1952 220 Sedan W187 build restoration

[Henry Magno]

The tank places don't usually split the tank open. They have special sandblast nozzles to get inside. There are some more or less universal VDO tank senders but they require some fiddling around to get the travel and lower and upper height correct. There was a version that the sender was slightly larger than the hole in the tank. I don't remember whether I enlarged the hole or found another solution. If you can get an original to work, it's worth a little effort.

[yan2947]

I will keep looking for mine.  It  must be in a box somewhere.  Thanks for all the help.

[yan2947]

The eagle has landed.  Body is now bolted to frame.   

[yan2947]

The tires are back on the car!  Steering column is going in next and then the car will be very mobile.  The gas tank was re-done and sealed. Still looking for a 6volt float in case anyone finds one sitting around...

[yan2947]

Here is what I have for carpet and mats.  Where should I get these items from?  Any help would be appreciated.  Are they custom made or does someone manufacture them.  I think I am missing one piece of carpet.  Please correct me.  thanks!

Yan

[yan2947]

The old carpet...

[yan2947]

Has anyone ever seen seat belts in a 52 220?  My car was purchased by a Doctor in my home town so I am assuming that he had them installed and I won't need them in the rebuild?  Let me know what you think.  I also realize as I posted previously that my Sun Tach is not stock.  I would also assume that the same doctor got the car with a radio delete option!  Does anyone have a wood panel without the radio slot cut out?

thanks!

[yan2947]

The only torn seat.  The other front and rear are just old and hard leather!

[John Ellis]

Seats belts were added by the previous owner.  The seat belts are actually for airplanes, so this owner was an early adopter of safety.

The radio delete blanks are regularly available on eBay .... looked but did not see any available right now.

[yan2947]

Thanks john.  I thought they were aviation belts.  Has anyone ever had luck softening the leather  in these cars or should I re-do all the seats.  The rear bench, passenger seat and all panels are fine.  The drivers seat is the only one with damage.  Options?  Suggestions? 

Looking for radio delete panel
Looking for fuel float
Looking for windshield front/back rubber

I see the rubber front mats on some sights but what about the minimal carpet set for this car?

Thanks again and hope for some more answers

[Henry Magno]

The mats have been available in the past. I think I bought a set from Niemoeller, but quite a while ago.

It's worth trying to soften up the leather since so much is intact. You might be able to replace the damaged piece of leather but I'd work on softening the rest first. You will need to convince the trimmer it's worth saving the old leather, to get him to buy into the repair. A lot of trimmers won't want to stitch on the old leather. They probably will have to do it by hand to the original stitch holes. You can re-dye the leather if there is a lot of color variation. My trimmer re-stiched the pleats on a 190 SL, but it was a low milage car.

It's very unusual to have leather in these cars, I've only known of two others. The contrasting piping is a nice touch.

The carpet any good trimmer should be able to make up and bind. It's best to double check the pattern in case it has shrunk. That is square weave not velour as you probably know.

[Henry Magno]

On the rubber, again, suppliers like Niemoeller have the stuff. I have used the rear window gasket for ponton sedans for the front windshield, it's very close. The outermost flap of rubber may be a slightly smaller dimension than the original and you can have a problem with the corners of the flap falling in, but some sealer underneath can solve this problem. I may have one of these but it would be NOS of uncertain age. The advantage is it's still available from MB and it's OE rubber.

[Scott Montoney]

A few years ago I purchased the rubber for the front and rear windows directly from MB through my local MB Dealership.
I also bought the right floor mat from Niemoeller. Yes, it was more expensive than I had hoped.  But the old one was in pieces.  The left side and center hump rubber is still serviceable.
Regarding the leather.  One company to research is
http://www.leatherique.com/

[yan2947]

Henry and Scott - thanks for the info.  I just emailed niemoeller for some of the rubber mats to see what they have along with the front and rear windshield rubber.  I am assuming what they are selling for the W187 is the correct rubber.  I am going to show the interior guy the seats on Monday to see what he thinks.  I have used the Leatherique on my '89 911.  I can certainly give it a try.  It won't come out like a baseball glove but it probably is worth an attempt.  I didn't realize not too many of these cars had the leather.  I am sure that if I only re-upholstered one seat there would be a matching problem.  Waiting to hear back...

[Scott Montoney]

Here are two photos of the mat I got from Niemoller.

[Henry Magno]

If the trimmer can't replace just the one piece of leather, and you need to re-upolster, one option is to do both front seats in new leather, them match the dye to the new leather. I think if you do one seat only it would stand out.

You probably can get GAHH to do the seats. They may need the patterns because this pleat size is a bit wider than other models. I would get leather samples from them because I'm not sure about what they are using, level of shine, grain etc.  If these things are important to you, you have to pay attention to it.

[yan2947]

Just a quick note and looking for your thoughts.  I just heard back from Niemoller in Germany.  They quoted me a price of 736.20 Euro plus VAT plus shipping on the carpet set for the car.  I don't have great photos of my cars carpet prior to taking the car apart.  From the photos I posted above it is apparent to me that the only carpet is in the rear of the car.  There must have been to rear seat carpets and 2 mats? along with the two trim pieces around the rear bench seat?  Does that sounds correct.  The front of the car has no carpet and only mats?  They needed my chasis number and engine number to order the carpet.  Is there are record of what carpet I had in the car when it was manufactured?  A couple of months back I was able to get the build Zertificate... but it was not legible.  Mercedces said they could tell the car was black and knew the tire size but that was it.  Perhaps Niemoller has accesss to a better copy?  Any thoughts would be appreciated.  Is the price fair for the limited carpet?

Yan

[Stephen Dietrich]

FYI, if you want a legible copy of the build sheet you will need to order one of Mercedes "birth certificates". They run about $125 and somehow magically come up with all the information. I did this for both my '52's, both had illegible build sheets. The "birth certificates" had everything. Stephen

[yan2947]

I was told by mercedes classic cars that the program was discontinued.  Any other way to get a "birth certificate"?

[Stephen Dietrich]

That's too bad if it was, as although a little costly, it was the only way I was able to obtain the information. Why don't you scan and post what you have and maybe someone can decifer the illegible parts. As far as cost for the mats, well it is just a matter of how bad you want them. I was able to find a similar ribbed rubber product, cut from a pattern i received from another member. In order to get the flat border on the edges, I used my Dremel to grind down the ridges to create a 3/4" flat border. It certainly not show car quality but for about $30 and a few hours of my time, I made front and rear rubber mats. I'm saving my money so I can finish my '52 300 cabriolet.  Stephen