Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing (JM) Total Restoration

Mechanical and cosmetic restoration of a running and driving car, including preparation for various international rallying events (enhanced cooling, suspension, etc).

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Last week was spent tying up a few mechanical loose ends, including installing the new exhaust system and tracking down a few fluid leaks. Sam identified a fairly major transmission seal leak which we will be dealing with early this week, as well as a nasty differential output seal leak. While under the car dealing with these issues, we have been detailing the under carriage and wheel arches, etc, prior to going back with the Rudge belly pans.

On the subject of the Rudge belly pans, and further to our telephone conversation last week:

Cosme has now cleaned the pans up and I have decided to leave them in their original paint, complete with 46 year old patina, rather than strip them down and paint them. They really are in fantastic, original shape.

That's about it for now - difficult to photograph mechanical progress! The pictures below show the front arches and wheel drums after they had been detailed.

David has now pretty much finished his work with the car and it has moved out into the CJ workshop for its final mechanical shakedown. The following photographs show the side windows going into place, as well as Cosme refitting the bonnet. Cosme particularly asked to have a photograph taken of him standing next to the car as he is very proud of his paintwork - and rightly so.

Two high profile items were restored and installed during the past week - the famous grill and the steering wheel. We also finally got around to putting the retrimmed seats back in the cabin where they belong! I hope you are pleased with our progress.

Assembling the grill - Harry Martin did an astounding job repairing and replating it	Masking off Cosme's paintwork..
Installing the grill....	Done!
Installing the complex  upper steering column	Installing the seats
The seats really are rather comfortable
Wheel was in good shape, just needed a turn on the buffing wheel
Back where it belongs	Almost there!

The following pictures speak for themselves. Automotive art.

Some serious progress for you this week. The car is looking absolutely fantastic.

David has done a beautiful job restoring the dash grills	Close up of the repainted heater grills
Sun visors now installed
About to install the new outer sills	Sill in place
New alloy finisher installed	The other side gets the same treatment
The luggage rails installed
Shifter knob and finisher installed	Trial fitting the luggage
Fitted luggage installed temporarily	Installing wiper and washer mechanisms
	Rebuilding the quarterlights
	Correct windshield arrived and is now installed (boy was that a challenge!)
About to install the restored dash	Dash loosely in place

Four steps forward and one step back.....

Just as we were feeling rather pleased with ourselves, we found out that Mercedes Benz had mistakenly shipped us a 300SL roadster screen instead of the Gullwing screen that we obviously needed. This knocked David out of his stride somewhat, as he was about to install the windscreen, followed by the dashboard.

In any event, as you can see from the following photographs, he is still managing to make great progress.

Quarter lights back in place	Restored handbrake installed

I am pleased to report that the doors are now installed and the glass is starting to go back into place. Lawrence has fitted and reworked the new aluminium rocker panels which are now in Cosme's hands and well into the painting process.

Per your discussion with Justine, we have now ordered a period Becker radio for the car.

Doors back in place
Rechromed/rebuilt door supports	X marks the spot of an invisible join - very clever stuff!
Interior all but finished	Car ready for its new glass
David preparing to install the rear screen using a new rubber seal	One of the new rockers, trialfitted, modified and now in the paint booth
Zinc primer will be followed by high build (sandable) primer
Andy and Dave installing the rear glass (sorry, couldn't find any McLaren  Formula 1 pit crew shirts)	Looking like a gullwing once more....

David continues to make excellent progress with the Gullwing project. The following photographs show him trimming out the doors.

The speakers installed in your car were damaged and mis-matched. David managed to source a new pair that could be made to work given the limitations of the circular holes already cut into each of the B pillars. We also had to find something that would work with the original chrome trim rings. I think the following photographs show that David has done a splendid job providing you with mdern performance speakers with an entirely original look.

The speakers we removed from the car, way back when	New replacements
Installing the cowl panel map pockets	Interior brightwork back from the chrome platers
Re-plated window frames	One of the most imposing dashboards in the entire automotive world
Left hand speaker is installed	Looking every bit like original equipment
RH speaker goes into place - note the  beautiful trimwork where the two hide panels meet

The following photographs show how David fabricated and installed the hides which trim out the side panels and the door openings, including the rather complex A and B posts.

Closed cell foam on the side panel	Notice how seat runners have been scrupulously cleaned
Side panels trimmed in hide (RH)	LH side panel taking shape
Hides being cut and stitched for the door openings and the A & B pillars	This is a complex curve and difficult to get exactly right
Starting to install the door aperture trim
This is the complex curve David was stitching in the earlier photograph	Really starting to come together now...
Th photos do not do justice to David's craftsmanship
Almost ready for the seats	Door latch installed

The removable hide panel on the rear deck now complete, David has turned his attention to the transmission tunnel. This area is trimmed with a combination of hide and square weave/leather bound carpet.

Notice battery maintenance access  hole in rear deck	This area will eventually be covered with a tailored carpet
Covering the trans tunnel, first with open cell foam	Trimmed out
Leather installed over the foam	The shifter plate will eventually be covered
Leather bound carpets are installed forward of the trans shifter
This is a transmission maintenance access panel sewn into the carpet	The same flap opened to show the access to the transmission
And neatly secured......

More fabulous workmanship from Dave Doonan. I truly believe that this is 'as good as it gets'.

The centre hinge beam trimmed out	Alloy doors have a fibreglass inlay on the interior section - this can be very difficult to trim satisfactorily
A close up of the rough fibreglass texture	Beginning to lay the wool in place
Stunning result
David roles the edges of the wool	Rough texture on the B pillars simply will not do
Rough texture on the A pillars too,  come to that	Scraping away 46 years of glue and grime
	The floor pan of a Gullwing is basically an aluminium tub that is literally screwed to the steel side panels and the rear bulkhead
Scraping away all the glue from the side of the aluminium tub	Likewise the A posts.....
...and the B pillars	Another view of how the one piece aluminium floor pan sits in the well of the car - fascinating design
The sides of the pan unscrewed from  the steel sheel	Handbrake assembly needed restoration
	Ready for reinstallation
With the handbrake removed, look at all the glue we were able to scrape from the side panel	Fresh glue sprayed around the rear screen bulkhead where new hides are about to be installed
As the metalwork is really uneven at this point, Dave used (very forgiving) open cell foam to smooth things out	Before installing the new hides - notice how he has managed to get the hide to follow the contour of the rear arch intrusions
The first hides in place	Closed cell foam on the rear deck
David prepares to roll the edges of the hide mat he is making for the rear deck	Offering the hide mat into position

The following photographs show the installation of the new headliner. The area around the vents at the rear edge of the roof panel is particularly tricky.

Cowl chrome now fully assembled and installed	Front wing trim (RH)
LH front wing	This area at the rear of the roof panel is extremely tricky to trim out
This removable panel must be trimmed separately	Likewise the air box screwed to the roof panel
Trimming out the removable roof duct prior to installation	A much more complex headliner than an E Type Jaguar!
But as usual, David is doing a superb job	The doors will be trimmed separately before being reinstalled

With the chrome starting to go into place, the car really is beginning to look awesome.

	Front bumper starting to take shape
All three blades installed
Overriders and 300SL plate finish the job off
Rear bumper irons restored/installed	Two piece rear bumper in place
It was marginal whether the rear bumpers could be saved - there was extensive damage at the joint (marked X above)	But in the end it looks perfect!
Ready for the new headliner.....	Rear reflectors BEFORE....
Rear reflectors AFTER.....	Automotive art, courtesy of Mercedes Benz....
Coming together beautifully	Yet more chrome - these pieces all go together to form the grill immediately infront of the screen
The chrome in the previous picture is installed at the point marked X	These are the replated shocks for the gullwing doors
Rear lights set the chrome off nicely
And at the front.....	Assembling the chrome pieces for  the cowl grill

The following photographs show David cleaning up the boot compartment, making and installing the new boot carpets, installing the new lights and badges, etc. He is making excellent progress.

Front badge goes into place	Visors finished
Boot was really pretty untidy	Now looking much better
Seriously expensive replacement back lights	Lights being installed
And finally in place	Making new boot carpet using  old mat as a template
	Boot compartment finished

I thought you might enjoy seeing a few more examples of David's excellent trim work.

The visors have to be constructed from scratch exactly as per the originals	A number of carboard inserts form the shape
Cutting new cardboard templates	Cutting out the new wool cloth
New visor compared to old - identical except the original (top) is faded and dirty	Close up of David's superb detail work

Right on schedule the Gullwing is now with David in the trim room. The following photographs show that he is already making some great progress. The dash was particularly tricky, given all the curves and contours, but hopefully you will be able to see from the photographs that David has done a truly superb job.

David fabricates new scuttle trim complete with map pockets using the original as a template

Gullwing safely in trim room	Old interior laid out (to be used  as templates)
Dash about to be trimmed out in hide	Special tools are used to literally scrape the outer edges of the hides thinner so they can be wrapped around panels without wrinkling - this is an extremely skilled (and risky) operation!
The remains of a couple of red cows can be seen in the background
Laying out the old trim on the new hides	The area around the instrument fascia is very difficult to trim out - the leather has to be heated and stretched in order to follow the contours properly
A rear view of the instrument cluster	A stunning job
The ash tray goes into place - did I tell you I am 18 days without a Marlboro, Juan?	Ash tray closed (as it should be)
Rear view mirror goes into place	The chromed aluminium strip shown resting against the dash will be replaced - it is pretty beaten-up and is relatively cheap

We are going to try to repair the anodized strip  shown at the bottom of the picture - believe it or  not a new replacement is literally thousands of dollars

As you can see, the car has now been painted and I am pleased to report that the finish (and colour) are both absolutely perfect.

Applying the base coat
Applying the clear coat	The finished article

John having gone as far as he can on the mechanicals (without being able to drive the car), we now have the bodywork and paint well underway. Cosme has finished the painstaking process of sanding down the entire car and has already repaired the front valance, rear boot lid, the dent in the passenger door and the rough areas around the front wing vents.

We have the correct Mercedes Silver (DB 180) in hand and we are scheduled to repaint the car later this week.

At this time we are still waiting for the new exhaust, new outer sill cover panels and a few other sundry items - although nothing which need delay Cosme's schedule.

As you can see, we have now received all the Gullwing instruments back. If they work as well as they look, we will be in excellent shape.

As the dash is such an intrinsic part of the interior, we have decided to temporarily install the minor gauges we need in order to complete and test run all the mechanical components of the car. Once I am satisfied that the car is completely finished mechanically, it will be time for David to trim out the interior and reinstall all the glass and chrome.

John will begin the mechanical work this week and we hope to hand the car over to David towards the end of next week.

Incidentally, we managed to obtain all the rubber seals for the car through the Mercedes Benz factory in Germany. They have been a pleasure to work with and provided us with a number of parts which we did not think would still be available.

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The grill during disassembly. It has now been submitted for replating.

We now have the majority of the replated chrome back, excepting some of the window brightwork and the main front grill. I deliberately did not submit the grill with everything else as it has to be carefully disassembled first and I was concerned about getting all the various pieces back! I have included a photograph of the grill before disassembly as it is a good indication of what all the chromework was like before replating.

I had been worried that we might not be able to save the main two piece bumper assembly but I am very pleased with the repair that was done. Needless to say, we went for the highest quality plating available.

I am delighted to report that as of yesterday evening, we finally have the Gullwing back home.

I will update this page regularly for you as the car goes back together and I can confirm that the next stage of the restoration is already underway.

I hope David can remember how the dash goes back together (just kidding)	Completely stripped out interior

In the following photographs you can see the seats freshly trimmed in the new hides.

The following photographs show the complete removal of all the glass, chrome, interior trim and electrical components.

Look closely at the photographs of the dash and you will see how the harness has been attached and secured using a series of leather belts and buckles - just too cool for words!

We hope you are enjoying watching the restoration unfold.
 

I am pleased to report that the mechanical rebuild is now 99% complete. I was able to take your car for a drive and test out the new steering, suspension, cooling and braking systems - and I am delighted to report that everything seems to be working extremely well. We still have to time the fuel injection pump and have various minor mechanical tasks to perform, but basically all the major mechanical work is now behind us.

The next stage will be to disassemble the dash, interior, glass and chrome trim. We considered trying to save the original hides, but unfortunately the texture is so dry (almost powder) around the various tears that it would not be possible to make a worthwhile repair.

In the photographs below you will notice the custom built radiator that we had Ron Davis Racing make for your car. They did a beautiful job and it seems to work as well as it looks!
 

Click on thumbnails below to view larger images

The following photographs show the front suspension components and the front hubs after they have been blasted and cleaned. The splined hubs seem to be in excellent condition, probably having been replaced fairly recently - in terms of road miles, at least.

The following photographs show the front brakes and suspension completely removed from the car. The front right wheel bearing was in a terrible state, the brake booster (the later, desirable T50 unit) was not functioning at all, and the fuel injection system was barely working at all.

Making rapid progress now, so please look for regular updates over the next few days/weeks.

 
 

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The following photographs show the work beginning in earnest. It was rather difficult to take clear pictures underneath the car, but the images are none the less fascinating in that they show this wonderful automobile with and without its Rudge bellypans. An incredible piece of engineering, given the vintage of the car.

Once we had removed the bellypans, an inspection of the upper surface of same gave us a very clear picture of the areas and components that have been leaking fluids. Actually, just about everything that contains fluids is leaking to some degree!

The other thing I have tried to show in these photographs is the extent to which the rubber suspension bushings and mountings are perished. All will need replacing, and in fact the rear axle stops are missing altogether.

As the work progresses, we will continue to update you through these pages.

Click on thumbnail pictures to view larger images