1984 Mercedes 500SEL Euro

[hi its me alec]

My friend got the motor in the car while I was at work today, nice little surprise

[hi its me alec]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wSru4dvOEg&feature=em-upload_owner

[Azrial89]

Damn! You work fast, looks and sounds great!

[rice4life]

Wooooo!


I wish I had friends like yours.

[mtm_motors]

Sounds quite glorious. Some of the first cars I really drove a lot were my parents' 420SEL and 400E... really love those old motors. Someday I will build a hotrod W126 like yours

[hi its me alec]

Here we go... no hood + no worries

[Meeve]

at first I was like meh. Then it got lower, lower and lower to the point I was like hell yeah this looks good. Then the seats, then the engine swap. Geez men this is looking good! Keep it up!

[hi its me alec]

Got hood back on.


Took this picture at a show, which was its first legit worry-free drive after the swap.


In order to have it looking better for the show, I worked on my spoiler and gave it a 1-day paint job. Turned out okay, obviously better than before, but I'm going to make it nicer later.

[hi its me alec]

First wash since the swap






Got some custom badges, says 'night release.' They're fridge magnets




Then I drove next to this guy, he gave me the thumbs up and we cruised together for about 15 miles on the freeway. Sorry the pic is kinda bad, I didn't take it




Finally, today, this guy parked next to me and I stared until he left, questioning what I've done with this thing. I really really didn't want to slam this thing so hard. lol

[hi its me alec]

Well, the rear glass came out today. Actually a little better than I expected underneath all that rust. :/

[19birel]

Man this is an awesome build, I love how you've been cleaning it up and keeping it period correct you've got a beautiful old Benz!

How is the SEL to drive? I imagine it's a little boaty but is it any fun? It's a fairly analog car so I 'd imagine the inputs aren't completely numb or anything.

Keep up the good work!

[loekaaz]

Oh good progress has been made here

[hi its me alec]

Man this is an awesome build, I love how you've been cleaning it up and keeping it period correct you've got a beautiful old Benz!

How is the SEL to drive? I imagine it's a little boaty but is it any fun? It's a fairly analog car so I 'd imagine the inputs aren't completely numb or anything.

Keep up the good work!

It definitely surprised me, it's very nimble for its size. It's impossible to drive slowly, believe it or not... Handles great ever since I put the Bilsteins in. Worst part of the whole driving experience is the 2.47 diff.

[hi its me alec]

Rust treatment and paint all done. Luckily the painter is skilled enough that he could spot everything in instead of painting one or both quarter panels.



Glass is also in...









Absolutely 100% unbelievable difference in the way the car looks. Can't wait to see it in the bright sunlight.

[hi its me alec]

Well, looks like I'll be driving the car in a 'winter wonderland' scenario tomorrow - expecting at least 4 inches of snow and the car is still at my work. Don't worry, I'm bringing my real camera.

Also, I was clearing my phone out today and found this cold start video. This was from the morning after I drove the car home, after the engine swap was done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qei8xwG8yBQ