280" Concourse; Diary of a layman

[floyd111]

Boy oh boy..if anyone had predicted how much work, and how much time was gonna go into this project... I would have surely walked away, waaay back then.

Yes, my first car has been in the bodyshop for 2 months now, and a lot of work has been done. 2 doors replaced, 2 doors restored, right boot floor and the spare wheel well have been reproduced exactly from scratch, with thick sheet metal, both outer sills have been fixed, the bulk head area under the bonnet has been re-done, as have the rear fender arches. Passenger front floor used to be Emmenthaler and all other holes and rot-spots have been professionally re-done.
As I said before, 75% of this work could have been saved if the boss had remembered my instructions to replace all rotted parts with new parts, rather then restoring them painstakingly, and at great cost. Not MY cost, that much is clear.

At this point the work has stopped, for I need 2 front fenders and a right side boot floor to arrive here.
The latter is in the mail, but no luck on finding front fenders yet. Both my donor cars have equally poor fenders, apparently..
At the same time I am awaiting the arrival of the bulk of my NOS parts, and they won't get here for another 3 months!
In the meantime the workshop will move location to an absolutely massive empty factory building in the vicinity, a group of 4 former textile factory building that was erected in the 60's, and has been deserted for 40 years.
A new restoration company will rise from those ashes with talk of 20 bridges in 20 sectioned work spaces, each with their own tools and parts storage. Great plans indeed, if only there was staff to be found in this country.. The bottleneck remains.
Anyone looking for a restoration-job in the pacific may contact me for details!

So, lots to look forward to, with the disadvantage that my first car will not see the road in 2017. Bummer!

[floyd111]

There is also some goods news lurking around the corner..
Been looking for a first-owner 280SEL with a glorious past to be the subject of my museum-car. Looks like we're gonna tie the knot next week and proceed with payment and shipping it from Europe.
All the paperwork is in order, but the owner can not find the maintenance booklet anymore. Bit of a shame, but you can't win'm all.
I have a brand new booklet and since the mileage will be brought back to 0 on the clock, hopefully it won't be a big obstacle.

[floyd111]

After chasing large NOS parts for this long, I find myself left looking for smaller ones.
These popped up this week, still in the old 70's packing.
Some for the accessories-cupboard, some for the restoration project video.
Love that vintage wrapping.

[floyd111]

BTW.. does this video link work?
This is the workshop that has my cars.
https://www.facebook.com/Sandwichscinemaproduction/videos/516543285209102/

Look well, and you'll find my W116 in the background, stripped.

[Beastie]

The video works and I did see your car. I think only a W116 expert would know what it was from that glimpse because it's so stripped down. The workshop looks like it produces some nice cars. I like the BMW 3.0 that they working on. Saw a few old BMW's in there.

[floyd111]

Little update on the ashtray-quest.
There's been a lot of comments and opinions about the cigar lighters for the W116.
Today I started sorting all the parts that make up the 9 W116 ashtrays that I collected over time and I saw that I have 2 types:
One type that has a long cigar lighter tube/holder connected to the chrome flat top, and the other type, with the very same chrome top, this time connecting a short tube to hold a short lighter.
The difference in both tube-types is about 1 cm, and there is no way the lighters that are for either type are going to be interchangable.
They will either stick out, or they will not make electric contact if wrongly installed.
There are 2 types of ashtrays, for 2 types of lighters.
I doubt this is a vinyl vs wood thing, but that is all I got so far. Could be a VIN split, a chassis thing, or a Euro-USA thing.
While I await useful data on this topic, I sure need to go dig up the NOS lighters I bought over time, and see what types I actually bought/received.
When all is done, I will have 5 ashtrays, out of which 3 ashtray units for sale, restored and all, and hopefully I'll be able to supply the right lighter with each one of them.

[ptashek]

Can you post side by side pics of the two ashtray types?

[floyd111]

Found some small things, one of them a electric window lifter repair kit..

[floyd111]

Can you post side by side pics of the two ashtray types?

Here are the photos of the ashtrays and the lighters.

The old stuff:
Built-in ashtray sleeve, 42mm and 47MM types. Old lighters I have are 30MM depth. Can't tell which belonged to which.

The new stuff:
Note how 2 different lighters carry the very same MB number..
The actual lighter depth is the same, 30MM.
The sleeves that were supplied with the 4 new lighters are all the 42MM type.
I am still awaiting 3 more lighters. Not sure what type lighter or what type sleeve. Will post updates. They might be 47MM.. who knows.
For now, I can not test any of them, since I have no functional car available to me at this moment.

[floyd111]

I have some items that may be sold, stuff that's clearly not for my car, and overcomplete stuff.

NOS stuff:
MB Keyfob, leather, black and burgundy available. 10usd a pop. (30 on ebay)
Here they're offered for 89usd. Pretty insane. I have those old MB bags, not the modern ones in photo 1
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Mercedes-key-wallet-burgundy-1970s-W109-W115-W116-W123-W126-VINTAGE-NOS-/302072512508?hash=item4654ecbffc:g:-A8AAOSwKtlWoViq&vxp=mtr

And these: 4x injectors 0437 004 002, 75usd each
Fits:
1972   Mercedes-Benz   280SE   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1971   Mercedes-Benz   280S   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1971   Mercedes-Benz   280SE   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1971   Mercedes-Benz   280SL   Base   2.8L 2778CC 169Cu. In. l6 GAS SOHC Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1971   Mercedes-Benz   280SL   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1970   Mercedes-Benz   280S   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1970   Mercedes-Benz   280SE   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1970   Mercedes-Benz   280SL   Base   2.8L 2778CC 169Cu. In. l6 GAS SOHC Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1970   Mercedes-Benz   280SL   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1969   Mercedes-Benz   280S   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1969   Mercedes-Benz   280SE   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1969   Mercedes-Benz   280SL   Base   2.8L 2778CC 169Cu. In. l6 GAS SOHC Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1969   Mercedes-Benz   280SL   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1969   Mercedes-Benz   300SEL   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1968   Mercedes-Benz   250   Base   2.5L 2496CC 152Cu. In. l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1968   Mercedes-Benz   280S   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1968   Mercedes-Benz   280SE   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1968   Mercedes-Benz   280SL   Base   2.8L 2778CC 169Cu. In. l6 GAS SOHC Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1968   Mercedes-Benz   280SL   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated
; Qty needed per veh...   1968   Mercedes-Benz   300SEL   Base   2.8L 2778CC l6 GAS Naturally Aspirated

A1248002148, pump, central locking system, 150usd
Fits:
R107 SL Class, W124 E Class, W126 S Class, W201 190 Class

Also available:
0 280 150 007 Bosch, D-Jet injector, 90usd, NOS
Shipping and/or PP fees are extra.

[floyd111]

It was a good week.
After a hit and miss involving a NOS rear windscreen with heating (shipping issues) I was left a bit deflated but within hours appeared a nice pick-me-up.. Remember the NOS key/lock outfit that Ptashek grabbed before I could get my hands on it?
A bit desperate, I picked up the last on on the shelves at MB, leaving me with a big bill, and short 1 obligotary second set for my own daily driver.
That missing second set finally appeared online and I got it for half the list price. Awesome!

The day after appeared a properly rare item. Not a trace of it online, anywhere.. A set of windvisors for all side windows, not plastic but polished stainless steel!

[floyd111]

If anyone knows the origin of these parts, please share. There is an engraved little penguin on each part, but no name or number.
It is said to be a limited batch for the US market, but no confirmation there.
They must have made more items than just this W116 set.

I also got lucky in the fender area.. One of my suppliers in germany, who has been sitting on a few pallets of mine, still had 2 sets in stock. Not new, but good ones.
I'll have to take his word for it and I won't find out till they get here, which will be at least 2 months from now.
The left boot floor I had bought NOS from Holland arrived, but turned out to be a right boot floor.
Looks like my car will be catching dust for a while.. What else is new..

Good chance that the boyz will not pick up the work on my car anytime soon, since the whole company is moving to a large factory building nearby. Once there, in January I will have my own designated area for my cars, and my parts and that is a good thing. The delay is not.

[ptashek]

The add was taken down so fast, no time to copy pics in full size..
I'll post better ones when I have them.

I've seen that ad, and was betting you're going to go for it. I guess I won
I'm not sure who made these, but they don't look very appealing from the pics I've seen in the ad.
Weird shape for a wind deflector, as they seem to protrude to the side quite a bit.

Nice catch on the lock outfit, you finally got it

[floyd111]

Thanks.. it was traumatic, but I prevailed!

I think the sun visors look awesome, at least in the larger pics I had. Real elegant, especially the front part with it's long sharp point downwards.
They would have to be pretty disappointing, for me to put those back on the market. If I didn't own them, I would have not been able to prove their existance. It's like they all vanished from the planet..if there were more.
Could they have been a one-off from some metal-smith somewhere? The engraved logo suggests a brand of some sorts, not a private party..

[rumb]

Hope you didnt pay too dearly for the shades, you can buy them new here: or at least a version of them.

http://autocables.com.au/autocables_secure/results1.asp?CategoryID=17&CarMake=MERCEDES%20BENZ

Found them with this link:

http://forum.w116.org/interiors-and-exteriors/side-window-visors-wind-deflectors/


or here is another modern version

http://www.weathertech.com/mercedes-benz/1977/450sel/side-window-deflectors/