Pics of my new interior!

[SimonsMerc]

Out of interest what was the insurance valuation now? (I'm sure you've set up an agreed value policy for a car like that!).

-simon

 

[KLP 92]

Sits here and contemplates the sheer effort that has gone into its rebuild. A man with patience and taste. Hats off to you Nav. Soooooooo whats the next project?

Thanks for all the postive comments everyone!

Like Ian says, its been a long hard struggle with this car (2 years to be precise). The project would have gone belly up some time ago but its with the knowledge and help of 2 people that spurred me on. Firstly an B Walker, the amount of technical advice that he's offered over the last 2 years has been unbelievable. He's like a walking/talking Haynes Car manual! Whenever i needed help, he was a phonecall away and helped me with endless engine running issues.

Secondly, Talbir Baines, this guy is a W126 God. He cured the misfire that drove me mad for a year (+ 2 MB main dealers + George Frasers) in less than 2 hours.

Next project?? Well i have the M119 V8 on its way so am looking for a donor car. Saw a E280 W124 estate with an AMG kit, was really tempted but decided in the last 30 seconds not to. Yes it would be amazing, but with the time/cost involved , may be easier to buy a 500e! I'm just going to take a break for a few months from the serious modification scene, it gets too much after a while!

The car looks alot better in the flesh, pictures don't do it justice. just spent the day refitting the amplifiers back on the rear panel, sorting out the wiring in the boot and mounting the subwoofer in its custom trimmed leather enclosure:

Will waxoyl the inside of the boot tomorrow as all panels have been removed to refit the amps.

 

[KLP 92]

Out of interest what was the insurance valuation now? (I'm sure you've set up an agreed value policy for a car like that!).

-simon

I'm in process of having a valuation done, realistically will be valued by them between £15-20k. The insurance company is awiaiting the bill from te interior company + pictures before they settle a figure.

Well anything is better than the £3-4k book value!

 

[nickg]

from the look of the photos-fantastic. the absolute epitome of how an SEC should look IMHO - actually the interior looks really modern yet timeless at the same time.
Leagues ahead of current MB interiors.

The one thing that disapppoints me about my toerag is that the quality of the interior on this 2 yr old car is not as good as the 10 yr old Merc that I sold.

 

[ADY1983]

The car looks alot better in the flesh, pictures don't do it justice. just spent the day refitting the amplifiers back on the rear panel, sorting out the wiring in the boot and mounting the subwoofer in its custom trimmed leather enclosure:

Will waxoyl the inside of the boot tomorrow as all panels have been removed to refit the amps.

Mmm! W7? I have 2 W3 V2's just sort of thrown in the boot, I really must do a proper install...

 

[KLP 92]

Mmm! W7? I have 2 W3 V2's just sort of thrown in the boot, I really must do a proper install...

Its easy on a W124, the carpet panel pulls out, just put a thin board behind it and screw the amps in. The W126 has a metal panel that is bolted in! Nightmare of a job to do!

 

[ADY1983]

Its easy on a W124, the carpet panel pulls out, just put a thin board behind it and screw the amps in. The W126 has a metal panel that is bolted in! Nightmare of a job to do!

Yeah it looks quite easy I need to get it all runing right first, I plan to keep it for a while yet so plenty of time for that

The SEC, tell me about it i have started to replace the interior in the 500, i picked up a new parcel shelf and first aid boxes with the leather, but there was 6x9's in the way i have taken them out now but who ever fitted them had cut the metal panel next to the fuel tank... was hoping for a quick tart up and sell it, so i can concentrate on my CE. I have ended up taking the dash out to fit the new wood so maybe a long tart up i'll start a thread tomorrow i think, dont know if i could follow this thread though

 

[SimonsMerc]

I'm in process of having a valuation done, realistically will be valued by them between £15-20k. The insurance company is awiaiting the bill from te interior company + pictures before they settle a figure.

Well anything is better than the £3-4k book value!

That's exactly what I was thinking. It would be an absolute tragedy if someone knocked it off the road and they said "oh here's your three grand"! You must have easily invested over 10k in that so far, no? I have no idea of prices, but it looks closer to 20

-simon

 

[--phill--]

how good can a car be. i think those pictures show how good it can be !
to own and indeed have a hobby modifying/restoring cars this end result must be very pleasing.

an amazing car thats cool enough in its retroness to feature in a modern film.


one suggestion, there are people out there that are exellent at taking pictures. may i suggest you sort a professional photoshoot. this way when it fades from memory in many years time you can look back and remember the good times and what you acheived.

well done m8

phill

 

[KLP 92]

That's exactly what I was thinking. It would be an absolute tragedy if someone knocked it off the road and they said "oh here's your three grand"! You must have easily invested over 10k in that so far, no? I have no idea of prices, but it looks closer to 20

-simon

I stopped counting after £10k! Realistically i've spent between £15-20k in total (inc the £3k sound system) and the cost of the car.

The main prob was the engine issue. It was misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis at GF and a job that was quoted to cost £1500 ended up triple that. By the time it left there the bodywork and interior were in a state and with the car costing so much already one thing led to another.

With the bodywork looking mint, and the engine running smoothly i couldn't exactly skimp out on the interior!

 

[Parrot of Doom]

I think I just did a little sex wee. That is astoundingly good.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

In fact its so good, I think you should make a little video, and put this rather nice bit of music over the top:

http://mp3.juno.co.uk/MP3/SF168033-01-01-01.mp3

Its the music used in the Top Gear race where Clarkson is in the Ferrari IIRC, and May and Hammond are on a boat to Oslo

 

[SimonsMerc]

I stopped counting after £10k! Realistically i've spent between £15-20k in total (inc the £3k sound system) and the cost of the car.

The main prob was the engine issue. It was misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis at GF and a job that was quoted to cost £1500 ended up triple that. By the time it left there the bodywork and interior were in a state and with the car costing so much already one thing led to another.

With the bodywork looking mint, and the engine running smoothly i couldn't exactly skimp out on the interior!

Interesting. I also had a case of multiple misdiagnoses at GF recently. After having the injector seals and glow plugs changed, the car was sometimes behaving horribly, stalling and so on. After at least five visits to get it rectified, with a number of extra procedures, I took it to a local specialist, who fixed it by properly pushing in the connector from the ECU to the common rail (car has been perfect ever since).

I'm not complaining about the service - GF is good and generally very fair. The extra visits were free, the only charge was £20 for changing the brake switch. Yet I was disappointed that such a simple thing was such a pain to resolve and was missed so often. They seem very busy every time I'm there - the price of getting popular I suppose!

-simon

 

[KLP 92]

Interesting. I also had a case of multiple misdiagnoses at GF recently. After having the injector seals and glow plugs changed, the car was sometimes behaving horribly, stalling and so on. After at least five visits to get it rectified, with a number of extra procedures, I took it to a local specialist, who fixed it by properly pushing in the connector from the ECU to the common rail (car has been perfect ever since).

I'm not complaining about the service - GF is good and generally very fair. The extra visits were free, the only charge was £20 for changing the brake switch. Yet I was disappointed that such a simple thing was such a pain to resolve and was missed so often. They seem very busy every time I'm there - the price of getting popular I suppose!

-simon

You're lucky, the SEC spent 14 months there and ended up with a rebuilt engine for an engine misfire, and the C class went in for a glowplug and came back 2 weeks later with a nw cylinder head

 

[mike c200]

whow
very nice jop you did to make the int compleet in leather

 

[perdikoyla888]

I am not sure about the colour choice. It will get dirty very quickly. maybe a darket coulour might have been more appropriate.

 

[Gollom]

I am not sure about the colour choice. It will get dirty very quickly. maybe a darket coulour might have been more appropriate.

You think he is going to let people SIT in it? And even if he does they will have to enter through a decontamination suite!

Only teasing......

P.S. If I had done what you have done, my grandsons would be walking places an awful lot..... :bannana:

 

[jaymanek]

whow
I am not sure about the colour choice. It will get dirty very quickly. maybe a darket coulour might have been more appropriate.QUOTE]

I dont think its supposed to be practical, its more for the looks than for daily use!

 

[KLP 92]

I am not sure about the colour choice. It will get dirty very quickly. maybe a darket coulour might have been more appropriate.

Some people have no taste

Yes it will get dirty quicker, but does anything else look so good I was originally going for a darker peachier shade but decided against it at the last minute as it was going to blend in too much with the rest of the car.

I only use the car for 1-2000 miles a year, and thats mainly weekends if the weather's good. I look after my car, regular cleaning of the car + yourself means the interior doesn't actually get that dirty.

 

[Kompressor_Dude]

That car is gorgeous, everything matches and the new interior really finishes it off

I usually dislike white interiors, and black wheels for that matter, but not here - looks like a proper old-skool mob car. i love it!