Mercedes-Benz 190 SL Abandoned Goes From Nasty And Rusty To Running Again

This is an abandoned Mercedes 190SL that has sat for many years and desperately needs a detail transformation. My good friend Pete’s father owned the car for many years before storing it in his unique basement garage where it’s sat ever since. We pull this gorgeous sport-leicht roadster into the daylight and trailer it back to the AMMO Studio for a full detail. After an extensive power wash, I dive deep into a tricky paint correction and interior cleaning. After the detail, the next step was to try and get the SL started so Pete and his father could take it for a drive once again. Enjoy the detail on this episode of Drive + Protect! – L

ABANDONED Mercedes 190SL Will it Start? Disaster Detail Amazing TRANSFORMATION!

 
Since it’s been sitting in a basement gathering all kinds of dirt for the past 20 years, the car wasn’t too eager to get out, as the wheels were stuck. But with some help, Larry from AMMO NYC pulled it out and brought it to his shop to clean it up.
 
Power washing the car set the scene for the entire operation, and with most of the dirt removed, it already looked a bit better, but a good amount of foam and a second rinse were definitely required. Larry then popped open the hood and repeated the process, then lifted the car and removed the wheels to get them all shiny again, but not before dealing with the undercarriage.
 
The interior was up next, and it was host to a couple of more or less pleasant things, namely a full ashtray and the long-lost, rusty, and nasty car keys hiding under the passenger seat. Neat!
 

The trunk also had some rust issues, so it was cleaned up, dusted, vacuumed, primed, and painted, which solved the issue for the time being. The real issues, however, were the cracks and marks on the body paint, which remained there even after some proper polishing.
 
As Larry explained, the damage was underneath the paint, so no amount of polishing would clear off the marks. That said, it did help to some extent, so he went ahead and used the least abrasive pad on the entire car to give it a decent refresh, while not damaging the paint any further.
 
With everything cleaned up, the interior disinfected, and the windows all clear again, the wheels were reinstalled and the Mercedes brought back down, as the big reveal drew closer. Some extra work was needed to get it back running again, but all the effort was worth it.