1979 Mercedes 450 SLC
Discussion
paulyv said:
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
I might be able to help you here. But you'll probably need to dye them. 
alabbasi said:
I might be able to help you here. But you'll probably need to dye them.
I would certainly be interested - happy to PM if you have a proposition, and thank you. You have seen my handy upholstery skills only today Alabbasi and I am riding high on a wave of over-confidence.alabbasi said:
I'm pretty sure that I have a pair of complete rear panels removed from a 450SLC in navy blue. Let me put my hands on them next time I go to the shop.
Thank you very much. Blue should easily transfer to black. As this is never straightforward I have manual rear windows in my SLC, as almost all SA models did for some odd reason, so this week I will study if the switch/winder handle apertures are in the same place if your ones are electric as I would expect them to be.alabbasi said:
These for sure have power windows. Do you want the regulators too?
A kind offer Alabbasi. Would you confirm my assumption that the regulator mechanism is agnostic to manual or electric winding? My manual-based mechanism is all rather delicate and a little gentle encouragement of the glass moves it up and down and I would also like to keep it manual.Would be interesting to see if the switch holes on your rear cards are in the same place as my winder apertures. My suspicion is that they might not as most of the images I have found online of the rear cards has the electric switches placed further back than where my manual winders sit.
Edited by paulyv on Thursday 27th August 13:09
TR4man said:
What a great use of the word “agnostic”!
I've probably misused it!CharlesdeGaulle said:
I think the rear window mechanism can be fragile. My electric rears both work but, as so many ageing things do, need a helping hand to fully rise to complete the job expected of them.
Saucy! That's exactly why I wouldn't convert to electric - I can easily see the whole thing permanently jamming up without my gossamer fingers guiding the process.I see there are a few on Ebay at the moment. Will be interesting to see what they go for, although I am of the opinion the best way to sell an SLC would be to park it up in Chelsea for a few weeks with a sign in the window.
Nice colour: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-450SLC-C1...
Strong money but doubtless in very fine condition: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-C107-280S...
Edited by paulyv on Thursday 27th August 13:12
paulyv said:
I see there are a few on Ebay at the moment. Will be interesting to see what they go for ...
Nice colour: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-450SLC-C1...
Strong money but doubtless in very fine condition: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-C107-280S...
The second is on at all the money! I am not at all sure this is a great time to be selling with so much uncertainty, but good luck to them both. Nice colour: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-450SLC-C1...
Strong money but doubtless in very fine condition: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-C107-280S...
CharlesdeGaulle said:
paulyv said:
I see there are a few on Ebay at the moment. Will be interesting to see what they go for ...
Nice colour: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-450SLC-C1...
Strong money but doubtless in very fine condition: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-C107-280S...
The second is on at all the money! I am not at all sure this is a great time to be selling with so much uncertainty, but good luck to them both. Nice colour: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-450SLC-C1...
Strong money but doubtless in very fine condition: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-C107-280S...
Here's a technical problem someone might be able to chip in about.
The SLC has a glass feature by the C-pillar which is double glazed and sealed.
A lovely feature but it's generally well-known that these are a pig to remove, let alone pull apart to clean inside, which is why you see quite a few of these cars with flaking on the metal louvres inside the glass. Mine are in pretty good condition but one of them has a small amount of green mold in one corner which I'd like to attend to. You can just about see it in the picture above.
Given I don't want to remove these if I can possibly avoid it I think I have two options. Firstly a strong UV light pointing at the offending area for some time. The minus of this is that the glass will absorb most of the UV-C rays, perhaps more so as my car supposedly has UV-resistant glass as an option as it came from South Africa. My second idea is to use a steam cleaner to heat the glass over a period of time with the intention of taking the temperature within the void above 65 degrees which should spell doom for the mold.
Would anyone else have any other equally obscure ideas? Eggheads Assemble!
Thanks in advance.
The SLC has a glass feature by the C-pillar which is double glazed and sealed.
A lovely feature but it's generally well-known that these are a pig to remove, let alone pull apart to clean inside, which is why you see quite a few of these cars with flaking on the metal louvres inside the glass. Mine are in pretty good condition but one of them has a small amount of green mold in one corner which I'd like to attend to. You can just about see it in the picture above.
Given I don't want to remove these if I can possibly avoid it I think I have two options. Firstly a strong UV light pointing at the offending area for some time. The minus of this is that the glass will absorb most of the UV-C rays, perhaps more so as my car supposedly has UV-resistant glass as an option as it came from South Africa. My second idea is to use a steam cleaner to heat the glass over a period of time with the intention of taking the temperature within the void above 65 degrees which should spell doom for the mold.
Would anyone else have any other equally obscure ideas? Eggheads Assemble!
Thanks in advance.
Fair advice from all, thank you. I've little inclination to get involved in taking this car apart any more than needs be so I may leave it for now and see if a cold snap might kill it off this winter.
Took the car out towards Addlestone last night, staying in the Bridge Hotel in Chertsey so I could get it in at SS Motors nice and early and collect the same day. Nice little hotel by the river, and very friendly. Booked in for the belligerent sunroof cable, radio cage and inspection of the air-con system which I intend to get regassed with R24 in the coming weeks.
Had the pleasure of working on my laptop in the corner of an almost empty pub most of the day getting high on cola awaiting a call back after dropping the car off at 9am. I received said call at 2pm saying they needed to keep it for a few days as they were having trouble with the sunroof. I would like to bet they have come across the same issue as I did with the cable not coming out of the tube once unscrewed and they are waiting until someone resembling 'World's Strongest Man' Geoff Capes drops a car off so they can ask him to have a crack at it. So be it.
It wasn't until parking up at the hotel last night that I noticed the horizontal chrome line in the grill which is carried across in the current SLC models. Nice touch that. I really ought to pay more attention.
You may also notice orange tape on the indicator. A young girl by the name of Jennifer drove her bike into my car whilst playing in the place I store it in. Very apologetic note from her Dad leaving his mobile number...I was in a charitable mood so texted thanking him for his honesty and swallowed the fairly steep sum for a new indicator lens myself. it has been delivered and I'll fit it in a few days.
Also expecting a drive up to Leeds in the coming weeks, viral police allowing, as there is a brand new windscreen bought and paid for awaiting it's moment of stardom. No idea how long that has been sat biding it's time until a needy SLC showed up.
Took the car out towards Addlestone last night, staying in the Bridge Hotel in Chertsey so I could get it in at SS Motors nice and early and collect the same day. Nice little hotel by the river, and very friendly. Booked in for the belligerent sunroof cable, radio cage and inspection of the air-con system which I intend to get regassed with R24 in the coming weeks.
Had the pleasure of working on my laptop in the corner of an almost empty pub most of the day getting high on cola awaiting a call back after dropping the car off at 9am. I received said call at 2pm saying they needed to keep it for a few days as they were having trouble with the sunroof. I would like to bet they have come across the same issue as I did with the cable not coming out of the tube once unscrewed and they are waiting until someone resembling 'World's Strongest Man' Geoff Capes drops a car off so they can ask him to have a crack at it. So be it.
It wasn't until parking up at the hotel last night that I noticed the horizontal chrome line in the grill which is carried across in the current SLC models. Nice touch that. I really ought to pay more attention.
You may also notice orange tape on the indicator. A young girl by the name of Jennifer drove her bike into my car whilst playing in the place I store it in. Very apologetic note from her Dad leaving his mobile number...I was in a charitable mood so texted thanking him for his honesty and swallowed the fairly steep sum for a new indicator lens myself. it has been delivered and I'll fit it in a few days.
Also expecting a drive up to Leeds in the coming weeks, viral police allowing, as there is a brand new windscreen bought and paid for awaiting it's moment of stardom. No idea how long that has been sat biding it's time until a needy SLC showed up.
Edited by paulyv on Wednesday 23 September 17:46
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