Yet another thread on waking up a W116 - 450 SEL - Photo Heavy

[Comodidit]

Hi all!

Hoping for some advice/direction/info.
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First, a little history of the vehicle.

1974/75 - Vehicle was purchased new by my grandfather so that my grandmother could have a vehicle for when he was out of town. From 75-98 the vehicle was used around a small New England town and on occasional longer trips. It was always garaged and the little bit of paperwork that the family still has seems to indicate that regular maintenance was done by a MB dealer

1998 - 2001 The car sat in a Garage in New England, unused.

2001 - Car was shipped from New England to Arizona when my grandmother moved to a retirement home.

2001-2010 - Car sat outside in a storage lot under a car cover.

2010 - Present - Vehicle sat under a carport under a tarp.
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Now, info about why I'm here and the vehicle.

Spring cleaning has come, and my family is trying to find out what to do with this vehicle. They've come up with two options.

1) Sell it to someone or scrap it.  They just want something done with it.
2) Repair it to use around town.

When the vehicle was moved from the storage lot to the house it was looked at by an MB dealer who quoted $5,000 for a new radiator and another $5,000 for other assorted work. The family said no to repairs based on that budget and info, and never looked at it again.

Fast forward to my involvement. The family knows I'm somewhat mechanically savvy, so they asked me to look at it. They seemed to think it was a total write-off and my initial investigation is that this car doesn't appear to need much work to be a basic car for in-town use.

Here's a quick overview of my check:

Tires - All 4 still holding air. One is low, but appears to not be losing air rapidly. Full sized spare in trunk is flat. Minor dry rot.

Interior - Nearly perfect. One small tear in leather back seat, air vent plastics are broken, missing button in center audio/HVAC stack.

Exterior - Shows that it was outside. Faded/scratched paint. Cleaned lots of decomposed leaves from "gutters". No visible rust where anywhere. Thank you dry AZ weather! Broken plastic around left headlight. Most of MB hood ornament missing.

Body - Rust in Left Trunk depression, drain plug rusted out. Small amount of standing water in Left Trunk area finger push test seemed to indicate that the only spot weak from the rust was right around the rusted out drain plug. Family said they thought the trunk leaked, so someone put a folded up plastic bag in the gasket to stop the leak. Trunk gasket was FILLED by rotted leaves. Cleaned those out, removed plastic bag. Trunk no longer appears to leak.

Under the hood - Little bits of surface rust, some dry/cracked rubber. Radiator was reported to leak, but when I opened the radiator fluid cap there was still a vacuum.
Fluid in radiator tank.
Washer Fluid Full
Oil -  shows up about 2" above bent area on dipstick. Oil is clean, like changed and engine was never even run clean.
Fuses - Old Style I've never seen before. But all appear to be intact. Picture in photobucket below.
Throttle - Butterfly opens and closes smoothly when pedal is pressed.
Battery- Dead (what a surprise!) Don't have a spare handy and didn't want to take the time to jump it, especially not with old fuel in the tank.
Something on the right hand side of appears to be melted. Picture is in the photo section. I don't have a repair manual to check what it is, and I didn't have time to see if only the cover is melted from previous damage, or if the part that is currently installed is damaged as well.
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Pictures:










































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Now, on to questions

A)What are the guesstimates of things that would need to be done to get this vehicle up and running? Cost, parts, time? I'd be looking at doing this all myself. I have a good hand tool kit, but no autoshop tools (jacks, anything pneumatic, lifts, etc.)

B) If A is beyond my time/skill/cost avaliablity, what is this vehicle worth as-is or for scrap?

Thanks in advance for your time. I've got some good childhood memories in this car and would love to see it run again, but I'm trying to be realistic about my ability/time/cost.

[ponton]

To just make it go you ought to drain the fuel and do an oil change. It should probably have new tires after all those years and honestly most of the rubber is going to be in a bit of a sorry state. The interior will clean up quite well from what I can see. I don't see why you wouldn't be able to take on these projects yourself. Harbor freight is a good source for extremely cheap yet fairly reasonable tools and equipment, especially for the weekend warrior. Get yourself a set of jack stands, a trolly jack and a creeper and you should be set. AutohausAZ has a wide variety of parts and would be 1 day shipping for you.  They are often times OEM parts and for a steep discount as compared to the dealer. Another good source is RockAuto.com. I don't see why this would cost more than a few hundred and a couple weekends to get into long distance shape.  If you don't want it I will buy it for scrap value . Best of luck and hope to hear more as you progress.

Ian

[ADV_rider]

• that's a really fat cat 
• the burnt thing is seems to be just the cap! Maybe someone removed it and placed over something hot like the exhaust. Lift and look inside if the cable is ok.
• why is the car in drive while you take the picture? 
• yes to everything Ponton said.

[Comodidit]

@Ian: Tires are on the list once the vehicle can move under it's own power. I wasn't sure about the other rubber, expecially under the hood. There are bits and pieces that look dry/cracked but they all seemed to be boots or ends, all of the cables and hoses seem to be in ok shape.

A couple weekends is what I'm hoping, I just don't want to miss something because I'm not familiar with old MBs and end up with a giant project.

@ADV_rider:

1. His name is fat cat. Not joking.

2. I'll have to pull it off next weekend when I'm back down there. Any idea what the part under the cap is? I'm still looking around for a repair manual.

3. DOH >.<  I must have left it in drive after playing with the shift to make sure it could still go in/out of gear.

[Rimas]

Hey Comodidit

That looks like a wonderful project. I'm also new to w116 ownership and have bought all the basic tools recently. I figure with tools it's something you buy just once and have them for life. It's worth it!

I thought I bought a very tidy car but soon found out the sound deadening under the dry carpets was laden with moisture. I know your climate is good for it but do check under the carpets to see if any water has rusted the floor in the past. This will indicate there are leaks in the windscreens/sunroof that need to be stopped.

Also I got all my suspension assessed by a pro shop and they found all my bushings to be very old and worn, so I'd check under there too.

How is the steering? Much play?

[jbrasile]

Comdidit,

What a nice original car! I love the color combo!

On your list of priorities, you MUST replace all fuel hoses under the hood prior to re-starting the car. This is a serious fire hazard for any D-Jet cars which have been sitting for a long time.

Tks,

Joe

[Comodidit]

Thanks for the warning. Does that include all hoses between the tank and the engine, or just those located in the engine compartment?

[Comodidit]

Hey Comodidit

That looks like a wonderful project. I'm also new to w116 ownership and have bought all the basic tools recently. I figure with tools it's something you buy just once and have them for life. It's worth it!

I thought I bought a very tidy car but soon found out the sound deadening under the dry carpets was laden with moisture. I know your climate is good for it but do check under the carpets to see if any water has rusted the floor in the past. This will indicate there are leaks in the windscreens/sunroof that need to be stopped.

Also I got all my suspension assessed by a pro shop and they found all my bushings to be very old and worn, so I'd check under there too.

How is the steering? Much play?

Interior is dry as a bone. Tested all the seals today when I was rinsing it off. Seems to be water tight.

Steering feels tight, but all I've done is pushed it 15 feet back and forth on the driveway. How many miles does yours have?

[ADV_rider]

I'm also learning about the W116. Not as sexy as some other moldels, but a tough vehicle!

Keep on reading on this site, do  search about topics you may want to learn more about, and you will eventually get familiarized with the work to be done.

For manuals,  ... http://www.w116.org/library

Here,  http://www.everythingbenz.com/z/mtype/116033-mercedes-chassis-schematics-drawings .... choose  the section of parts you want to search. You can get the part numbers and then google them.

Under the cap, there is the coil.
Using the previous link,  the section "electrical equipment and ......" page 6 shows number 473 for the coil and 480 for the cap... Part A0001582803 for the coil and A0001581485 for the cap (same number your cap has engraved) ... I usually remove the A to google for parts.

http://mb.ilcats.ru/part/class/1/ccode/F/cat/68N/type/116/subtype/033/group/54/subgr//vers//imgno/6

http://www.everythingbenz.com/z/part/0001582803-mercedes-ignition-coil

use autohauasaz or peachparts and search for items.

If you have the part, take a look at it and try to find the part number just to be sure.

[Comodidit]

I'm also learning about the W116. Not as sexy as some other moldels, but a tough vehicle!

Keep on reading on this site, do  search about topics you may want to learn more about, and you will eventually get familiarized with the work to be done.

For manuals,  ... http://www.w116.org/library

Here,  http://www.everythingbenz.com/z/mtype/116033-mercedes-chassis-schematics-drawings .... choose  the section of parts you want to search. You can get the part numbers and then google them.

Under the cap, there is the coil.
Using the previous link,  the section "electrical equipment and ......" page 6 shows number 473 for the coil and 480 for the cap... Part A0001582803 for the coil and A0001581485 for the cap (same number your cap has engraved) ... I usually remove the A to google for parts.

http://mb.ilcats.ru/part/class/1/ccode/F/cat/68N/type/116/subtype/033/group/54/subgr//vers//imgno/6

http://www.everythingbenz.com/z/part/0001582803-mercedes-ignition-coil

use autohauasaz or peachparts and search for items.

If you have the part, take a look at it and try to find the part number just to be sure.

Oh man, you just made my night. I've been looking around in the library but I was under the digital service manual library and couldn't find the repair guides. Thank you.

[oversize]

Looks like a very nice car and it should clean up a treat.  Before you spend much on her, check for rust in the usual places after reading one of our many threads on the subject (do a search for 'rust').

Only then: Replace the radiator hoses and any rubber hoses that're cracking and not flexible.  Replace all the fluids and filters.  Check the fuel tank thoroughly for scale, rust and deposits and if in any doubt, remove it for a complete clean.

Throw that melted coil cover in the bin cause it does very little anyway.  Replace all the fuses and the battery.  Pull the plugs and check condition.  Squirt a little engine oil into each cylinder.  Crank the engine over on the starter until you have oil pressure.  Re-install the plugs and hopefully she'll start first go!  BTW keep a fire extinguisher handy!

Good luck and enjoy!

[jbrasile]

Comoditi,

The hoses I mentioned are in the engine compartment.  From the tank to the front fuel passes through steel tubes but you should also check all the the hoses in the rear, from tank to damper / to filter / to pump etc... they are most likely dry and will crack and leak.

Tks

Joe

[Comodidit]

jbrasile: Thanks for the info. I'll take a look at them the next time I'm at the car.

oversize: Will do. Thanks.

Now to convince them it's a good idea to get it up and running again. Be back when I have more questions or with a definitive answer on the repairs.

Thanks a ton everyone.

[13B]

Hi Comodidit,

Is the car yellow or silver?  In the top pictures it looks silver, but on the radiator suipport panel it looks yellow.  Also I see two different VIN numbers, do they match the one on the firewall above the V8 engine?  I can't remember if the numbers on the VIN plate are supposed to match the number on the painted vehicle options plate (don't have my W116 here with me to check) but something doesn't look right to me.

Ian.

[Comodidit]

Hi Comodidit,

Is the car yellow or silver?  In the top pictures it looks silver, but on the radiator suipport panel it looks yellow.  Also I see two different VIN numbers, do they match the one on the firewall above the V8 engine?  I can't remember if the numbers on the VIN plate are supposed to match the number on the painted vehicle options plate (don't have my W116 here with me to check) but something doesn't look right to me.

Ian.

The car is silver. If I remember correctly all the metal around the radiator is brass colored, not painted. I think the color-correction on my phone threw it off.

I wasn't sure if the brass tag up front was a VIN tag or something else. I'm two hours from the car, I'll have to look for another tag on the firewall when I'm back down there.

116 033 12 029228 - On the door sill tag
116033 12 03864 7 - Brass tag under hood.