Unloved G-Wagen gets a new lease on life with parts from several newer Mercedes models.
Today we bring you what might be the most elaborate restoration we have ever seen of a vehicle as new as this 2002 Mercedes-Benz G500. What seemingly started off as a project to beef up a beat up G-wagon has turned into an incredible two-year restoration that has introduced an endless list of new components – including parts from several newer Benz models, a hand-made leather interior layout and a long of new small parts. As a result, when this Mercedes SUV project is complete, it will be a far more luxurious machine than it was when it rolled off of the assembly line 16 years ago.
Introduction
This incredible 2002 Mercedes-Benz G500 restoration thread was started back in March of 2016 and over the past 26 months, forum member Kobzarhomes has nearly transformed this G-wagon into an entirely-new vehicle.
This was the post that started the thread back in 2016:
“Hello everyone. Couple months ago I picked up this 2002 Mercedes G500 for a very good price. Car needs some TLC, it’s exactly what I was looking for. Over the next few months I am going to be repairing it, restoring it and updating it with 2016 G63 parts that I purchased from a forum member on here 👍😊.
I already took it apart and I apologize that I didn’t take pictures off it right when I got it.
As you can see I already took off the front end, front axle, front suspension, exhaust, remove fender flares and rear bumper. My goal is to take it apart as much as I can, do some body repair and detail the undercarriage. I’m going to sand and soda blast the rust spots underneath and paint them with rust resistant paint.
I will try to post as much as I can on here.”
He also included the first few shots here of a 2002 Benz SUV that clearly had not been well-loved by its previous owners, but it was about to get a new lease on life. It sounded like the OP planned to clean up the body and underpinnings to recreate a great daily driver, but as the 31-page thread reveals – this has turned out to be a far more elaborate project than we initially expected. Because the thread is so long and the restoration process is so detailed, we have grouped the recap of this project into three groups – interior, body and undercarriage.
Move on to the next page to continue reading about this gorgeous G-Wagen.
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