Jon. First class content of the highest order. Now retired, in my late 60's, and a former principal of a restoration shop similar to yours here in West Los Angeles, I wholeheartedly applaud your effort in bringing this level of expertise to the forefront for others to appreciate, enjoy, and learn from. Our predicament was locating the specialized craftsmen. Who, in their respective fields, are absolutely essential for a positive outcome. Interestingly, after an extended stay in SA, scouting, we ended up locating three in Argentina and two from Brazil who were so skilled at their craft that there was no conceivable project that they could not handle. At one point, we were so confident in their collective mastery. If..... hypothetically.... we were to be commissioned to duplicate a 250 GTO down to the very last detail. Our crew was capable. My hat is off to you, sir. I have done my part in contacting former associates and persons of-equal-feather, notifying them of your channel.
Thank you so much for the kind words and support of the channel. Without my team of "Skilled Craftsmen" there would be no Rare Classics Restorations, and trust me I take great care of them. We helped out on the final assembly of a Maserati 450s recreation that was built in Argentina and those guys do fantastic work using old world skills. Two of my team are from the Ukraine, one of them is a refuge. My restoration supervisor is from the Republic of Texas, one of my body guys is actually a Registered Nurse so I know exactly what what you talking about. Hopefully we will be showing the Al Williams Ghia bodied Alfa Romeo at Pebble Beach this August if your there look me up. Again thanks for the sub and the extended support of the channel.
'Compensator'. This particular bespoke design of a 'swing axle' is a Mercedes-Benz exclusive. Carefully calculated spring rates in conjunction with the control afforded by the dampers enabled the engineers to 'tune' this arrangement for its intended, sport-oriented purpose. Some of the more seasoned among us will recall seeing MBZ's, albeit later, interim models almost dragging their rear end on the tarmac, which was a visual indicator of a failed hydropneumatic compensator. The spring-type arrangement as was fitted to the SL and many other earlier models does not adjust or compensate for load as afforded by the later iterations of this design. The spring simply 'compensates' for having softer springs, which under normal load conditions offered a more supple ride. In many, though not all, models, rubber pads on both the rear springs as well as the compensator spring were available in different thicknesses to compensate for ride height, load requirements, and tuning purposes. Arguably complex but reasonably effective until the advent of a true IRS configuration was adopted decades later.
Can you even imagine calculating those spring rates? "outboard spring motion ration 1-1 + 1/2 of the inboard x ?-1 = XXX lbs Just crazy everyone else was using swing axles and Mercedes articulated the whole rear axle. Thanks for watching!
Notice the brake lines look like they are made out of copper! Really? I didn't think copper was a good material to use for brake lines. My guess is that the brake lines are actually CoNiFer brake lines. It's an allow of copper, nickel, and iron. I use it for gasoline lines. It's approved by DOT....some European car manufacturers use in in production cars, Volvo. The big advantage is that it's softer than steel gas lines, but harder than pure copper. It also is immune from corrosion. I use stainless steel brake lines in the two cars I've restored.
Jon. First class content of the highest order. Now retired, in my late 60's, and a former principal of a restoration shop similar to yours here in West Los Angeles, I wholeheartedly applaud your effort in bringing this level of expertise to the forefront for others to appreciate, enjoy, and learn from. Our predicament was locating the specialized craftsmen. Who, in their respective fields, are absolutely essential for a positive outcome. Interestingly, after an extended stay in SA, scouting, we ended up locating three in Argentina and two from Brazil who were so skilled at their craft that there was no conceivable project that they could not handle. At one point, we were so confident in their collective mastery. If..... hypothetically.... we were to be commissioned to duplicate a 250 GTO down to the very last detail. Our crew was capable. My hat is off to you, sir. I have done my part in contacting former associates and persons of-equal-feather, notifying them of your channel.
Thank you so much for the kind words and support of the channel. Without my team of "Skilled Craftsmen" there would be no Rare Classics Restorations, and trust me I take great care of them. We helped out on the final assembly of a Maserati 450s recreation that was built in Argentina and those guys do fantastic work using old world skills. Two of my team are from the Ukraine, one of them is a refuge. My restoration supervisor is from the Republic of Texas, one of my body guys is actually a Registered Nurse so I know exactly what what you talking about. Hopefully we will be showing the Al Williams Ghia bodied Alfa Romeo at Pebble Beach this August if your there look me up. Again thanks for the sub and the extended support of the channel.
Great channel - Deserves more subscribers.
Glad you like the channel / Thank you so much for the support.
@@jondega Just subscribed phenomenal car to restore. If you could do more close-ups of welds, rear suspension, etc. that would be great!!!
@@marcbee1234 Thanks for the Sub, I'll make sure we get more detailed shots going forward.
Happy Birthday. Excellent insight to a restoration i never would have seen unless you took the time to video it.
Thank You, we will do more videos like this one. Appreciate the support.
The horizontal coil spring at the rear end is interesting.
'Compensator'. This particular bespoke design of a 'swing axle' is a Mercedes-Benz exclusive. Carefully calculated spring rates in conjunction with the control afforded by the dampers enabled the engineers to 'tune' this arrangement for its intended, sport-oriented purpose. Some of the more seasoned among us will recall seeing MBZ's, albeit later, interim models almost dragging their rear end on the tarmac, which was a visual indicator of a failed hydropneumatic compensator. The spring-type arrangement as was fitted to the SL and many other earlier models does not adjust or compensate for load as afforded by the later iterations of this design. The spring simply 'compensates' for having softer springs, which under normal load conditions offered a more supple ride. In many, though not all, models, rubber pads on both the rear springs as well as the compensator spring were available in different thicknesses to compensate for ride height, load requirements, and tuning purposes. Arguably complex but reasonably effective until the advent of a true IRS configuration was adopted decades later.
Can you even imagine calculating those spring rates? "outboard spring motion ration 1-1 + 1/2 of the inboard x ?-1 = XXX lbs Just crazy everyone else was using swing axles and Mercedes articulated the whole rear axle. Thanks for watching!
You're a giant you're the 1/3 the size of that car😮
6'2" 270 lbs. Just a big guy not a giant. Thanks for watching!
Notice the brake lines look like they are made out of copper! Really? I didn't think copper was a good material to use for brake lines. My guess is that the brake lines are actually CoNiFer brake lines. It's an allow of copper, nickel, and iron. I use it for gasoline lines. It's approved by DOT....some European car manufacturers use in in production cars, Volvo. The big advantage is that it's softer than steel gas lines, but harder than pure copper. It also is immune from corrosion. I use stainless steel brake lines in the two cars I've restored.