My 1974 Mercedes 230.4 Restoration

[Markb]

Hi folks,

New member here - joined a good while ago, but my Mercedes interest died down for a while!

A bit about myself - I'm a lifetime car fanatic, I've spent stupid amounts of time on the things and I have overcome any boundaries to own what I want. I will admit now, and get it out of the way, that I'm also a big BMW fan. I just like all cars that do something well!

Anyway, currently in my possession are:
2008 Saab 9-3 (company car)
1979 Mercedes 350SE in Charcoal Grey with Black Leather Interior - My next project
1978 Mercedes 230C in Red with brown interior - this is pretty much sold
1974 Mercedes
1974 Mini Clubman project
1969 Mini Miglia racing car with 120bhp - weekend warrior
Also in my care (the gf's) is a 1998 Rover Mini which has been mechanically rebuilt by myself.

Anyway... on to the W115...

I think I posted pics when I bought it, but here is the full story:

This is the first Mercedes I ever bought (Nov 2008), a car I've always admired and a bit of an Impulse buy if I'm honest. It's also my first complete restoration. I'd like to note now, that as you'll see, this clearly isn't a concours resto - I like to enjoy my cars!

Below are the quotes from another site I post on, hope you enjoy.

I present to you my 1974 W115 230.4 auto with 56k on the clock that I think is genuine (good bit of history).

Needed the following work to get it on the road:
Drivers front corner in bits.
Both rear corners of the floor are rotten
Passenger side a hole in it
Bottom of most of the doors aren't great
Bootlid needs some love.
A couple of door seals ideally
Brake hoses need to be changed but came with it.
Get the dash lights working
A couple of exhaust hangers
Service

Thank god it starts/runs/stops like it's meant to and everything works.

Started chopping out all the rust. This is the pic of the worst of it:

Had a couple of weeks of evenings doing this, and was about to go get a welder, but then my gf blew up her car and racing season started again.

I bought new wheels for it:

Genuine Lorinser alloys from the 80s - awesome.

Then nothing really happened until last Monday....

July 9th:

Update time. My girlfriend is working up in Belfast for the next few weeks & work has got less crazy, giving me my week nights back again ;D

So, decided to re-mojo myself to get the 115 done. The 116 doesn't achieve classic status here until November, so it will be taking the 115s place in the garage once it's done.

First thing I've done is order my wheel nuts to fit the new rimz. Measured up the offsets etc, and it looks like these wheels were made for the car - perfect

Finished off most of the cutting. Bit more grinding to be done but hey, that's life.

Bought 3m^2 of metal for €24 ;D

After this, first thing I did was start cutting the repair patches for the passenger side, as these were the easiest. While doing this I sliced off part of my finger, but soldiered on. The Merc is now red.

The hole from the inside:

The inside repair patch

The hole from the outside:

The first repair patch:

Total fail of a photo, but shows the curve upwards and the second repair patch

And I decided to fit my new lambo wing kit:

You can see the new bit of grot I found at the bottom of the wing - was previously hidden by same.

The mojo is back in full effect. I'm probably not doing a great job compared to what most can do, but I just want to get the bloody thing on the road. Collecting the welder before the weekend, so should have some good progress then. Ordering all of the service items later hopefully. Have 4 new brake lines to fit too.

* DISCLAIMER: All metal around weldable plates still to be grinded back - covered in Kurust, paint and all sorts of crap.

July 11th:

Update - I don't possess awesome welding skills.

In my favour, I'm using crappy pure Argon gas that is designed for alu welding and it's only my first day welding. I'm also using mega thin metal. I did really nice butt welds on some thick angle Iron!

Today's progress:
Drivers front corner is DONE!! All I have to do is put back on the wing, and lower it off the axle stands. I also chopped the springs there, took out 2 coils so should be interesting to see how she sits now!

Drivers rear corner - all repair patches made up - ridiculously complicated, but my mate managed to make em out of 4 pieces of metal, so should be a quick enough weld job.

Passenger front corner - can't do it until the car is turned around due to space, but all the patches are made and ready to go.

I used utterpiffle's spring compressor idea and it worked nicely - not without a heart in mouth moment due to my lack of skills, and not making the lower section strong enough!

Tomorrow, I need to get some decent gas, then attack driver rear 1/4, get car turned around and then attack passengers front 1/4. Not looking forward to the drivers passengers rear 1/4. That's going to be horrible - it's the worst by a mile.

Pics coming soon.

July 12th:

Forgot camera today :|

Todays progress...

Went out last night, so didn't hit the garage til 3 today. Got some Argon/Co2 mix gas today which has ended up with much better welds

I had to remake a good few of the drivers rear 1/4 repair panels. I got most of it done - 1 more tiny bit of welding to go and then I am ready to prep it for underseal.

My long suffering girlfriend helped today - she cleaned up all of the underside of the drivers inner wing and undersealed it. It looks fantastic.

Gonna spend some late nights in there during the week - aim is to be finished welding by this time next week!

Job list:
Cut out all the rot
Front drivers side - make up repair panels
Front drivers side - welding
Front drivers side - undersealing
Rear drivers side - make up repair panels
Rear drivers side - welding
Rear drivers side - undersealing
Front Passenger side - make up repair panels
Front Passenger side - welding
Front Passenger side - undersealing
Rear Passenger side - make up repair panels
Rear Passenger side - welding
Rear Passenger side - undersealing
Repair bootlid
Paint preperation
Paint
Chop the springs
Straighten Grille
Service
Fit 4 brake lines
Fit wheels
Refit Interior
Polish
Re-register, Tax & Insure

July 13th:

So today, didn't get out to the garage until 6.30 due to work.

So got the rear drivers side finished today Really happy with how it worked out. The welding still isn't amazing, but it's getting better!

Found out that the drivers wing doesn't quite sit right. Bit gutted, but it isn't hugely noticeable!

I once again fail at pics, brought camera, but left cable in work - will upload pics in the am!

Job list:
Cut out all the rot
Front drivers side - make up repair panels
Front drivers side - welding
Front drivers side - undersealing
Rear drivers side - make up repair panels
Rear drivers side - welding
Rear drivers side - undersealing
Front Passenger side - make up repair panels
Front Passenger side - welding
Front Passenger side - undersealing
Rear Passenger side - make up repair panels
Rear Passenger side - welding
Rear Passenger side - undersealing
Repair bootlid
Paint preperation
Paint
Chop the springs
Straighten Grille
Service
Fit 4 brake lines
Fit wheels
Refit Interior
Polish
Re-register, Tax & Insure

Pics:
Only have 2 pics, as the rest of the pics are on my mates camera (from sat)

Front repair. The patch you see is the first bit of welding I did on the car. I barely grinded it down as I was too keen to get the thing done, which I now regret, but ah well - can do it at some stage.
I also rebuilt the whole end of the sill there, but not my sums on the channel a bit wrong, as the wing comes out by about 10mm now at the front. Again, I'll sort out later - not vital for getting to RR:G!

(that isn't a rusty hole beside the patch btw )

Here is my rear repair. I basically rebuilt the whole rear corner and most of the sill underneath. Probably not an amazing job, but it's very solid and I think it follows the factory lines well! I also had to replace the end of the arch which was completely rotten, again I reckon I got as close as I could without going insane!

Back over tonight to get the car turned around and start work on the other side. DRIVERS SIDE DONE!! Not bad considering I'd never held a welder in my life this time 3 days ago!

 

[Markb]

July 14th:

Update time - PASSENGER FRONT DONE!!!

Woot.

Got to the garage at 5pm, got down to business straight away!

Car started on the button - hasn't been run since January or so - very impressed. Here's a pic for good luck:

Managed to get it back into the garage before this happened:

Tidyish garage:

Last taxed:

3 patches in underneath:

Patch completed inside:

So that's the front Pass side done.

Weird thing is, even though I lobbed 2 coils off the drivers side, it doesn't seem much lower than the passenger side that has no coils off. I don't think the suspension was uneven before! Think I'll lob 2 coils off the pass side and see what happens!!!

Job list:
Cut out all the rot
Front drivers side - make up repair panels
Front drivers side - welding
Front drivers side - undersealing
Rear drivers side - make up repair panels
Rear drivers side - welding
Rear drivers side - undersealing
Front Passenger side - make up repair panels
Front Passenger side - welding
Front Passenger side - undersealing
Rear Passenger side - make up repair panels
Rear Passenger side - welding
Rear Passenger side - undersealing
Repair bootlid
Paint preperation
Paint
Chop the springs
Straighten Grille
Service
Fit 4 brake lines
Fit wheels
Refit Interior
Polish
Re-register, Tax & Insure


Getting there

This awaits me for the weekend:

July 16th:

Mojo is high but 50 mile return trip to the garage every night is starting to get wearing though!

Couldn't do any work on it last night as I worked 7am til 10.30pm, but tonight I managed to get off on time and headed straight to the garage.

Didn't fancy grinding so I replaced the brake hoses. To be honest, the ones on it looked fine, but they were included with the car so I got them changed. Also means I can do a full brake fluid change.

Then I started on the rear corner. Got 2 repair panels made up and in - the easiest and most difficult.

Grille also in Chez Pops Mark so that should be sorted soon.

The wheel nuts arrived Wheels look awesome if I do say so myself!!

I am ordering all of the service items tomorrow, hopefully I can collect some of them on Saturday morning so should be able to get a start on that.

Job list:
Cut out all the rot
Front drivers side - make up repair panels
Front drivers side - welding
Front drivers side - undersealing
Rear drivers side - make up repair panels
Rear drivers side - welding
Rear drivers side - undersealing
Front Passenger side - make up repair panels
Front Passenger side - welding
Front Passenger side - undersealing
Rear Passenger side - make up repair panels
Rear Passenger side - welding
Rear Passenger side - undersealing
Repair bootlid
Paint preperation
Paint
Chop the springs
Straighten Grille
Service
Fit 4 brake hoses
Fit wheels
Refit Interior
Polish
Re-register, Tax & Insure

Today:

Ordered lots of stuff today. As well as flights to New York and ferrys to the UK for the Retro Rides Gathering!

Bilt Hamber order:
4 x 750ml Aerosol dynax S-50 £47.80
1kg Tub deox-gel £ 9.45
1kg Tub deox-C £ 11.95
500ml Tub hydrate 80 £ 12.95
2 x 500ml Aerosol etchweld £16.96
200g Bar Regular auto-clay £ 9.95
Postage: £ 18.00
Total: £ 127.06

Service Items (all prices+vat):
10w40 semi synthetic - €22
oil filter m12004p1 - €6.80
plugs m92079 - €10.12
atf m98043 - €8.50
coolant - m98072 3 €22.98
Total: €125

Ordered an Air filter from ebay - £18 robbery.

Already have brake fluid, just need to get some wipers now

Also found the previous MOT from when they tried to get it back on the road in 2008

Need to add full wheel alignment & balancing to the list also, but that's a long way off yet.
I also need to fix the handbrake. Job List is growing :\

 

[C240Sport97]

like the red interior ..

white and red is a classic combination

I was driven to school in W115s .. fond memories

Look forward to seeing the project complete

 

[The Boss]

wow, what a lovely car she was, is and will be!

 

[Markb]

Update: WELDING FINISHED!!!!!

Didn't get out to the garage today until 12pm as we had a power cut so my alarm didn't go off! Collected all my service parts on the way.

Today was the tricky welding - repair some of the arch itself and do the rest of the rear 1/4 repairs.

My mate came along and got the bootlid repaired

Massive repair required. Happy with the welding, tidier than it looks in the pic

Repair I did on Thursday night:

2 of the 4 bits of the arch that I had to repair, happy with these!

The hardest arch repair. Tidied it some more after this pic.

Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of the really complicated bit I did on Thursday night but it's hidden now behind the big repair!

Can't wait to drive it now. More updates tomorrow

Job list:
Cut out all the rot
Front drivers side - make up repair panels
Front drivers side - welding
Front drivers side - undersealing
Rear drivers side - make up repair panels
Rear drivers side - welding
Rear drivers side - undersealing
Front Passenger side - make up repair panels
Front Passenger side - welding
Front Passenger side - undersealing
Rear Passenger side - make up repair panels
Rear Passenger side - welding
Rear Passenger side - undersealing
Repair bootlid
Straighten Grille
Service
Fit 4 brake lines
Fit wheels
Paint preparation
Paint
Chop the springs
Fit Wheels
Refit Interior
Polish
Re-register, Tax & Insure


The bit I'm not looking forward to is paint prep and paint itself. Not going to do a full respray, just a partial to tidy up the bits I welded. No idea how it's going to turn out!

 

[Markb]

Another update...

Eimear, my missus, came and helped today and got some serious interior cleaning done:

Got the interior fitted:

Pics don't do it justice, looks much better - the garage is just mega dusty!

Changed the other 2 brake hoses - these were ridiculously difficult compared to the other 2. Vice grips and swearing was involved.

Got most of the service done - only need to do atf & oil change - need a crazy massive allen key to undo the bolts.


Got 1 of the rear springs chopped.
Some filthy filthy pics.

I freaking love this car.


Job list:
Cut out all the rot
Front drivers side - make up repair panels
Front drivers side - welding
Front drivers side - undersealing
Rear drivers side - make up repair panels
Rear drivers side - welding
Rear drivers side - undersealing
Front Passenger side - make up repair panels
Front Passenger side - welding
Front Passenger side - undersealing
Rear Passenger side - make up repair panels
Rear Passenger side - welding
Rear Passenger side - undersealing
Repair bootlid
Straighten Grille
Service
Fit 4 brake lines
Paint preparation
Paint
Chop the springs
Fit Wheels
Refit Interior
Polish
Re-register, Tax & Insure

 

[Toff190]

Very nice, keep up the good work and more pictures please.

 

[Howard]

Mate , that is going to look lovely !

White and red , what a lovely combination .

I like the alloys but can't help thinking it would look nicer on the original steels with the painted hub cabs .

 

[219]

Nice car , but I too would keep it original . At least don't do anything that isn't reversible .

 

[James Rothwell]

That is such a cool car, I really want a proper old Mercedes with the stacked headlights, there isn't much that is cooler!

 

[74merc]

I found your restoration thread on Retro Rides and read every page of it. I've got a 250CE in similiar condition and you've kick-started my 'mojo' to restore it. I started doing a bit of welding but got a bit disheartened at the extent of it. I love the wheels by the way, normally I don't like anything non-OE but they really suit the car.

 

[Markb]

Nice car , but I too would keep it original . At least don't do anything that isn't reversible .

Everything I do is reversible I still have the original wheels and hubcaps, and suspension springs are changeable

There are plenty of original ones driving around, in fact I saw another at a show recently, and I prefer it like this!

Thanks for all the kind words by the way folks, it's much appreciated

 

[74merc]

What type of springs did you use to lower it? How much of a drop?

 

[SilverSaloon]

Hi

Welcome to the forum, and Well done. Looks a cracking resto project.

you may be interested in seeing my R107 restoration stuff here: Mercedes R107 SL Restoration

Like yourself, this is my 1st attempt at welding etc. pretty happy with how things are going so far, but as always, it takes ten times longer than you 1st thing and costs a packet more!! nothing beats the feeling once you've achieved what you wanted though and the car is running.

i only got the chance to work in spare evenings, i find writing a schedule or todo and keeping it updated helps. also have a "completed" section so you can see how far you've come which helps moral! also i found it good to do a nightly todo list in addition to that that i try to complete each night. this keeps things progressing well and allows you to plan your days of work ahead.

good luck and i'll follow the upcoming threads/pics with interest.

make sure you only do modifications that are reversable....

 

[Dee-124CAB]

Got to say..... I love the Lorinser's !

I know they are of 80's vintage but with the finish you have gone with on them they look period on your very 70's Merc.

Well done!

 

[219]

The car is coming along nicely - well done !

One thing - I see you mentioned using 10W40 oil - I would hesitate to use modern 'thin' oils in an engine of this vintage , which was designed to run on 20-50 multigrades , and would look for an oil closer to the manufacturer's specification .

 

[Markb]

Pontoneer, thanks for the tip. I used 10W40 semi synthetic on the recommendation of some Mercedes restoring friends. They told me 20w50 was too thick, which was a pain as I run my Minis on 20w50.

Thought some people might like to see a few pics from it's maiden trip:

Did the 642miles (satnav) without too much hassle, just a knocking driveshaft and a leak 10 miles from home.

 

[timwood2000]

Wow - absolutely love it! Great job. IMO, one of the best looking Mercs ever made. Didn't think the lowering and Lorinsers would work, but they do.

 

[Howard]

. Didn't think the lowering and Lorinsers would work, but they do.

I was thinking exactly the same thing

 

[vijilants]

I was thinking exactly the same thing

Ditto.....the car looks very nice