Lots of Little Details

One of the things I was dreading having to pay for was a headlight trim ring. The car came with only one and that was original with the car. It says Bosch on top of it. New ones are available but they don't have anything engraved on them and they cost $600 each. So, in order to have a matching set I would have to buy a pair or hope to find someone selling a used one that matches my other one.

There are two styles of headlight rings. The European style has a larger opening than the ones made for cars that would be sold in the U.S. After about a year of regularly searching eBay I found a ring for $65 and, because it was so inexpensive, I took the chance and bought it. That's when I discovered the details of the difference between Euro and U.S. trim rings. It was Euro. Wrong for this car.

I kept searching and finally found a correct, original U.S. trim ring on eBay. I made an offer, the offer was accepted, and I got a used headlight trim ring with the correct Bosch engraving on it for $300. It was in nearly perfect condition, too. So cool!

I got the re-sleeved brake cylinders back and have ordered and received the new steel brake line that I messed up. I really need to try to get the master cylinder out of the car but it is so hard to get to that I will take it to a shop in town with a lift. I am waiting for the shop to be ready for me. Another brake part I am a little nervous about getting into is the brake booster. This is a complicated bit of machinery that uses engine vacuum to boost braking. Fortunately I can bypass it until I am ready to tear into it.

I was missing the little arm that holds the hood open. After some research I realized that this hood support was just a piece of steel flat bar with a notch in it. I made one and installed it on the car. It worked great. Later, when I was looking through a box of parts, I found the original one. So I took off my home-made one and installed the correct one. So much better than holding the hood up with a board wedged in there.

I ordered and received the two missing parts from the horn ring assembly and put those in yesterday. I haven't tested it yet. While I was in an electrical mood I took some time and removed all the fuses from the fuse box and cleaned all the connections which had corroded over the years. It is good to have this done so I know that at least the fuse box won't be the problem when I get around to getting the lights working...... I hope.

I spent some time working on the doors. I found the clips that hold the fuzzy strips in place and installed them on the driver's side door. The window goes up and down between these strips. I cleaned and lubricated the window regulator mechanisms on both doors. There are a couple of missing bits before I can put the windows in. There are guide blocks that go on the front and back of the door glass. I have three of them and am missing one. I also need some thin felt strips for where the window gets bolted onto the channel that goes up and down. Once I get these things I will have windows that go up and down.

Last week I got the missing passenger-side metal false floor piece. It didn't fit. I had to trim it. This is because there are old sheet metal patches in the floor of the car that take up more space than the original floor panels did. Once I got it to fit I painted it black and installed it. Now the floors of the car are all ready for carpeting. I am not ready to order the carpet just yet. A carpet set for this car will cost about $650. That's pretty steep but I want to get the right stuff - German square weave. Not sure what color to get. I have been looking at photos of other people's 190SL's to see what they have done. The two most obvious choices are caramel or red. The upholstery is a caramel color - officially called dark tan. Most of the red cars with dark tan upholstery I have seen have dark tan carpet. But red might look cool, too. It would also show dirt a bit less than the dark tan.

There are some chrome trim bits in a box that I haven't been able to figure out where they go. Well, yesterday I figured it out. they go on the posts on either side of the windshield and they hold the rubber seals for when the windows are up. I spent some time cleaning them up. Also in the box was a bunch of weather stripping that was purchased for the car 30 years ago. I wasn't sure where it all went but now I know. Another mystery solved.

I started messing with the sun visors and with figuring out which little chrome piece is the center hold down for the convertible top. I am missing most of the screws for these so I will have to get new ones. The sun visors have green plexiglass in them. They are not in too bad shape but I also have brand new plexi if I decided to replace the original ones. Before I do that I think I will try some CD scratch cleaner on the old ones. Maybe that will clean them up enough that I won't have to go through the trouble of taking apart the frames on the visors.


It's slow progress getting this car together but it is happening. I read about a guy who was almost finished putting his car together and he had 900 hours in it already. I just need to keep plugging away at it.