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Whilst poking around under the dash on the 6.9 tonight, I found this bracket mounted to the blower unit.

(http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/9569/bracketbj2.th.jpg) (http://img521.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bracketbj2.jpg)

It looks very much like the amp bracket, so this must be the original location... this one hasn't been touched since day one by the look of things.

Tim

did you pull back the rubber sheet on the firewall or are you leaving that kinder surprise for another day!

Tim, yes it is the original location for the 6.9

Regards,

Joe

i thought the stock location for our cars was chucked behind the glovebox. That's where mine was.

Mine is located on the top of the LH airduct.

It is possible that they were dealer fitted in Australia and there was some discretion on placement.

Bill

TJ 450, what year is the car?

My 74 280S had it where yours is, both 450SEL the 78 and the 80 have it on top of the airduct that directs air to the right door. All cars are LHD, it might be that on RHD cars they used the same location as early W116's.

Regards,

Joe

I did in fact pull back that rubber sheet... It's mostly like new under there with the exception of a couple of holes about 5mm and 10mm diameter which have rusted through from the outside. Those holes are now plugged temporarily with some filler. The driver's side is the problem area on this car for some reason, so I'm expecting something interesting under there. The dash will have to come out for that. Strangely the partition panel just before the blower intake has almost rusted away... maybe water condenses there in  humid weather? I didn't take any pics of that unfortunately... hopefully I will remember next time.

I heard that the radio's were dealer fitted.
The air ducting is where the amp is on my 450... they must have changed the length of the cabling at some point, because I don't think the amp in the 450 has a cable long enough to fit under the blower unit there.

Hi Joe,
The car was built in July 1976.

Tim

Hi Tim,

Please........................let me know if the bracket is for sale!  I had to raid one from another car for the installation in the 280 SE.

Regards,

Carl.

That one in the car isn't for sale, unfortunately.
However, I might be getting a chrome/pinstripe Becker Mexico at the end of the week out of a wreck I saw last weekend to replace the aftermarket unit in the car. I'll have a look and see if the bracket is present on that car... It may be, in which case you may be in luck.

Tim

TJ,
be careful at that place young man. we may never see you again!
better take PB as backup

Quote from: TJ 450 on 03 June 2008, 08:51 AM
That one in the car isn't for sale, unfortunately.
However, I might be getting a chrome/pinstripe Becker Mexico at the end of the week out of a wreck I saw last weekend to replace the aftermarket unit in the car. I'll have a look and see if the bracket is present on that car... It may be, in which case you may be in luck.

Tim

Thanks a bundle Tim, that would be swell!

Regards,

Carl.

I've looked at the picture at the start of this thread about half a dozen times since it was posted and couldn't work it out.

Finally tonight at 11:20 PM I had to go and investigate. Ahhh, it's taken from below with the duct removed.

Never had the panel above the foot well on that side off so I'm not familiar with the view.

I'll have to pull the panel off and search again for the elusive bracket, my amp is in the same stock position as PB's, "chucked behind the glovebox".

koan

Carl,

No luck with that bracket yet.  :-\
It's strange how uncommon they are. I'll ask the guy next time I'm there, as, much to everyone's surprise, he had a rather large collection of Becker Mexico's.
Just out of interest, was yours installed the same location as mine? There doesn't seem to be enough clearance for my amp to fit without fouling the blower unit.

Tim

Went in search of the Becker amp bracket today. Removed the trim above the footwell and just like TJ450 found it:


At first the lead from the radio wouldn't reach but after removing the radio and rerouting the cable it was OK. This pic shows the amp in the bracket.


The black objects are ferrite suppression cores clamped round the leads in an attempt to reduce mobile phone noise. There are ferrite beads on the power to the radio and speaker leads as well. Also some extra bypass caps in the amp. These have reduced the noise considerably but not by any stretch eliminated it. The noise is picked up on the speaker wiring, holding a phone around the fader knob is still bad.

koan

That looks good, Koan. I see your amp fits in there nicely. Is the power antenna cable (blue) encased in a loom, or is it just strung across there by itself? Mine has been cut off behind the radio itself, so I need to work out where it would have originally gone. I like your RF attenuation methods.  ;)
Tim

Quote from: TJ 450 on 12 June 2008, 05:42 AM

Is the power antenna cable (blue) encased in a loom, or is it just strung across there by itself? Mine has been cut off behind the radio itself, so I need to work out where it would have originally gone. I like your RF attenuation methods. 

All the cables to the amp, the input and power cable, speakers and antenna control are separate from the chassis loom.

The cable in the forground with a couple of cable ties on it is the multicore cable from the radio that carries power, ground and audio to the amp, it plugs into the amp with a mutipin DIN connector, it also has a spade connector that pushes on to a lug bent out of the case.

The lead that controls the antenna is just a single wire with a spade lug that plugs into one of (either one) the recessed insulated spade lugs on the amp. The antenna itself gets it power from the chassis loom down the back.

I was pretty confident my RF suppression would do the job, it is better but not as good as I expected.. Not visible in the pic are about a dozen ferrite cores threaded on speaker and other leads. I'll try something else one day.

koan

.

Quote from: TJ 450 on 11 June 2008, 08:16 AM
Carl,

No luck with that bracket yet.  :-\
It's strange how uncommon they are. I'll ask the guy next time I'm there, as, much to everyone's surprise, he had a rather large collection of Becker Mexico's.
Just out of interest, was yours installed the same location as mine? There doesn't seem to be enough clearance for my amp to fit without fouling the blower unit.

Tim

Hi Tim,

Thanks for looking and yes, I wonder where they have all gone!!! No, my car did not have the Becker installed when I purchased it, so I put one in.  There are three mounting holes on the topside of PS the lower air duct designed specifically for the Becker amp cradle, you can see them here.  Mine is a series 1 280 SE, 1974, maybe they changed the location for the later cars?

Regards,

Carl.

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n281/carl308888/Mercedes-Benz%20280%20SE%20W116/280SEw116400.jpg)

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n281/carl308888/Mercedes-Benz%20280%20SE%20W116/280SEw116403.jpg)

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n281/carl308888/Mercedes-Benz%20280%20SE%20W116/280SEw116404.jpg)

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n281/carl308888/Mercedes-Benz%20280%20SE%20W116/280SEw116405.jpg)

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n281/carl308888/Mercedes-Benz%20280%20SE%20W116/280SEw116406.jpg)