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Garage => Mechanicals => Topic started by: rumb on 16 July 2019, 11:24 AM

Title: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: rumb on 16 July 2019, 11:24 AM
Found this page where we can all request NLA parts to be re-manufactured.

Maybe if we all regularly request they might start making some of them.

https://partssearch.mercedes-benz-classic.com/parts/demand.

Maybe we can all make a list of the top 15 critical parts?

I would start with the front upper strut rubber mount.
Title: Re: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: PosedgeClk on 16 July 2019, 11:40 AM
That rubber mount would be nice, but it is something that is in the realm of possibilities for an aftermarket company to produce. I would love to see a new run of the struts and maybe the pump or a pump rebuild kit.

If it were all 6.9 owners chiming in, all 15 items would be suspension-related!
Title: Re: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: floyd111 on 17 July 2019, 06:20 PM
I applaud the enthusiasm, but what are the chances of MB responding positively with actual reproduction at a friendly price? They already supercharge their most loyal drivers with tripled pricing for "almost NLA" parts (like bumpers). You think they will change global policy and go back to the old days? I would think that targeting the right "third party producers" with samples will be 100x more fruitful, both in price and waiting time. That includes the likes of us, with 3D printing and other skills.

There have been quite a few NLA threads in this forum over the years, including mine. There are summaries of what was talked about lists of NLA parts. A quick search on the forum will get you all these results. You could start there, make an updated list, and see part-by-part what the present situation is.
Title: Re: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: Squiggle Dog on 17 July 2019, 06:29 PM
It sounds great. I wish there was an answer for parts like floyd111 is describing--which are available, but prohibitively expensive. One example is the lower control arm bushings, which are $760 MSRP. Practically no one can justify that. Right now the only other company offering them is Meyle, and as I have found, they don't quite fit, but can be made to fit. Meyle's price? About $100. I'd pay twice or triple that for genuine Mercedes parts, but that's it. My pockets don't run that deep.
Title: Re: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: rumb on 17 July 2019, 07:35 PM
I pretty much think we are among the last bunch that will be able restore these great machines. In the 4 years I have been working on it a number of parts have gone away. I still find it outstanding that I have been able to buy probably 500 different parts from MB. Paying thru the nose is better than not being able to get something at all. Maybe we all will use good aftermarket where needed and just do the job more frequently.

What I was looking for here were parts needed just to keep the cars on the road, such as  strut mounts and center drag link that neither MB or aftermarket make. We all know that all interior trim parts are long gone and Half of the exterior anodized trim is gone, though all of those can be repaired.

I would add the 6.9 head gaskets that seem to be very hard to find now.

Restorers will get better at rebuilding and repairing old parts as we go further.

I thought we could just play MB with their own tool and have them get a bunch of request to build the top 15 or so critical items.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Quote from: PosedgeClk on 16 July 2019, 11:40 AM
That rubber mount would be nice, but it is something that is in the realm of possibilities for an aftermarket company to produce. I would love to see a new run of the struts and maybe the pump or a pump rebuild kit.

Many companies have tried making similar item to the strut mount like motor mounts and MB is the only one that seem to make them right.  The struts you can buy new from MB - at least the fronts, and while seldom documented they can also be rebuilt. (I'm still working towards that project)  Pump rebuild kits are easy to buy or just buy the o-rings yourself. Plenty  of post with that information.
Title: Re: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: PosedgeClk on 17 July 2019, 10:45 PM
Automation will drag the 6.9s along for several more decades. On my desk, I have an LCD-based resin printer. It cost me a few hundred USD. Just a few years ago, they did not even exist. CNC machines are well within the budgets of many of us (I have a few), and knee mills, surface grinders, lathes, etc. can be had for nothing these days. CAD and CAM software now are amazing. The barriers to entry are thus lowered, and making something like a new hydraulic strut is well within the realm of an individual with a good deal of experience and a lot of time.
Title: Re: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: floyd111 on 18 July 2019, 01:35 AM
Indeed, that picture you paint is not a gloomy one, but it inspires realistic hope. True, all that tech is going very fast, and much of it is getting cheaper by the day. Personally, I worry more about government banning gasoline cars here in Taiwan. It won't happen in the next 10 years, but with the world's most extreme CO2 standards they already have here, we'll be the first. And naturally, there will be no legal way to convert cars (for the law already forbids each and all minor or major changes to vehicle, including changing engines.) Use and throw is the motto. And with the ridiculously few classic cars here, there won't even be an audible protest when that day comes..
Enjoy it while it lasts!
Title: Re: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: Squiggle Dog on 18 July 2019, 01:47 AM
Quote from: floyd111 on 18 July 2019, 01:35 AM
Indeed, that picture you paint is not a gloomy one, but it inspires realistic hope. True, all that tech is going very fast, and much of it is getting cheaper by the day. Personally, I worry more about government banning gasoline cars here in Taiwan. It won't happen in the next 10 years, but with the world's most extreme CO2 standards they already have here, we'll be the first. And naturally, there will be no legal way to convert cars (for the law already forbids each and all minor or major changes to vehicle, including changing engines.) Use and throw is the motto. And with the ridiculously few classic cars here, there won't even be an audible protest when that day comes..
Enjoy it while it lasts!

Darn, I was going to suggest doing a propane conversion if it comes to it, but it sounds like that's not an option over there.
Title: Re: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: PosedgeClk on 18 July 2019, 09:18 AM
Quote from: floyd111 on 18 July 2019, 01:35 AM
Indeed, that picture you paint is not a gloomy one, but it inspires realistic hope. True, all that tech is going very fast, and much of it is getting cheaper by the day. Personally, I worry more about government banning gasoline cars here in Taiwan. It won't happen in the next 10 years, but with the world's most extreme CO2 standards they already have here, we'll be the first. And naturally, there will be no legal way to convert cars (for the law already forbids each and all minor or major changes to vehicle, including changing engines.) Use and throw is the motto. And with the ridiculously few classic cars here, there won't even be an audible protest when that day comes..
Enjoy it while it lasts!
I "race" $3000 cars across the North American continent each year, and the consensus among a dozen or so friends/competitors is that there will not be too many more years which we can do this for a number of reasons. There have been a few things which have taken the back seat in my life because I don't want to miss the opportunity.
Title: Re: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: floyd111 on 19 July 2019, 05:21 PM
--but you can buy a fleet of legal Hummers here and drive them till the last drop of oil's been sold. Where's the logic in that, eh? Anyways, the only solution would be to ship the W116 to the nearest normal mainland country, and drive it on holidays only. I smell a new branch in the service industry soon.
Title: Re: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: ptashek on 21 July 2019, 01:35 PM
I have good contacts in the industry from days past, including at a company which remanufactures several classic and youngtimer MB parts for both MB directly, and the aftermarket. It's not that the parts are going NLA forever, instead the remanufacturing cycles get longer as fewer backorders come in. This is almost directly related to fewer cars of a given type being roadworthy, or used often enough to warrant frequent maintenance cycles.
Title: Re: Mercedes request for remanufacture NLA parts
Post by: TJ 450 on 22 July 2019, 01:28 AM
The 6.9 is pretty much case-in-point for the above. A lot of cars still running many original parts, things like struts, and many other parts are only just being replaced now. Given it's such a small market, it's a wonder anything is available at all. MB has had so many models since, and all the spare parts take up space.

Tim