1979 Mercedes 450 SLC
Discussion
Six months almost to the day since I last posted here. Little did I know what was just around the corner when I was making my plans back in February. Same for all of us I am sure. I hope whoever has been reading this has been coping okay.
This week I made a promise to myself to get the car out and about. As it resides several miles from me I'd only seen it once in the lockdown period and opportunities to pop over for an oggling have been few and far between. I had it on good authority that the car was safe, which was good enough for me as I focused on finding work (the events industry isn't the busiest at the moment). Work turned up in the form of project managing a covid-related endeavour so my mind eventually returned to the more playful aspects of life, hence this post.
The car has not been far from my mind in the last month, and I have been considering any issues it has and how best to resolve them. One of the problems that has been bugging me since purchase has been the clicking sunroof cable, indicating a worn thread causing vibrations when closing the sunroof (hence indicating it is the cable rather than the gear). Unsurprisingly cables for the SLC are few and far between and I could not ascertain if other models such as the 124 shared this part. A pretty thorough Google search resulted in my finding IW Oldtimer Classic of Leipzig. What a wonderful and friendly outfit they are. They seem to have several strings to their bow, one of which is the remanufacture of classic sunroof cables. £150 plus postage resulted in the below arriving earlier this month. Quite the work of art.
It's very well made and the addition of a new chrome part to the car seems rather out of place, even if it will remain invisible. Last year I'd spoken to Joe at SS Motors in Addlestone about the process of replacing the aforementioned cable and understood it to be straightforward, and I quote "The SLC is one of the easiest ones". Pop the headliner off, release the cable fixture, a bit of back and forth and then you can pull the cable forwards through the aperture, reversing the process to fit the new cable.
Off I went this morning to see the car. Would it still be there? Would rust have reduced it to a brown puddle? Would it still turn over, let alone start? First thing I saw was that a friendly cat had clearly claimed the car cover as a mortgage-free home.
I am a dog man myself.
I paid it no mind - off came the cover and all was well underneath. The V8 started on the first turn of the key. I don't know why this should surprise me. I let it tick over whilst I followed instructions for changing that cable and immediately got stuck at the 'pulling the cable out' step. Well I didn't get stuck - the cable did. Despite it being unconnected to the motor in the boot, and my being able to yank it most of the way out, it continually got firmly stuck at the same point regardless of how many times I swore at it, with the tail of the 'snake' embedded somewhere in the c-pillar or roof. I was left with the cable pulled much of the way out, stuck, and dangling over the windscreen.
No amount of 'persuasion' brought me the result I wanted and after 30 minutes I had to admit defeat. It's going to Joe at SS Motors this month and he can demonstrate how easy it is meant to be. I think he is of Italian heritage so I look forward to learning some new swearwords.
That left me with the afternoon ahead of me, a warm engine, and a car which needed it's legs stretching. Out we went.
It remains such a pleasure to drive, if 'drive' is the right word...you just kind of sit there aiming it from horizon to horizon, but as such typical London traffic is not the forte of the SLC. Bumper-to-bumper driving is just boring and whilst the temp gauge resolutely refused to rise to anything approaching concerning levels, sitting in the traffic guzzling fuel isn't a dignified way to spend 45 minutes.
The A2 towards Kent eventually beckoned and I managed to amuse myself by means of copious kickdowns whilst hunting for the SLC's natural habitat - petrol stations.
The usual wonderful afternoon of automotive indulgence followed - an experience that I really have missed, namely launching it on the straights, holding on for dear life on roundabouts, and when stationary telling each of the numerous inquisitors that it was a 1979 and was 4.5 litres. Worth my adding that this is the first drive out since the car became tax exempt thereby taking the sting out of the fuel bills ever so slightly.
So what's next? The visit to SS Motors will get the sunroof sorted (with a new front seal i have bought, which might resolve the wind noise, might not), and I will have the aircon system checked at the same time. I have found a company who replace the old R12 refrigerant with something called R24, meaning the existing hoses do not need to be upgraded. I could do with a quick win so keep your fingers crossed on that one.
I still have 4 new Sachs shocks to be fitted and it's due a minor service. I also want to spruce the interior up a little.
After that....well....that's the question. I am far from 100% that I will be keeping the car beyond this year. Much as I love it, living in the centre of London and keeping this very much as an extravagance really isn't working for me financially or conceptually, nor is it working for the car which is simply not getting the use it deserves. I very much doubt the next 12 months will be extravagance-friendly and I am going to have to take a hard look at whether I should be moving BRX541T on after 3 years of ownership. Much to dwell on in that regard...
In the meantime I bought a night at the Goodwood hotel during lockdown which I want to use up in the autumn so a long weekend with the SLC is in order. I really could use an extended trip away with it and I'll update accordingly.
As ever, thank you for reading.
This week I made a promise to myself to get the car out and about. As it resides several miles from me I'd only seen it once in the lockdown period and opportunities to pop over for an oggling have been few and far between. I had it on good authority that the car was safe, which was good enough for me as I focused on finding work (the events industry isn't the busiest at the moment). Work turned up in the form of project managing a covid-related endeavour so my mind eventually returned to the more playful aspects of life, hence this post.
The car has not been far from my mind in the last month, and I have been considering any issues it has and how best to resolve them. One of the problems that has been bugging me since purchase has been the clicking sunroof cable, indicating a worn thread causing vibrations when closing the sunroof (hence indicating it is the cable rather than the gear). Unsurprisingly cables for the SLC are few and far between and I could not ascertain if other models such as the 124 shared this part. A pretty thorough Google search resulted in my finding IW Oldtimer Classic of Leipzig. What a wonderful and friendly outfit they are. They seem to have several strings to their bow, one of which is the remanufacture of classic sunroof cables. £150 plus postage resulted in the below arriving earlier this month. Quite the work of art.
It's very well made and the addition of a new chrome part to the car seems rather out of place, even if it will remain invisible. Last year I'd spoken to Joe at SS Motors in Addlestone about the process of replacing the aforementioned cable and understood it to be straightforward, and I quote "The SLC is one of the easiest ones". Pop the headliner off, release the cable fixture, a bit of back and forth and then you can pull the cable forwards through the aperture, reversing the process to fit the new cable.
Off I went this morning to see the car. Would it still be there? Would rust have reduced it to a brown puddle? Would it still turn over, let alone start? First thing I saw was that a friendly cat had clearly claimed the car cover as a mortgage-free home.
I am a dog man myself.
I paid it no mind - off came the cover and all was well underneath. The V8 started on the first turn of the key. I don't know why this should surprise me. I let it tick over whilst I followed instructions for changing that cable and immediately got stuck at the 'pulling the cable out' step. Well I didn't get stuck - the cable did. Despite it being unconnected to the motor in the boot, and my being able to yank it most of the way out, it continually got firmly stuck at the same point regardless of how many times I swore at it, with the tail of the 'snake' embedded somewhere in the c-pillar or roof. I was left with the cable pulled much of the way out, stuck, and dangling over the windscreen.
No amount of 'persuasion' brought me the result I wanted and after 30 minutes I had to admit defeat. It's going to Joe at SS Motors this month and he can demonstrate how easy it is meant to be. I think he is of Italian heritage so I look forward to learning some new swearwords.
That left me with the afternoon ahead of me, a warm engine, and a car which needed it's legs stretching. Out we went.
It remains such a pleasure to drive, if 'drive' is the right word...you just kind of sit there aiming it from horizon to horizon, but as such typical London traffic is not the forte of the SLC. Bumper-to-bumper driving is just boring and whilst the temp gauge resolutely refused to rise to anything approaching concerning levels, sitting in the traffic guzzling fuel isn't a dignified way to spend 45 minutes.
The A2 towards Kent eventually beckoned and I managed to amuse myself by means of copious kickdowns whilst hunting for the SLC's natural habitat - petrol stations.
The usual wonderful afternoon of automotive indulgence followed - an experience that I really have missed, namely launching it on the straights, holding on for dear life on roundabouts, and when stationary telling each of the numerous inquisitors that it was a 1979 and was 4.5 litres. Worth my adding that this is the first drive out since the car became tax exempt thereby taking the sting out of the fuel bills ever so slightly.
So what's next? The visit to SS Motors will get the sunroof sorted (with a new front seal i have bought, which might resolve the wind noise, might not), and I will have the aircon system checked at the same time. I have found a company who replace the old R12 refrigerant with something called R24, meaning the existing hoses do not need to be upgraded. I could do with a quick win so keep your fingers crossed on that one.
I still have 4 new Sachs shocks to be fitted and it's due a minor service. I also want to spruce the interior up a little.
After that....well....that's the question. I am far from 100% that I will be keeping the car beyond this year. Much as I love it, living in the centre of London and keeping this very much as an extravagance really isn't working for me financially or conceptually, nor is it working for the car which is simply not getting the use it deserves. I very much doubt the next 12 months will be extravagance-friendly and I am going to have to take a hard look at whether I should be moving BRX541T on after 3 years of ownership. Much to dwell on in that regard...
In the meantime I bought a night at the Goodwood hotel during lockdown which I want to use up in the autumn so a long weekend with the SLC is in order. I really could use an extended trip away with it and I'll update accordingly.
As ever, thank you for reading.
You may well both me right but if the time comes to sell I'd love it to go to someone with at least a little insight into these. Pricing it is going to be an odd affair as the asking prices seem to be all over the place. What I have noticed however is how many of these seem to have suspiciously (relatively) low odometer readings. Most of these are over 40 years old now and they can't all be 'cherished low mileage examples'. It's rare I see one with more than, say, 125k on the clock.
Speaking of car sales someone got in touch with me via Flickr of all things last month telling me they had bought a car I once owned and asking about its history. My Z4 coupe remains on the road and looks great.
I mention this because the guy who bought it has a fascinating job photographing aircraft which might get a few hearts beating on here - feel free to take a look at his excellent work.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/73354792@N04/
Speaking of car sales someone got in touch with me via Flickr of all things last month telling me they had bought a car I once owned and asking about its history. My Z4 coupe remains on the road and looks great.
I mention this because the guy who bought it has a fascinating job photographing aircraft which might get a few hearts beating on here - feel free to take a look at his excellent work.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/73354792@N04/
paulyv said:
Speaking of car sales someone got in touch with me via Flickr of all things last month telling me they had bought a car I once owned and asking about its history. My Z4 coupe remains on the road and looks great.
The reverse happened to me. I posted some work that I was doing to a 93 Bentley Continental R that I was rebuilding after I bought at a salvage auction. The PO found me online and got in touch. He let me know what happened and sent me the service history. After we talked on the phone, he also offered to send me the floor mats and period carphone. You gotta love good people.
alabbasi said:
The reverse happened to me. I posted some work that I was doing to a 93 Bentley Continental R that I was rebuilding after I bought at a salvage auction. The PO found me online and got in touch. He let me know what happened and sent me the service history.
After we talked on the phone, he also offered to send me the floor mats and period carphone. You gotta love good people.
I love when people do this. It's such a welcome surprise. Those carpets look like they'd feel great if driving with no shoes or socks. Who am I kidding - the person with no shoes and socks should be sat in the back on the Continental sipping a fine brandy.After we talked on the phone, he also offered to send me the floor mats and period carphone. You gotta love good people.
Edited by paulyv on Wednesday 26th August 17:03
Let's venture inside my 1979 South African car this fine afternoon. I had a few hours free between jobs and rather than go hide in the pub like any highly-conscientious English man I instead trotted off with some 'Simply Leather' supplies to smarten the car seats up. Something is clearly wrong with my priorities.
As you'll see there's a few interior jobs to be done and this seemed to be a quick win. I'd not done leather treatments before but it seemed well within my now ever-expanding skillset of jobs I can complete in a barely-acceptable manner.
The seats have been a little tatty since I got the car, which I might add is almost 3 years ago now - can you believe it? In an ideal world I'd get new horsehair fillings if I wanted perfection, but they are rather expensive and my rear is perfectly comfortable when pottering along, which is all I ask of life. The leather itself has seen somewhat better days however and a spruce up was in order. Nothing major but as has happened in those past 3 years with my own face, they have become increasingly faded, scraggy and worn, through being sat on (the seats).
Mid-priced Simply Leather Deep Cleaner, Leather Filler, Black Colourant and Protector to the rescue along with a couple of microfibre cloths. You don't need a picture of the bottles, nor a detailed rundown - you get the idea: scrub clean, fill any cracks, apply colourant and then the protector. An hour later they looked much better for very little outlay. Another job I am pleased with having somewhat managed and I didn't spill the colourant on myself nor the carpets. So much filth came off and I am sure I discovered a bucket of pre-apartheid South African Sun City resort sand in the creases. The pictures don't really do the improvement justice but something else off the list. So as I always say - if you feel doubtful and ill-informed, give it a go anyway...it'll probably be okay.
I dropped in the first-aid kit I bought on Ebay just incase I injure myself in a fashion that only late 1970's medical supplies can attend to (cutting my finger on a can of Top Deck shandy, overdosing on Spangles, a nasty sprain at the roller disco, the dreaded 'VD' etc.) and peered around the rest of the car.
The headlining needs a clean to bring back the rather unnatural off-white of the roof interior but I will do that after the 23rd Sept when SS Motors are taking care of the sunroof cable. The main issue now is the door cards. A previous owner clearly thought the black and grey velour cards had seen better days but replaced them with plain black leather better suited to a sweaty night at the KitKat Club than the doors of what was the premiere coupe of the age.
Replacement is simple enough a process - get new fabric, unclip the cards, which is easy as there are no window controls, break a small and rare clip or fixture, spend £20 on a replacement clip or fixture on a German website, remove the fabric and do the reverse with the new material. I do have an issue though.
As you can see my rear cards still have the velour, but this combination appears impossible to buy for the doors these days and, as the velour is one of the few parts of a 70's Mercedes not guaranteed to exist until the universe destroys itself, any old ones that might have been available at a breakers are long gone. I can buy new door cards for about £160 a pair, but they feature a textured pattern where the velour strips would have been and with the SLC being somewhat rare they do not produce matching new ones for the rear. Anyone got any ideas that do not include applying a speculum to my wallet and visiting the truly great D:Class in Chobham?
As you'll see there's a few interior jobs to be done and this seemed to be a quick win. I'd not done leather treatments before but it seemed well within my now ever-expanding skillset of jobs I can complete in a barely-acceptable manner.
The seats have been a little tatty since I got the car, which I might add is almost 3 years ago now - can you believe it? In an ideal world I'd get new horsehair fillings if I wanted perfection, but they are rather expensive and my rear is perfectly comfortable when pottering along, which is all I ask of life. The leather itself has seen somewhat better days however and a spruce up was in order. Nothing major but as has happened in those past 3 years with my own face, they have become increasingly faded, scraggy and worn, through being sat on (the seats).
Mid-priced Simply Leather Deep Cleaner, Leather Filler, Black Colourant and Protector to the rescue along with a couple of microfibre cloths. You don't need a picture of the bottles, nor a detailed rundown - you get the idea: scrub clean, fill any cracks, apply colourant and then the protector. An hour later they looked much better for very little outlay. Another job I am pleased with having somewhat managed and I didn't spill the colourant on myself nor the carpets. So much filth came off and I am sure I discovered a bucket of pre-apartheid South African Sun City resort sand in the creases. The pictures don't really do the improvement justice but something else off the list. So as I always say - if you feel doubtful and ill-informed, give it a go anyway...it'll probably be okay.
I dropped in the first-aid kit I bought on Ebay just incase I injure myself in a fashion that only late 1970's medical supplies can attend to (cutting my finger on a can of Top Deck shandy, overdosing on Spangles, a nasty sprain at the roller disco, the dreaded 'VD' etc.) and peered around the rest of the car.
The headlining needs a clean to bring back the rather unnatural off-white of the roof interior but I will do that after the 23rd Sept when SS Motors are taking care of the sunroof cable. The main issue now is the door cards. A previous owner clearly thought the black and grey velour cards had seen better days but replaced them with plain black leather better suited to a sweaty night at the KitKat Club than the doors of what was the premiere coupe of the age.
Replacement is simple enough a process - get new fabric, unclip the cards, which is easy as there are no window controls, break a small and rare clip or fixture, spend £20 on a replacement clip or fixture on a German website, remove the fabric and do the reverse with the new material. I do have an issue though.
As you can see my rear cards still have the velour, but this combination appears impossible to buy for the doors these days and, as the velour is one of the few parts of a 70's Mercedes not guaranteed to exist until the universe destroys itself, any old ones that might have been available at a breakers are long gone. I can buy new door cards for about £160 a pair, but they feature a textured pattern where the velour strips would have been and with the SLC being somewhat rare they do not produce matching new ones for the rear. Anyone got any ideas that do not include applying a speculum to my wallet and visiting the truly great D:Class in Chobham?
If you have velour on the door trim, I expect that the seats at one time were also velour. As you have a very nice car. May I suggest getting the correct door skins as they are inexpensive. You can find them here: https://www.germanautotops.com/mercedes-benz-w107-...
alabbasi said:
If you have velour on the door trim, I expect that the seats at one time were also velour. As you have a very nice car. May I suggest getting the correct door skins as they are inexpensive. You can find them here: https://www.germanautotops.com/mercedes-benz-w107-...
These are exactly the ones I am looking at getting in black. They will not match the rear cards, and they don't sell rear cards so there will have to be some difference unless the gods of German autos shine on me in the next month and some velour ones pop up on Ebay. Unlikely as they have not done so in the past 12 months.If I could get hold of a wider sheet of the patterned section I could fill in the rears which are currently velour (and showing their age a bit)...might be worth my asking the supplier.
The interior was mushroom velour from the factory according to the spec sheet I have seen, but they appear to have perished long ago.
Edited by paulyv on Wednesday 26th August 23:17
JPvanRossem said:
The velour is a nice touch there.
I had the driver's seat base resprung in my SL a few years back, and have enjoyed many firm but floaty hours of driving pleasure since.
Have you dispensed with thoughts of selling this magnificent car?
They are supremely comfortable seats JP. I could easily see myself driving down from London to the south of France without many aches or pains.I had the driver's seat base resprung in my SL a few years back, and have enjoyed many firm but floaty hours of driving pleasure since.
Have you dispensed with thoughts of selling this magnificent car?
Yes, the possibility of selling later in the year remains, but I would like a few things sorted prior to the time it may possibly go to market, such as these seats. We shall have to see what the year brings.
It would involve a lot more work but make up your own and re-do the rear panels to match:
https://cabrio.de/en/interiors-khm/padding-panels/...
They also sell 107 velour!
https://cabrio.de/en/interiors-khm/padding-panels/...
They also sell 107 velour!
Stegel said:
It would involve a lot more work but make up your own and re-do the rear panels to match:
https://cabrio.de/en/interiors-khm/padding-panels/...
They also sell 107 velour!
Hello Stegel. thanks for the link. It would be really interesting to see how the original 107 trim panels incorporated the velour...if I could get a roll of it perhaps it could be somehow incorporated into the vinyl panel design. Some Googling to be done perhaps.https://cabrio.de/en/interiors-khm/padding-panels/...
They also sell 107 velour!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff