Given the earlier roofs are far more reliable, I’m not sure the tilting feature is really worth the effort.   The broken arms got all jammed up in the mechanism, and since the roof lining was already out for the roof racks, it was easier to drop the whole sunroof cassette.

Unlike on the W126, the genuine lifting arms were still available for the W124.  However, to get both sides would cost over USD$600, before GST and delivery.  While I prefer to use genuine parts where I can, I couldn’t justify it.  There are quite a few aftermarket options, of varying quality.  The ones from China were much cheaper, but I’ve not heard good things about them.  In the end I went with an AIN kit, that looks like it came from Turkey.  It cost about USD$200 including delivery and GST.

When it arrived it looked quite good quality and was made from metal.  Comparing it against the old one it seemed to fit quite well.   This didn’t solve the complete problem.  Even with the new lifting arms, the sunroof was still binding. In the end, the issue turned out to be a broken rivet in the rails.  This was causing one of the rails to sit a few mm higher than it should.  Its probably why the original lifting arms broke.

The final part was the bracket that holds the sunroof cable to the sunroof had broken.  This is part 126 782 01 40 and is still available new.  It was USD$16 before shipping and GST.   I was also missing a rubber insert for the bumper on the left side – part number 124 885 05 23 which was also $16.  I was lucky to be missing that side, as the right hand side seems to be NLA, although aftermarket parts seem to be available, but more expensive.

Those were the last parts required and from there it was re-assembly.  The repairer made sure to use lots of sealant for the rear windows so water couldn’t get in under the new seals. I’ve now collected the car and it looks great, better than ever.

The post w124 crash repair – sunroof repair appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

Once all the rust was repaired, the next step was obviously paint. Since the whole car was not being resprayed, just the rear quarters and roof the colour had to be blended in. The goal wasn’t to get my car perfect, but to fix any rust and get it looking really good without the expense of a full respray.

While most of the work is in the preparation, it’s when the colour goes on that the car is really transformed. Seeing how much better it was looking when I visited made a big difference.

The car looks really sleek without the roof racks and rubbing strips on the roof.  However, I do plan to put it back to the stock look.

The bumper was painted separately and will go on later.  One of the things that attracted me to this car at the time of purchase was the colour – 888 Beryll.  Its a great colour and looks so much better without the badly faded roof.   By 1990 it was getting rarer for a Mercedes-Benz to be sold in an interesting colour.

I was also impressed with the red XJC parked under the hoist next to my 300TE.  I’m a big fan of the XJC, and red is a great colour for one.

The post W124 crash repair – rust repair and repaint appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

I have the car back in my warehouse.     To re-assemble I need to:

• Re-fit the four door cards, rear seats and carpets
• Polish the boot hinges, fit the boot, C pillar trims etc
• Polish and re-assemble the rear bumper
• Re-fit the lights and rear number plate
• Rear indicators
• Antenna and rear view mirrors

In addition, the wiring is not right for the headlights so this will need to be traced one at a time.     It will probably be some weeks before I can do this.   I also need to order a few trim pieces for the car.

The car was crashed in September last year, so will be over a year off the road.    However, the transformation is amazing.

The post DS Paint Complete appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

The front of the car looks pretty much as it should now.   Just minor adjustments for panel fit left.    The painted wheels also make a massive difference.

The rear wings are also now done and adjusted.   I’ll be doing the boot lid when I get the car home.

The post DS final adjustment appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

I’m really happy with the decision to change the colour and to have the back of the car done.   Its not going to be cheap, but there is a night and day difference to the old paintwork.      The chassis has also been painted black which is correct for the car.    Rouge Massena is a great choice for this car.   You never can tell 100% from the sample.   It is much nicer than the Rio Red painted at home, or the white the car was originally painted.

There is really not much left to do.   The bonnet obviously needs to be mounted, and the doors aligned.      I will be re-assembling the rear of the car myself as I stripped to to save costs.       At 47 years of age, I doubt this car has ever looked as good.

The DS is somewhat unique as the chassis is black and the panels bolt on.   This makes a DS paint job much more reasonable to do a colour change.    I doubt I would have attempted this with any other car.

The post DS Paint almost complete appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

So far, the roof is painted as is the underside of the bonnet and valence.  They will be flipped over and the top painted, and then on to the rear wings.   After almost a year off the road its heartening to see the car starting to look so good.

The post Paint starts on the Citroen DS appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

The respray took place over three weeks (Week 1, Week 2, Week 3).  In addition, rust was cut out, and the air cleaner was re-painted.

The post 450SLC Repaint completed appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

In addition to having the car re-sprayed, I had the air cleaner resprayed in black and the chrome arch covers removed as they can attract rust.    The brackets that attach the fog lights were also done.

I personally find the chrome arch covers gaudy.   They are not factory, but were a popular period accessory.  The respray was a good opportunity to remove them.

The resprayed 906G really sets off the lines of the SLC.  I personally find it to be one of the nicer colours offered on the 450SLC.

The post 450SLC Repaint part 3 appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

Where components could be reasonably removed, they were to ensure that they were painted correctly.   The 450SLC is 906G which is Grey/Blue metallic.    I’ve always really liked this colour, more so than the 930 Silver blue that replaced it (which I had on the 280CE). And the 355 Diamond blue (which I had on my 300E) which replaced Silver blue.  The G in 906G refers to the original paint supplier, Glasurit in this case.

In addition, the little mounting brackets for the foglights were sprayed and the air cleaner was sprayed black as it had some surface rust.

Remaining is to cut and polish the paint and start replacing the trim.   I purchased some of the red trim clips and dropped them off as after 40 years the original ones would have been brittle and it makes little sense to re-use them.   The car should be complete this week.

The Red W116 that can be seen in the top left is a 6.9 with a custom paint job.   This car is known as the Red Terror!  It has as custom 690SEL badge rather than the factory setup.   The 6.9 was originally brown.  The car is currently for sale.   The sunlight in the photo is making it look more orange than it really is.

The post 450SLC Repaint part 2 appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

The starting point was the chassis rail on the drivers side.  This is as very common W107 rust spot.

This was welded and then painted.

From there, work moved to the boot where both sides were rusting and there was some rust starting in the spare tyre well.  Again this is a very common W107 rust spot.   Even Australian delivered cars that have been garaged can develop rust here.

This section was probably the worst on the car.

There was also some rust behind both front wheels that needed attending to.   Road debris puts small holes in the underseal allowing water/mud flicked up by the wheels to start rust.   Again, a very common W107 rust spot.

The bootlid also had to be prepared.   The design of the W107 boot lid is rather poor in my view.   There is a metal fold on the inside of the lid.   Water gets in here and rusts the lid from the inside.   Mine was rusting on both sides.

There were also a couple of small areas where the trim attached to the car.  These can get quite bad on the W107, as well as on the W116 and W123.    What is not shown on these pictures is the sills and jacking points, which only needed minor work in my case.   Also around the rear windscreen that I did about ten years ago.    Rust in this area causes the rear screen to delaminate.

From there the trim could be removed and the car prepared for paint

Next week there is still move preparation to do, and then the paint starts to go on.

The post 450SLC Repaint part 1 appeared first on Classic Jalopy.