Hard top restoration part 5 - fitting of the rear screen

I am normally more than happy to fit my own screens but the screen for the large back window 190SL hardtop is panoramic, narrow and fits under a cowl that extends down from the roof.  I decided to call in a professional to help. I found a real professional in Rory from Windscreens on Wheels in Newport Pagnel. http://www.windscreensonwheels.co.uk/  He was patient and persevered to find the right way to fit the screen. 
We found that the way was to have the upper chrome trims in place and the lowers removed.  The window then had to be tilted in under the roof cowl\brackets for the chrome; once the screen was in place the lower chromes could be fitted.  It took a couple of attempts before we got it right but it looks excellent.  The rubber did tear at the lower corner joints, something I have seen on replacement screen rubbers for other manufacturers but didn't expect on an OEM one from Mercedes-Benz.  Easily repaired and now unnoticeable.

All finished and worth the effort.

Hard top restoration part 4 - back on the car and awaiting the rear window

Here are a couple of shots with the hard top back on the car.  The lighting for once shows that the car is blue and the colour contrasts well with the black hard top.

Hard top restoration 3 - trimming part 2

I took it steady with the fitting of the lining as whilst I took plenty of photos the condition was poor and not a good template to work off.  The most enjoyable piece was the leather work, skiving the leather down to a thinner profile so that ends could be folded and then working the leather over the 3D shape of the ledge under the rear window without ending up with creases - looks great inside now

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Hard top restoration 3 - trimming part 1

I had collected the new rubbers over the last few years starting with an MB rear screen rubber that Will Samples, restorer of the car at S&S Imports, Dallas, sourced for me.  I picked up the side seals from SLS Gmbh in Germany and came across a lucky find on e-bay for original front header rail and rear body seals at a knock down price; helped to keep the costs down.
The headlining, in a tan colour which was the same as the original. The sound deadening needed gluing back into place and the metal fitting bows were all de-rusted and treated before being inserted into the new lining material

 came from KHM in Germany also, it turned out to be for the earlier small window version but worked well with plenty of careful trimming back.  When I removed the old under window leather trim the model number was stencilled on to the leather.

Hard top restoration 2 - painted

The hard top was repainted at Paintshop pro,  http://www.thepaintshoppros.co.uk/category/painting-cars/  They made a great job or repainting it as mentioned in a previous post back in June. Also mentioned in that post was that all the chrome trim was refinished by Capital Chrome (formerly London Chroming Co) in the Old Kent Road - used them for 30 years and always had great results.

Hard top restoration 1 - Original condition

When the car was restored I didn't have the hardtop done to keep the cost down and because it wasn't critical to enjoying the car.  Theresa quite likes the hard top and it does make the car more usable in the UK during the winter so I decided to strip it out and restore it. Here is what it looked like beforehand on the inside and stripped out at the paint shop ready for a repaint.

Unexpected success at the SL day held at thge Bicester Flywheel event

The Mercedes-Benz Club held part of their annual SL weekend at the Flywheel event held at Bicester heritage.  Great combination of planes, classic and sports cars. Great to see Sir Stirling Moss being driven around a temporary course in one of his old competition cars.
Having thought it was a show and shine it turned out to be a judged concours with various classes of SLs being judged.  At the end there was no winners sticker on our car so we continued to look around at the other great cars and winners.  Winners' cars were called forward to receive their trophy, a nice touch.  Just before the end we were asked to take our car into line - turned out we had won best car in show. Really pleased!

Success at the 2016 Mercedes-Benz Club Concourse

Having won the SL class last year our 190SL was entered into the Masterclass for all Mercedes-Benz sports cars.  Fantastically it came first which was excellent - must have been the polishing by Theresa.
The masterclass cars were displayed alongside 'equivalent' new cars in from of the MB headquarters which was a nice touch.

Hard top linning fitting problem

Hi, does anyone have a decent photo of how the head lining fits around the chromed locating pegs on the hardtop header rail please?

Hard top

The hard top wasn't restored during the rebuild.  I decided to tackle it last year and have been buying all the rubbers and trim for it.  The hard top was dropped off a couple of weeks ago at Paintshop pro http://www.thepaintshoppros.co.uk/category/painting-cars/ .  It has been re-sprayed in black to compliment the existing black soft top\go with the dark blue paint.  I established when stripping down the hard top that it was originally the same colour as the body work, DB166 bluegrey.
All the chrome trim is now off with Capital Chroming (Formerly London Chroming co) and should be back shortly, following which it will be time to reassemble the hardtop.

Small repairs

I recently had the rear over riders re-chromed to remove some small dents in them, very well done by Derby Plating.

I also purchased a leather restoration and recolouring kit to tackle the sun visors.  These were the only pieces of leather not replaced in the rebuild but needed some attention.  A few hours of work had them looking much better, closer to the original colour and less glossy also.

Mercedes-Benz Club SL day success

Another trip out in the 190SL in UK rain but a great day out with 220 other SLs, old and new.
Cars were organised in colour type and we won the best blue SL at the event, even though the dark shade of blue took some convincing of the marshals' that she wasn't black.
Adrian Timothy's black 190SL won the best black SL and Ray Mills red 190SL won the best red car plus the car people would most like to take home.
We won the best other SL, which I think was for all 190SLs and pagodas.

Success at the Mercedes-Benz Club Concours

We took the 190SL to the club concours; it was entered in class 5 which covers 300SL, 190SL and Pagodas.  The weather was really changeable and caused problems for the judging.  Outcome for us was great as we came first in class which was fantastic.  Not many good photos of other vehicles as we couldn't get away from the car and no hood down due to the rain.

 

Out on the road for a test drive

I took the car out last weekend for a quick test drive, she looks stunning!

At last - on the road in the UK

I collected the car today after completion of registration in the UK following agreement from HM Customs and Revenue that they had received the correct amount of tax on import.
Drove her home in the first thunderstorm of the year with the unrestored hardtop on, thankfully no leaks. More pictures to follow shortly.