280" Concourse; Diary of a layman

[1783pictures]

Dear Lord in heaven, I just read some of this thread. You, sir, are one brave man.

[floyd111]

Today was a funny day. Tired of thinking and doubting, I called the foreign-owned car shop in Taipei that seemed willing to assemble my first car. Told him I had decided to have the car shipped, and get things done.
He told me such was not possible right now since his neighbors, who own the access road to his workshop, had blocked that road in order to force another tenant out. Sorry!
He's now engaged politicians and authorities to get the right of evacuation, at least, but no updates there as of yet.
Might be months in court... Ah well.

[ptashek]

Today was a funny day. Tired of thinking and doubting, I called the foreign-owned car shop in Taipei that seemed willing to assemble my first car. Told him I had decided to have the car shipped, and get things done.
He told me such was not possible right now since his neighbors, who own the access road to his workshop, had blocked that road in order to force another tenant out. Sorry!
He's now engaged politicians and authorities to get the right of evacuation, at least, but no updates there as of yet.
Might be months in court... Ah well.

You really are in a bind Stan.
Seriously, just ship the work out to somewhere in Europe and be done with it.

I'd recommend my guy (he's currently finishing a Pagoda 230SL, a W108 280SEL 4.5 a couple ISOs and a Monteverdi 375), but you'd need someone who speaks Polish on-site to liaise for you.
The last time I've checked they charged something along the lines of 80EUR/h + VAT.

[floyd111]

No such legal provision in the law here for such a venture. Once shipped out, I lose my license plates, and can not get new ones at re-entry.. On top of that, re-exporting all my thousands of my formerly-Taiwan--import-taxed NOS parts into the EU, and then paying full 100% import taxes on the rebuild chassis+parts at re-entry in Taiwan.. I think you can calculate the impossibilities here.

[floyd111]

After all these years of obstacles and struggles, I had a refreshing idea.. I am going to buy a fourth W116, this time a 280SEL
Found a guy that has 4 M110's for sale. I am yet to find out where the hell he has been hiding these cars all these years, for I had never even heard a rumour about anyone owning 4 of them. Naturally, none of these cars are likely to make it across the road, if at all they start. But still, I was well-impressed to find out. he's only got 1 280SEL, and it's in blue 904, the exact color I wanted my future SEL to be. I want to give it a quick round of mechanical repairs and just drive it. Drive that, while I wait for my newly found work shop to get legally unblocked by his neighbors.

I know it all sounds silly, and it is, in many ways, but there's a volvo xc70 I own with a dodgy gear box that will be dodgy for life because these gear boxes can not be properly rebuilt by anyone on the planet, just like many other Volvo's between '01 and '08. I paid way too much for the car back when, and I could sell it to the next guy for too much money as well. Can't bring myself to do it, it's too bloody wrong.
So I found a way to trade the dodgy Volvo for an absolutely dodgy W116, wallets closed. And yes, it will not be a perfect deal. For one, the W116 seller thinks this is the deal of the century, for he knows his car is the worst 4-wheel nightmare in Taiwan that money can buy. He'll trade anything sell-able for that W116, especially a modern Volvo. He does not share my principles and he's going for the kill.
He is getting the Volvo he deserves, for promoting the W116 as a great car for 7000usd. Me, I know I am buying someone's nightmare, but I do not fear the beast. I am driving up there next week. I might actually take photos for once, haha!

[floyd111]

There's been a lot of additions to my collectible MB automobilia since last time I updated this thread, and I will list them all eventually.
However, this one is the find of the decade.. or should I say "these"..
I still can't believe I am actually holding this stuff in my hands!
Found them the same day, in 2 corners of Germany, complete miracle.

[floyd111]

the box is mint, the photo is not..

[tcj]

Hi Stan,
as I owe these lamp boxes too: are there additional pages of this "mercedes benz Aktuelle Marktmitteilungen"?

Thanks,
Thomas

[floyd111]

I will post pics..

[floyd111]

pic

[floyd111]

so happy with my 2 finds..

But, this week another one appeared, and disappeared. It's the yellow Osram version that the dealer sold, with MB part number. See pic.
I am stuck searching for it. Can't track the source, tried every IT trick in my tiny book. Only have a photo. Reverse-check didn't help. I am now at last resorts, thinking it may be a continent/server/IP issue. I have the photo and the name of the JPG. It is hosted by Pickclick.de. Seen it 1000 times, sold or not, if there's a pic, there's a page somewhere.
I know it's a massive chance that someone may end up buying it for him/her self if one were to find the source, I just really want to try everything, longshot or not. The 1975 showroom would not be complete without at least one of them on the shelf.  The one I just bought belongs in the car... maybe. I suspect that is the one MB supplied as a standard in the boot goodies. The design is all MB-style. The yellow Osram is an regular Osram with an MB sticker. My money is on that one being the dealer-supplied version.
Or, VIN related, or Euro/USA related.
Who here actually has that original lamp box in the trunk? TCJ does.. anyone else?
70's OSRAMs maybe?

[floyd111]

In the meantime I am counting days, hoping to go see that 280SEL..trade it for my XC70
It's the blue one in the middle

[floyd111]

Well, My Volvo gearbox, famously unfixable, according to the forums worldwide, was fixed, and I made my way to the south to check out the 280SEL. If ever photos were deceiving! An absolute  write-off rotten piece of a wreck, worse then you'd find on a Florida dump. Cheap, though, haha! Where normally the license plate alone would sell for 5000usd-7000usd, this time around the cost was a mere 2000usd.
I was tempted, but it means importing a 280SEL for another 8000usd, and hammering fake numbers on engine blocks. I can't go there. I have 3 W116's already, and I need to get at least 1 of them back on the road before moving on or expanding. It's a bloody shame of the very costly adjustable rear seat I have here, but it will have to wait to find a new recipient car, years maybe. No choice, for anything else would be too mad, even to my standards.

On the positive side, if all is well, I have a drivable Volvo again, meaning I did not lose 10000usd by having to dump that car without a gearbox.
It also means there is now really nothing that I can use for an excuse to delay moving my 280SE chassis to the next workshop, and pay them a retainer to start assembling it.
Means that I also need to move forward with refurbishing door panels, wooden dashboard paneling and figuring out how to create a new cable tree.
Anyone with any suggestions, tips and tricks related to creating or buying such cable trees?

[rumb]

cable tree?  does that translate to wire harness?

The entire harness in the engine bay of my car was a baked and cracked mess. I stripped good wire from another harness so I had the correct color striping.  I cut the harness off near where it goes thru the firewall, but every wire I cut about an inch longer than the next. I used non insulated crimp barrels as they are  hardly larger diameter than the wire and used shrink tubing to seal them in.

The whole fun of rebuilding the harness is you have to disassemble each branch from it's end - take connector apart and desolder the pins.  then start back at the splice end putting the plastic sleeve on up to each branch and then sleeve again to the end and then solder back on the pins.

sleeves, the 2-3 digit of the second set of part number is the diameter of the tube.
040621-005200   insulating sleeve
040621-007201   insulating sleeve
040621-008202   insulating sleeve
040621-012203   insulating sleeve
040621-016204   insulating sleeve
040621-022205   insulating sleeve

[floyd111]

If there's no miracle anytime soon, in the form of some professional help, I think I may have tom throw in the towel, and I'll need to accept defeat. It's too much, too big, and the wrong country. Hell, it's even the wrong continent for this project, made up of 2 billion Asians with a genetic incapacity for learning, adapting or even considering any challenge or complication. 50000 car mechanics in Taiwan alone, and by the looks of it, all of them suffering from the same genetic retardation. -if they haven't serviced a certain car before, they won't touch it, bar being held at gun point. Myself, I might go blind any day, and even if I survive that, I am not a mechanic. I can't do this job myself. I have never been trained. It's been 4 years trying, and tried everything in my power. I have been a fool of epic proportions, trying to own the car of my youth-dreams. 50-75.000usd lost, as well as 4 years of my life, trying to make this work. I really do not know what's next. Imported 4 mechanics from abroad, and got fucked over by 2 of them. The other 2 were good guys, but they never touched my car coz I got fucked over by the workshop owner who had them work on other cars. What else is there... Man, I am depressed beyond belief.