280" Concourse; Diary of a layman

[floyd111]

Those are all plastic.
These here are polished stainless.

[rumb]

All your new parts reminds me of the 300SL built entirely from parts:

http://www.scottgrundfor.com/the-zero-mile-gullwing-by-dennis-adler-scott-grundfor/

[daantjie]

All your new parts reminds me of the 300SL built entirely from parts:

http://www.scottgrundfor.com/the-zero-mile-gullwing-by-dennis-adler-scott-grundfor/

Great story!

[floyd111]

Great story indeed, and the first time I read about the appreciation that exists for a car that was assembled from new parts only.
A 0-miles car.. It is indeed what I am planning with both cars, bar the chassis and engine block. That type of part replacement is simply not of this world anymore. Buying a new chassis, really? Where? eBay?
I had a brand new engine offered to me recently but I let it go because it would mess with my data card. I decided that a full engine rebuilt with new pistons, bearings and all would be better, whilst keeping the original engine number. I hope that was the right decision.
I wonder whether that "best SL in the world" got criticism for having mismatched engine and chassis numbers..

[floyd111]

BTW.. looks it was just sold:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/371575588631?vxp=mtr

[UTn_boy]

Stan, for what it's worth, I think new chassis are still available for purchase on the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow I and Shadow II models.  They don't ever sell any due to their price, and probably due to the fact that a really nice low mileage example can be had for under $15,000-$20,000....stateside, anyway.  Thought that was a good tid bit of information for the RR enthusiast.   

[floyd111]

Little change of plan. The Spanish first-owner 280SEL I had prepared to buy for the last 4 months has been officially cancelled. It's just too much money to shell out. The very morning I was gonna wire the money, the wife woke me up from those delusions and she was right. With shipping and taxes included, it would have been an extra 9000usd before it would have reached my front door. It's just too much.
With 2x 280SE, 1x 280S and the upcoming 6.9 in stock, it makes better sense to work with what I have, rather than to add another boat to the -still redundant fleet of W116's.
I am still going to do my daily-driving full-option 280S first and see what the reactions are at the expo's here. If there are serious takers, I could decide to sell it and continue with the SEL project afterwards. If there is no interest in that price class, I can do a much cheaper 280SE with the NOS parts I have here and retrieve the bulk of the donor-car investments  involved. It would not have all the bells and whistles of a fully optioned car, but it would be sound, and allow to be sold off with 2 years full warranty
That one will surely sell, and hopefully free up some cash for the SEL project.
Snag: The full-option SEL will not see the tarmac for another 2 years.
Advantage: I get to avoid shelling out more doe and my daily driver would not be delayed due to finances.

In the meantime, my daily 280S chassis that was in the body shop has been moved to storage, awaiting fenders and bumpers that are still in Germany.
With 99% of all parts sourced already, it looks as if there will be no more movement on this blog until the parts container gets here and work can be restarted.
With the Chinese New year holidays in February, I sure hope the parts get here early January, or all of it will all get bumped forwards into March 2017
"La nuit de noce est encore loin.."

[floyd111]

Finally found! Catalog C! The illustrated glove compartment catalog, not the parts catalog Ausgabe A or B
Talk about a lucky shot.. These booklets, one would expect, should be available all over the place. They aren't. It's incomprehensible.
Found only 5 of them in 3 years, 4 of which I bought. A, B, C and D, and the fifth one on eBAy, last week. Catalog B that may still be there.
BTW.. the Parts Catalog Ausgabe B is on eBay.de, not for 2-300 euros like some madmen sellers, but for 34 Euros. Looks mint.

[floyd111]

Came across a seller with 3 headlight switch bezels, all of them undamaged, with still mint print on them Took all 3 of them, just to be safe. These may not seem valuable to many, for sure, but nice ones are surprisingly hard to come by. Have not seen an NOS one for 1.5 years.

[ptashek]

That's a W123 bezel on the pic, and won't fit a W116. I got one, brand new, with my 350 as a spare and have it lying around.

They correct part is still available cheap enough from MB of memory serves.

[floyd111]

You serious?  Damn! If so, I'd love to buy yours, and I need to go cancel this 3-bezel ASAP.

Ho do you tell a 123 from a 116 bezel?
The part number they listed, 1075450530, seems to be W116/R107 allright.
This is a 350SE..
http://www.iauto.lt/mercedes-benz/Car/350_SE_144/ELECTRICAL_EQUIPMENT_AND_INSTRUMENTS_683

I also see the same number here, for W123 280C
http://www.iauto.lt/mercedes-benz/Car/280_C_212/ELECTRICAL_EQUIPMENT_AND_INSTRUMENTS_6748&EPC_SubGroups_ID=118880

Found more sites, listing this bezel (not the knob) for both cars. The knob is clearly car-specific, the bezel is not and will fit all.
Can anyone confirm?

[ptashek]

You serious?  Damn! If so, I'd love to buy yours, and I need to go cancel this 3-bezel ASAP.

The one that came with my 350 is the exact same part. It doesn't fit.
How to tell it's not the right one? That decal at the bottom, ours don't have that one. The other decals, and inner diameter, are different too. I'm pretty certain here, as I've tried to fit the spare on my 450
It may fit the R107, I wouldn't know though.

[floyd111]

I went all around the block and then some getting to the bottom of this.
I found all 3 cars have the same bezel number, but different knob numbers

Can anyone else chip in here?

[UTn_boy]

Stan, from what I can tell, for the 280S, from chassis number 105934 there is a black plastic oval backing plate that covers the entire area/recess of that headlight switch area. (part number 116-545-01-30)  It also has a hole in it for the parking brake (LHD cars).  The 280se and 280sel use the same backing plate from chassis number 120720.  The round bezel you are inquiring about will not work for cars that have this piece, as there are no provisions for it. 

Only the early cars use this round black bezel that is the subject of interest here.  More specifically, all 280S models up to chassis 105933 use it, and all 280se and 280sel models up to chassis 120719 us it, as well.  In EPC, is lists only one part number for all three chassis that you have, which is 107-545-05-30. (old number was 107-545-03-30)

Regarding the actual knob, the early cars used part number 107-540-02-83.  It was essentially the same knob as the later one that replaced it, (part number 601-540-00-83) but it was different in that it had a green tell tail light in the middle of it, and the later one that replaced it has an orange tell tale light in the middle of it.  And you're right about the knob being correct for all three chassis of R107, W116, and W123. 

Here is where it gets complicated......in the W123 chassis, the series I bezel (part number 123-545-01-30) was replaced by the bezel you're making mention of (107-545-05-30).  BUT.....there is a footnote that states that an additional part has has to be ordered so the replacement part will work, which is yet another knob (part number 201-540-01-83....replaced by 202-545-00-81).  Mercedes was basically doing two things.....using up old stock parts and mixing parts in order to achieve the first goal.  What this means is that in the future, we'll likely see W116, R107, and W123 cars with a headlight switch knob in them off of a C class. 

In conclusion, the bezel part number you make reference to (107-545-03-30) is correct for your cars, but only up to the chassis numbers referenced (early cars, basically) and the later cars would not have the bezel since they used a whole backing plate with the cut out made into it deleting the need for the bezel.  For the knob, since there is no VIN break as to which ones used the green lit knob or the orange lit knob, you'll just have to use what you feel is appropriate for the car(s).  And remember that if you change your mind they're easy to switch out since they simply pull off.       Does any of this help? 

[ptashek]

That's some serious investigative work right there! Isn't picking parts for our cars fun?