280" Concourse; Diary of a layman

[floyd111]

In the meantime, some disturbing news has arrived, at least for me: Taiwan gov announced they will license fresh classic imports older than 35 years old, starting Jan 2016.
There will also be an amnesty for cars already in the country, if all import/sales taxes were properly paid in the past.
That will surely impact the sales price I had in mind for one of my Concourse cars..
There are limitations to this though.
The plate will be different.
No access to roads with legal speeds over 80KMH
Only access to public roads on Saturday and Sunday
Costly certification/testing fees, maybe over 2000usd.

This means my rare, regular plates are still way better to have, but all in all, it will decimate any future sales prices I had in mind..
Really..Murphy's law.

Still, I couldn't help but buy this goodie today..
1930's name card case in sterling silver.

[karmann_20v]

Well, a restored car in concourse condition will potentially attract worldwide buyers. That being said, the W116 market is far from being red hot, so you are down to 2 realistic options (this is aside from restoring the car that you intend to keep):
1. Give up restoring the car for sale and try to sell it locally as it is
2. Take a risk, invest in restoring it and hope that these cars will one day command the price that covers your expenses and allows you to make some sort of profit

[floyd111]

Yeah, I'm not about to give up now, 2 years down the road, thousands of hours spent, as well as a fortune in cars and parts.
I want to be the first in Taiwan history to do a Concourse car, and preferably 2 of them.
The new rules WILL allow me to license the third car I have, where normally it would have ended up in the trash.
With buckets of parts coming from 3 different cars, I'll be able to build a third car and offer a year's warranty.
The potential returns from the third car are completely unexpected, and this will surely compensate for any losses on the price of the concourse car.

Anyways..
Word from my mechanic is that car nr 1 is now completely stripped down, and is awaiting the carousel to be freed up, so it can be moved to the bodyshop.
Photos will be coming this week... for those that have any interest in seeing a naked, unrestored chassis.

Got reasonably lucky this week, finding a guy with 2 complete sets of NOS headlights. For 350usd per set, I can now close that specific chapter.
Now it's a mission finding the rears. I only have 1 NOS taillight till now. Anybody knows of some NOS items lying around, please let me know.

Looks like I'm sorted on the overriders, front and rear. At 75 usd a piece, NOS, that's taking a big bite out of previous projected budgets.

I am now also considering getting OEM Fuchs Barock wheels (are those what you guys call Bundts?), rather than the steel+cap versions. I am in the market for 10 of them, in a condition that will allow flawless local powder coating. I would prefer European sources, coz they will ship ground transport to my consolidator in Bulgaria.

[daantjie]

The MB Classic Centre had new Fuchs Bundt style wheels in stock a while ago.

[floyd111]

New? Never even considered such a thing were possible.. I dread the pricing...
Still, worth a check-out.

[daantjie]

Brand new. I checked with Tom Hanson at the Classic Centre a while ago. Think they were $500 USD each. Too rich for my blood!

[floyd111]

Oh no.. that's too much for me. I need 10 of them! My God, the bills. One way ticket to a divorce, such purchases. And then there's shipping and 21% import taxes
I am going for a bunch of ugly ones that are without metal damage. Local powder coating is a lot more affordable. Drop m in the trunk of an import car from Bulgaria, in a container. Nice, slow and cheap!

BTW.. what's the exact rim size/part number for a 1976 280S, 1979 280S and 1977 280SE?
I read confusing opinions here.

[s class]

The 6 cylinder models were equipped with 6Jx14 rims, p/n 108 400 09 02 up until 1979.  From 1979 its 126 400 19 02

The v8's were equipped with the wider 6.5Jx14 version. 

[floyd111]

Am I mlooking at tyre-pricing issues, choosing either type?

[ptashek]

Am I mlooking at tyre-pricing issues, choosing either type?

For best future availability, while retaining the stock appearance, you way want to go with the 7Jx15 bundts, which are visually identical to the 14s. You can't tell the difference unless you check the tyre spec. They're hard to find in good nick, and quite expensive but totally worth it long-term.  I've bought mine, in like-new condition, for 800EUR in 2012(ish). Tyre availability in 15" is way better, and they're also quite a bit cheaper (20 to 50% the last time I've checked).

[floyd111]

you mean these?

[s class]

Not at all, he means 15" Barock or Bundt wheels.  They were made by Centra, ATS, ARC-Alurad and Fuchs.  The Fuchs ones are still available from the Classic Centre at circa 2100 US per set. 

The wheels in your picture are W124 wheels which will have a high offset (ET37) and are totally unsuitable for W116. 

[s class]

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Mercedes-15-Barock-Alufelgen-ATS-SL-R107-W116-W126-W123-W108-W109-W111-wie-NEU-/262049944163?hash=item3d0364d263

Some nice ATS versions.

I have the Centra 15's on my 107 and the ATS 15's on one of my 116's. 

[floyd111]

Good, coz I tossed those "lids" when I got the car. Ugly!

Now I hear a lot about secondary brands, making these Bundt's.
Word on the forums is that the other ones can be unstable.
I can't tell.
What I DO read is that MB didn't sell anything other but Fuchs.
Is that correct?
If so, do these other brands have any business on my cars?

[s class]

Fuchs was the only official supplier to MB.

If you are sticking with 14" rims, it is unforgiveable to use aftermarket fakes, since the genuine Fuchs are so readily available and inexpensive.  The Fuchs wheels are forged, others are cast.  I am a preferred supplier of reconditioned MB wheels to the MB owners club of South Africa, and I will NOT deal in the aftermarket fakes.  Too many problems, for no real cost benefit to me or the end user. 

General feeling is that more latitude is allowed if you move to 15" bundt since the genuine Fuchs ones are punitively expensive.  For example, theres a set on ebay.de right now for 2999- euro, but that is what 'real men' use.  Several users of the ATS 15's' have reported problems with the wheels cracking.