We are now one year after my first W116 purchase.
3 W116's are catching dust in the parking lot of my restorer, with only one of them under a tarp.
The second one is nearly collapsing under the weight of the hundreds of brand new aftermarket replacement parts, neatly stacked inside, in every crevice front and back.
It was getting time to start compiling a list of MB parts required. How I dread this job!
I really don't want to know the cost of all that. I don't want to spend that cash. I don't want to have to go through parts manuals with a fine comb, adding and adding, and adding parts.
Where to stop? What to buy? WHERE to buy all of this?
And, most dreadful, no local help anywhere.
I knew what to do! Stick my head in the sand, and go buy more goodies instead!
Went hunting for Beckers. Found one in the Netherlands, 150 Euros, in mint condition. had it shipped, just to find out it wasn't made for a Benz. It was the wrong size, at least 15 years older, from a 1960's Porsche and MG.
Still, I like the idea of making my w116 older than it is. I will make it fit!
The second Becker I found 2 months later, again, online, in the Netherlands.
200 euros, and it looked good in the pics. But, it's not eBay, and there is no safety net against scammers.
When it arrived, I was very, very pleased. It was new out of a box!. Mint, not a scratch on it! Allows for an immediate re-sale on eBay for 500 euros, but I won't. It's mine!
Then I bumped into a NOS seller in Argentina.
I been investigating how to achieve a full Cruise Control retro-fit, a must on a car like this, and I don't have any, on any of the 3 cars. Argentina had the actuator, 500usd, new in the box.
They also had the sunroof wind deflector, NOS ashtray lighters, chrome NOS exhaust ends, NOS steering wheel pad, and new instrument panel plastic strip in 5 colors that hides the little lamps, indicating contact, headlights, etc. That one would really make the instrument panel look new!
I bought 2 of each, except for the actuator. I decided to buy the second CC system after the first W116 was done, -and sold. The combi buy/ship worked out well here. Argentina threw in a NOS driver door rubber seal in for free!
I can recommend this eBay shop. Fatone_Inc.
The CC mounting bracket is NLA. Found it in Spain
The Tempomat steering wheel control I found second-hand in Germany. It's not NLA but really costly if bought new.
The other NLA parts are all hidden from sight in the car, and will be built/modified from local parts.
Still, it was this list of CC parts that was the start of my MB parts list.
I knew it needed to be done, and I slowly started adding, comparing parts and prices, learning about what's IN the car in parts, and immediately went on an internet shopping hunt for any part that was marked as NLA.
I now needed a second batch of MB door seals, so they went on there as well.
I use the Shopping Cart from
http://eshop.original-teile.de/With your personal login, your cart does not get deleted. It gives you great pricing (indication) as well.
I started using
http://www.iauto.lt/mercedes-benz/Car/280_SE as a Parts Manual.
Regrettably, no engine manuals there.