A new member restoring a C43
12-20-2011, 02:41 AM
#1
A new member restoring a C43
Hi
I have reading your posts and I especially like the before and after pic's when a car has been restored. So I thought I would post a few of my own.
My car is a late 99 model with 85K miles with full service history I had been looking out one of these C43 models for a while. (I had considered the Cosworth 190 but preferred the V8)
The exterior had very slight body work issues but the interior and mechanicals were both in excellent condition.
I drove the car from where I bought it, then the following day it was picked up by an approved Mercedes paint shop for a complete body work overhaul. This took eight weeks to complete, in that time the front wings and boot lid were replaced and the majority of the body work was taken back to shiny bare metal.
Litres of wax has been injected and my garage floor is good proof of this, so hopefully the new body work should be around for a while....
The only items I changed from standard were the wheels and the front grill. I went for the 18" E55 AMG alloys with 255x 35s rear and 225 x 40s Cont/sports MO's
Anyway... some pic's
I have reading your posts and I especially like the before and after pic's when a car has been restored. So I thought I would post a few of my own.
My car is a late 99 model with 85K miles with full service history I had been looking out one of these C43 models for a while. (I had considered the Cosworth 190 but preferred the V8)
The exterior had very slight body work issues but the interior and mechanicals were both in excellent condition.
I drove the car from where I bought it, then the following day it was picked up by an approved Mercedes paint shop for a complete body work overhaul. This took eight weeks to complete, in that time the front wings and boot lid were replaced and the majority of the body work was taken back to shiny bare metal.
Litres of wax has been injected and my garage floor is good proof of this, so hopefully the new body work should be around for a while....
The only items I changed from standard were the wheels and the front grill. I went for the 18" E55 AMG alloys with 255x 35s rear and 225 x 40s Cont/sports MO's
Anyway... some pic's
keep it shiny and clean
12-20-2011, 08:32 AM
#6
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12' W204 C63 AMG coupe "T-Rex", 12' W451 Smart Fortwo Pulse (99' W202 C43 AMG sold)
Very good job and nice to see some photos of the "making of....". Like Kowalski, I'm also wondering why the front and back are sitting so high. Normally the European versions sit much lower. Your pads could be thicker ones. Check how many "****" you have on the pads (# of pimples on the side of the rubber pad). Also, as you are in GB, if you have any mechanical questions you can contact Olly (BlackC55) on one of the UK forums. He is very highly recommendable for all things MB and specially for c43's http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/
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12-20-2011, 09:02 PM
#8
Super Member
Mine is black but i was always fond of silver with the two tone interior! Car looks great and btw nice persian rug..............
12-20-2011, 10:24 PM
#11
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22 X3, 21 330e, 97 M3, 97 C36 (sold), but on the hunt for a clean, low-mile C43!
Beautiful! And as good as those Monos look, there's just something about those rear off-sets that sink them in so far. Has anyone ever spaced out their rear Monos? Like ~5-10 mm I think would be perfect.
12-21-2011, 02:34 AM
#12
Hi All....
Thanks for the replies very much appreciated, I am based in the UK "Hampshire" not too far away from Olly... I think.
The car is currently SORN (declared off road) so my plan is to use the car in the summer months keeping it away from the winter salt. The car will need a service by then so I will probably will drop him a note via this forum or his website.
I saw the comments about the height of the car, all I can think is that it spent most of its 8 weeks being jacked up and then trailered back to my place. Perhaps it needs to be driven a bit to settle the suspension back down. As far as I am aware it is standard EU spec.... I will have a look underneath at the rubber blocks in next couple of days and report back.
Have a good Christmas
PS ... Yep, my wife also likes the Persian rug... she wasn't too impressed to see the wheels stacked up on it in the photo ;-)
Thanks for the replies very much appreciated, I am based in the UK "Hampshire" not too far away from Olly... I think.
The car is currently SORN (declared off road) so my plan is to use the car in the summer months keeping it away from the winter salt. The car will need a service by then so I will probably will drop him a note via this forum or his website.
I saw the comments about the height of the car, all I can think is that it spent most of its 8 weeks being jacked up and then trailered back to my place. Perhaps it needs to be driven a bit to settle the suspension back down. As far as I am aware it is standard EU spec.... I will have a look underneath at the rubber blocks in next couple of days and report back.
Have a good Christmas
PS ... Yep, my wife also likes the Persian rug... she wasn't too impressed to see the wheels stacked up on it in the photo ;-)
Last edited by twixfits; 12-21-2011 at 02:39 AM.
