280" Concourse; Diary of a layman

[floyd111]

It's not been a happening year, but finally an update. Bought a 35 year old NOS engine, M110 280S. It still has the original blue spark leads and has run a mere 18KM whilst mounted on an educational table.
This is going to be such a relief, since my own 280S engine is scattered all over, with no doubt, most of the engine parts missing by now.
This will be so much easier. Got a great deal as well, half of what a regular overhaul would cost.
At the same time, the workshop has finally made time to finish my wheel arches, so with a bit of luck, the chassis will soon/finally be ready.

[floyd111]

Normally, when it's silent like this, it's because everyone thinks the same thing and nobody wants to say.. like someone's plans of lowering a 6.9 and leading the exhausts out through the bonnet
Did I make another bad decision here? I know there's a risk of old seals and gaskets, but isn't that still worth it getting a 18km NOS engine?

[revilla]

Right

[ptashek]

Only time will tell Stan. Anything NOS at this point is at least 20+ years old. If the engine was stored dry, I would expect it needing a replacement of all gaskets at least.

[rumb]

I would think the engine is fine. There are very few rubber gaskets on it.

[Squiggle Dog]

Great find on the engine!

[floyd111]

  That's more encouraging!

The engine was not stored dry, but was kept in running condition over the years. I would expect an actual dry engine to have rusted shut over such a period, let alone be faced with dry rubbers.
Indeed, we'll see, but for 5 grand this is a steal, even though it feels I just regurgitated a kidney.

[Peter]

Wow thats a hell of a find, great looking engine and I hope to see a tonne of photos when it arrives. 

[floyd111]

And today..
Remember the pic I have been using for years, the red W116 that inspired me to build mine?
Just bumped into the actual car. It's been for sale for years.
It's a non-restored original, with sheep skins and all the options I wanted most. 10 grand with 113000km on the clock.
O my, if only I had known.. I could have been driving his car years ago, and saved... ah well.

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/mercedes-benz-280-se-w-116-originalzustand-fast-unberuehrt/1159422804-216-16478

[floyd111]

Well, exiting times are coming soon. Actually, they're here. Found an overqualified classic car mechanic in Britain who wants to come live here. I will take him in.
At the same time I have rented a massive building in the middle of nowhere, with a ground floor big enough to restore 3 cars at the same time.
I am trying to kick my old workshop into first gear, and they make actually be doing my wheel arches and the clear coat now. Before New Year, all my cars, all my parts and the new mechanic should be living in-house. 
My NOS engine has also arrived, made it through Customs cheaply, and will be delivered to my new house tomorrow.
Tony, the new guy, says building a W116 is a breeze after 40 years of restoring actual classics. I am getting very hopeful so suddenly!

[rumb]

Stan, that's great news.  Only thing you need to set you new mechanic straight that w116 are real classic cars!

[floyd111]

Yeah, that didn't come out right! That's not what he said as such.. it's what I rephrased in a semi-Freudian fashion.. I think the W116 is a classic but I know the world outside isn't very impressed, last of all places, here in Taiwan, where but 1 in 100.000 people could possibly  tell a W123 from a W116, and wouldn't notice that W123 unless if there's an flashing police light on the roof. Even then I am not sure. The countless other car fanatics here are often beyond rich with cars that are by definition super flashy and super expensive. "Vintage" and "Classic" are not words in the national vocabulary.
Then there's a guy like Tony, who's done countless cars I'll never ever own and was already idolizing 30 -45 years ago.
Yesterday I received a message from them suggesting we keep the old tar on the boot floor, "for it is in such good nick after all." , despite the fact that I pretty much stopped an inch short of using curse words on video chat with the workshop. 6 years now, and even paid a year ahead of works, and still no actually finished chassis to show for.
In 3.5 years  I found 3.5 foreign mechanics, shipped them  to the workshop, and none of them were told to do my car, except Ed Osborn, who scattered my engine over 3 tables,  which, thanks to the absence of any organisation or oversight, ended up on 10 tables in 3 buildings in 3 different city locations over a 3.5 year period.

Still, we're hopeful. Worst case scenario, I got to find a local company later on to do the arches... I shutter at that idea as well.
Anyways, it's gonna get done in the end. I just know it..I think

[floyd111]

Sent off the photos I received here from the boot area. Thanks for those! I will await the readied rotisserie before diving into the wheel arch discussion with them. No doubt it will require more pics, and the 6th time I have to explain it to them.
Tony and I are booking flights now, both of us eager to make this work.

I am going to be calling the workshop on a weekly bases now, keep the pressure on for the coming months. In the meantime we are a few weeks away from being able to ship all my parts and 2 out of 3 chassis',  to the southern tip.
Still a bit of delay there because the building we just rented needs a full renovation. For almost a decade it stood empty and the 1 homeless junkie in our county has lived there and hase pillaged it. No wires or plumbing anywhere. A leaky roof and multiple typhoons had ravaged the house even more.
No water piping to the house. No electricity lines neither.. One corner of the steel structure is sinking into a cavity underneath. It's an adventure!
A yet economic full renovation of an 1800 square feet building is not for the weak of heart, let me assure you, and we're right in the middle of such a venture. Insisting to live in this spot, there was but 1 building to choose from. A bit like the choice of buying a W116 in Taiwan, now I come to think of it.
We have a 5-year-no-rent/fees-deal with the landlord, or it would not be done.
Everything goes in volumes these weeks. 22 screw taps, 16 mix taps, 8 flush installations, 22 seals, 8 shower sets, etc etc. Everything seems to come on trucks these days and up to 4 construction-related cars parked in front of the house, haha! Makes it feel like we're commandeering a highrise!
After having fired -literally- a dozen workers in as many working days, we now have 3 good people that are cracking on quite well.
Never expected that finding workers would be the bottleneck. Always thought it was a renovation fee problem. I should have known better.

I am slowly starting to imagine an actual workshop under my feet. I can see a 1975 MB dealership, a little MB Museum, the ultimate man-cave and my car(s) parked in the middle.. That was always the far-away dream but Tony and I are talking about a continuing saga of a cooperation in the downstairs workshop, doing up cars on a daily bases. I am game, and can make it work, but my wife isn't quite there yet. So, we'll take it slow and will keep these decisions to handle in 2020.
This is the location, via google streetview
https://www.google.com/maps/@22.0387335,120.8172082,3a,75y,210.15h,90.37t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYd8vnzbXPHwCTuIT66Bz9w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
The building has been orange since 2013.. This view is 2012.

Still, with the second floor done at the end of next week, the new -ground floor- workshop will start to take shape real fast.
Question of the day is whether tony should ship his garage stuff by container or just buy new here.
He has a vintage K-Jet tuner/tester. Apparently it's very big, and almost a dealmaker here, between pallet or container. Are there easier alternatives on offer that could replace such a big machine?

[rumb]

Your fortitude never ceases to amaze me.  I took a drive down the roads on googlmaps, nice countryside. I found in amusing that the nearest town has 7-Eleven stores.

[ptashek]

Madness 

As for tuning a K-Jet, I was under the impression all you need is a set of pressure gauges to setup all the working pressures, and an exhaust gas analyser (or just a CO tester) to setup mixture.

There's no computers or lambda sensors to fiddle with.