Best Practices

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- Transmission Clunk:
Question: 1984 380SL, 97k miles but with a 'new' motor in it.
Reverse gives me a big clunk; going from reverse to drive does the same thing. is this ok or normal?

Clunk means loose vacuum hose on the tranny... One the driver side of the
tranny... by a round device there is a vacuum hose... most of the time, the
hose deteriorated and is very loose. Change it with MB vacuum hose 1.5"
length. but get a foot for spare. If the vacuum hose is tight, then you have to adjust the modulator... BUT
higher engine idle RPM can do the same clunk.

- Engine RPM:
Engine should idle at 800 when not in gear. In a gear, it should idle at
500-600. If not, then it is most likely the idle control unit that is bad...
get it from Automotive Technical Service... look for the info at
mbcoupes.com under part supplier.

There is a procedure to test the entire circuit with a multimeter...
measuring voltage and resistance to determine which one is at fault before
you replace it... you can get that info in a MB service manual CD.

- Water for Radiator? For iron block versus aluminum block?
How much antifreeze?
Would 100% antifreeze give more protection than a diluted blend
that just protects to typical freeze levels?

(John) 100% anti-freeze should never be used. I believe it should be 40% anti-freeze to 60% water. Use MB brand.
Antifreeze is not to be used to 100%. That isn't just
incorrect, it is patently bad for your car. Whoever
told you to do that is giving very, very, very bad
advice. Your car is cooled by water. Water is the best
coolant for your car. Unfortunately, water freezes in
the winter, so we add anti-freeze to keep it from
freezing. Anti-freeze is not good coolant. Use water.
Use anti-freeze to keep the water from freezing. The
manufacturer recommends a 50/50 mix. Why do anything
else?

(Jim) According to Prestone, "Distilled water is generally a better choice then most ordinary tap waters".

(Marshall) To my knowledge Mercedes antifreeze and Zerex G-05 (the only antifreezes
that are approved) are NOT avialble premixed. The gallon jugs of
drinking water available on supermarket shelves are PERFECT if you are
terrified of the water in your hometown. Deionized water is NOT the
answer - the modest ion content of MOST drinking water in the US is not
just FINE but ideal.

(Marshall) I have used (and am an enthusiast of) Water Wetter. I have ONLY used it
with a 60-40% or 50-50% antifreeze-water mix and it improves
heat/cooling transfer in that range. It is even MORE effective when used
with antifreeze at lower concentrations and is best when used with plain
water.

I ALWAYS mix Water Wetter, antifreeze and Pittsburgh tap water (except when I'm in
VA when I use Falls Church tap water)! Mercedes cooling system
maintenance is very simple and straightforward. When that's done I've
had NO problem with the MB engines I've owned overheating because the
cooling systems have been more than adequate. There is virtually NO
condition when my diesel engines create more heat than the cooling
system is capable of handling.

(Peter) You mention using either a 60/40 or 50/50% mix. This is a balancing act,
as water is a much more effective at transferring heat than antifreeze, but
you need a certain amount of antifreeze to provide cold weather protection,
plus maintain the needed additive level in the coolant.

TO my knowledge, to maintain a good level of additives, you need at least
45% antifreeze in the mix. According to the info on the MB jug, this also
provides freeze protection to -25F. That's plenty of cold weather
protection for where I live (Philadelphia area), but given we also get 100+F
/ 100% humidity for a bunch of days in summer, I want all the cooling
efficiency I can get, therefore go for 45/55% mix, using tap water when
mixing the cocktail.

Oh -- and, I also use Water Wetter in all cars.

(Stev) Did you see the other thread and read the technical information? It explains the functions of the coolant that you can purchase at a local store. From your reply, it seems that you had missed it. Please find the time to look it over.

The coolant protects the dis-similar metals and solder joints of the cold-block. ALSO, it lubricates the pump properly to keep the noise levels low. The Bosch pump was not designed for just water-wetter alone.

A mixture of 1/3 propylene glycol and a combination of 2/3 distilled water with water-wetter has been tested in our labs. Your link even mentions in the first paragraph to mix water wetter with the coolant. In the HC's case, this is required.

The link you had provided speaks of PLAIN WATER. Something we avoid in both electronics water cooling and the automotive cooling realm. Plain water carries other trace metals and various corrosion components. Even the added fluoride in our drinking water has an effect on the metals used in a water cooling system.

Using distilled water in automotive applications keeps the life of the HX core and the cooling ports into the engine block. Likewise, the same goes for a water cooling unit for long life use.

(Bob) I continually read a lot of conflicting and/or misleading coolant advice. Here is a reference to an article that, in my opinion, explains a lot. It is not specific to Mercedes, but covers the practices of all of the major makers in general, talking about the differences in factory coolants. I will point out that the article is from 1999, so there are probably some changes that have occurred since then. (For example, Ford has migrated more models to OAT-based extended-life coolants, than what is stated in the article.)

A key point is that M-B coolant is basically a somewhat enhanced "conventional" European coolant, and NOT an OAT-based extended-life coolant. As such, it is actually more similar to conventional ("green") American coolant (silicates used for corrosion protection), than it is to orange or pink American OAT-based coolant (i.e. GM Dex-Cool). Further, Japanese coolant, despite its similar color, is also not OAT-based, but actually a third type (no silicates, either). The bottom line - it is not just a matter of color-matching. Orange or pink may mean OAT-based coolants, or it may mean Japanese or European conventional coolant.

I am not suggesting that this article be used as a recommendation for what coolant to put in mercedes cars - in the end it is still probably best to use M-B coolant. But, I was surprised to learn that M-B coolant is actually more like green American coolant, than to the long-life American coolants.

The article is at: http://silverstone.fortunecity.com/ferrari/464/coolant.htm

- How about oil? Frequency both mileage and time - what is a best practice,
reasonable practice?
Does Synthetic Oil changed every 3 years worth the cost over non-synthetic that
is changed more frequently.

(John) oil should be changed at least once a year regardless of mileage and type of oil

- Transmission fluid changes - based on mileage, based on time

(John) I'm not sure but I think it's just a mileage issue. Every 30K.

- How frequently should these pampered Mercedes be driven?

(John) as often as possible, unless there is salt on the roads

- How about other fluids?

(John) brake fluid every two years

- Wheel bearings?

(John) 100K miles? Use MB special grease.

- Brake Pads?
(Carl) Use MB pads and limit the dust using Kleen Wheel shields.

- WD-40 good practice for drive belts?

(John) didn't think anything was needed on drive belts. If they're old, cracked or worn, replace them.
WD-40 is a penetrating oil in a paraffin base. It
should never be used on drive belts. It will cause
them to squeel and wear prematurely. There is no safe,
approved belt dressing. Just keep the belts properly
tightened. The shop manuals give the right specs for
this.

(Carl) I have successfully used WD-40 on my fan belts and it eliminated the squeaking sound.

- Armor All on rubber mouldings?

(John) nope. Use Wurth rubber conditioner.
I would throw out all the Armor All you own. It's made
of a silicone base, which makes the surface protected
and dries out the interior of rubber and vinyl. Using
Armor All will cause rubber to dry out and cause dash
cracks on MBs. I would use Vinylex or another
non-silicone based rubber/vinyl conditioner.

- how about cars that are parked outside in the hot sun - would a dash cover
help as far as preventing them from cracking?
(John) Probably
(Carl) I understand that for some reason Blue colored dashes tend to crack the worst.

- what is a good chemical to put on the dash and seats to preserve them?

(John) Any Vinyl cleaner is ok unless the seats are leather. If so, use a good leather cleaner and conditioner. I use
products from Leatherique.

- Tires for cars that are drivers versus those where you only put a couple
thousand miles on per year?
In my case, my Michelins are 12 years old but have plenty of tread.

(John) Even if the tires had no mileage they should be replaced due to age.
(Carl) John is probably right. I have heard that tires certainly should be replaced at least by 10 years of age.
But, my 380SL is always garaged and my Michelins have no cracks but should be replaced anyway.

- Best Tire for a low mileage Mercedes - one that you drive say 2k to 3k miles per year?
(Michelin, Sumitoma summer radial?)

- AC units that have gone out - what is a best practice? Would letting it go
for years before fixing not a good practice?

(John) You should run it at least once a week to prevent it from going out. If it's already gone, you should get it
fixed. The price of replacement parts and R12 refrigerant keeps going up!

-storing the hard top

(John) keep it covered and out of the way. I use a hoist.
(Carl) I have a hard top cover and store it using a roll about stand.

- Is it a good practice to install a battery cutoff switch to prevent electrical
drain for those SL's that are overly pampered?

(John) Keep the battery on trickle charge. Take it out of the car and on charge for extended periods of storage. No
need for a battery cutoff.

- Spark Plugs:

(John) don't use Platinum Plugs! Copper ones are better and cheaper.

- Replacement glass - MB glass or other manufacturers glass?

- Purchase European or USA version SL?

- Install European style headlights?

- Single timing Chain - convert to Dual or treat as a special maintenance item?
(Stu, Bill, others) Its imperative that single timing chains be replaced.
(Knutson, others) Single timing chains can be treated as a maintenance item.
(Mercedes) Treat as maintenance item, convert to dual chain if you have to open the engine.

- Rubber bushing vs urethane body bushings?
(Roy) I installed some front end bushings made from urethane in an Opel, hated the ride.
The urethane was very hard, stay with the rubber the engineers knew what they were doing!

(Stu) I've done it on a 116 chassis and would never consider
doing it again. Noise, noise, noise. Nothing but grunching
noise that never goes away and can't be lubricated away.

(Ed) My experience is that urethane bushings seem to be a harder
compound than the original rubber, which may be ok for some
people but I changed mine back to rubber to minimize vibrations.

(Stu) The purpose of replacing rubber bushings with urethane is the
urethane doesn't compress and the suspension movements are
limited to the arc of travel of the suspension without any movement
outside that track. It takes a very solid bushing to handle the weight.
This makes for a more precise handling feel, but the costs are way
too high for a street car. You just can't live with the noise. I've even
drilled the bushings to allow grease to flow and installed a grease
nipple to force the grease through. That lasts about 50 miles.
The urethane really grabs the pivot points and that's the noise.
Every time the suspension moves, grunch, grunch....yecko!

(Frank) Urethane bushings are used mostly on race cars, but evidently there is
"urethane" and then there is "urethane". My limited experience was with our 911,
which was street-legal but saw a lot of track use. We put urethane bushings on the
front suspension lower A-arms and the rear suspension, too. It rode more
stiffly and handled more precisely but made no squeaking or grunching noises. On
the other hand, I've sure heard a lot of 911s with such bushings that do groan
and squeak. Materials from different sources no doubt differ...

Bottom line: unless you're building a car for 80-percent track use, forget
it, certainly on a Mercedes-Benz that's mostly street-driven. You can do a lot
more in a lot of other ways to improve handling, starting with the driver.

- Brake Dust:
(Peter) Every time you replace pads with any German brand you will be forever
cleaning your front wheels. All that black brake dust from all the graphite
in Pagid and all the others will mandate jugs of wheel cleaner. Next time
try "Rotex Gold" pads which have no black brake dust. I got mine from
coximport.com delivered for $56.30! Ihaven't cleaned the front wheels on my
124 body Mercedes in two weeks and they are still clean.

(Tiger) Oh I have been blackless since 1995... I uses Axxis MetalMaster... it takes
about a month and half to halfway blacken your wheels.

You don't need to get special pads nowdays... you can get a dustless one
from your local store... Raybestos QS ceramic pads... I haven't tried it yet
because I really believes in Axxis stuff.

(Rodney) I'll put a good word in on the Rotex pads as well. I replaced the pads on
my M-class with them and have had *no* brake dust at all. The only downfall
is that they are made from very hard material which tends to be a little
noisy and will likely wear out the rotors before the pads. Otherwise,
stopping ability seems improved over OEM's, they have lasted much longer,
and my wheels stay clean.

(Tiger) Once a year thing to clean your injectors. The only product I would use is
Lubro Moly Jectron (injector cleaner) and Lubro Moly Venti Sauber (valve
cleaner). They are the most effective stuff I ever use.

Other people will tell you Chevron Techron. The bottle will simply say
Chevron Techron in big letters... not those pro-gard with Techron... it is
not as concentrated as the full Techron.

I used Techron, and can't really tell any difference after usage... maybe in
those electronic fuel injection... but on older MB... I didn't notice
difference.

Sunvisor Replacement Procedure:

1) Remove the rearview mirror - Hold with both hands and rotate toward you as you sit in the driver's seat. It is spring loaded. It will pop out.

2) Then there are 3 screws holding the mirror base plate on - remove them

3) Next remove the courtesy lamp unit and disconnect.

4) Now remove the sun visor "end" catch, there is only one screw holding it.

5) Remove a "hidden" screw on your left then pull the molding away.

6) Next remove the 2 screws holding the base of the sun visor on.

(Boldingbroke) I couldn't find any specific tips for installing a soft top beyond the instructions at the Worldwide Upholster's site. So I took lots of pictures and notes. Maybe I'll post them on my website, when I get time. It helps alot that I'e got a background in sewing and upholstery. Here's a brief synopsis, in case anyone is doing this in the future:

1) My husband and I did this together, and our mariage survived, no major fights or anything. It's great to have 2 people working on the project so you can bounce ideas off of each other and confirm assumptions.

2) The instructions we found on the web were great, but a bit indecipherable. They would be vastly improved by just adding a few diagrams or pictures.

3) Use the gel form of contact cement. It doesn't drip and get all over everything. Have some cheap throw away brushes to use on just the cement application. Be sure to cover the brush in plastic wrap, so it doesn't dry out between steps.

4) Take lots of pictures of the "before" state of the roof so you can remember what it looked like before tearing off the old one.

5) Use the old roof as a template to measure the new roof, in case they are slightly different sizes. We laid out the new roof on top of the old one and just verified that seams, and sizing matched. It was a perfect match. Gave us confidence that the new top was properly manufactured.

6) Have a very sharp new blade in your utility knife or exacto to trim off the excess canvas once a piece has been glued in.

7) Make sure to have a baby sitter for your 2 year old. Or, if you let them play in the car while you're working, make sure they know not to push buttons and pull that knob that releases the parking break... =:-0

8) We broke the process up into two days, so that we wouldn't be wiped out and tired while putting on the new top. (RE: wiped out, see reference to 2-year old in item 7.)

9)The first day we took off the old top and cleaned off the adhesive and gunk from the frame and supports. My husband believes I was too zealous in cleaning off the old adhesive, but I thought it was worth the effort, to get a better bonding. No one will see it, but then I will know and I tend to perfectionism. This took about 4 hours. If you want to spend less time, don't clean so vigourously.

10) Day two we installed the new top, with baby sitter present. Not as difficult as I expected, but very detailed. We are both pleased with the results. Take your time and don't rush through it. It took us 4.5 hours. Most of the time we were waiting for the contact cement to set up before attaching the canvas.

11) The work is logical in order: Install back, install front, install two sides, attach to the interior supports. The instructions didn't really make it clear, and you were left wondering what parts were where, because of a lack of diagrams.

12) When attaching the canvas to the window vertical frame, pull that extra strip really tight to make the windows taut. Otherwise, the side windows will have a slight wrinkle or wave in them and not lay smooth. Getting this part right is the one thing we didn't pay close enough attention to and so it's not quite as smooth as we would like.

13) Definitely worth the $$ to buy new weather seals for all of the top. We did and I'm glad. Two of the old ones ripped when we were taking them out. But even the ones that remain whole were so worn and cracked. To go to all that effort and then put on old seals would just ruin the look and you'd feel like the job was not really complete.

But all in all, not a bad job and looks great going down the road. This may be a 4 hour job for an expert, but not for an amateur. Plan to spend time to get it right. Don't rush through the steps until you are sure you understand exactly what's being described.

- How To Articles:
Here are a number of articles on how to clean and detail your car from Autopia:

- Clay
Use detailing clay (not ordinary childrens clay) to really clean painted surfaces and even smooth finished wheel surfaces.
Detailing clay is easy to use and will remove surface contamination left after you have washed and dried your car.
Detailing clay is even used to remove brake dust. See the following link about "How to Clean with Clay":
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-clay.html

- Car wash
(Carl) most any car wash, don't use dish washing detergent. Use clean bucket and clean rags, etc.
Rinse car before rubbing with rags. Don't wash and let dry in heat. Don't wash and dry by driving car.
Don't wash and dry and then immediately park in garage - instead drive it around block so water in
cracks and crevices will blow out.

Dry the body and don't forget to wipe down the door jams, trunk and hood jams too.

- Wax
(Carl) cleaner wax based on Carnuba wax.
Mequires if you are particular.

(4ndelit) I would highly reccomend Zaino's bro's polishes. They are synthetic waxes that do a great job of bringing out the shine in paint, and since they are synthetic, they will last a LONG time.

(sublettd) Liquid Glass regularly. You can apply additional coats after four hours.

Two minor cautions: use back and forth motions for application; and dark colors have a tendency to streak a bit with Liguid Glass. So, instructions on the can say to take a damp cloth and rub out the streaks before they harden. My 500 SL is also red and it shines like a new born baby's butt.

(suginami) I have used the Zaino's products, and they are good, but I prefer the Meguiar's products. It doesn't last as long as Zaino, but the members of the site went to Merguiar's headquarters in Irvine, and did tests on a glossy black panel with Zaino and other products, and with our own eyes it was clearly obvious that nothing shined as good as Meguiar's Gold Class Wax.

(Islander) Get yourself a can of "Finish First" I've been using it for many years on all my cars and it is the best........Forget all the highly touted waxes , they can't hold a candle to this silicone. giving your car several coats of wax is not possible since the waxes contain a remover which will remove your first coat.

(Esvic) Ok here's a list of what to do, if you follow these steps your paint will look amazing.

1. Definitely take the time to clay the car, even a garage queen will accumulate contaminants over time. I'd consider my car a garage queen as it had 54K when I bought it last year and it needed to be clayed. I clayed it again this year (63K miles) and once again the clay did get dirty. My car is always in the garage only driven weekends, hasn't seen rain since I bought it and I'm as anal as they get about keeping it clean. The reason I'm saying all this is because it really does make a difference. You can buy Clay Magic at most Wal Marts or the Mothers Clay bar at most auto stores. You will also need an empty spray bottle which you will need to fill with a cap full of car wash soap and water.

Begin by completely washing the car and rinsing, don't dry. Then use the home made lubricant and spray a small area and gently glide the clay over the surface. Start at the top of the car and work your way down. Keep gliding until it feels like glass. Complete the whole car using this technique and be sure to knead the clay constantly to push contaminants away from the working surface. Once you've completed the paint and plastic cladding take a small chunk of the clay and do your wheels.

2. Wash the car a second time to remove any clay residue and the lubricant.

3. Polish/Swirl Remove the paint. You can use two different products for this. I recommend S100 Shine Enhancing Paint Cleanser because it's effortless to use and can be purchased at the Harley Dealer for $9.00. If a Harley Dealer isn't convenient I would recommend Meguiars #9 Swirl Remover, which can be purchased at most auto parts stores.

Both polishes can be applied by hand or random orbital. If doing this by hand you will want to move your hand in straight lines in the same direction the wind flows over your car. On the sides you should use an up and down straight line. This is to prevent swirls. S100 should be applied a panel at a time and removed before it dries. Meguiars can be applied to three panels at a time and then removed. Remember no circular motions.

4. Glaze the paint if you want. I've personally never used #7 Show Car Glaze but as I mentioned earlier it provides excellent results. With this glaze you will need to apply a very very small amount and spread it as thin as possible using the same technique as the polish. Do the entire car before you start to remove anything. Go back to the first panel and start removing only the top layer of the glaze, don't waste your time trying to remove all of it as it will take forever. Once you've gone over the entire car go back to the first panel and remove the remainder of the glaze.

5. Wax the paint. For this I recommend the Meguiars Gold Class as it really deepens the paint color, enhances the pearls and has an amazing reflection. Apply this also in straight lines the same way you applied the polish. Do the entire car and go back to the first panel and start removing everything.

6. Finish with a water spritz or quick detailer. In humid climates the Gold Class can be streaky and will almost always create the white wax dust. A spray bottle full or water or a Quick Detailer will remove the streaks and white dust and leave the car looking perfectly clean. My personal favorite Quick Detailer is Meguiars Final Detail. You can use this on your wheels, chrome, rubber, plastic, in the engine and door jambs. This has to be special ordered from a Meguiars distibutor, usually a auto paint supply store.

BTW if you do all of this I would split it up into two days and work from early morning until noon. This way you won't piss off the family and will still have part of the day to relax.

(Islander) Wax can either be removed by a detergent, wear off, be broken down by sunlight or just deteriorate. The polish I use is easy to apply and polish and has the added advantage that the more coats you apply the better the finish becomes. I usually apply three coats ( about 10 minutes per coat) annually and the water runs right off. the cars are much easier to wash also. I even did a 37' boat on a regular basis and I would never try that with a wax.

(jjrodger) I've used a lot of different products. Zymol I think is over-rated. It is very expensive and a pain to apply. The finish is good, but not breathtakingly good. I'm now using Meguiar's Liquid Crystal system 1 and 2 followed by Gold Class wax. I am very happy with the result. I think this is the best finish I've yet achieved.

- Plastic window in Rag Top:
(alanc) A Cesna pilot showed me a great way to make the plastic windows clear again. We went to one of the little specialty stores in a small airport and got some Meguiar's Mirror Glaze. They use it to clear up plexiglass airplane windows. (It's not just for airplanes, so it might be available at auto supply shops too.) It's 2-step--first clean then polish. You put a buffer on an electric drill and rub that stuff around aggressively. Mine was so bad, I had nothing to lose, so I really went at it. On an 18 year old top, it wound up looking just about new. I think it would have looked completely new if I'd unbolted the top frame to get to the inside better. Eventually, I had to replace the top, but the windows still looked great.

The stuff didn't leave any residue to speak of.

(Bdbenz) I used the Meguiar's Plastic Cleaner #17 , followed by the Plastic Polish #10. My top had not been used in several years and was cloudy and scratched. It turned out great, clear as a clean glass window with 98% of the scratches removed. My top is original. I bought the Meguiar's at my local Napa store. I understand that it is also available directly from the Meguiars web sight.

(4ndelit) I used the meguiars plastic cleaner and polish [17,10] on my friend's 325i convertible, and it did wonders.

- Tires and rubber moldings:
(Carl) after cleaning, use Armor All on black rubber. Many folks though poo poo Armor All.

- Engine Cleaning:
(Carl) Engine cleaning: most any engine cleaner but put plastic wrap over Distributor and air intake. Don't pressure wash
as pressure washing forces water in areas where electrical connectors can corrode causing problems later.
Protect the body paint finish before cleaning engine.

(Peyton) Go to a coin wash. Spray the engine down with Simple Green. Let it sit for a few minutes. Don't spray on paint!!! Then blast it off with the power washer. Go home, let dry. Once dry spray components down with engine dressing or tire shine.

On the block get Mother's Aluminum polish and use elbow grease. You can get the block looking like chrome if you do it right.

(Yeldogt) I too clean all my cars under the hood -- I use one of the spray products -- they do not smell as bad as they once did and do not try it on a clean driveway.

If it is really dirty you may need to let it sit and or need to do it twice.

I do not need to use them each time -- I let the product do the work then I hose it off W/O a spray on the hose. I then just mix a bucket of regular car wash with wax in it and pour it all over.

- Wheels:
(Carl) Install Kleen Wheel metal rings to cut down on brake dust.
Clean often.

- washing and stowing the Soft Top
(John) clean with a mild detergent. Make sure it's completely dry before storing. Make sure the back window is clean
before folding to prevent scratches. Place a towel between the folded plastic window to help prevent scratches while
stored.

- Leather, Vinyl, and dash conditioner:
(Peter) I tested leatherique on a piece of "cardboard" from a '52 Cadillac
convertible's seats. You couldn't begin to bend that leather, it would
turn into dust, any attempt to bend it resulted in a smaller piece of
cardboard. The leatherique turned my test piece into pliable, good
looking green leather. I can bend my test sample right in half. It looks
as if it might be a dealer sample for the green leather for Cadillac in '52.
In that test, I put the sample in a big zip-loc bag with lots of
leatherique and left it for a few days.
I know you can't do that with your seats (unless you're a nut), but as for
the results, WOW, and I have no relation to leatherique, etc -

(Gene) Leatherique is one of those rare products these days that does a job far
superior to most users' expectations.
Leatherique Rocks.

(Carl) I think there is something in 'saddle soap' leather conditioner that attacks the string stitching
causing them to some loose. Then again, most Mercedes I have seen have seat bottom stitching
that has come loose.

(Carl) Mercedes SL dashes are notorious for developing ugly cracks. I understand for some reason
that blue colored dashes are the worst to crack.

- Soft Top Repair?
(Rob) Go to top shop and get matching scaps and glue from the inside using clear glue made for soft tops also
obtainable at top shops.

- Porter Cable 7424:
(Goldfish11) Final tip is invest in a Porter Cable 7424, Why? because it takes all the effort out of the above. It is polishing 100 times faster than a human hand can so a 20 minute polish with the Porter Cable is equivalent to 2000 minutes by hand! It also does it evenly, a human hand does not apply consistent pressure. You use less polish/wax etc and get a better result!! I wish I got one of these 15 years ago.

Trivia

Which 107 SL's had manual transmissions?

Which 107 SL should you buy?
(Carl) See Road & Track March 1994 article.

1981-1985
Better gas mileage
Usually least expensive
V8 engine - sufficient power but not as powerful as other versions
Many 1981-1983 models have the cursed single timing chain
(All 107 V8 cars have a dual-row chain except 1981-1983 380SL's, and only those built to US specs; all Euro 380SL's had the dual-row.)
Under appreciated

1972-1980
Iron block V8
Rock Solid Engine
Poor gas mileage
Aging - oldest of the 107 SL's

1986-1989
Latest evolution of SL
Powerful engine
Poor gas mileage
Most sought after
More electronic stuff

Unique and most attractive models
Euro bumpers and headlights
Switch markings are in German
Hard to get parts
Inconsistent Federal EPA and protection conversions when originally imported
280SL can be found with manual transmissions
More powerful
Might find one with heated seats, wipers on headlamps, and other Euro-only options