Day 1 at the 190Sl International Group Texas convention - Concours

We drove the 250 mile trip down to Fredericksburg with only 168 miles on the clock since the completion of the rebuild with Steve in the 280SL and Will in the team support truck plus Sean Parker in his (by UK standards) Monster truck.
No problems with the car other than a minor carb adjustment by Sean which had it running even better. 50mph winds made the first drive rather eventful and as they subsided we lowered the top and pressed on to the hotel with big smiles on our faces.
The following day (day1 of the Convention) we were up relatively early and after a good Texan breakfast were cleaning the car in readiness for the Concours.  She attracted many great comments, particularly around the Dark Blue colour which many thought was black until the sun shone on the car.
Judging came around and a panels of experts came to inspect individual elements of the car.  The end outcome was that the car won the Best car in the Concours and was awarded the only Gold Class award as well.  Quite an achievement for Team Samples who are now to be known as Gold class Team Samples!  A great achievement for the car, the first time it has been on a major trip in about 15 years.
Huge thanks to Will Samples, Steve Ady, Steve Crowley, Sean Parker, Manuel and all others who put such hard effort into rebuilding the car to such a high standard.  A huge thanks to Will for all his friendship and support over the last 10 years, for allowing me to come and camp out at his Ranch for days at a time each year and work on and learn about the car.  You have been a star and a real friend.

Here are shots of some of the other fantastic cars at the convention.

Finished in fine time for the International 190SL Group National Convention 2014, Texas

Will and Steve had a final push to finish the car, post return from Manuel the trimmer for fitting of new convertible top and door cards etc., so that we could all travel down to the International 190SL Group National Convention in Fredericksburg, Texas.  We were looking forward to this as a first trip in the car and to revisiting somewhere we had been before and very much enjoyed.
Here are a few shots of the completed car at Wills', it looks stunning and is a testament to the expertise of 'Team Samples'!

In the Trim Shop

Last week the car went across to the trim shop to the south of Dallas. It needs to have the convertible soft top replaced and all the bows recovered etc.  Additionally the door cards are being finished and a new tonneau cover for the soft top made as well.
Manuel has already stripped the old soft top cover off and replaced all the covers for the bows and supporting webbing.  Work on the door cards is also well under way.

Back in Dallas for the Final push, March 2014, (part 8)

Well here she is down by the lake - We got stopped loads of times and constantly had people waving and saying how great she looked.  A few small things to fit plus the installation of the hood and then we will be good for the 190SL Group 2014 convention down the road in Fredericksburg in October.

Back in Dallas for the Final push, March 2014, (part 7)

The engine had the air log fitted, very fiddly and not something to do on a daily basis. the air cleaner paint was cut back for a better finish and a new rubber pad created to go underneath it plus a new washable filter was installed.  Decals yet to be installed in the engine bay.
For driving the car over in Texas it now has the loan of a set of period plates.

Back in Dallas for the Final push, March 2014, (part 6)

Here is the completed interior, it is fantastic! I love the contract between the dark blue paint and the carpets\seating.  Door caps and panels to go on once the convertible top is fitted and windows have been adjusted.

Back in Dallas for the Final push, March 2014, (part 5)

New correct rubber floor mats were fitted in the front along with replacement of some of the original floor insulation which had disintegrated due to age.

Back in Dallas for the Final push, March 2014, (part 4)

The interior received its square weave carpeting in the rear compartment including the loose fitted mat in the foot well for the rear jump seat passenger.  The seat runners and seat belts were also fitted.

Back in Dallas for the final push, March 2014 (part 1)

March saw me back in Dallas to se the progress made by Will and Steve on the car and to lend a hand, get to know the car and help move things forward.
By the end of the week we had the car 95% finished and driving around which was a fantastic feeling. This is one quality restoration.  Here she is with the European licence plates in place; drilling the rear trunk lid took time to make sure it went on perfectly aligned. The US rear reflectors have also been replaced with great quality reproduction ones, including the correct interior trunk mounting rubber with recess for the mounting bolt and nut.

Back in dallas for the Final push, March 2014, (part 3)

A number of the seat height adjustment chrome flippers needed replacing along with the central plastic rests and rubber buffers.
One feature we have added to the car is that of a rear jump seat to enable our daughter to occasionally come with us in the car.  The seat has been created with correct parts and fittings and looks superb.

Back in dallas for the Final push, March 2014, (part 2)

Here is the inside of the rear trunk.  It now has a new 2 piece rubber floor lining and complete tool set.

Slow but progress

Since our last trip out to see the car at the end of 2012 it has been waiting in the queue to get back into the body shop for final works. These include getting the headlights to fit properly, attention to a dent that has appeared in one of the doors at the body shop, inclusion of closing panels between the rear wings and side structure plus a few minor other small points. The car went across to the body shop a few weeks ago and is now slowly making progress which is great.
Once it has been finished it just needs to go to the trim shop to have the new hood fitted; meanwhile Will is looking to replace some of the nails in the chrome trim that goes above the rear window as a few are missing or weak.
In the meantime I tracked down a replacement original spec speedo drive on e-bay to fit to the car as mine is a non original one. I also sourced some of the rubber buffers to go on the chromed seat side adjuster flaps. Will is also sourcing the correct style exhaust tail pipe trim and the internal parts required to rebuild the main light switch as it proved to be faulty when we test drove it.