MB World‘s Kobzarhomes is still going strong with the restoration and upgrading of his 2002 G500. He’s not done with it yet, but the end is getting closer.
It’s been a few months since we brought you news about what forum member Kobzarhomes is doing to his 2002 Mercedes-Benz G500. For those of you who don’t know (judging by the thread, there probably aren’t many of you in that camp), he got it as a project vehicle that he intends to repair, restore, and update with 2016 G63 parts.
Between then and now, Kobzarhomes has installed a lot of hardware that won’t be visible once his G-Wagen is finished, but is absolutely essential to its function. For instance, he put in the back door’s latch, wiper motor, and brake light. His vehicle now has door locks and door caps. While the doors were stripped down, Kobzarhomes sprayed the interior bottoms of them with 3M cavity wax to rust-proof them. True to his thorough nature, Kobzarhomes threw in fresh window glass, regulators, and door wiring, as well.
Kobzarhomes‘s exterior changes will be hard to miss. He recently threw on new fender flares and a new bumper held in place by reconditioned brackets. The running boards are now in place and looking good.
Kobzarhomes makes it all look easy. However, he did have his concerns about converting his G500 to use the xenon headlights from a G63. As you can imagine by now, he pulled it off, saying, “I was just hoping I did it all correctly and I was not going to end up with a burned out headlight or something else…. At the end of it all, with a flick of a headlight switch, I had xenon lights.”
Keep up the great work, Kobzarhomes. Hopefully you finish your build just in time to give yourself a great holiday present.
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Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
