over to a company in Germany today delivered it personally. Great outfit specialists in 600s and 300 SEL.
Was also at techno classica in Essen so took a few pics there too.
It's going to be difficult choosing from the different shades of gold. Not exactly my favourite colour eh ha ha
Was also at techno classica in Essen so took a few pics there too.
It's going to be difficult choosing from the different shades of gold. Not exactly my favourite colour eh ha ha
Best to drop them an email. They were doing a 600 interior and the quality of the finish wouldn't look out of place in a new roller. They mentioned the interior redo was 20k euros. The 600 I saw them working on was amazing. I doubt you could find better, so I would say it will not be cheap to use them.
Quick update, the car is Tunis Beige, so the same as the big coupe above, more subtle form of gold than the Beige convertible above. Going to just turn it back to standard, normal wheels, colours etc.
Made some progress, found a fair bit more rust, so going to need a couple of rear fenders and sill panels. Rear fenders only because the last person who did the rear arches distorted the metal too much and it'd require a bit too much filler to get the shape right.
Structurally the car is excellent, floors excellent, it's just the water has got into a few nooks and crannies and rusted in some seams etc. Mainly in the engine bay actually.
Workshop is configured now so will be cracking into the project at pace so will post up some more pics soon.
Made some progress, found a fair bit more rust, so going to need a couple of rear fenders and sill panels. Rear fenders only because the last person who did the rear arches distorted the metal too much and it'd require a bit too much filler to get the shape right.
Structurally the car is excellent, floors excellent, it's just the water has got into a few nooks and crannies and rusted in some seams etc. Mainly in the engine bay actually.
Workshop is configured now so will be cracking into the project at pace so will post up some more pics soon.
RanchoGrande said:
probably not something I'd have the appetite for! You'd need to be very flush and desperately want one to spend more than £40k fixing one up.
It depends on how good it is to start with and how much you do yourself. A shop, you'd be looking I reckon at £60k-£100k. I reckon I'll be able to do it for about 40k maybe less. I have a proper workshop though, so that makes a massive difference. It depends on the mechanicals, I mean an injector is about £1,200 each... not kidding. If they're ruined, you're ruined.. Luckily my car was purring like a kitten when it was taken apart and has FMBSH from new.
I'm aiming to do a very good job on it, but not a 100 point concours effort. I plan to drive it and keep it so see little value in doing that as I'm not into shows. My focus is on getting the bodywork 100% solid, and rebuilding the mechanicals to make it like new. Certainly won't be cutting any corners.
We'll see how we go, I'm keeping full costing diary along the way. Some new photos to follow where you can see the condition of the chassis.
Here's an album I'm going to be updating with all the pics of the progress on the car
https://flic.kr/s/aHskdbfb8W
https://flic.kr/s/aHskdbfb8W
Thanks guys, yes, I'm in West Sussex.
Just found a great picture on Flickr of what the car will look like when finished, it's the same colour as this one. From memory I think the owner might be on here as well, or I've seen this car pictured at a breakfast club meet a while ago.
Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3 by pyntofmyld, on Flickr
Just found a great picture on Flickr of what the car will look like when finished, it's the same colour as this one. From memory I think the owner might be on here as well, or I've seen this car pictured at a breakfast club meet a while ago.
Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3 by pyntofmyld, on FlickrParacetamol said:
Given how far you have taken the strip down, you have the option to dip the car..is that in your plans?
It will be bare metalled manually as you can see at some points on the front. At the moment it's only being stripped enough to find any serious rust problems bit by bit. But the car is being restored front to back so everything will go to bare metal. Old fashioned way of doing it but it's the best for future paintwork. Blasting creates it's own issues with media getting everywhere and dipping can give problems with leakage from the seams even years later. The main exterior panels have been blasted.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff