1979 Mercedes 450 SLC
Discussion
The paint code will be on the data plate which is mounted on the core support. There will be a bunch of numbers on it, one of them reading something like 735G (or H) which stands for Astral Silver. The G standards for Glarurit paint which is a BASF brand and the H stands for the company that turned into Spies Hecker
Next time the car is up in the air, pay attention to the sub frame as they are known to crack if they get rusty which will also cause the car to shift. It's a common problem and there was a recall at one time in the US. You can get strengthening plates from the dealer to weld in that fix the problem or use a sub frame from a post 86 car which are fixed from the factory.
My suggestion for your sub frame is to get a quart of oil based paint like rustoleum and paint all the rusty metal to protect it.
I'm pretty sure that your car is Astral Silver. I repainted my 6.9 in that color and my XJ12C for that matter
Next time the car is up in the air, pay attention to the sub frame as they are known to crack if they get rusty which will also cause the car to shift. It's a common problem and there was a recall at one time in the US. You can get strengthening plates from the dealer to weld in that fix the problem or use a sub frame from a post 86 car which are fixed from the factory.
My suggestion for your sub frame is to get a quart of oil based paint like rustoleum and paint all the rusty metal to protect it.
I'm pretty sure that your car is Astral Silver. I repainted my 6.9 in that color and my XJ12C for that matter
Edited by alabbasi on Monday 29th July 06:36
Useful as always, thank you.
The spec plate is missing from my car. I can see where it once was but at some point in its African history it was removed, either for nefarious reasons, or more boringly and likely a respray as I know it has had paint over the years.
The only bit of history I got when I bought the car was the below photocopy of a build options sheet, but this appears not to state the colour. Interestingly it seems to suggest this car originally came out the factory with mushroom velour upholstery. It's leather now. Would love to have known more about the cars past.
The option numbers I can just about identify are:
466
511
531
586/8
585?
598?
613
648
764
Given it is a 79, I think the only silver which was near this shade during that period was Astral Silver so I think I am going to have to tell the bodyshop that's the one to go for.
The spec plate is missing from my car. I can see where it once was but at some point in its African history it was removed, either for nefarious reasons, or more boringly and likely a respray as I know it has had paint over the years.
The only bit of history I got when I bought the car was the below photocopy of a build options sheet, but this appears not to state the colour. Interestingly it seems to suggest this car originally came out the factory with mushroom velour upholstery. It's leather now. Would love to have known more about the cars past.
The option numbers I can just about identify are:
466
511
531
586/8
585?
598?
613
648
764
Given it is a 79, I think the only silver which was near this shade during that period was Astral Silver so I think I am going to have to tell the bodyshop that's the one to go for.
Edited by paulyv on Monday 29th July 23:20
That's a funny looking vin # . I can quite honestly say that I've never seen one with a 6 and am not sure what it stands for.
It might have been in a front end at one time as the chassis number should also be etched on the core support so I guess it was replaced.
It might have been in a front end at one time as the chassis number should also be etched on the core support so I guess it was replaced.
Edited by alabbasi on Tuesday 30th July 03:43
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Exciting times. Looking forward to seeing the finished result.
So nice to hear from you CdG. You must be more than halfway through your 4 months by now? I hope it is going smoothly and that you are well.The respray was a success from what I could tell under the grey skies this evening. Not a mark in sight on the 4 scratched panels. SE1Bodywork in Bermondsey handled the work and £600 well spent it was. I think the whole thing could use a polish, which Don at the body shop would have done were I not taking the car to Goodwood, but it looks so much better Pictures from the event to follow.
I have also rented secure parking about 2 miles away in Rotherhithe for a very reasonable 60 pounds a month so it's not staying on the streets any more.
paulyv said:
I have also rented secure parking about 2 miles away in Rotherhithe for a very reasonable 60 pounds a month so it's not staying on the streets any more.
That's probably the best thing that you can do to a car in order to keep it in good shape. Provided that it's covered and ventilated (garages can get damp in England). The car will outlast you.Well done, it looks great. I think that once I finish with the Conti R, I'll turn my attention back onto the 450SLC 5.0.
paulyv said:
So nice to hear from you CdG. You must be more than halfway through your 4 months by now? I hope it is going smoothly and that you are well.
The respray was a success from what I could tell under the grey skies this evening. Not a mark in sight on the 4 scratched panels.
Thanks for asking paulyv. In fact my tour will be a little longer overall now and I'm currently only around half-way through. I don't mind especially but a return to the Continent in late October probably means my car won't get a huge amount of use this year which, as we know, isn't good.The respray was a success from what I could tell under the grey skies this evening. Not a mark in sight on the 4 scratched panels.
I'm delighted that yours has come out looking so good, and hope that Goodwood proves as enjoyable as it sounds. Good news about the parking too. Will you have access to power there? Battery conditioners are so useful that it makes a big difference to confidence in condition.
I shall let the pictures do much of the talking.
The car looks great. I can't say enough about how happy I was with the work that SE1Bodywork did, especially for £600 which isn't a great deal in the world of panel resprays. As I understand it silver is a particularly difficult colour to blend in but the work Don did looks good to my eyes. The whole car deserves something of a polish to be honest - something I have never done, but I simply didn't have the time to do this before leaving.
Didn't want anything to stop the driving this weekend so filled the tank right up to the cap, so at least I know theres no rust holes in the fuel filler.
Got out of London on the Saturday morning and straight to the Audley Wood hotel, just outside of Basingstoke. Lovely place with a particularly good cream tea...I love a scone. The next day, packed and ready to go, but not before attending to the official entrants sticker.
I really think I got lucky given this is my first year in the GRRC - I think the SLC a fairly rare car and whilst they possibly get a number of SL's offered to them each year, they might not have had a coupe there for a while. I did learn that other people have been trying to get their cars shown for some time with no success. Right car, right time. Stopped on the way for a car wash, which took longer than we expected, but was more than worth the £15 they were charging.
That delay meant we arrived late and last, but fashionably so I like to think.
Left the car to be looked over and had a good wander. Some smashing vehicles on display. Love the Maxi.
Those who had cars on display got a 3-course meal served in the ballroom which was delicious. Met some interesting people, Ferrari and Aston Zagato owners were sat either side of me and they all had interesting tales of their lives and cars. A tour of the house, followed by me wandering off to watch a cricket match, and it was back to the car park where their was essentially a second car show going on.
And that was my cars big day. The journey back, via the Kennels club for a pot of tea, was uneventful and I felt very happy parking my car up at a new off-street location. It is uncovered so not ideal, but I shall be buying a car cover in the coming days, so we're in a much better place than the past couple of years.
Not sure there's going to be that many updates over the coming months unless we head off somewhere, but be assured if any work is undertaken that might be of interest I shall be sure to post it. It's been quite a long journey looking back through this thread, from getting the car with no history almost 2 years ago, choking on the fumes leaking in to the car during my drives home, swallowing a huge but necessary bill from Edward Hall to get it up to scratch, melting the resin on the trim in my own oven whilst making a snack, through to realising my bulkhead was not rotten at all (quite the opposite), to being on the crescent outside Goodwood house. Anyone reading may recall I bought this car with some of the inheritance from after my Dad passing. I like to think he would approve of where we ended up - sadly he never got to visit Goodwood itself, but I admit he would likely have done more of the work himself - something I will continue to try to emulate during my ownership.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading about other cars over the summer.
Pauly
The car looks great. I can't say enough about how happy I was with the work that SE1Bodywork did, especially for £600 which isn't a great deal in the world of panel resprays. As I understand it silver is a particularly difficult colour to blend in but the work Don did looks good to my eyes. The whole car deserves something of a polish to be honest - something I have never done, but I simply didn't have the time to do this before leaving.
Didn't want anything to stop the driving this weekend so filled the tank right up to the cap, so at least I know theres no rust holes in the fuel filler.
Got out of London on the Saturday morning and straight to the Audley Wood hotel, just outside of Basingstoke. Lovely place with a particularly good cream tea...I love a scone. The next day, packed and ready to go, but not before attending to the official entrants sticker.
I really think I got lucky given this is my first year in the GRRC - I think the SLC a fairly rare car and whilst they possibly get a number of SL's offered to them each year, they might not have had a coupe there for a while. I did learn that other people have been trying to get their cars shown for some time with no success. Right car, right time. Stopped on the way for a car wash, which took longer than we expected, but was more than worth the £15 they were charging.
That delay meant we arrived late and last, but fashionably so I like to think.
Left the car to be looked over and had a good wander. Some smashing vehicles on display. Love the Maxi.
Those who had cars on display got a 3-course meal served in the ballroom which was delicious. Met some interesting people, Ferrari and Aston Zagato owners were sat either side of me and they all had interesting tales of their lives and cars. A tour of the house, followed by me wandering off to watch a cricket match, and it was back to the car park where their was essentially a second car show going on.
And that was my cars big day. The journey back, via the Kennels club for a pot of tea, was uneventful and I felt very happy parking my car up at a new off-street location. It is uncovered so not ideal, but I shall be buying a car cover in the coming days, so we're in a much better place than the past couple of years.
Not sure there's going to be that many updates over the coming months unless we head off somewhere, but be assured if any work is undertaken that might be of interest I shall be sure to post it. It's been quite a long journey looking back through this thread, from getting the car with no history almost 2 years ago, choking on the fumes leaking in to the car during my drives home, swallowing a huge but necessary bill from Edward Hall to get it up to scratch, melting the resin on the trim in my own oven whilst making a snack, through to realising my bulkhead was not rotten at all (quite the opposite), to being on the crescent outside Goodwood house. Anyone reading may recall I bought this car with some of the inheritance from after my Dad passing. I like to think he would approve of where we ended up - sadly he never got to visit Goodwood itself, but I admit he would likely have done more of the work himself - something I will continue to try to emulate during my ownership.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading about other cars over the summer.
Pauly
Edited by paulyv on Friday 23 August 13:59
YAWN! Slowly coming out of a deep hibernation. Hope anyone reading this is well.
The car spent the past 3 months under a car cover, weathering the elements, and the past two weeks blustery conditions prompted me to head over to where it is currently sat to check it out. Firstly it was still there, a good start, and removal of the cover revealed all was well. Opened the door to hear a ticking noise - the clock - I had forgotten to disconnect the battery last year.
One turn of the key and the engine started up within half a second. Impressive.
So, what's planned for this year?
Trackside parking at the Goodwood Members Meeting.
A trip to Le Mans.
New shocks. Already purchased - not Bilstein, but Sachs seem to be very good.
Cleaning up the interior a bit more - new door cards and boot carpet.
Passenger door rubbers, already purchased.
A few rust spots here and there to be addressed.
Get the AC sorted, and the cruise control.
A new windscreen - have one bought in Leeds so just need to take the car up there. Does anyone know if I need to buy a new front window rubber when replacing the screen? Do such things even exist?
I have a little mould inside one of the louvred rear windows so rather than opening it up, which I hear is a pain in the neck, I may try to get hold of a replacement one and swap out.
Service and replace the transmission oil. The car occasionally doesn't want to go in reverse when cold and I am hoping that this will sort it...not sure what else it could be, probably something expensive?
The latter half of last year brought an unusual turn of events in so much as a journalist got in touch, wrote a story, of sorts, and hawked it around the press. The car got its 15 minutes of fame in The Times, The Daily Mail and several other places. I hope it gets less looks in the coming months.
Oh and over the winter we bought one of the below. Love it. It's such an easy drive and after only 3 years was half its original purchase price. A really fine car for what it is.
The car spent the past 3 months under a car cover, weathering the elements, and the past two weeks blustery conditions prompted me to head over to where it is currently sat to check it out. Firstly it was still there, a good start, and removal of the cover revealed all was well. Opened the door to hear a ticking noise - the clock - I had forgotten to disconnect the battery last year.
One turn of the key and the engine started up within half a second. Impressive.
So, what's planned for this year?
Trackside parking at the Goodwood Members Meeting.
A trip to Le Mans.
New shocks. Already purchased - not Bilstein, but Sachs seem to be very good.
Cleaning up the interior a bit more - new door cards and boot carpet.
Passenger door rubbers, already purchased.
A few rust spots here and there to be addressed.
Get the AC sorted, and the cruise control.
A new windscreen - have one bought in Leeds so just need to take the car up there. Does anyone know if I need to buy a new front window rubber when replacing the screen? Do such things even exist?
I have a little mould inside one of the louvred rear windows so rather than opening it up, which I hear is a pain in the neck, I may try to get hold of a replacement one and swap out.
Service and replace the transmission oil. The car occasionally doesn't want to go in reverse when cold and I am hoping that this will sort it...not sure what else it could be, probably something expensive?
The latter half of last year brought an unusual turn of events in so much as a journalist got in touch, wrote a story, of sorts, and hawked it around the press. The car got its 15 minutes of fame in The Times, The Daily Mail and several other places. I hope it gets less looks in the coming months.
Oh and over the winter we bought one of the below. Love it. It's such an easy drive and after only 3 years was half its original purchase price. A really fine car for what it is.
paulyv said:
Does anyone know if I need to buy a new front window rubber when replacing the screen? Do such things even exist?
Yep, I'd probably replace it if I were you - assuming it is a rubber seal and not bonded on your car. Under the chrome strip around the screen you'll either have a rubber seal or you'll see the edge of the glass where it's been bonded to the frame.paulyv said:
The latter half of last year brought an unusual turn of events in so much as a journalist got in touch, wrote a story, of sorts, and hawked it around the press. The car got its 15 minutes of fame in The Times, The Daily Mail and several other places. I hope it gets less looks in the coming months.
I thought that plate might attract attention! As I said up there ^ somewhere Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff