1987 Mercedes 500SL

Mercedes 500SL Window

John has spent some time clean the door glass ready for refit. He has made up the bolts and fitted the window channels.

Bulkhead Strip

The bulkhead of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL was stripped both inside and out. The heater box was carefully split into three sections and removed, with all clips, controls, and related components bagged and labelled for clarity during reassembly. Clips securing the lower main loom to the crash bar were removed, allowing the loom to be […]

A Tricky Subframe Refit

Recent work on our 1987 Mercedes 500SL involved aligning the rear subframe assembly beneath the car and lowering the ramp to bring the assembly into position. Initial alignment on the floor proved difficult, requiring several adjustments to the angle. Once repositioned, the rear differential mount was successfully bolted up. The car was then gently raised […]

Driveshaft Refurbishment

As new driveshafts were not available, we stripped down the joints and cleaned them, then regreased as well as replacing the CV boots on our 1987 Mercedes 500SL.

500SL Axle Rebuild

Jonn has continued his work putting the axle of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL back together.

Rear Axle Assembly

Jonn has continued his work on reassembling the rear axle of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL. He has now fitted the hubs and discs as well as fitting the new calipers and new pads. He also made brake pipes and fitted the brackets for these.

Building up the back axle of my SL

Jon has been continuing the work on my 500 SL this weekend, reassembling the rear axle. New mounts have been fitted to the differential and new mounts to the sub frame. He’s fitted new bearings to the hubs and support shaft before greasing up and fitting to the arms. New bushes have been wound into […]

500SL Rust Treatment

Our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has had rust treatment and prevention applied to its underside.

500SL Rear Calipers

Jonn has carried out work on the rear calipers of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL. Both calipers were blasted, with any missed areas finished using a wire wheel. The calipers were then stripped, with seals, pistons, and other components removed. A thorough cleaning followed before each caliper was rebuilt using new seals, pistons, and dust covers. […]

500SL In Paint

Some of the bumper components of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL have been in the paint shop with Chris as he has been prepping, priming, and painting them.

Progress on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL

Jon has been busy working on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL, in this phase of work he has been working at the rear of the car. Stripping down the rear hubs, inspecting and preparing them for the next stage of restoration. ”Strip hubs. Remove all items and remove hub flange and wheel bearing. Wire wheel hub […]

500SL Rear Axle Strip

Jonn sorted through the new parts for the rear axle rebuild of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL. Items that had already been removed were cleaned, bagged, and listed. The remaining axle and subframe were stripped in preparation for blasting. Parts intended for reuse were thoroughly cleaned, labelled, and bagged accordingly. The components were then taken for […]

Heater And Wiring Loom

Jonn continued his work on the heater and loom placement on our 1987 Mercedes 500SL, as their positioning dictated the arrangement of all other components. The heater unit was stripped down and repositioned as far back as possible before being reassembled and secured. Its placement was checked against another SL scuttle measurements to ensure correct […]

500SL Progress

More progress has been made on Craig’s 1987 Mercedes 500SL as Jonn has continued his work on it. He began by raising the car off the ground to access the rear axle and subframe. The rear axle was stripped down, and wheel chocks were positioned to secure it. The mounting components were removed, and the […]

Quick round up before Christmas

Some weeks at Bridge Classic Cars we have a workshop full of customer’s car, other weeks we have a workshop full of our own competition cars. No two weeks are the same and heading into the final week of 2024 we were busy as always working on both. If you watched our recent Torque Show […]

1987 Mereces 500SL rebuild continues

John and Jon have been at it again. They have successfully built up and fitted the new rear vents. They have also managed to fit and align the door mouldings. John has then got to work on rebuilding the front head lights and stripping down the front bumper. The headlight wiper motor linkage was seized […]

500SL Headlights

The headlights of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL have been stripped down by our workshop manager John.

500SL Power Steering Cooler

Technician Jonn has been continuing his work on Craig’s 19897 Mercedes 500SL. After removing the front valance and fitting the power steering cooler into position, he secured it with new bolts before refitting the valance. He then disconnected the power steering pipe in the engine bay and fed it through the chassis and secured it. […]

Mercedes 500SL – cleaning up the wiring

John is tidied and cleaned up some of the wiring in the boot area. He has mounted and connected up the aerial.

Mercedes 500SL – rebuild continued…

The John’s have been working mainly on the doors recently. They’ve cut counter sunk bolts to length, fitted and secured both door locks. The door seals have now been fitted into the channels around the door before securing the front piece with clips. They they’ve moved on to the boot area where they’ve fitted hose […]

More reassembly work on Mercedes 500SL

John and Jon have done a few more hours on the Merc this weekend. Fitted new clips to all fuel pipes in the boot heading to the expansion tank. At the same time, they’ve tidied up the boot area. Route wiring around rear of boot and screw into place using original clips. They’ve then moved […]

Fitting up the SL Tank

John was expecting this to be a tougher job than it turned out to be. The tank fitted into position nicely. It’s great when a plan comes together!

Mercedes 500 SL progress

Progress is being made on my 1987 Mercedes 500 SL. I keep hoping and wishing that there is not much longer to go but time seems to be forever running away. Both John’s/Jon’s are working on the car on Saturdays so as to not affect the scheduling in the busy Bridge Classic Cars workshops but […]

500SL Headights And Heater

Our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has been in the hands of Bridge Classic Cars workshop manager, John. He has been stripping down the headlights ready to send the reflector away to be refurbished. John also rebuilt and refitted the refurbished heater box to the car.

Mercedes 500SL fit up continues

Continue to build up from photos. Find engine steady shock for engine mounts and strip and clean and prep for painting. Clean stripped door mirrors, Polish chrome and back to black rubber edging. Pop over to Classic lounge to take some reference photos of doors. Find door seal and tape to place. Find fixings and […]

500SL Fuel Pump Brackets

John has been refurbishing the fuel pump brackets of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL.

500 SL Progress

Jonn has been cleaning up the wiper motor and mounting brackets of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL. He then cleaned and checked the operation of the fuel pumps and brackets.

Brake Lines and Master Cylinder on our 1987 Mercedes 500SL

The 1987 Mercedes 500SL is currently getting fitted out by the Bridge Classic Cars team at our Suffolk HQ. Jon, one of our restoration technicians, has been working on beginning the braking system on the 1980s V8 roadster. To begin with, he’s been laying out the brake lines to make sure everything fits correctly around […]

Starting Up Our 1987 Mercedes 500SL Project Again

The Bridge Classic Cars team have begun working on one of our personal projects in the shape of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL. The team have worked on getting a lot of the refurbished parts down off of the shelves for this specific car to lay out and cross reference before beginning the process of getting […]

ABS Mounting Bracket

Mauro has been painting the ABS mounting bracket for our 1987 Mercedes 500SL.