My plan was to remove the after market chrome wheel arch trims.  I have removed them from both the 450SLC and my 300SE.   On this car they have been attached with both screws and glue.  I don’t think I will easily be able to remove them and not have marks on the paint, so I will leave them in place for now.

Next was to inspect the fuses.  This is something I like to do with a new car to ensure the fuses are all correct and in good condition.   The ceramic fuses used in Mercedes of this era become brittle with age.  I’ve also found that sometimes previous owners substitute the wrong fuses.   On this car all the fuses were correct, but a number were quite old and brittle.   Three of them came apart as I removed them.   Therefore I replaced all the fuses with new ones.

The Mercedes fuse box has places to hold spare fuses.  It is also worth making sure the spare fuses are in good condition as well.

Next was to flush the power steering system.   To do this job properly you need an assistant.  Without an assistant you will get power steering fluid everywhere and the pump will suck air for a few seconds.   I didn’t have an assistant today, so when I do this job on the 300SE, I will make sure I do!   I was pleased to see that the car had the proper Mercedes power steering fluid and not ATF.   This fluid is similar colour to engine oil.    I’m glad I ddi the flush as the fluid that came out was very dirty.     I also changed the filter as a matter of course.

From there I turned my attention to cleaning the inside.  The seats had responded well to a clean and feed, but there were still dirty areas in the interior.   The worst was the headlining.   The sunroof panel was extremely dirty and there was also an oily residue above the drivers head.   I can only assume a previous owner used a lot of product in their hair.     The first picture shows the headlining before cleaning.

The spot on the right is above the drivers head.   I used an Auto-Glym interior shampoo.   It made a big difference and the microfiber towels I was using for the cleaning were filthy from the amount of dirt it was able to remove.   I also used it on some other dirty areas as well as the small carpet in the centre console.   The second picture is after cleaning and while it is not perfect, it is certainly a lot better.  

I also checked the condition of the air filter, it is not bad but does need changing.   This has been added to the shopping list.

Originally I was planning to check if there was any residual charge in the AC.   However, I discovered that the system has never been converted to R134A.   This is surprising as it has been in Australia since 2005.   Since A/C systems must be evacuated before import, it is possible it has not worked since then.   That does not bode well for fixing it cheaply.

Also further investigation points to the occasional puffs of smoke as either Valve Stem Seals or Valve Guides.   The Valve Stem seals can be done with the heads in place, but guides require the heads to be removed.

The post 560SEC Improvements Part 2 appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

I achieved good results on the roof, but overall there was much to do.

Today I used stage 1 on the bonnet and front wings.  Took a few hours but much better than before.  In the first photo you can see the front 1/3 of the bonnet has been done – compare the reflection of the flurecent lights with the rear of the bonnet that had not.

In the 2nd photo, you can see the results of the entire bonnet finished with stage 1.   Stage 1 is the cutting compound and stage 2 completes the job.

I still have to do the doors, rear wings and boot lid.   I will probably also touch up the roof again too.

This paint job will never be show quality, but with enough elbow grease, it should look very good from a few meters away.

The post The DS is that little bit shinier appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

Overall the car is looking much better.  Despite going through the paint in a few places where it was very bubbly, there is now some shine on the paint and the rear wings especially are not a matte finish anymore.   I will do one more go of the stage 2 polish when I get some time.

I also spent some time trying to work out why my new Radio keeps ‘rebooting’.

The Radio requires two 12v feeds – one that is always on, and an accessory feed.   I had connected both to the point behind the dash were the Citroen manual suggests that radios etc should be wired in, and the accessory feed was going through a spare dash switch so I could turn the radio on and off.

Given that it was an original Citroen switch (I think for Hazard lights) my first try was that perhaps the radio was trying to suck too much power down that wire, so I put in a small relay that was rated 30A.    The radio is still rebooting so my next step will be to wire the 12v directly to the battery.   That will be quite a big job unfortunately!

The post Polishing day appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

I started with a wash as the car was a little dusty.   From there, I used a clay bar to try and remove any contaminants in the paint before I wet sanded it.   I started with 1,500 grit and then went to 2,000 grit.    While many of the videos I found on YouTube used a sanding block, I found it easier without one.

After that I used Auto Glym Paint Pro to polish up the paint.

So far, I have wet sanded:

• The rear wings
• The boot lid
• The roof
• passengers side doors

I still need to wet sand the drivers side, the bonnet and the front wings.

I’ve only polished the roof so far.

This photo shows some of the wet sanding and the roof part polished.

The roof polished up.   Looks good!

The balance here was to sand enough to smooth the paint without going through to the primer.   In the roof this was easier as the paint was better applied.    The rear wings were the worst on the car, so I will not be able to get them perfect, just better.   Unfortunately I’m going to have to accept some primer showing up if I want them not to look like they are matte red.

The post Almost Shiny DS appeared first on Classic Jalopy.