Sleeping Beauty

[Iconic]

Thank you for the pictures.
How incredibly exciting !! It sure looks nice.
That is a great car.
Many people struggle to find parts. As you know, you are in a great position, you can drive and enjoy it (after you safety items are done) while you continue to clean it up ... or just drive and enjoy it.
It sure looks like every part is there.
Have you read about the heater controls? It looks like yours are not broken yet, so care should be taken. Replacing those is one of the less-fun jobs.

[ABikePeddler]

Thank you for the pictures.
How incredibly exciting !! It sure looks nice.
That is a great car.
Many people struggle to find parts. As you know, you are in a great position, you can drive and enjoy it (after you safety items are done) while you continue to clean it up ... or just drive and enjoy it.
It sure looks like every part is there.
Have you read about the heater controls? It looks like yours are not broken yet, so care should be taken. Replacing those is one of the less-fun jobs.

 Yes, I have read much about the HIVAC controls. I am careful with them but they seem to operate very smoothly, although the lighting behind them is very dim at night. Would like to brighten them up with a cleaning and new bulbs. Speaking of bulbs... was astonished to discover that all of the cars exterior lighting works... even reverse lights!

[49er]

Yes, I have read much about the HIVAC controls. I am careful with them but they seem to operate very smoothly, although the lighting behind them is very dim at night. Would like to brighten them up with a cleaning and new bulbs. Speaking of bulbs... was astonished to discover that all of the cars exterior lighting works... even reverse lights!

 The earlier SL's used a hard colored plastic for the control levers and the later models used a hard black rubber, presumably for DOD safety reasons. Mine (rubber) literally crumbled to dust during my cars long nap and was the most expensive item during it's "awakening"

Have fun in your time machine:-)

John

[snowyt 69]

BikePeddler:
It is with great enjoyment that I follow your thread. Now I know why the people on this sight got such enjoyment out of following mine.
Glad your chrome polished up as well as it did. Sure it is still not perfect, but the question to ask yourself is, "Do I really want this car to be perfect? And if it were, would I really feel comfortable just driving it?"
With regards to your brakes. If they work well enough that you can actually drive the car, and the calipers and the wheel cylinders (I'm assuming the rear brakes are drums) do not leak, then the sponginess you feel in the pedal I would think is in the master cylinder. The whole system might just need to be bled.
I replaced the master cylinder, the flex lines, and some of the steel brake lines in Snow White. When I took the pads out of the car, not only were they brand new, but they were so new that I could still read the Mercedes parts numbers on them. The rotors all round in my car were surface rusted, but no pits or divots, so I just left them in place. Same with the calipers (all four of them).
They are there to this day. One thing Snow White does really well is stop. No issues. No pulling. No chattering. Just drag it down and stop.
To make a long story short, I think replacing the calipers, rotors, and wheel cylinders in your car might be money wasted. Just my two cents by the way.
Your seats don't look all that bad in the pictures, though in the pictures it looks like the driver's seat is a different colour than the passenger's. Also not sure if those seats are leather or MB Tex. A data card, which is free to you if you ask, will tell you what was in our car when it was built.
Don't worry about the state of the convertible top. Put a softball sized hole in the passenger rear quarter and lose all of the rear window to confetti and you have basically Snow White's top when I bought her. It is not the canvas you need be worried about. It is the frame. Does it raise and retract? Do the latching mechanisms actually latch like they are supposed to? This is important. Parts and labour to install a new top is about $1500.00. The frame for the top is $10,000.00.
I think BikePeddler that I am only different from other people on this sight only in that I do not have unlimited money, and thus I have been economical in my resurrection of Snow White. I did a good job, I had a whole lot of fun, and I love my car.
May the same prove true for you.

[ABikePeddler]

The earlier SL's used a hard colored plastic for the control levers and the later models used a hard black rubber, presumably for DOD safety reasons.

John

Do you mean "D.O.T." reasons?  Just a bit concerned the Defense Department might be sticking their nose in the Pagoda world.  lol

All the reading I have done on here about, well, EVERYTHING, does bring up very real concerns about those levers.  I will be very careful with them and at some point plan to delve into the dash to have the clock repaired, chase down an electrical gremlin with the under dash light switch and i want to clean the inside of the gauge glass with is hazed with patina.  While in there I will have a look at the levers, bulbs and look for any signs of stress that might cause a future issue. What I have heard about these levers is that they are acrylic and very stout.  Read that last night in fact on these forums.

The one thing I can't get to blow any kind of air is the round rotating air vents on either side of the dash.  No amount of working the dash levers seems to shift the air out those vents.  The levers only seem to control the air towards the wind screen (defrost) or onto the feet (better known as "wife setting".)  Have read everything on the forums about this and can't find any mention of how the side vents work. 

 

[ABikePeddler]

Snowy T -

I think I have read nearly everything about Snow White this past couple months as there was a ton of good information in the threads that followed your cars revival. I agree with you, perfection is.. well... stress inducing.  Having owned "perfection" before I am only interested in returning this car to what I would describe as the historically correct condition that it was while in the care of my parents.  It was a driver and it will remain that way.     

Original seats were finished in MB Tex in the dark charcoal color as is the rear Kinder 3rd seat which I was able to find hidden in the garage yesterday along with what I believe is the cars original jack.  Top mechanism works almost flawlessly.  I say almost because the top material itself has shrunk and thus the top doesn't quite meet up with the header if the rear part of top is latched and vise versa is the header is latched.  But both ends latch and back in the late 80's I got a wild hair one day and, using boiling water, was able to loosen up the top enough to actually latch both ends.  This allowed the convertible top to remain in the closed position, stretching the top out for a number of months.  Granted that was a loooong time ago but the top would probably latch now with a little coaxing. Not interested in putting any stress on the top mechanism however so will just leave it alone.  Going that have a new top installed over the summer probably. 

My wife and I took the car to lunch today... cool but sunny day here in San Diego.  Ran flawlessly.  I swear, the more the car gets driven, the better she is running.

[49er]

Ooops, I guess even though I have been retired from Boeing ( the military side of the house) for 12 years, still can't get those old acronyms out of my head

The large vents operate independent of the dash levers and are either on or off with their own levers. Also they only operate while underway ( no fan assist)

Too nippy for rides up here in NorCal. 23 this AM .

John

[Iconic]

The one thing I can't get to blow any kind of air is the round rotating air vents on either side of the dash.  No amount of working the dash levers seems to shift the air out those vents.  The levers only seem to control the air towards the wind screen (defrost) or onto the feet (better known as "wife setting".)  Have read everything on the forums about this and can't find any mention of how the side vents work. 

With the way your tale is going, I will assume there is a glove-box operators manual in the glove-box.
If so, take a look in there. The vents and their controls are explained. I realize John just explained it, but I find it fun to read the manual.

[ABikePeddler]

Thank Icon/9er...  Based on what you describe, I do believe that the levers for those vents may be non-functioning because they seem to have no effect on the flow out of the vents while car is in motion.   I will investigate further.  Oddly, we have nearly every receipt on the car (The folder is an inch and a half thick! Love the receipt for the amber tailights... I think they were $59 a piece back in the late 80's and there is a brand new, in the box passenger side view mirror... $18.75.) but do not believe the owners manual is still with the car.  Hey, that would be a great Christmas gift... a owner manual for the car.  Will mention that to my lady. 

Attached a pic of the car taken in 1981.  I was 14, took the car and my parents camera and drove down the street to take pictures after what I felt at the time was a righteous detailing session.  I couldn't wait to drive.. license be damned. 

[Iconic]

Great picture !!!
The forward facing scoop at the base of the windshield (sorry I forgot the correct name) has a cable operated door inside of it.
That door is operated by the upper left control of the four heater control levers to provide fresh air into the cabin.
If you move that lever back and forth, someone outside the car (maybe a flashlight is needed) should see the door opening and closing. If not, there is a disconnect between the levers and the "door".
Also, there are levers at the large circular vents which are open when pushed to the outside of the car.

I hope you get the glove-box manual as a present.