If the Mercedes-Benz CLK from the Budget Brigade lacked anything in recent years, it was love. That is now being more than made up for, as the new owners cherish the car and want to completely restore it. An ambitious plan, but they have started energetically.
The question of whether there is life after death is a mystery that will probably never be solved. For humans at least, because it is now certain that cars that have survived the Budget Brigade have an afterlife. All three found new owners. How did they fare afterwards? Today: Frank’s Mercedes-Benz CLK.
Difficult to return home
The CLK was, as they say in animal shelters, the most difficult to rehome. During the Budget Brigade, the worn-out coupe always hung at the back, and during the Klokje Rond inspection, Joep barely left a stone unturned. Still, we received quite a few responses from people who wanted to give the shabby Benz a chance. So choice stress, but we managed.
Away with annoying beep
Eva and Yuri have not disappointed us so far. The maligned CLK is now receiving more love than it ever dared to dream of. Exactly one week after the transfer, we call Eva: “We started immediately,” she says enthusiastically. “And a lot has already been accomplished.” For example, the young couple opened and cleaned the heating unit, so the fan works again: one less MOT failure point. Furthermore, the fault in the windshield washer sensor has been fixed. That was a wiring error, Eva says: “The parking brake fault is also gone. No more warning light. Only it doesn’t work anymore when the car is actually on the parking brake, so I don’t know if it’s really a solution. But that annoying beep is gone at least.”
The fan turned out to be stuck due to dirt and moisture.
The airbag fault message is also gone. The plug on the passenger side airbag turned out to not be properly seated anymore. Furthermore, Yuri disconnected and reconnected all the radio wiring, so the radio has full reception again and all speakers work again.
Welding work
All fun, but there are bigger hurdles to overcome. Eva agrees: “We plan to restore the sills again. Yuri has never welded before, but has a few friends who can, so that should work.” Online, Eva and Yuri found a nice set of second-hand tires to replace the threadable rubber. And because the appearance also matters, they are also working on the body, Eva continues: “We sanded down the rust spots, treated them with anti-rust and primer, and touched them up with the original paint. We’re going to respray the bumper this weekend. On the right side, Yuri removed the door trim to push that ugly dent back as much as possible. We’re going to fill that, sand it, apply primer and paint so you won’t see anything of it later. We’ve already repaired the damage to the door handle. Over all newly sprayed parts, we’ll apply clear coat, and when that’s done, we’ll polish the entire body so it becomes one whole.”
The dent is already much less deep, the door handle scratch-free again.
A small finishing touch: the missing piece of wood veneer on the left door trim, which was in the dashboard compartment, has been glued back in place. More important is the defective ABS. Yuri is going to take the entire system apart and clean it, hoping it will work again. “After all, with the fan, dirt turned out to be the culprit,” says Eva. “If that doesn’t work, we’ll look further.”
“When you start the car now, the screen says: no malfunctions. There were six last week,” Eva concludes. “We’re really very happy with it.”