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The Euro Conversion of an SEC Jack Middlebrook's '91 560SEC Euro |
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My friend, Jack Middlebrook contacted me last summer regarding souping up his SEC. Of course, one conversation led to the next and 3 months later, the car was parked in my garage next to my SEC. Before Jack brought the car up to Detroit, he had it lowered with H&R springs and had installed the AMG Aero II Monoblocks on it with Bridgestone SO-3 Pole Position tires. The before pictures may be seen here. I took the car and gutted the interior. All the seats were removed, door panels, rear side panels, center console, steering wheel, rear package shelf, trunk liner, ashtray, complete stock radio, followed by removing the original 5.6L U.S. spec engine (with 58K miles on it and perfect. Of course, our friend, Nathan Goodlet got the great side of that deal). The transmission, exhaust system, mounts, hoses....well, EVERYTHING, was pulled out....brakes, pads, rotors...you get the picture. The car then went to Autometric Collision to have its factory pinstripe removed, the lower panels pulled, painted, and clearcoated. The door handles, mirror backs, and Euro lower valance panels were all painted body color. The grille was painted matte black along with the Euro wiper arms as here.
After a THOROUGH reconditioning, the car left Autometric 1 month later in showroom condition. Even the door check straps were replaced and the door were realigned to match the body lines again (fixing the infamous sagging door syndrome). Note the lack of the license plate indent. An Audi A8 Quattro bumper was ground down and the material (PU-RIM) was used to fill the location. It looks, well...factory perfect.
The car then had a complete sound system installed including custom A/D/S component tweeters and midranges in the front doors and rear deck. The head unit was replaced with a high-end Alpine unit, an Alpine PXA-H600 system control unit was installed in place of the factory ashtray with custom wood filler strips from Drew at Heritage Woodworks. Dual 8" dual-voice coil A/D/S subwoofers and custom sealed enclosure was added to the rear. A Precision Power amplifier runs the subs while an Italian-made Steg 4-channel amplifier runs the rest of the system.
1st gear start was installed as well as the Euro shift gate with the Sport/Economy mode switch seen here. BergWerks one touch window kit with remote control keyless entry was installed as well. A factory lock/unlock switch was placed in the console by the heated seat switches.
Note, the interior above back to perfection. A burlwood/leather steering wheel and illuminated sill plates complements the treatment. THE MAIN TREAT.....
The stock engine was replaced with a brand new 5.6L Euro engine rated at 300hp. In addition, custom polished stainless-steel tubular headers were installed. They can be seen above on the passenger bank. The car has a full stainless exhaust system with a Remus rear muffler, no catalysts, and no precats. The oxygen sensor was retained of course, for the CIS-E injection system.
The transmission was replaced with a 722.350 Euro unit was shorter 1st gear ratio (3.86:1) and a spot for the reaction valve circuit (which communicates with the EZL for faster shifting). 1st gear start was implemented of course. The end result was the car you see here. A COMPLETE transformation from a mundane-looking SEC to a fine and elegant hot rod!!
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