papromike

Well all as some of you may remember I was basically given a cherry little 1989 300E with barely 100K on the clock about a 6 months ago.

she started out looking like this the day I brought her home




Well Ive been lurkin lately and finally decided to start doing some mods.

1st was a S600 style grill



Smoked Taillights



Started working on the new System, Kicker ZX 400.4 and ZX 500.1 amp Stinger Cap, all wired with 1/0 New Optima Yellow Top



Temporary set of shiny wheels (putting on staggered 17" AMG's)



Well the interior of the car was very nice I mean short of perfect. except for one thing..

The Faded and Cracked finish on the wood, So having a woodworking background, I decided to tackle the feat of restoring all of the wood myself and I must say it came out BEAUTIFUL!! I actually lightened it up a tad, but check it out.

sitting in the garage COOKING with the stripper on it.



A little comparison of before and after.




And finally Installed! the grain came out so nice its almost 3d (of course after about 80 man hours of prep and spraying 30 coats of acryllic automotive clear and color sanding and buffing, ugh....




Next up on the list next week.

Cladding from a 91+ E class (when I finally get all the parts together)

Euro Headlights and Clear Corners (in the mail right now)

Wald V4 Kit (sitting in garage)

500E Swaybars (already installed)

Once all of that is done, NEW PAINT JOB (I am thinking same color with color matched handles and mirrors)

So progress continues... O.K. now Im going to take a NAP!!

190E 16V

Nice job! That car went to the right person.

Saijin_Naib

Great work! I'd ask if there is an easy way to fix the cracked center console but 80 hours sounds like a "no". :C

papromike

Well, just finished up the rear license plate filler panel from a 94,



and installed the side cladding update.




next step after t-giving is fitting the Wald V4 Kit, then off to the paint shop.


Waiting on my 6 pin plug sockets so I can install the Euro HEadlights, which I will probably not do until after paint.

rivcal4life

Awh man you should have told me you needed 6 pins. They are the same sockets that the tail lights use, you could have picked them up at the junkyard too for like $0.50. Anyway, glad to see its making major progress. What color are you going for with paint?

papromike

I Still havent decided yet on the color, may go same color, but I also like the color Smoked Silver..

at this point, I just havent made up my mind...

The next is wheels... just cant make up my mind either..

here are my choices.

Hammer Wheels



Mono blocks



something a little more modern with color matched centers.

ps2cho

I'd say go with the 1st or 2nd. IMO trying to modernize the car with flashy rims makes it no longer look classy. Monoblocks or Hammers all the way

ZorroAMG

Hammers.

PS smoke silver is an old guy color IMO...your current color even a shade darker would be cooler.

papromike

Well dude, Im an old dude!!...LOL.

I will probably end up keeping it the same color... its pretty retro and keeps the classic look..

vanwiek

Mono blocks

Looks really good by the way. Are you going to update the bumpers so that they have the matching chrome strips?

rivcal4life

Hammers all the way.

When I got my car, I had been set on a set of 2007 C350 sport wheels that I saw around a few times. Now that Ive had them for a while, I realized that these cars need something with more face to them.

Unless of course you have some big sexy brakes to show off.

I still think theyre really nice, classy/aggressive wheels, just not for our cars. Anyone mind chopping on some hammers for uhh, comparative reference?

papromike

I have the updated bumpers, so the answer to that question is

I am installing a full body kit also though


It will all be a monochrome look.

Im going for this look.

vanwiek

That looks awesome, can't wait to see it finished.

papromike

Wheels.

appatula

Why chrome? I'm not much of a chrome fan, I am a mono guy though Nice wheelllllzzz

vanwiek

Nice...

papromike

Got Em really (dirt) cheap, and they are the right offset with brand new tires on them


They will be de-chromed, My Buddy works for a machine shop/powdercoating place and they will be mildly media blasted, then silver powder coated in the centers..


No problemo...

ZorroAMG

De-chrome is win.

appatula

ahhhh much much better.....

or as Mark would say....... FTW!!! haha

Bigpete123

Excellent work on the console.

Can you please let me know what kind of stripper you used? This MIGHT be a project I'll undertake someday. Except if I do it, I'm so **** that I would probably want to do it on all of the pieces and put a moderate stain or dye on them to make sure they all match.

Anyway, yeah. If you could let me know what kind of stripper you used, that would be a big help.

papromike

I stripped all of the pieces to make them all match.

the factory uses a neutral wood filler to fill in all the grain on the wood, but unfortunately the drawback to that is is takes away alot of the detail in the wood.


For everything I used the following

Jasco brand laquer stripper, its a gell like substance and you will have to re-apply it about 5x's on each piece.

Pour it on liberally and let it become white, then removed it with 0000 steel wool. Again, I did this about 5-6 times per piece.

Once the wood was completely clear of the old laquer, I then rubbed the wood down with 0000 steel wool again and then rubbed in 3-4 coats (again with the steel wool) of Dark Walnut Stain. I did a buddy of mines in Ebony stain and it also looked amazing.

Once that stain is dry I started laying down coats of automotive clear laquer.

I used Duplicolor Clear in a spray can, started with a light spray and then progressivly (over a period of about a week) laid on coats of the clear. Once about 5 good coats of clear were laid down, I Lightly sanded with 320 grit sandpaper to remove the fish eyes caused by the pourous wood.

After each of 2-3 coats I sanded again allowing approx 1-2 hours between coats.

Once I got to the desired thickness, I begain sanding with 600 grit between coats and then about another 2-3 coats.

Once all of that was dried (about 1-2 days) I buffed it with my bench buffer and meguiars show car glaze until shiny.

Overall this process took me about a full week to do, but the results were very nice and the wood turned out beautiful.

So here is what you need

0000 steel wool
Jasco Laquer Stripper
Stain ( your choice of color)
320, 600 grit sandpaper
Automotive grade Clear Laquer

patience

Bigpete123

lol, I think this is the most important thing on your list! But man I bet it looks fantastic!

Thanks for the detailed instructions. I will definitely refer back to this.

Saijin_Naib

Seriously. Favorite this thread already in the event that I get ambitious and repair my center console.

papromike

Installed my Euro Headlights this weekend, to check for fit..


Turned out pretty good, Now I get to pull it all apart next week for Paint.




Got all of the wood installed and a set of OE mercedes W124 Floor Mats with MB logos




Wood turned out really nice, the interior of the car looks Brand New.. I am very pleased with how it turned out, I cant wait to get the springs, wheels, new tires, body kit and paint on it..

Yacht Master

Good job, I think if you paint same color it will turn out magnificent.