A classic Mercedes without its grill is just not right – so getting it back on was a priority.

The car came with all of its original owner’s books. The owner’s manual is an amazing thing. It includes a lot of information on maintenance and includes sections showing all the parts in expanded view.  After a look through the parts that were included in a box in the trunk when I bought the car and comparing what I had to the parts diagram in the owner’s manual, I was off for my first trip to the Mercedes Classic Center in Irvine.for the rubber seal that fits between the grill and the bodywork and a couple of other odds and ends.

The grill was missing a horizontal and its vertical chrome grill strip. The Classic Center only had narrow horizontal elements and, of course, mine needs wide ones. So I bought two vertical elements (this took two trips to Irvine to figure out – always bring a sample if possible) and cut one to fit horizontally.I did this with a Dremel. This too took two trips but this time to the hardware store. The first Dremel I bought was a basic model and when I looked through the instructions you really do need the better model with variable speed settings.

This is how it turned out. It’s not bad but the strips that are available through the Classic Center are round. The originals have a seem across the top so the replacements will do for now but I’m going to try to find some original ones.

Installing the grill is a two man job. You need someone to hold the grill while the seven attaching bolts are tightened. Aligning the rubber seal and getting the grill aligned at the same time as well almost makes it three but I managed to get it done while keeping the numbers to the minimum.

It’s been years that she’s been grill-less.