User login

Restoration Article: 1982 300D Sedan Exterior Trim Repair and Replacement

Exterior trim restoration needs to be planned ahead. If you are going to repaint your car, most of the trim will not be removed until you start the prep work. You don't want to wait until the last minute to secure the new or used parts one will need for this phase of the restoration. I have already carefully inspected all the exterior trim parts on the car and am working on a parts replacement list. Doing this now will give me the chance to search for these items at a more leisurely pace.  Some of the parts are best to just buy new, but some are not available new or are outrageously expensive. For those parts I will start a search within the used parts marketplace (my parts stash, wrecking yards, parts cars, etc).

For me one of the most important cosmetic elements of a Mercedes Benz is the front end of the body. With each chassis distinctive grill and headlights, if the front end of the car looks bad the rest of the car will less than attractive. As you can see from the before picture my 300Ds front end is pretty typical and kind of ugly.  Notice the breaks in the plastic grill screen, the cracks and crazing in the plastic headlight surrounds, the bent license plate bracket and even the crocked ineffective sealed beam headlight bulbs. And Yes, the plastic pull lever to open the hood is broken and previous owner rigged up a piece of wire. All these items are easily replaced and not too expensive.  I am going to go ahead and order these new parts now so they are on hand:

Or check our our complete - You will love how you look - front end dress up kit.  CLICK HERE

One of the best safety improvements you can make on a 123 chassis with US headlights is to replace the old sealed beam headlight bulbs with Bosch H4 headlights. The original sealed beams are marginal at best - especially if you are out on dark roads in heavy rain or fog. The H4s will increase intensity as well as beam width - making it easier to see the side of the road markers as well possible obstructions/dangers moving at you from the side (ie, deer, cyclists, pedestrians, etc). So for this project I am also going to order:

I normally do not complete the front body cosmetic restoration until after the repaint, but I didn’t want to wait that long before I could show you an AFTER picture. If this does not give you a little inspiration for your own 123 then I don’t know what will. The combination of all these new parts combined really makes the front end jump out at you - even in spite of the faded paint! Here is a picture of the 300D that I shot today.

Not bad for a few hundred bucks and a couple hours of work. The hardest part was changing the plastic grill screen and chrome stips.  Note I use padding on the work bench to keep from scratching or denting the new parts.

Along with installing the new parts I took a little time to do some detailing. Here are a few tips I used when working on older cars.

CLEANING CHROME: Use #000 steel wool to polish chromed metal and stainless parts. Do not use coarse steel wool or you will scratch the surface. I used fine steel wool to polish the chrome grill surround, the hood star, the chrome lamp rings and front bumper

 

 

 

 

CLEANING RUBBER BUMPER PARTS: Use spray can carb cleaner and a fine bristle nylon brush to deep clean the black rubber. Do not spray the carb cleaner on plastic parts. Do not use brake cleaner. Carb cleaner can do some amazing things to bring back the black in old faded rubber. In some cases it may take two or three applications.

 


SHINING AND PROTECTING RUBBER BUMPER PARTS.  I like to use spray can NO TOUCH tire shine. Spray it on thick and let it soak for an hour or so before wiping. Spray on multiple coats if the rubber sucks it up too fast. This will not only give it a depth of shine but will also protect it from further deterioration.

Let me know what you think of the facelift.