Behind the Scenes

A few pics of the 450SEL with bits removed - this is what's behind all that trim, wood and chrome.


Windscreen / wiper channel - the little caged thing is some sort of thermostat that controls the HVAC blower fan - to remove the fan, you have to remove that first.


Behind the dash - lots of wires and HVAC controls.


In the boot / behind the back seat: fuel tank, first aid kit hole and vacuum tank(?)

Great job Lukas! It always helps to know in advance what you're up against before you start pulling things apart, or what you'll have access to if you pull this (or that) bit off.... Invaluable info for all members. How far are you stripping this one? Can you get any pics of the cowl vent area, but in the opposite direction (towards the driver's side)? Is there any way to get pics of the sunroof frame & drain tubes?

Good stuff Lukas!

Ive pulled the dash on a few Euro cars and always found it daunting with the repair and replacement being the difficult bit.

I pulled the Dash out to replace the blower fan on a 265 Volvo wagon many years ago not knowing the "shortcut" method I used many times after that and was so pissed off at the amount of time it was taking me to put it all back AND get it working I scrapped it and built a race style dash instead replacing the original HVAC with a 6 point hotrod unit and the cluster with a Rallye unit lol

Daunting as hell.

Love those pics

Thanks all,

Pics were taken on Aus Day morning, so they show the current progress. Basically, interior is out, doors are gutted, bumpers, lights and external chrome trim are off. Engine is untouched, as I may still need to use it to move the car.

Todos:

• Steal bits of HVAC that might be useful (noting need to leave radiator related parts for engine function)
• Possibly remove some more wiring harnesses / electricals
• Move the car
• Steal bits like the alternator
• Swap the good bundts for some crappy ones I have
• Remove the SLS, or the pump, spheres and valves at least
• Remove vacuum bits
• Possibly remove even more wiring harnesses / electricals
• Call Styria about the transmission
• Call the scrapper

You get to know the car quite well by dismantling it - the rust on this seems to be not too bad, kind of a pity.

Will try for a pic the other way in the cowl; from memory though there was nothing visible.

Lukas

PS: I did the heater on the Commodore once - even that was a pain (lots of lying on your back on the floor); but thankfully the dash stayed in - only the centre console came out.

Hi Lukas - in your first pic, where the leaves have collected, is that on the left hand (passenger) side of the car? I'm trying to work out if below where the leaves are (through the metal) is inside the passenger foot well? It is somewhere here that I have a leak that floods to the passenger foot well which I need to find as it is a complete pain meaning I never use my car in more than a shower of rain. Thanks.

6.9forever said:

Hi Lukas - in your first pic, where the leaves have collected, is that on the left hand (passenger) side of the car? I'm trying to work out if below where the leaves are (through the metal) is inside the passenger foot well? It is somewhere here that I have a leak that floods to the passenger foot well which I need to find as it is a complete pain meaning I never use my car in more than a shower of rain. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Yep, that's the LHS of the car. The little hole to the right of the leaves is the drain hole into the engine bay, and to the left and out of sight is a large hole (about the size of a video tape lying flat) that leads to the HVAC fan.

That hole was quite rusty in this car, so water must get in there and pool somewhere, and/or drip through the fan. Dunno how the water gets in there, as you can see the cowl slopes upwards before the hole. Perhaps fast right hand turns in the rain?

In the last photo that I'm about to upload below, you can see the hole inside the car (above the rust patch). The fan has been removed in that photo.

Lukas

Some more pics:


Looking to the right side of the car in the cowl - hose obstructs the view nicely. Have no idea what the distant fitting is - bonnet hinge related perhaps? It would have to be accessible from somewhere else.


Detail of the drivers side under the dash - heaps of earths!


Door latch innards - who said Mercs were over-engineered?


Current state of the car - sad. Damn passenger door won't stay shut


Passenger footwell / firewall rust - yikes! Must pool in the wheel arch somewhere. You'd never have noticed if the car was in tact.

Thanks Lukas - that's very helpful. Looks like I will be doing some further digging around there to find my leak.

These are excellent photos for future reference. There is a good chance that this thread will be transferred to the technical section of topklasse. In the meantime, I have decided to carry on with interior dismantling from where Lukas left off. There were some good reasons why I wanted to remove the console. First of all, the Pioneer Radio Cassette unit has been a little troublesome in operation. Sometimes the led lights would not come on, and at other times the rear speakers would work, at other times they wouldn't.

All attempts on my part to remove the unit failed. It just wouldn't budge and one just needs to be careful and not damage the radio and the gearbox console - the upper bridge section that the radio fits under. Also, when I replaced the dash quite some years ago, I was pretty green behind the ears (inexperienced) and some vacuum controls for heating and cooling just weren't working properly. With the car still partially dismantled, I needed to take the plunge and rectify some of these problems.







I have made a bit of extra work for myself, but as I said it's been bugging me for a while. The "modern" Pioneer Radio Cassette with all its associated wiring and filter at the back was a real interference fit and it virtually had to be jammed into place. No wonder I haven't been able to remove it thus far. Having the console out, will give me the chance to tidy everything, get everything working the way it should and also refurbish the console at the same time. Regards Styria

A few more dismantling pics from the last hurrah:


Engine minus air box


Injectors removed


Mystery item under the battery tray - smog pump? No belt attached and siezed, so unused for quite some time. Ridiculously heavy bracket holding it on.


1x K-Jet FI


Cabin and boot vacuum "circuits" - looking from the front bumper

I'm done for today - the wheels come off next weekend, and then it's off to the scrappers.

Lukas

OK - these are the final final pics - I promise. After a few mind changes I decided to pull the wiring harness out after all - there are a lot of wires in these cars! Also pulled the fuel tank and the wheels.


Engine bay


Dash - getting fairly empty save the HVAC


Boot - huge with the tank removed


Fuel tank


Wiring harness on the garage floor waiting to be properly labeled


All done!

Lukas

It's hard to see any serviceable parts go to waste & if you had the time, it'd be worthwhile to strip off everything & scrap just the chassis if it's too far gone. Even the chassis might be of use to someone, as I've seen far worse repaired (obviously at great expense) on other MB 116 websites.

Suggestions for other items to remove might include glass, suspension, brakes & all removable panels.

I know a bloke who just removes the driveline (Engine/Trans) and then hoists the body up into the rafters of his shed, He has been doing it for 18 years without a mishap although its a but disconcerting working below a bunch of suspended cars...

Lukas,

How bad are the sills?

Hi all,

The glass is already out - the doors are just the shells.

The main reason I'm not keeping anything else is storage space - the remaining items are big and/or heavy; and in some cases hard to get out too (transmission). In the case of the engine, that is also not really useful for a 6.9 hoarder like myself.

I think the sills are fairly good in this car, although have not checked thoroughly. The only rust I've noticed is the above patch near the HVAC blower, a little in the very bottom of the doors which Styria has talked about previously, a little in the guards (but not progressing to the sills as far as I know), and one patch on the outside of a door (post-bingle). Even the boot is rust-free.

Was considering cutting some of the sills out to fix the rusty-but-low-km 350, but in reality that car is a writeoff save the engine and trans, and the plan there is to put those into the body of a good car with blown engine at some point in the future.

The brakes are a good idea - I'd been thinking that the only bits that ever fail on those are the bits you replace with new anyway (pads, seals, lines), but they are small, so why not.

Someone from the OzBenz forum is coming tomorrow to pull off some sway bar brackets. Apart from that, it is still destined for the scrappers. If anybody does want anything, speak now!

Lukas

Hi Lukas, just how many W116s do you have? How many are 6.9s??

Oversize said:

Hi Lukas, just how many W116s do you have? How many are 6.9s??

Click to expand...

Hi, my name is Lukas, and I have a problem.....

Right now:
1x 350SE - rusty
1x 450SEL - about to be scrapped
3x 6.9s - on on H plates, the other 2 inching slowly closer to the same

Donations accepted by bank transfer, Paypal and cash.

Hello, my name is Mark & I also have a problem..... Poverty is owning a 6.9 (or 2, or 3, or 4)!!!!!! I'll even accept large donations from Swiss bank accounts; no questions asked & anonymity guaranteed!