Hi Friends,

I was helping a friend of a friend take an old victorian chair that needed reupholstering and this beast was just sitting next to her giant 3 car garage looking like its been given up on. Many New England winters showing their marks. I fawned over it and explained how I have been dreaming of a BMW 135i or something similarly small and fun! She looked at me and plainly said, 'take it'.

....take it?

Just....TAKE IT? What is happening???

Apparently she had put 180k miles on it and a couple years ago, it made a CLUNK noise on her way home and she parked it and there it sat. Her husband was a car enthusiast and they previously owned Prowlers and this was her last weekend warrior. Her husband got sick and passed away in the following years and there is sat.

I can change brakes, tires, oil changes, etc, but this is nowhere near my skill level. Thankfully I have a husband who does indeed have the skills. He's currently working on my nephews transmission on an '18 focus, so once he is done with that, we will start to move down the list of things to do.

1. Battery
2. Mice eviction - though shockingly it doesn't actually smell of mouse like some of my husbands trucks. Just clear evidence of shredded papers.
3. Power wash to remove lichen and hope the clear coat is still good
4. Check clunk she reported
5. Headlights and fog lights are completely ...well...fogged...
6. Headliner is droopy
7. Fuel Filter
8. Oil Change
9. All the liquid changes....
10. Check hoses for dry rot
11. Brakes/rotors/tires
12. Filters

Then...just take it from there....

Are there any special tools this car requires for maintenance that I shouldn't live without? My husband is a ford guy, so we have all the things for fords, but nothing like this.

I may be crazy or just the luckiest person in the world.
Undecided.

Wish me luck!

Oh, she also said to not drive this in the winter. Is that an accurate statement or just lack of proper winter swaps?

 

Have your husband go through this information.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...s-repairs.html
The headlights can be polished with a headlight kit and brought back to life. You can also use the search feature in the top L/H corner of this page. WELCOME and enjoy the ride. Mechanically you have a 2004 Mercedes SLK320. Body parts are mostly Chrysler and available on Ebay.

 

Lots of good information here.
Jim

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...s-repairs.html

 

No doubt during the 'restoration' your thought/answer will be a constant metamorphosis! Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

After removing the old gas and cycling new gas thru the fuel line and into a cup, we were surprised to see no residue. By the time we were done, the gas coming thru was clear, so that was promising. New battery obviously was put in and husband decided to try starting it up. Sounded great, all things considered. Let it run for about 10 seconds. Next up while he moves onto the next logical step in the engine for me is trying to clean the interior. It's... sticky....

 

Fantastic deal for $1.00! I'm going to give you a link to my thread. At the bottom of the first page are a bunch of links. These links are all of the maintenance items or repairs that I have done on my car.
It's a roadster, but the mechanical parts are basically the same. The links have detailed pictures with captions, the tools needed, torque specifications, etc...
LINK to My journey with my 2006 roadster (Maintenance)
Items that you should have in the car:
A spare RCM and send your original out to @tighed1
A spare Crankshaft Position Sensor (Use Bosch only)
A spare Camshaft Position Sensor (Bosch only).
A tire plug kit and a portable inflator. (There are no spare tires in these cars).
Basic tool kit.

Once you drive this car you will fall in love with it! Best of luck to you!

 

Thanks for the links! I an reading them and printing out what I need for ad-hoc items.

I just took out the interior walls of the trunk and found a brick with a ton of wires wrapped in the most foul smelling foam. Took that out to air out and was thankful to ALL THE GODS that the mice haven't appeared to eaten any of the wires of the mystery brick! Im going to try and power wash the sidewalls (and whatever other plastic and fiberglass I can get out) and hope that helps with the mouse smells. Husband seems to think they might have been smokers, but its hard to parse old cigarettes and mice at this stage. Found 2 more giant mouse condo associations, so Ill do another vacuum back there and light mopping.

The interior looks so much better after the sudsy mop, followed by chlorox disinfectant kitchen spray, followed by a wet vac, but after finding more mouse hidey houses, I think I might want to investigate if I should take the glovebox/console out too. Im afraid of what might come at me when the time comes to use the vents!

 

There is a thin rectangle piece in the center console next to the e-brake that looks like it should function with a soft press to open, but its been wedged lower than it looks like it should have and is stuck. Is this a hidden cup holder or just a hidden compartment for your...chapstick or cigarettes?

 

If it is the ashtray, the front is supposed to open up with a quarter holder. What you sound like you are describing in the trunk area sounds like the pneumatic pump and if it was wet it will no longer function. A picture is worth a thousand words with these descriptions.

 

What you're describing is a hidden cup holder. The mechanism is probably broken, so most people wedge something in there to keep it shut. You can remove that cup holder and put in a console storage bin.
See pictures below. I made a dual cup holder for mine. There's a link on the page I gave you. It's removable.

 

There are two sets of tools you may not have besides the usual compliment of metric wrenches. You will need a set of TORX sockets or star drives. You will also need the E-Drives (the female version of the male torx).

Here is a link to harbor freight search. https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=torx

The oil filter cap has it's own wrench. You can order that from Needswings or other vender that cater to Mercedes cars.

Winter driving? Sounds like a person who never drove a high powered rear wheel drive in the snow. Remember this is a Mercedes platform. Half of Germany is covered in snow in the winter time; it can drive in the snow.

 

Well I was NOT expecting this. Thankfully, my husband was which is why he removed all the sides from the trunk.

I think the console should be next for good measure.

Any recommendations for how to clean the surface without flooding the compartment? Just good old fashioned elbow grease, kitchen cleaner and a shop vac?

 

Your air pump is likely toast. If you buy another on E-bay be sure to get the elect. plugs and at least 6" of wire with it for splicing. The plugs are likely corroded inside also. Search "mercedes slk 320 central locking pump" on Ebay. A good shop vac will help with the cleanup and POR 50 to treat the rust.

 

I have used simple green spray with good success. I would wear barrier gloves of some kind.

ZERacer always has good advice.

 

I will be wearing ALL THE THINGS. Gloves, mask, hair net. HAHAA! My daily rocking between this was a good and idea and worst idea ever is listing slightly to worst idea ever side today - but we will make it through.

 

Seatbelts.

The mice chewed 30% across both around where it rests at the wall. Is this something I can trust to buy replacements on ebay or dp I find one straight from a manufacturer? I don't even know where to begin for something safety related like this.

 

Yup that's it I think. I tried to gently pry it out of there, but I didn't want to force it without more data. It's clearly been wedged past whatever those small pivot joints are.

 

I recommend replacing with the bin rather than the cup holder. The bin is far more practical/useful. ( Keeping my car fully original I replaced the cup holder )
Here's listings to give an idea of choices and pricing: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...243.m570.l1313

 

Look under Interior repairs for instructions on installing a storage bin. The bins are available on Ebay...

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...s-repairs.html

 

OK... I'd say I'm about 80% satisfied with the job!

-Lysol kitchen and bath disinfectant cleaner
-scrub brush (which i only needed for the thick corners)
-heavy duty dish gloves (with a comfortable soft liner! )
- entire bounty paper towel roll
-n95 mask

I'm letting it air out for another hour, then Thursday I'll vacuum it again and see if I can get in that crevice behind the wheel wells in the top right, but I'm not confident. The bottom right, compartment i was able to clean the sides but the bottom has felt glued down, so that might just be a lost cause.