6.3

All,
When I removed the wood from my dash, I of course removed the ashtray. Well, it was rusty on the inside and the galvanized-looking outer surfaces were tarnished. I really cleaned the ashtray to where it shines with little effort.

I went to Lowe's Home Improvement and bought a quart of typical rust neutralizer. It looks like a dull green Kool Aid. It contains phosphoric acid.

I took an old plastic ice cream container and put it one third full of the neutralizer, then filled up the rest with water. I placed my ashtray in there for two hours. (I removed the wood, for sure!) When I went to get it, the container was bubbling. I removed the ashtray and it was shining. Ahh... High School chemistry.

After the job, I sprayed down the ashtray with WD 40 and wiped it clean. Try it. You'll like it.

Mike



Michael Edwin Freed

Thanks Mike

Hi Mike,

The phosporic acid will certainly clean up these old parts. Watch out though for expidited rust in the future. The phosporic acid SHOULD convert the exposed steel surface to a rust resistant compound, but in the last several years I have had a hard time finding solutions that worked as well as those of fifteen years ago. A lot of modern solutions will strip the rust, but don't convert the surface, and as soon as the oil dries out, it starts rusting again and worse than it was before.

Chris Johnson
100.012-12-000790
109.018-12-000019
109.018-12-003834
www.300SE.org

Thats great stuff !!

Does anyone else have other tips for removing corrosion from metals parts

thanks
Kushal

2006 Subaru Impreza STI
1993 Mitsu Eclipse GSX
1991 VW Golf GTI VR6 swap
1991 VW Golf GTI ABA swap
1970 MB 300 SEL 6.3 #3...
1970 MB 300 SEL 6.3 #4...

Anyone else here use #0000 steel wool on chrome, or glass? It's amazing, and the #0000 is soft enough that it won't scratch these surfaces.

Yes, I have used the steel wool on chrome and followed it up with a polish and rag. It did do wonders.

This furniture man, who is advising me on the clearcoat application to my dash wood, has told me that the final rub will be with #0000. That's pretty amazing considering that it is steel wool!

Thanks,
Mike

Michael Edwin Freed

The #0000 will leave a dull matt finish that needs to be buffed out. A more standard approach would be to wet sand it with 1200 or 2000 grit, then buff it on a buffing wheel.

What type of finish are you using? Most domestic furniture finishes don't hold up too well under the huge temperature swings encountered in a car.

Michael,
The "final rub" I was referring to was not the final polishing. It was the final step prior to the polishing, which will be done with a paste.

I use a compressor with a HVLP gun, filtered and set at 35psi. First I sealed my wood with a good sealer. Then, oil based varnish was my choice for the topcoat.

I am cutting the first coat of varnish with #400 paper folded into fourths, soaked in naphtha. Then I will apply two more coats with the same process, finishing with the finer grades of paper and steel wool. The back side of all my wood will be sealed, too, to protect from the high humidity in Augusta.

I do not like gloss on wood. I will be using satin. This is just my personal preference.

I actually like the finish BMW used to put on their cars better than Mercedes' style. I thought the wood in the BMWs looked more natural and realistic.

Also, I feel real good about the repairs I have made to my dash wood. There where a few places where the wood was chipped, like under the radio cover plate and under a couple of switch bezels. I used walnut plastic wood, sanded the places, dabbed the spots with a Q-Tip and stain, then dabbed a little flat black paint here and there to mimic the swirls on burl walnut. You have to look hard to see them now.

I am doing this because I cannot afford $1,400 just to have my dash wood done. The other aspect is that I am learning at the same time. The safety valve is, if it doesn't turn out just right, I will save up and send the wood off. No big deal.

Mike

Michael Edwin Freed

I refinished two sets of W108 wood myself many years ago, and the results looked pretty good to my then untrained eye. Unfortunately, I sold both cars before I could determine the durability of the results. Since then, I've hung out at Drew's shop (Heritage Woodworks) enough so that I think I could now doo a much better job. It sounds like you're taking your time to do things carefully, and I'm sure the results will be excellent.

I have been planning to put together a set of wood for my W123 just for fun, using an exotic bubinga veneer I bought. It's pretty much love it or hate it, although the purists will most certainly wretch.

Michael,
That pattern tells a story to me. The swirls are an aesthetic aspect of that particular pieces' life. I like it! What kind of clearcoat will it have? Will you wet the veneer, steam it, apply it with Drew's glue system that he showed us at Charleston?

Heavy talk? Probably so, due to the fact that I'm brainwashed by another friend of mine, whose building is right down the street. This guy imports exotic wood from South America, Africa, Russia, etc., and makes church furnishings, crosses, house furniture,coffins(!!!) and then veneers of all kinds of things.

Most of Gary's stuff is covered with final coats of lacquer, which would be a joy to use on my dash wood (quick drying), but highly insufficient I'm told due to no temp and dampness protection. Mostly an inside wood finish.

I would like to know how your project turns out.

Mike

Michael Edwin Freed

I'll be doing it at Drew's shop using his stuff. Of course, I'll probably talk him into doing the work too.

He Mike, I went to Lowes and looked for a green rust remover and all they had was the pink stuff, Naval Jelly. Do you recall the name? Naval Jelly now does not work like the old bottle I had laying around. Jim

jim

On occasion I use a rust remover that turns the former rust to a black cad. In the past I had a gold cad system as well but I wasn't very good at that job and pro jobs looked 100 % better. My black cad jobs look identicle to pro jobs.
Example of a recent job: a Leatherman's screw driver bit set (the type you can carry on your belt) that started to get real tatty. Treated it by just putting the parts in a small cup for two days. Perfect again. Do the same thing to black cad Benz bolts in the constant anti rust and tarnish battle. Purchased the stuff through an ad in the magazine, Hemmings.

James,
The product is called "Jasco Prep and Primer." It is in a quart, plastic bottle that is primarily white in color, with burgundy and black. If this doesn't help you, I will get more detailed. It's out in my garage at this time.

Hope this helps,
Mike

Michael Edwin Freed

Greetings from a proud new owner in Australia. I've just purchased a beautiful 1970 300 SEL 6.3 in great original condition.

This weekend I've used Kitten #2 which is a cutting compound on my woodwork, which really I thought I would have to take apart and refinish to get to 100% again - I'm a varnish head as well as benz head having owned a few old boats as well as old MB's.

I gave it all a good hard rub and taking off pimpled dead varnish top layers until it was all feeling smooth under the cut, using a toothbrush to get in every corner, then Kitten #2, which is a top coat, minor cleaning wax, which removed "swirls" from the rubbing compound. Next I used a polymer sealant and for the final depth and glow Carnauba paste wax - buffed off with supper-soft paper towel.

It looks great, almost new, better yet, it's got a great "patina" as they say in the antiques trade, it was a friend who is an Australian Antiques Road Show expert who showed me this "restoration" trick.

If your varnish isn't glowing, try this before you refinish, it took a few hours and now it looks like some classic furniture :-)

I have learned heaps from all of your posts and have enjoyed understanding the car that much more.

LUCKE1 (new number plate on-order)

Norm Edwards
South of Sydney
Australia





Norm
Australia
1970 300 SEL 6.3 #3820

Hi Norm ,welcome aboard.Stick up some pics of your new ride with some details such as options etc.


...There are old cars,and then there are Classics..(Mercedes Benz Ad. 1999)

http://homepage.mac.com/normanedwardsdesign/PhotoAlbum2.html

Thanks for the welcome Ron! Glad to be here!

I have put some pics here at the Apple Mac home page site - hope this works for pc's as well :-)



Norm Edwards
Australia
1970 300 SEL 6.3 #3820

1968 280 SL
1962 190 SL
1977 450 SEL
1965 230 SE
1994 c180

Works just fine! thats a nice looking car too!.Your colour is called Beige /grey.728H.Options are 220 ,Rear door light contact switches,(!!yes it was an option) 306,Airconditioner(1963-1971) 502, outside rear veiw mirror.(01/01/1963-31/03/1983)625, means Australia Delivery from 01/08/1963 onwards)Or Denmark....[:D]



...There are old cars,and then there are Classics..(Mercedes Benz Ad. 1999)

Thanks again Ron. I appreciate knowing the codes. The colour is very interesting as it changes shades depending on how much light reflection there is on the grey colour which seems to have the metalic content and the beige the clear colour. It almost looks to be a gold or bronze.Javascript:insertsmilie('[8D]')

Cheers!



Norm Edwards
Australia
1970 300 SEL 6.3 #3820

1968 280 SL
1962 190 SL
1977 450 SEL
1965 230 SE
1994 c180

What is the original finish for the ashtray?  I just finished fixing the heat controls, and was thinking of getting the ashtray refinished,  it was not sure if it needs to be galvanized or painted.  Please advise.

I do not believe there is a finish on the ashtray --In the past, I have taken steel wool to them 

one little disclaimer for this thread. Steel things can stomach the treatment described here, not so aluminum.
Also don't get confused by which steps are for the wood and which ones are for the metal of your ashtray. :)

For the steel ashtray bits, go ahead and soak it in some level of phosphoric acid metal prep. Just follow the instructions that come with it, which usually include scrubbing it down with a scotch-bright pad for scouring the more onerous rust, wearing gloves the whole time so you don't dissolve skin much. Then doing whatever buffing and polishing comes to mind (like what's described in the early reaches of this).  A large ultrasonic cleaner never hurts.

Rinsing off the acid is important. Getting it out of the spring that makes the little flap move would be a good thing.  A follow-up finish beyond the white powder from the acid bath is good. Basic grey spray paint doesn't hurt. There's a color code for the alloy wheels if you want to be a stickler.  It's just there for rust prevention. 

-CTH

Thanks.  I noticed the ashtray had some tint of gray, wasn’t sure if it is suppose to be there or not since extinguishing cigarettes on paint might burn it.  Hence my question about plating.  Can you provide the gray shade code.

As for taking the leather handle and wood off I have to straighten the twisted tabs, that is where I am scared as not to brake them.  These tabs have never been touched as they still have some covering on them.  Any thoughts and guidance.