Words & Photos: Ash Webb Photos: Quinn Hamill

If you can, imagine walking into a classic car enthusiast’s superbly presented garage and, apart from a fine collection of cars, noticing the following legend — ‘Finer 20th Century Automobiles, Examples Of Highly Complex And Mobile Three Dimensional Craftmanship, Are Higher Form Of Art And Design Than Mere Two Dimensional Paintings Or Sculpture’ — painted across the support beam on the garage ceiling.

That gives you a good indication that the man you are about to meet is seriously passionate about his cars.

The passion

For Garry Boyce, it all started when, as a 15-year-old apprentice fitter and turner, he became involved with the local classic car fraternity. During the ensuing years Garry’s career expanded into all types of engineering positions

Gary had always admired the sensuous, voluptuous lines and the superb performance and handling characteristics
of the car

before he moved into managerial roles within the industry. It was during this period that Garry gained an attitude toward excellence in everything he did.

By then it was clearly obvious to Garry that excellence in cars was represented by the Mercedes-Benz marque, and he vowed that one day he would own one.

However, it wasn’t until the late ’80s that he made good on his vow and purchased his first Mercedes. Even that paled against the eventual acquisition of his first, truly collectible car — which would be the starting point of his collection. As Garry’s collection grew, his sights began to focus on his ultimate Mercedes — a 300SL Gullwing. That model seemed utterly and completely out of the question due to its huge price, so instead he concentrated his thoughts and efforts on the next best thing, a 300SL Roadster. He had always admired the sensuous, voluptuous lines and the superb performance and handling characteristics of the car.

Although less expensive than a Gullwing, roadsters still commanded high prices, which meant the only way he could ever achieve his dream would be to search the world for a restoration project. The task proved harder than Garry could ever have imagined, mainly because most of these highly desirable sports cars had already been restored. However, persistence paid off and, after many years of difficult searching, Garry finally found a 300SL Roadster in a somewhat distressed condition in the Netherlands in 2001.

Garry’s new acquisition, a 1957 300SL Roadster, number 154 off the production line and described by Garry’s wife as piles of junk in cardboard boxes, was imported into New Zealand in 2002.

History

Garry’s 300SL was originally delivered on November 6, 1957 to the Mercedes-Benz distributor in Honduras, and it spent the next few years in Central America. Garry’s next documentation confirms the car was back in Munich around 1962. He believes it received serious frontal damage around that time, and it’s more than likely it was sent back to the Mercedes factory for reconstruction.

The car stayed in Germany until 1988/9, and at the height of the classic car price bubble was purchased by an American restorer and shipped to the US. Restoration was started in the US, and a lot of money was spent during that time before the owner realised the difficulty and enormity of the restoration project. As a result, work on the car was abandoned, although much mechanical work had also been completed by that stage.

Garry understands that the owner died not long after the restoration on the 300SL stopped, and believes there were another 20 or so cars under various stages of restoration in his collection, mostly English, including Jaguars and MGs.

The 300SL was then purchased as part of a job lot, along with all the other cars in the estate, and shipped to Europe. It was at this point that Garry entered the picture.

At home

As landed in New Zealand, the 300SL consisted of the previously mentioned collection of boxes, plus the car’s body and engine sitting on the chassis. At the end of 2002, Hamilton’s Mercedes-Benz restoration guru, Lloyd Marx, was given the task of completely disassembling the car before sending it to Ron Spyve’s Panel Shop for media blasting. The body was still on the chassis and the suspension was still intact at this point. As the layers of paint were removed it became all too obvious that the Mercedes’ body was in far poorer state than originally thought. Many areas had been badly repaired, rusted, and then patched over again.

The task of reconstructing the body was enormous. Approximately 60 per cent of the body had to be replaced with new parts or completely refabricated from scratch

When the time came to separate the body from the chassis, it also became apparent that the body-to-chassis mounts — the 300SL’s body is mounted and shimmed to the chassis at 17 points — had rusted out and been shoddily repaired over the years. In some cases filler was discovered under the mounting points. This added more problems to the already enormous re-fabrication task ahead. With the body finally removed from the chassis the frontal impact damage that Garry believes have occurred in the ’60s also became apparent.

Going straight

The 300SL’s space-frame chassis is constructed of 24mm, overall diameter chrome-molybdenum tube (with a wall thickness of 1.2mm). Triangulated in structure, the chassis has a total stripped weight of only 84kg. It’s a complex structure — although far simpler than the Gullwing’s chassis — and its straightness was essential for a satisfactory final result.

Accordingly, the chassis was placed onto an auto robot for complete mapping and detailing. The results were distressing — the top left hand side of the chassis was badly twisted by up to 25mm. The enormous strength of the chassis meant the task of straightening it back to its correct alignment required extra machinery and hydraulics to force it into position.

The driver’s side door skin was refabricated along with every piece of bodywork below those famous wheel-arch ‘eyebrows’

Garry and Ron Spyve knew that once the chassis was straight, body reconstruction could commence with the body mounted back on the chassis, where it would provide a perfectly correct platform to start from. The body mounting shims were purposely left out to minimise distortion during reconstruction. The task of reconstructing the body was enormous. Approximately 60 per cent of the body had to be replaced with new parts or completely refabricated from scratch. A lucky find for Garry was a complete front left guard, and front 600mm section all-in-one panel piece, which had to be imported from Germany.

New aluminium bonnet skins were also ordered, the originals having suffered from severe electrolytic corrosion over the years. The driver’s side door skin was refabricated along with every piece of bodywork below those famous wheel-arch ‘eyebrows.’

Experts

Garry received visits during this part of the reconstruction phase from an international group of 300SL Gullwing specialists from the US, all of whom were in awe at the level of work being carried out, what was being attempted and how Garry and his team were achieving their results. Garry admits that sticking rigidly to the original construction methods was not a viable option, given modern technology regarding panel-bonding materials available today. These materials were particularly important where aluminium was laid directly over steel, providing sufficient electrolytic insulation in those critical areas.

Once the body was completed it was mounted back onto the chassis, complete with the 2mm shims under each mounting point, then the body was gapped with doors, bonnet and boot perfectly aligned. The suspension and chassis were also double-checked for all clearances before the body was completely removed from the chassis and placed onto a dolly in preparation for painting.

The suspension and the chassis were then sent back to Lloyd Marx for disassembly and subsequently bead blasted and black powder coated for durability. With originality at the forefront of Garry’s mind, the overriding objective  was to restore the 300SL Roadster exactly as it would have looked when it rolled off the assembly line in 1957. Every surface was meticulously colour matched to the original finished items. Bolts, nuts, screws and washers that were related to the chassis were blackened, providing the original ‘blue’ finish, and under the bonnet these items were cadmium plated, with particular attention to achieving the exact shade of coating, as close to the original as possible.

Engine concerns

The valves needed replacing, as there were marks on the pistons indicating contact, so the engine was completely rebuilt to original specifications. Garry explains that the 300SL’s dry sumped, 3.0-litre, six-cylinder overhead camshaft engine is significantly different to other car engines produced in the ’50s and was the first road-going, direct petrol-injected engine.

The head is not fitted at 90 degrees to the bore, but at a thirty-five degree angle and the fuel is directly injected into the block into a triangular-shaped envelope between the top of the piston and the head. It was too early in the automotive industry to be able to directly inject fuel into the head without causing significant heating problems which would cause the head to burn away. The Bosch fuel injection system on the 300SL was actually borrowed from the aircraft industry, and was used on many German V12-powered military aircraft at that time.

Garry attributes the 300SL engine’s output of 185kW (248bhp) from only 3.0-litres to this innovative technology, undoubtedly an outstanding achievement in 1954.

The engines in the 300SL Gullwings are identical to those fitted in the Roadsters, with the exception of a high performance camshaft option that produced an additional 37.5kW (50bhp).

The engine lays over at a 55-degree angle inside the body to get the bonnet height down, and it is not fitted straight fore and aft, but on a 10-degree angle. From there, the drive shaft runs at an angle back to the low pivot, swing axle independent rear suspension. Unlike the Roadster, the Gullwing was fitted with a high pivot swing axle independent suspension, which was renowned for its unstable cornering characteristics. The brakes are 380mm diameter, 90mm wide alloy turbo-fin servo-assisted drums all round, again top end performance technology in 1954 — later models had received disc brakes by 1960.

Classic silver grey

The body received the original DB 180 Classic Silver Grey paint and the interior was retrimmed in black leather — although originally red, Garry’s wife chose the black, which they both agree suits the car better.

Throughout the reassembly process, Garry has been able to source about 70 per cent of the remanufactured parts from Germany and 30 per cent from the US. There are more 300SL Roadsters in the US than anywhere else in the world, providing an excellent parts supply structure. Gary acquired many other parts during various visits to car shows overseas, like Techno Classica in Essen, Germany, and he says it’s just a matter of knowing where to look for those odd, hard-to-find pieces. Of course, these parts come at a price — for example, try 460 Euros for each windscreen wiper blade!

Overall, the car’s incredible complexity has made the reconstruction and reassembly process very torturous, but Garry sums up the final result as “scrumptious.” The 300SL’s final test will be its public debut at the NZCC Classic Car weekend, where the car is entered in the Masters’ Class at the Ellerslie Intermarque Concours. Garry also intends taking his car to attend the 300SL Gullwing Group Concours Conference in Sonoma, Northern California later in 2008. There, the world’s best Mercedes-Benz 300SL specialists will be able to examine Kiwi craftsmanship first-hand.

Postscript

As with most car restorations, there are thousands of interesting stories to be told and I could have sat listening to Garry all day. Strangely enough, as he travelled around the world on business, talking to different car people, the fact he was in the process of restoring a 300SL Roadster soon became the favourite topic of discussion. Those who were really in the know commenting — “Oh! You are brave!”

Gary’s partner in crime, Lloyd Marx, a restorer of many concours level cars, admits the 300SL Roadster is the most difficult and complex restoration he has ever undertaken. But wait, there’s more! Yes, this is only the first part of Garry’s 300SL journey and he has a few more projects underway. I’m afraid you’ll have to keep watching the pages of NZCC for more updates.

SPECS

300SL Roadster 1957 Mercedes-Benz

Engine: In-line six-cylinder
Capacity: 2996cc
Bore/stroke: 85mm x 88mm
Valves: sohc, two per cylinder
C/R: 8.55:1
Max power: 185kW @ 6200rpm
Max torque: 275Nm @ 5000rpm
Fuel system: Bosch direct fuel-injection
Transmission: Four-speed manual
Suspension: Front Double wishbone, coil springs, telescopic damper, torsion bar stabiliser; Rear single-joint swing axle with compensating spring, coil springs, telescopic damper
Steering: Recirculating ball
Brakes: Turbo-fin servo-assisted drums

Dimensions

Wheelbase: 2400mm
Length: 4570mm
Width: 1790mm
Kerb weight: 1330kg
Height: 1300mm

Performance

Max speed: 210kph (130mph)
0-100kph: approx 10 seconds