Intrepid to 300M

[Intrepidation]

For a long time now I've wanted to do an interior swap of my car's with that of a 300M's ever since I sat in one and felt just how supple and more comfortable the leather was in it verses the cloth or even leather seats of Intrepids.

A couple weeks ago I obtained teh first piece of that goal...a 300M leather armrest.

Next I'd like to acquire the backseat since they are harder to come by than the front seats. Plus they are cheaper.

[Sixty8panther]

Well that was anti-climactic. :AH-HA_wink:

Now if you shoe-horned a HEMI from an SRT8 Charger

into the 'Trepid you'd be awarded the one & only 2008

Congretonal Medal of Honor from Tight Whips Car Club

founding members.

BUT that also means hooking the flywheel to the REAR

wheels via. a north-south driveshaft.

IIRC the door panels and gauges are also exclusive to

the 300M, right? Where did the white-faced gauges you

swapped into the car come from? Intrepid R/T?

[FAPTurbo]

Very cool! The 300M is my favorite LH!

My Dad remembers taking me to an autoshow back when the 300M was all-new, and he had trouble dragging me out because the car was so comfy even compared to our Mercedes at the time.

[Intrepidation]

Well that was anti-climactic. :AH-HA_wink:

IIRC the door panels and gauges are also exclusive to

the 300M, right? Where did the white-faced gauges you

swapped into the car come from? Intrepid R/T?

Well you know, it's WIP...I do it as I get the spare change to do it.

Yes the door panels, center console and dash are unique to the 300M.

I'm keeping my panels for now., but I will one of these days pocket all of the chrome switches to install them and replace my black plastic ones.

The back with chrome rings gauge cluster is from a Concorde...got it at 50 Dollar Day. I still have the white gauges and if I ever feel like it I can swap them back, but I like the classy chrome rings. Nice things is that the electronic guages will read the actual mileage of the car regardless of the cluster...I guess it's stored in the car's computer. Technology can be good.

Very cool! The 300M is my favorite LH!

My Dad remembers taking me to an autoshow back when the 300M was all-new, and he had trouble dragging me out because the car was so comfy even compared to our Mercedes at the time.

It really is extremely comfortable. I've never been big on leather...cloth was always fine to me, but the 300M's leather seats are just so much more comfortable. They must be shaped differently and with softer padding...I feel like I sit "in" the chairs and not so much "on" them. I knew that day I had to have them ion my car someday.

[A Horse With No Name]

The 300M has a great interior. I remember the first 300M that I saw, one of our Ohio congressmen was driving it, out on the town for an en=vening with his wife at the symphony.

I am jealous, DF, in a way I still miss my Concorde.

Chris

[Robert Hall]

The 300M has a great interior. I remember the first 300M that I saw, one of our Ohio congressmen was driving it, out on the town for an en=vening with his wife at the symphony.

I am jealous, DF, in a way I still miss my Concorde.

Chris

I had a 300M rental for 3 weeks in Ohio in 1999...loved it. Great drive, very comfortable. I've had a few Intrepids, Concordes, and 1 LHS as rentals as well.

[daves87rs]

Lookin good....

I have to say I am a fan of the 300M....

[Sixty8panther]

Nice things is that the electronic guages will read the actual mileage of the car regardless of the cluster...I guess it's stored in the car's computer. Technology can be good.

My 1987 Cougar XR7 was the exact same way.

The LCD/digital instrument cluster displayed

the milage and car's MPG stats etc... but that

info. was stored on some computer burried in

the depths of the dash, or perhaps in the

footwell or under the passanger seat like on

some of my demolition derby hack-job Fords.

[Intrepidation]

I cannot wait to get the the seats and switches so I can do the entire interior. Then All I need to do is figure out how to replace the door handles with the chrome ones.

[Intrepidation]

Oh yeah... I texted Sixty8 this a little while ago...

only 5,000 miles to go!

[Sixty8panther]

Haahah... I looked down at my MB 500SEC's odometer this morning

while doing 90 on 495 and it had just clicked to 199,225. I'm almost

certainly going to beat you to 200K.

Of course my Mercedes is 16 years older.

[A Horse With No Name]

The Benz and the intrepid are both great cars, guys. Sixty eight, you've got me thinking about buying an older Benz. I've always kind of wanted one, and several of the 70's and 80's cars are very affordable and in great shape.

Did you know that Mercedees Benz is the longest lasting car on the road, with an Average Service life of 19.7 years?

I'd reckon the average Kia will last about 1 good Ohio or mAssachusetts winter...

Chris

Edited November 6, 2008 by 66Stang

[A Horse With No Name]

Oh yeah... I texted Sixty8 this a little while ago...

only 5,000 miles to go!

Congrats, DF! And while it may just be the photography, I think you have the cleanest car interior of anyone on cheers and gears.

That poor car will last to 400,000 miles with the way your taking care of it. methinks you'd better move, it deserves a better home than mAssachusetts.

Chris

[Robert Hall]

The Benz and the intrepid are both great cars, guys. Sixty eight, you've got me thinking about buying an older Benz. I've always kind of wanted one, and several of the 70's and 80's carrs are very affordable and in great shape.

Did you know that Mercedes Benz is the longest lasting car on the road, with an Average Service life of 19.7 years?

Chris

I can believe that..I still see a LOT of '80s, and quite a few '70s Benzes on the road, esp. here in the Phoenix area. My sister's are an '84 and a '91, both w/ over 100k miles. She's thought of getting a third one--she wants a '70s 450SL roadster.

Benzes before the mid '90s were built to a very high engineering standard...very well put together cars.

[Intrepidation]

Congrats, DF! And while it may just be the photography, I think you have the cleanest car interior of anyone on cheers and gears.

That poor car will last to 400,000 miles with the way your taking care of it. methinks you'd better move, it deserves a better home than mAssachusetts.

Chris

That's another plus of moving to Missouri (which we are considering)...much easier on the cars. And yes, I take great pride in trying to keep my cars clean, thanks for noticing.

[Sixty8panther]

I would be willing to bet my life that NO ONE built a better car

from the late 1970s and in the 1980s than Mercedes. I plan to

post a thread about the 500SEC & explain myself further, but

I have absolute confidence that I will be purchasing many

more 1980s Mercedes products if the economy stays where it

is and I feel the need for a "modern" car.

[A Horse With No Name]

Actually Sixty Eight, I would love to have a thread like that.

Chris

[Robert Hall]

68, did you find the heater and A/C controls in your 500SEC had a bit of a learning curve? It's taken me a while to make sense of the controls in the 500SEL, even after reading the manual carefully. Some things take time to get used to, esp. the window controls on the console (I'm so used to them on the doors in American cars).

[Sixty8panther]

BTW:

Up until recently, like the mid 1990s, Daimler-Benz

was ALWAYS run BY the engineers, not marketing

types or bean counters. The people in control of the

company's direction had a set of calipers on their

desk, a scientific calculator in their drawer & a

dilpoma up on the wall mentioning an enginering

degree from some fancy school.

While most of the big-three's products were garbage

in the late-1970s and in the 1980s due to safety nazi

driven agenda and emissions propaganda the MB

brand made cars that are better today, used, IMHO

than many NEW vehicles.

Consider this:

The 1984 MB 500SEC in my driveway has a driver's

airbag, fuel injection and a true hardtop greenhouse

while being old enough to wear antique plates.

It is really a one of a kind car. NO OTHER car fits

that description or even anything close to it.

[Robert Hall]

BTW:

Up until recently, like the mid 1990s, Daimler-Benz

was ALWAYS run BY the engineers, not marketing

types or bean counters. The people in control of the

company's direction had a set of calipers on their

desk, a scientific calculator in their drawer & a

dilpoma up on the wall mentioning an enginering

degree from some fancy school.

That's part of the appeal to me they have.... there is a seriousness about older Benzes..they aren't flashy luxurious, but project a bank-vault solidity and attention to detail..

[Intrepidation]

Edited November 6, 2008 by Dodgefan

[Intrepidation]

[Robert Hall]

Sorry.. afraid 68 and I do have in common the fascination w/ older Benzes. Back to your regularly scheduled thread..

[Intrepidation]

Nah it's cool, the Benz is a pretty cool car, plus it was built before the pre-Chrysler-raping period so I wouldn't mind owning one. :wink:

[Sixty8panther]

DF:

Like we were saying the other day, it's too bad

the Benz-Chrysler deal was a short term gain

long term loss... I for one have zero interest in

any modern Chrysler car outside of the LX cars

& the Viper, their trucks have been decent and

sometimes spectacular, it's off & on.

That's part of the appeal to me they have.... there is a seriousness about older Benzes..they aren't flashy luxurious, but project a bank-vault solidity and attention to detail..

Exactly. Some are even border line awkward looking

like the late 1970s SLs with the USA-spec. bumpers

and headlights... but ALL are fantastic cars

in terms of safety, reliability & durability.

[Robert Hall]

DF:

Exactly. Some are even border line awkward looking

like the late 1970s SLs with the USA-spec. bumpers

and headlights... but ALL are fantastic cars

in terms of safety, reliability & durability.

A Benz in particular I'd love to have is a late '70s 450SEL 6.9. Those were the first Mercs I really noticed as a kid in the late '70s reading Road & Track. Something about big, fast sedans have long appealed to me.

A couple others I like are some of the original AMGs--the Hammer E-class sedan in particular (not the gaudy all white AMGs of S. Florida that I remember from the '80s) and the early '90s 500E that was tweaked by Porsche.

Edited November 6, 2008 by moltar

[PurdueGuy]

Very cool to see someone else improving their car's interior. I just finished a tan to black interior swap on my '99 Saturn SC2, and am currently working on making some LeSabre sun visors fit (though I'm a little anxious since it means cutting into the spaceframe where the stock visors attach, so there's no going back), filling in the gaps between my headliner and the '99 Suburban overhead console I already installed, re-covering my headliner with much more upscale material than the stock felt, and plasti-dipping the trim pieces above the beltline, which were not available in black.

So nice to drive a car around knowing you have a nicer interior than pretty much anyone else with the same car, don'tya think?

[Intrepidation]

Very cool to see someone else improving their car's interior. I just finished a tan to black interior swap on my '99 Saturn SC2, and am currently working on making some LeSabre sun visors fit (though I'm a little anxious since it means cutting into the spaceframe where the stock visors attach, so there's no going back), filling in the gaps between my headliner and the '99 Suburban overhead console I already installed, re-covering my headliner with much more upscale material than the stock felt, and plasti-dipping the trim pieces above the beltline, which were not available in black.

So nice to drive a car around knowing you have a nicer interior than pretty much anyone else with the same car, don'tya think?

Agreed! Like I said I can't wait to get the rest of the parts.

Mmm...heated seats on cold winter mornings...

[PurdueGuy]

Agreed! Like I said I can't wait to get the rest of the parts.

Mmm...heated seats on cold winter mornings...

That reminds me... I have to wait until the new year due to tight finances, but my Christmas present to my wife this year will be installing a heated seat kit in her car. She hates being cold, and has to drive to either the bus stop or work really early in the morning. Figure a heated seat will be warm faster than the car heater will be.

[Sixty8panther]

The 6.9 big bodies are the only true "big block luxo barges" made outside of the USA.

HAWT!

[Robert Hall]

The 6.9 big bodies are the only true "big block luxo barges" made outside of the USA.

HAWT!

And IIRC, Jean Reno drove a brown 6.9 in 'Ronin'...

For some reason, I prefer the US-spec round headlights on that era Merc compared to the Euro lights.

Another car that is very cool from a decade earlier is the 300 SEL 6.3....I've seen a couple, and they always have an interesting stance--low in the front, high in the rear...

[Sixty8panther]

I love old school round sealed beam headlights on American classic cars &

trucks, esp. tractor trailers like square nosed Peterbilts and Kenworths but

the Euro cars from the 1970s and 1980s are best with their intended flush

lights that are sleek and aerodynamic, instead of the archaic looking bubble

gum fix of plopping round quads into a trapezoidal shaped headlight bucket.

...to each his own.

[A Horse With No Name]

That's part of the appeal to me they have.... there is a seriousness about older Benzes..they aren't flashy luxurious, but project a bank-vault solidity and attention to detail..

I love how an older BENZ just feels "right"

Chris

[A Horse With No Name]

I love old school round sealed beam headlights on American classic cars &

trucks, esp. tractor trailers like square nosed Peterbilts and Kenworths but

the Euro cars from the 1970s and 1980s are best with their intended flush

lights that are sleek and aerodynamic, instead of the archaic looking bubble

gum fix of plopping round quads into a trapezoidal shaped headlight bucket.

...to each his own.

+1

Chris

[A Horse With No Name]

The 6.9 big bodies are the only true "big block luxo barges" made outside of the USA.

HAWT!

I had a chance to own one of these, and passed on it. That was years ago, and I've always regretted it.

Chris

[thedriver]

I have a base Caravan, but I have upgraded the interior panels with SE ones. Harder than it sounds because I can hardly find any tan donors, it seems most have the gray...

Does the ENTIRE interior of the 300 fit? Or do you have to pick and choose?

[Intrepidation]

I have a base Caravan, but I have upgraded the interior panels with SE ones. Harder than it sounds because I can hardly find any tan donors, it seems most have the gray...

Does the ENTIRE interior of the 300 fit? Or do you have to pick and choose?

What year Caravan?

Everything will fit if I get all of the parts, however I will leave my dash and door panels intact...I have other plans for them.

[Robert Hall]

What year Caravan?

Everything will fit if I get all of the parts, however I will leave my dash and door panels intact...I have other plans for them.

I would think the dash and IP would be the hardest parts to swap because all the stuff that attaches to them. I assume you are keeping your steering wheel (that would be difficult also because of the airbag, I would think).

[A Horse With No Name]

Agreed! Like I said I can't wait to get the rest of the parts.

Mmm...heated seats on cold winter mornings...

+1 on heated seats...

Chris

[Robert Hall]

+1 on heated seats...

Chris

Yes, they are great to have. Used 'em for years in my Jeep....even though I have a heated garage in CO, they were nice to have. Not sure if I will use them much in AZ, though. The '84 and '91 Mercs have them also. And the '84 has a power rear seat, unusual feature to see..

Edited November 8, 2008 by moltar

[Oracle of Delphi]

Mmm...heated seats on cold winter mornings...

I agree, my hairy ass can't live without them.

[A Horse With No Name]

That Intrepis should be quite nice once DF is done with it. I am enjoying watching the progress.

Glad he got doors cheap to fix the accident damage.

Chris

[Intrepidation]

Glad he got doors cheap to fix the accident damage.

Chris

You and me both!

[thedriver]

97 Caravan Charcoal Metallic outside, Tan inside, short wheelbase, 92 Lebaron aluminum rims

[Intrepidation]

97 Caravan Charcoal Metallic outside, Tan inside, short wheelbase, 92 Lebaron aluminum rims

Too bad it wasn't a first gen...I have a T&C with a tan interior I could sell ya cheap...slightly dinged.