1999 G500 Pur edition

otiswesty

Regular guy
The G body and frame are fully assembled and then immersed in a cathode zink dip. After that, 7 coats of primer and paint are applied for the final finish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkwJ9MSDXU0

The walk on hood reinforcement is a separate piece that is glue bonded and riveted to the hood. The step pads on the top surface have a part number A461 987 11 14.
 

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OGwagen

New member
The G body and frame are fully assembled and then immersed in a cathode zink dip. After that, 7 coats of primer and paint are applied for the final finish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkwJ9MSDXU0

The walk on hood reinforcement is a separate piece that is glue bonded and riveted to the hood. The step pads on the top surface have a part number A461 987 11 14.


I knew it existed! Thank you. Now, after searching around and failing, where does one get it?
 

OGwagen

New member
image.jpgimage.jpg

Here is what I'm working with. I don't know the part number off hand but when I dig it out of storage. It is super stout in comparison to the standard hood. I might just do grip tape on a roll and cut it down.
 

otiswesty

Regular guy
That looks like the exact same hood I bought from Guido and installed on my G500.
I wouldn't bother buying the Mercedes grip tape. Cutting down a larger roll would be better, or getting a large sheet cut for the center section of the hood.

What year is your Gwagen?
A 2002 model year and onwards 463 will require the air channel on the hood to be modified for proper fitment. They are pretty much bolt on for all Gwagens for 460, 463 up to 2000MY, and 461 models.
 
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otiswesty

Regular guy
One of the other things I did for my 2002 was to pick up a matching grey leather jump seat for the 463. These mount on either side on the rear. The threaded inserts were already in place behind the interior panel. So, I just drilled a couple of holes and in it went. Super easy and slick. It adds 2 more seats for small people with belts, although many question the impact safety of this set up. I primarily used it for putting on ski boots at the mountain while sitting up in the cargo area of the G.

These are super expensive new, over $2500 each. I found mine on the Benzworld website Gclass classifieds for $850 in 2008 when I bought the 2002. They can occasionally be found for sale used for $800 to $1500 each.

My 300GD had seats on both sides in the back but I had different plans for the driver's side on the 2002. I was thinking either a cabinet or something of that nature.
As it turns out, a big change was coming up as I discovered a beautiful local 1999 G500 with some front end damage that was available for a song and a wee bit of mechanical restoration.
 

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OGwagen

New member
That looks like the exact same hood I bought from Guido and installed on my G500.
I wouldn't bother buying the Mercedes grip tape. Cutting down a larger roll would be better, or getting a large sheet cut for the center section of the hood.

What year is your Gwagen?
A 2002 model year and onwards 463 will require the air channel on the hood to be modified for proper fitment. They are pretty much bolt on for all Gwagens for 460, 463 up to 2000MY, and 461 models.


1986 280ge Its in shambles at the moment getting a full rundown. 606a swap and conversion to a 5 spd with OD, Plastic fuel tank retrofit, true PUR mirrors(not those weak manual ones I used to have), Walk on hood, LED's all around, dual battery system, Springs, shocks, 16" Atik's

I will post pictures when she is done. But I have some progress pics too if interested.

BTW I'm jealous that you can put your ski boots on in the back of your truck. Mine fit so tight I have to stand and jump and squeeze my hoof in.
 

otiswesty

Regular guy
In May of 2012, our son crashed a E320 sedan and had it towed to a close by Mercedes body shop. I went by that evening to look at the car and pull some items out of and off of it and noticed a blue G500 with the front bumper and grill off. Turned out the owner was not interested in fixing it and I was able to buy it "as-is."

The description of the brush guard as a damage multiplier was in full play with this one. If not for the brush guard it would have probably only needed the winch bumper repaired or replaced. The brush guard came back into the grill, light surrounds and slightly dented the front end of both fenders. All I can say is thank goodness, otherwise I wouldn't have had a shot of getting this truck.

Since it had a cracked radiator and had fully drained, I called AAA and told them my car needed a tow. They picked it up in the lot and dropped it on my drive way and I rolled it back into the garage. Thus began the latest stage in my Gwagen odyssey.
 

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otiswesty

Regular guy
The repairs to the front end were super easy. 13mm ratchet, 10 mm ratchet and a phillips screwdriver was about all I needed. Actually there were a few other wrenches, but it was like a kids Erector set. I am not a mechanic by any stretch, and as it looked a bit intimidating at first, it ended up being completely intuitive and pleasantly straight forward. A whole new respect for the G-class after finishing this up.

A friend of mine from the Pointed Three G forum sent me a used tow pin bumper, I bought a set of obsidian black headlight surrounds and front grill take offs from a 2007 G55 off of the Benzworld forum. A nice but used AC condensor from Mike Serpe and a new radiator from the dealer were about all it took. The brush guard was toast, but given it's role in the front damage, I was still on the fence about replacing it. As it was, I did end up picking up a nice used one and installing it within the year. Real helpful with RTT access the way I have my tent set up.

The tow pin bumper got swapped out for a new one after a year or so, and a Gwagen accessories rear steel bumper went on at the same time as well.

Here's a pic of the front end I shot this weekend with the black trim along with some other doo dads added after it was all done.
 

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otiswesty

Regular guy
I had always like the look of the contrasting black trim on my white 300GD, and thought it would look great on a 463 as well, especially silver or black. My 2002 was Tectite grey, so that dark color did not lend itself to changing the trim color. With the 1999 G500, it is a nice subtle look. In addition to the front end parts, I picked up a full set of Obsidian black fender flares, same color as the grill and headlight surrounds. The bumper is the stock mercedes dark grey and the brushguard stock black color. My 20 year old son thought it was pretty cool since the new Crazy Colors Edition has black fenders and front components. He likes the new models better than old cars.
http://mercedesblog.com/mercedes-g-class-crazy-color-edition/

I had initially thought to go with a matte black like the side view mirrors, but since it was a factory paint and looked good, I decided to keep it. All these parts were like brand new parts when I got them. These are other Gwagen owners who wanted to get the AMG flares and the updated grille and head light surrounds. I had a set of grills fr the brushguard which look great and help reduce rock damage to the lights. The headlights also have a thick XPEL coating to keep them from cracking. I picked up the head lights from Dutch since he was upgrading to LED head lights. I have had a hard time finding Hella or Bosch H4 E-code head lamps with the city light by Google search, so I was pretty stoked when he put them up for sale.

The orange fender top blinkers are a throw back to the 460 as well. I like a bit of color up there, and the UV effect on the clear ones tend to cause some yellowish discoloration over time anyways.

On the military Gwagens, the middle bar on the brush guard is mounted higher. This allows mounting of a winch on the bumper without interference of the brush guard with mounting. Many people don't realize that all 463 brush guards also have this provision as well. There is an upper hole to which the center bar can be moved or a second bar added pretty easily once the brush guard is off the vehicle.
 

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otiswesty

Regular guy
The AMG grill differs from the standard G500 grill in that the center section is fully painted in silver. The G500 has these stick on strips of very thin chrome on top of the body color painted grill slats. I had peeled the chrome strips off of the grill on my 2002 G500 as I thought they were kind of cheesy bling, and had planned to go with all black for the 1999 G500 as well. After a couple of months, the silver center kind of grew on me and I decided to leave it as is. I put in the "G" emblem that I picked up from ORC back in 2009 which kind of tones it down a little bit for more of the utilitarian look.

I added the dead bugs down the road later.
 

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NYCRover

Observer
Love it. Is it possible to change the 463 headlight housing and front grill to a 461? or is there too much involved as it seems like you might need to retrofit new fenders as well?
 

otiswesty

Regular guy
Yes, as you suggested, the fenders would have to be changed over to use the 460/461 front grill and head light surrounds. I did end up replacing both fenders this spring as they both had slight damage and it was about the same cost as repair. The 460 fenders do not have the vent openings for the G500 air intakes, so that would add a bit of work. Some of the 461 fenders like the G270, and G280 have a passenger side intake, but it is in a different location than the 463. The bottom line was that it could have been done, but for me it would have required too much fabrication and I am not a welder nor the kind of person that would fork over the amount of extra money to get this done. I could have cut out the recessed openings from the original fenders to graft onto a new 460 or 461 fender, but ended up giving one of the fenders to a friend of mine and just sold the other pretty cheap, so now they are gone.

The old style 460 front end is one of my favorite features of the Pur edition, but I decided I was not going that way for the above reasons. The black 463 trim looks great and is an easy change over that suits my goals for the truck.

The brush guard modification is really easy. The middle bar is already set up for two locations, and the plastic hole plug moves to the other unused hole. Using a tow pin bumper, pulling the pin is a bit awkward with the original placement, but easily done once the middle bar is moved up. I had my brush guard off this morning to put in some LED city light bulbs in the headlights so snapped a couple of pics, including one of an extra upright I have laying around.
 

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otiswesty

Regular guy
The new 2015 G550 also has provisions to mount the headlight protection grille despite the fact that they are no longer available. The DRL LED bar below the headlight is still below the grill level, so would be unobstructed. I have never seen a new truck with the grills installed though. The upright support also will accommodate a higher position for the middle short tube.

Here is a pic of the headlight grill mounting holes.
 

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otiswesty

Regular guy
My G500 was sold by Europa in New Mexico. All of these G500s were fully loaded and came with a full set of thick foam rubber mats. The MBUSA trucks have never had these from the dealer despite the fact that the cargo area mats are still sold with the new showroom G-class trucks in Europe. I purchased a set of front and cargo mats for my old 2002 in Europe from ORC. Not as perfect fit up front as the center tunnel is a little different. I kept the mats for my 1999 since the previous owner had pulled them. They are another source of vibration and road noise reduction into the cabin for a pleasant driving experience.

Here is the rear mat from ORC.

I also use a plastic G-class mat/tray on top of it that used to be available through the dealer, now it is apparently NLA. Interestingly, there was a made in Canada tag on it when I first got it.
 

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