Completed front axle \suspension assembly

Here is a photo of the complete front axle /suspension assembly.

Photo of car with previous owner

Here is a photo of the car with the last owner to have the driven it on the road and I believe the Grand Daughter of the original owner.

Mechanical progress - Front axle & steering

A huge amount of work has been done by Will on the front axle and steering.

The brakes have been rebuilt, new front bearings fitted, King and Link Pins and new bushes inserted. Finally the steering box has been rebuilt with new bronze bushes and then the whole front end reassembled with new shocks and refurbished coils. I'm over simplyfying what has been done, but you can see the quality of the work from the photos.

Body work progress

Here are a few photos showing progress with the bodywork which is moving on. Work on the rear spring hangers is complete and the side members have been replaced on one side plus all floor panels prepared for fitting.

Engine and transmission

The rest of the time spent with Will was centred around having fun with the engine and transmission. Will had mounted the engine on his mobile test bed and placed a pair of rebuilt carbs on it, the engine fired up well and sounded pretty smooth. Compression tests showed 150\155\158\155 over the 4 cylinders and leakage tests gave a less consistent set of figures at 7.5\8.5\7.5\20.
Checking the drive sprockets for the chain showed a fair degree of wear and dropping the sump off the block allowed us to check the main and con rod bearings and identify some fatigue in the bearings. As a result new sprockets and bearings are going in.
The carbs appear to be late replacement original mercedes ones and have checked out well.
We also gave the transmission a once over, no chipped or damaged teeth but the spiggot for the clutch release fork was loose in the bell housing and a new one has now been purchased. To top it a new clutch assembly will go in as well.
Will also showed me that the engine block was a replacement, based on the wording on the plaque near the engine number and also that the engine number has not been stamped into the block as clearly as you would expect of a factory item - good news must be its got lower mileage than if it was the original and less wear.

Look at that nice 300SL engine in the background, wonder if we can squeeze it in the 190SL!!

External trim

I had the opportunity to review the condition of much of the external trim and to take the front Grille to pieces as well. Other than the 2 cross bars the front grille is on overall good condition. The rest is variable. Bumpers are excellent and will not be rechromed at this stage various other pieces need rechroming or repair like one of the rear wing splash guards or replacement like the rear overrider mounted licence plate light covers which Will has sourced for me.

Interior progress

Work has been moving forward on the seats, Will brought over the front seats from the trimmer for me to see the stage they have reached and they look excellent. As to be expected all 4 of the seat back adjusters are broken but I replacement has been tracked down so far.

There also is a shot of part of the replacement carpet set and the steering wheel which I cleaned up whilst at Will's.

Body progress

Here are some photos of the progress I saw on the body when visiting Steve and Will in Texas.

the rear panel has now been removed for replacement as it was a cheaper and better option than repair. The rear inner wings (fenders) have also been removed for replacement for the same reason. Work is also needed around the rear suspension mount points.

Visit to Texas

I recently spent a whole weekend in Texas with Will who is masterminding the restoration of our 190SL and getting my hands on various parts of the car.

Will was great at showing me the engine running on the test bench and subsequently stripping the bottom end with me and splitting it from the transmission. We also inspected the carbs and other parts.

I spent time inspecting the nearly completed front seats and stripping down the front grille and assessing the components and other trim to see what needed replating or replacing. We also visited the body under repairs at Steve's shop to see the progress being made.

I will be posting more detailed info shortly but in the meantime here is a photo of the restored shell from Will's 190SL, also done by Steve.

No going back!

Steve at the body shop has really got stuck into the body repairs. The body has been braced and then the rear end and boot floor chopped out. This was followed by removal of most of the floor pan and side rails. removing the floor pans exposed rust in the cross member for the seat supports and these will need replacing as well. Additionally the rear inner wings (fenders) have been poorly repaired in the past and both need replacing along with the rear spring mounts. Well that's as low as it can go, the only was is up!

ng points

Bumper brackets

The bumper brackets are back from powder coating. Will is looking to rebuild and assemble the front sub frame and components in the next few days.

Door Hinge

One of the door hinges was broken and Will sourced a new one. When stripping it down he found the pin was bent so had a new one made up with extra grease threads in it as well.

Repair panels

All the repair panels arrived at wills and are now over at the bodyshop for use in the rebuild. here are shots of a few of them.

Replacement panel list

Here is a list of the metal panels that have now arrived for the repairs to the body.

spare tire well, right - boot floor, centre - boot floor L&R - boot floor rear - main floor pan, LF & RF - seat bracket, inner L&R - seat bkt, outer, left - firewall, lower right - booster box - battery box - cap, front frame L&R - filler panel (2) - tail panel - rocker panel L&R - hood bumpers (4) - filler panels- false floor steel L&R - frame rail L&R - cap, frame center, L&R - trailing arm support L&R.

The good, the bad and the ugly!

The body is now across at the bodyshop following blasting and has been shown to have a lot of the typical 190SL rot. In particular it has rotten frame rail caps floor edges, sill structures and boot floor along with right hand spare wheel well.

On the good side all the outer panels, except the rear panel are in great shape and the inner wings are mostly OK. The car has had replacement front and rear panels at some stage and possibly front wings (fenders) as well. previous attempts at repairs, including fitting the replacement rear panel, have involved the use of braze instead of weld which will all need removing. the rear panel will probably be easier to replace than repair due to some poor repairs.

Will has priced up the panels, including replacement floor, rear panel, rails etc., from K&K at approx $3,000 and they are on order, pretty good value and thankfully no outer panels needed except the rear.

Body off to the blasters

The body left Wills at S&S Imports a couple of weeks ago for blasting of all panels except for doors and front/rear hoods. It has now been done and waiting at the balsters for a dry day before being transported to the bodyshop for repairs and paint. You can see the section of the passenger side outer sill that Will chopped away so we could see what was lurking underneath. this sill has been replaced before and brazed in place incorrectly.