Well out of my depth.

[Appingary]

Good morning, I have just joined the forum in the hope of some practical advice. My knowledge of cars is very limited & I do not have a great skill set, however approaching retirement the thought of golfing or bowling is just not for me! With this in mind I made the decision to buy a car in need of restoration, probably bit off more than I can chew but just love the idea of being able to go to my garage and tinker around, the problem is I have no idea where to start, some pictures attached & all comments welcome. It has 46,000 miles, full service history till 2019, new roof 2018. There is a new starter motor in the boot & it needs a battery.

 

[Blobcat]

Hello and welcome,

If you can ever get rid of the rust you’ll have a nice car

 

[Appingary]

The plan so far, is to get it into the garage which is large dry & warm, remove the wings & any other panels that can be removed, renew them with genuine parts. What I do not know is how to store it, should I put it up on blocks? Should I over inflate the tires? I plan on renewing the oil, oil filter, draining old petrol, filling the tank with fresh petrol. it's important that they do not do something stupid & ruin it, the lady who sold it to me assured me it was running when they parked it! Is there some list of do's & don'ts for beginners somewhere?
Thanks.

 

[LostKiwi]

Hi and welcome.
I'm going to assume you have reasonable spannering skills and a reasonable set of tools?

If not you will need to purchase a reasonable socket set (ideally 3 - 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" drives) and spanners, screwdrivers, pliers and a few different sized hammers including a rubber one.

As Mercedes have a liking for Torx and E bolts you'll need the corresponding Torx bits and e-sockets.
Engine work will need a torque wrench or two.

Don't forget axles stands and a trolley jack.
If doing suspension you'll need appropriate spring compressors.

Bodywork will require a few extra tools but my preference is to outsource that as I can never get the results I'm happy with.

First steps with that would be to clean it up so you can see what you're dealing with. Get the engine running (I'm guessing it needs the starter replacing so start there).
If it's been sat a long while drain the oil and put fresh in. Drain any fuel if it's older than 3 years and replace with new. You'll likely have a bunch of electrical issues so just take your time going through them and cleaning all bad connections with contact cleaner.

 

[M80]

You're a brave chap.
How does the engine run, w/o a battery, and I guess you won't know till the starter is in, but that would be my 1st barrier to doing anything else.

If it's been stood for a few years the brakes are likely in need of attention.

You may be fortunate, but you may find the car requires many ££££££'s

 

[SmartAmg]

Wow, that is a project, and with no particular set of skills, good luck.

 

[Wighty]

What size garage do you have ?
Clean the car , then call the AA and say you haven’t used it since last Monday and it doesn’t start

 

[Wighty]

How much is a working good condition car ? Buy one and put your new roof on it , might be cheaper than what you are planning ?

 

[Appingary]

Haha fabulous reply's thank you so much. I have a decent set of tools & will buy the required. I was a marine engineer (Stoker) 40 years ago so hopefully that will hold me in good stead! Been flying a desk ever since! The car cost me £300 so I am not particularly worried about how much I spend on it, I can do it over 1 year or 10 years, more interested at this moment in time in getting rid of all rust, removing panels is that the correct thing to do? My gut reaction is that panel can be removed then to do so rather than to try & rub it down? The garage is 10 m x 20 m, I am just starting to clear it out & the plan is the car gets centre place & all the tools will be on a workbench to the side. where would I get Torx & E sockets as I have never heard of them. The owner is very confident that it will run but I just don't fancy lying in her driveway fitting a starter motor & battery, initial plan is to get it uplifted dropped in my driveway, breaks freed off and in the garage as soon as possible.

 

[Appingary]

I am also hopeful that the full service history holds it in good stead?

 

[Blobcat]

I am also hopeful that the full service history holds it in good stead?

Engine and mechanicals “should” be good, it’s the rust that kills them off unfortunately

 

[M80]

All tools available on ebay.
As you're not in a rush I suggest coming back and asking for recommendations as you need them, cheap tat snaps 1st time.

But honestly I feel a full survey, with an attempt at costings, would be worthwhile.
Not wishing to sound unreasonably negative but there are so many possible issues, brakes, brake pipes, rusted sub frames, cables chewed. Engines don't like standing, valve seals are a fast thought, but there are seals that can perish all over the thing.

For me running the engine up to temp and seeing if it smooth and not smokey would be a must.

 

[Appingary]

Standby for some incoming, I didn't even view it, because of the price just transferred the money and I figured if I get it into the garage and it seems beyond salvation then I will just scrap it, just seems a real shame for such a lovely car. Obviously I would sell the soft top! They said it was £1800 in 2018.

 

[Appingary]

I will drop it off at my local garage for evaluation, good idea because he will be able to point me towards the potential expensive stuff!

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Welcome!

You do like to test yourself

IMO first thing is to get the engine and mechanicals right before moving onto the body of the car, this allows you to move it under it’s own steam etc. I don’t think you mentioned the mileage and service history?
I would take the spark plugs out and try and crank the engine by hand using the crank shaft pulley, if there is resistance (a problem) you’ll soon know. Good luck with it there is a huge amount of advice available by forum members so you’ve come to the right place

 

[Appingary]

Welcome!

You do like to test yourself

IMO first thing is to get the engine and mechanicals right before moving onto the body of the car, this allows you to move it under it’s own steam etc. I don’t think you mentioned the mileage and service history?
I would take the spark plugs out and try and crank the engine by hand using the crank shaft pulley, if there is resistance (a problem) you’ll soon know. Good luck with it there is a huge amount of advice available by forum members so you’ve come to the right place

46000 miles Full service history, the husband got ill and it was basically abandoned as it was rarely used.

 

[Mr Greedy]

As suggested by many comments here, and not wanting to be a git raining on your project, but if I were to do a project like this in your fortunate position (I'd love to do this sort of thing later in life), I'd sack off this car and get something else that:

(1) will realise some sort of return for the hundreds+ hours it's going to take to sort that dump; and,

(2) has a reasonable chance of buying spares needed; and,

(3) has spares that aren't a fortune (rip off).

I don't know about this specific car, but the forum is full of people who are having a nightmare getting spares out of Merc at the moment. Some items for Mercs of around this vintage are not even manufactured any more.

As for suggestions, I'm thinking something more like a 60s/70s Mustang, where spares supply seems strong.
Closer to home? There are more E type Jags on the road now then in several decades past, and therefore restorers/specialist parts (re)manufacturers are easy to find.
Rover P5/P6?
Classic Merc SLs?

I think the parts availability for your project choice should be a significant factor.

Get into the spanner mindset and use this as a warm up exercise by breaking this dog for spares, then get it's rusting carcass dragged off for scrap. You might turn a decent bit of profit to use to expand your tool collection to help with another (better?) project round the corner?

Possibly this is a bit of a harsh assessment, but I personally would pick a different car.

But! Welcome, and if you do stick around with a/this Merc, we are a helpful bunch on here.

 

[Wighty]

I will drop it off at my local garage for evaluation, good idea because he will be able to point me towards the potential expensive stuff!

Get the rear subframe inspected by them .
Can you get in put through an mot test by them ?

 

[Wighty]

I am also hopeful that the full service history holds it in good stead?

We’ve all been there buddy

 

[Appingary]

Get the rear subframe inspected by them .
Can you get in put through an mot test by them ?

Once my local garage stopped laughing this was a full minute! They are organising to uplift, inspect, engine start and seen what it fails its Mot on, then drop off to me with their recommendations.