Project Hammer Hauler
by Jim Luikens
Project Hammer Hauler Jr. Returns
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to attend a local Western Michigan Section event at European Auto Restoration in Fennville, Mich. Owner David Michele, a Western Michigan Section member, held a seminar and open house at his shop to educate MBCA members on the ins and outs of a proper restoration. The event was well-attended and very educational for everyone. He even had a W111 finback sedan in his shop at the time for a complete rotisserie restoration and used the car’s unibody to demonstrate correct and incorrect restoration procedures.
While prowling Michele’s “back 40” – something I am known to do – I came across a wrecked 1987 300D that European Auto was parting out. The car was hit hard and damaged in the rear, but the front end, including the right-front fender, remained in good condition.
Several Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles, including certain W124 and W201 models and most Sprinters, have a louvered right-front fender. The louver is used as an air intake for the diesel engine. These louvered fenders are not found on any gasoline-powered M-B vehicles, only diesels, and are used on the right side only. I always thought one of these fenders would make an interesting upgrade for my W124 Project Hammer Hauler Jr. You very rarely see one of these fenders on the road and I have never seen a used one before – anywhere.
Naturally, I was quite excited and wasted no time in reaching a deal with Michele for the painting and installation of that fender on my car. There are several mechanical things that I want to do to my car, but I was not going to pass a chance to nab one of those louvered fenders.
Luckily for me, European Auto Restoration installed a complete Glasurit Paint System last winter and is now able to formulate any OEM Mercedes paint color in-house. Obviously, this requires quite an investment, but one Michele was willing to make to evolve toward the type of restoration shop he has always envisioned.
A few weeks later, I dropped my car off at the shop. Michele would call when the car was ready – sooner if there were any problems. This was one time when no news was good news. After a few weeks, the car was ready for retrieval, with no unforeseen difficulties encountered.
The finished job looks as if the fender has always been there. Because it is a factory part, the fit is excellent. Only one person in a hundred will notice what I have done, but I’m sure that person will appreciate the tasteful modification. I certainly do.
European Auto is not your usual restoration shop, and the people who work there are special, too.
Owner Michele is a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in automotive design who discovered, once graduated, that he was more interested in restoring older cars than designing new ones. Michele likes the older designs because of their beauty and individuality. It is much more pleasing for him to see an old car restored to new life and returned to the road.
He embarked on his restoration career in 2000, opening a repair shop that offered high-quality mechanical work on the best of what Europe had offered in the last half century. By nature, he is an Alfa man due to his Italian heritage. But it didn’t take him long to realize that when you are working on 50-year-old cars, nothing competes with a Mercedes-Benz when it comes to engineering, drivability, reliability and parts availability. While Michele will always have a soft spot for his beloved Italian cars, older M-Bs are his new favorites.
In 2008, Michele added a separate building for restorations. While you need both halves of the whole for a finely finished product, he didn’t see any way that mechanical repairs and body restoration could successfully co-exist under one roof. One of the first mind-boggling, full restorations that European Auto performed was on a rare 1959 Fiat sedan. That relatively simple Fiat was transformed into a work of art. This restoration opened eyes and paved the way for future restoration business.
One of the first Mercedes-Benzes that the shop restored was a 1967 230SL for Western Michigan Section member Travis Randolph. Randolph inherited the car from his father, who purchased the now well-worn W113 brand new. Although the SL was an heirloom in the Randolph family, it had seen far better days. With restoration shop foreman Steve Robertson at the controls, European Auto spent 16 months restoring this SL to like-new condition. The finished car is a work of art and was featured on last year’s poster for a Fall Color Tour that David hosts each year.
The remarkable job that European Auto did on the Randolph 230SL led to a commission from Gerry Buchanan to complete a similar ground-up restoration on his 1961 W111 finback sedan, the subject of our technical event. The finback has reached the halfway point in its cycle of rebirth. Everything that can be removed has been removed, and the body work completed on the rotisserie. After paint, the car will be reassembled.
Like most good restoration shops, European Auto bills once a month for work completed and provides photos documenting the progress achieved. Michele’s wife Juliet keeps an extensive photo log for each car – what they started with, what work they performed and what the finished product looks like.
In order for owners to monitor the step-by-step restoration on their pride and joy, Juliet posts the photos at European Auto’s website as work progresses. As each car is completed, she produces two four-color books of the project, from beginning to end – one copy for the owner and the other for the shop. These books become valued mementos of each project.
As mentioned, Michele recently installed the complete Glasurit Paint Formulating System. Using Glasurit‘s computer, European Auto can formulate modern water-borne paints, matching any factory color from any manufacturer – even the clear coat that Mercedes uses on its assembly line.
The Glasurit system is particularly helpful to Michele, whose shop is located in out-of-the-way Fennville. He no longer waits for paint delivered from town, and his peaceful country surroundings are a positive influence, not a negative hindrance. And, the Glasurit system is one more step toward achieving complete artistic control over an entire project.
Michele’s goal for his shop is to be the very best that it can be. From the obscurity of a decade ago to fame as one of the most respected restoration shops in the Midwest today, European Auto Restoration’s star – no pun intended – is rising rapidly indeed. For more information on European Auto Restorations, visit www.europeanauto.biz.
Top of article: Hammer Hauler Jr. with W124 diesel fender installed
What a nut-and-bolt rotisserie restoration looks like in process – the “rotisserie” allows equally easy access to the underside and the top side
The mechanical repair shop at European Auto Restoration with an Adenauer being worked on in the background. 
PHH Jr. as it existed on the morning that EAR started the work;
Steve Robertson priming the diesel fender on its way from black to code 147 white.
Photos by Jim Luikens