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450SEL 6.9 - Daily driver project

Started by Delibes, 04 June 2017, 09:19 AM

Delibes

Alright! Driving a Hyundai is really getting old.

Miss the bank-vault feel to the doors, the grippy brakes, having real wood in the cabin, and most of all, having enough torque to pull the Queen Mary. I daily drove one while working in the Al Ain Car Museum, and have not looked back since.



"Steiner", my daily driver during my 8-month stunt as a museum curator.

So, I set to the task: finding a Milan Brown 450SEL 6.9, which has proven more of a challenge than I originally thought. Eventually, I found a runner in Hyattsville (MD) and made an aggressive offer on it.

The owner, who claimed had installed a rebuilt tranny in it, accepted.

So, now that the car is paid (as of last week), I am the proud owner of a 6.9 that I will be restoring to "Ronin" specs and daily driving in the UAE while fuel is still cheap.



Shiny Milan brown paint and French-spec headlamps is all I need.

The car will take a couple months to get shipped, but for the sake of good order, the official purchase date was April 11th.

I look forward to sharing the restoration process on this beast!
1977 W116 450SEL (033), 040 Black, Daily Driver, French lamps, curtains. #74845

daantjie

Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

Squiggle Dog

Daily driving a 6.9? You will be our hero! Make sure to take pics and give us updates. I used to have a Milan Brown 300SD and 450SE parts car. It was a nice color. I've been daily driving a W116 for the past 10 years and have been loving it.
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1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

UTn_boy

Make sure your fan clutch is new, and that your radiator and water pump is in good tick.  6.9's love to run hot, naturally, mind you, and being in UAE will really test it.  If necessary, install a tropical thermostat, as well. 

For daily driving a 6.9, I didn't know that was such a big thing?  I have several cars, but I drive my 6.9 3-4 days out of the week, but when it's not raining or snowing, of course. 

Recently, I put a new water pump on, renewed the front crankshaft seal, resealed the power steering pump, new fan clutch, all 5 new accumulators, new upper control arms, new steering linkages and idler arm control bushing, resealed the hydraulic pump for the suspension, new belts, new A/C compressor and drier (refilled with R-12, of course), new motor mounts and torque shocks for each side of the motor, and while I was down this far, I cleaned everything I could reach on the engine and in the engine bay, etched the aluminum, and painted things back black that were supposed to be black, and replaced a lot of hardware with the correct yellow zinc plated hardware.  And yes, I used the original KAMAX, REBA, Verbus, and Thyssen branded hardware.   :)  I also put a set of new headlight lenses on it, and it, too, has the French style lights.  It took me a week to do all this, but it was worth it.  I know you'll be happy with yours, too! 
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

rumb

Damn, you work fast, it took me almost 2 years to do the same work!
'68 250S
'77 6.9 Euro
'91 300SE,
'98 SL500
'14 CLS550,
'16 AMG GTS
'21 E450 Cabrio

Delibes

#5
Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 04 June 2017, 01:49 PM
Daily driving a 6.9? You will be our hero! Make sure to take pics and give us updates. I used to have a Milan Brown 300SD and 450SE parts car. It was a nice color. I've been daily driving a W116 for the past 10 years and have been loving it.

I have followed your awesome 300SD restoration thread on Peachparts for a while now; hat's off to you! Certainly if I lived stateside I would get a diesel. Drove a 300TD wagon in the PanAm and the thing was bullet-proof.

Quote from: UTn_boy on 04 June 2017, 07:12 PM
Make sure your fan clutch is new, and that your radiator and water pump is in good tick.  6.9's love to run hot, naturally, mind you, and being in UAE will really test it.  If necessary, install a tropical thermostat, as well. 

For daily driving a 6.9, I didn't know that was such a big thing?  I have several cars, but I drive my 6.9 3-4 days out of the week, but when it's not raining or snowing, of course. 

Good to know! I will install a racing aluminum radiator as well, and an upgraded high-efficiency A/C setup. Is the fan clutch 6.9-specific, or is it the same part as a standard 450SEL?

People underestimate how reliable these things are when sorted properly. My workshop manager, years ago, drove one and he has sworn by it ever since. He had to sold it due to CA gas prices.

- - - - - - - - -

First major update! Our broker just got it in North Carolina!





By the looks of it, it will need headlamps (planning on French-spec yellow ones alla Ronin), paint, correct rims, interior and hydraulics. Luckily, no rot!




I found a car in Spain with French-spec fog lamps; they gave me a reasonable price and bought them immediately. They will take some time to arrive to Dubai, hopefully a little earlier than the car.


1977 W116 450SEL (033), 040 Black, Daily Driver, French lamps, curtains. #74845

daantjie

Do you have the rubber shipping blocks to prop up the suspension?  These are a must for shipping or you will damage the suspension.
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

UTn_boy

Rumb, I had all of the parts handy, so there wasn't any waiting on parts.  I do all of my own work and live/work alone, so things usually get done very quickly.  The  worst part of the job was installing the A/C compressor.  That thing has bolts on it that require "S" shaped hands to get to.  I discovered that it was easier to get to everything by jacking the engine up. 

As of last night, I also put a new windshield and seal in. 

By the way, only the left side valve cover gasket is available now.  Do any of you have a good used right side valve cover gasket that I can borrow for duplication purposes? 
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

floyd111

VDH Germany has NOS French headlights for sale, and pretty cheap too. You may need a German-based friend to get them, though.

rumb

Quote from: UTn_boy

By the way, only the left side valve cover gasket is available now. 
/quote]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rocker-Cover-Gasket-Right-1000161221-S-Class-ELRING-829-900-/371709557716


You'll need to enlist the help of a friend on the other side of the pond to get them though....
'68 250S
'77 6.9 Euro
'91 300SE,
'98 SL500
'14 CLS550,
'16 AMG GTS
'21 E450 Cabrio

floyd111

Ad says they'll ship worldwide..

rumb

It also says

Doesn't post to United States
'68 250S
'77 6.9 Euro
'91 300SE,
'98 SL500
'14 CLS550,
'16 AMG GTS
'21 E450 Cabrio

Delibes

Quote from: floyd111 on 05 June 2017, 08:43 PM
VDH Germany has NOS French headlights for sale, and pretty cheap too. You may need a German-based friend to get them, though.

Great tip! Do you have the direct link? I tried navigating the website but my German is not so good...
1977 W116 450SEL (033), 040 Black, Daily Driver, French lamps, curtains. #74845

UTn_boy

Would any of you in Europe be willing to help me procure a set of valve cover gaskets since they won't ship to the U.S.?  I'm happy to compensate for the time and trouble.  Thanks for the lead, Rumb/Stan. 
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

ptashek

Quote from: UTn_boy on 07 June 2017, 10:19 AM
Would any of you in Europe be willing to help me procure a set of valve cover gaskets since they won't ship to the U.S.?

Sure thing. Message me the details of what you need and we'll take it from there.
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE