annoyed at my w116's

[another sad 280s]

the decision was a similiar one to you with the red. either kill the project, let it sit till i found one or bite the bullet. when mb wanted $8,500 it was at the very least going togo nowhere for a long long time

[SELfor50]

Maat, dude... sit back, have a beer & a cigarette and chill.

The one thing I found very early with these cars is, you can buy new parts or take them to someone to service and it will end up costing you big bucks, or you can have one laid up for awhile and fix it with second hand / reco'd parts for probably 30-50% of the cost.  MUCH cheaper.

I bought a 450 from sydney that had nice paint really nice forest green/british racing green..  and it was only $500.  I got all the way to sydney, and found out that it had a swimming pool inside it.  I was supposed to swap my good engine (from what is now the race car) into this beast..  But after getting it back to Canberra pulled the pin and just parted it out.

BUT, I have never learnt more in my life.  If you intend to retain 1 W116 be it a 280 or 350 or 450 or whatever, I say the best thing you can do, that will save you more money than anything is to get one for cheap, even if it'sdead (which sounds like you have one) and just start pulling sh!t apart.  buy one of the maintenance manuals off e-bay (about $20-30) and follow the steps in pulling shyte apart.
You will learn more than you can imagine, and once you know how everything fits together, when you get even small problems, troubleshooting will be a thousand times easier.

Plus you'll have plenty spare parts that can be reco'd in time while the other one is on the road, or when required.  And most of the time, the parts off one will be fine to put straight on the running one.

Anyway...  Don't get stressed dude, they do cost money, no secret there.  In fact, if I added up what i'd spent on my 450 Race car over the past 2 years, I probably could have bought something really fast and much newer.  But that wouldn't have been as much fun or as educational!

On a side, note..  I might be able to help you out with a running 280SE for a good price.  Going to have a look at it early next week.
It's out of rego, but I'm pretty confident it will be ok.  Will let you know dude.

[Squiggle Dog]

I must be very lucky. I got my 1979 300SD W116 for free. It was neglected by the previous owner, already been parted out, and not running, missing the entire exhaust, no alternator, no grille, lights, bumper, valance, no fuses, no air cleaner, all seats were down on the springs, interior was full of water, etc.--and no title!

A few trips to the wrecking yards, the dealer, and some online resources at a total cost of maybe $800USD I now have a car that runs and drives like it is brand new. The only real rust it has is heavy surface rust in parts of the trunk (which is coming off with naval jelly). I rebuilt the back seat with new pads and springs (which I got for pocket change at the wrecking yard) and got all missing parts there as well.

Most of the cost was buying new parts from the dealer. I even found a set of 4 almost brand new OEM door seals in the wrecking yard for my car. I have replaced almost every single wear/tear/maintenance part of the car and am still into it way less than $1,000USD.

This is the only drivable car I own and I have been using it to commute for over 2 years now. It only let me down when the fatigued starter wouldn't spin the engine fast enough to fire it up in 17 degree F weather and I went through maybe 4 parts store starters until I put in a used German rebuild.

I only work 4 hours a day and don't make much money, yet I find this car very affordable. It seems like nothing can really go bad on it. But maybe it's because mine is a diesel and I have simplified it a bit, with manual windows and such. I change the oil regularly, adjust the valves, check on the engine periodically, and leave it alone. People say there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes, but I beg to differ. People thought I was crazy for acquiring a "parts car that will never run again" and then expecting it to be a reliable daily driver for only a few hundred dollars, but I DID IT!

By the way, if anyone wants to buy my car, I have my eye on a non-running W111 that I want to make a daily driver. Also, I refuse to EVER drive a newer car. I am boycotting them because they are so cheap looking, lackluster, and unexciting. I will ride my bicycle around before I buy a new car.

[wbrian63]

Hey, Squiggle - who's the Merc lover in the family? My granddad had one like the sedan in the rear view picture you posted. That roll-down rear window is uber-cool... In high school, my girlfriend's great-Aunt had a coupe version of that same car. Maybe it was called a Monterrey? White, with a red interior. Bucket seats, console shifter. All electric - windows, seat controls, etc. Vacuum door locks, I think. Best part? A hi-po 428 4bbl, dual-exhausted V8 under the hood. Car would roast the tires from a dead stop. I could have bought that car for a song, and to this day, I don't know why I didn't.

You are a prime example of why old MB's deserve to live long rewarding lives. Sure, you've de-optioned your 300SD, but you've made it into a car that will, with a little regular maintenance, probably run another 10 years. I've kept up with your efforts in other threads and on other forums, and I'm impressed.

Regards

W. Brian Fogarty
1976 450SEL 6.9 #521 euro - 60k original miles
1976 450SEL 6.9 #1164 euro - being parted out
1992 300SE - workin' towards my first mileage badge...

[Squiggle Dog]

That car (and all other visible cars) belongs to my roommate. It's a 1965 Mercury Montclair Parklane with the Breezeway window. It has a 390 Super Marauder engine.

There are also 6 Mercedes fintails on the property (my 1967 230S turbo diesel conversion project which I would like to replace with a less rusty late model with sunroof, a 1960 220SE that I sold and am awaiting pickup, a 1960 220 parts car that needs to leave, a 1962 220S, a 1965 220S,  and a 1966 200).

[Squiggle Dog]

Just so no one thinks I'm a slob, here is an after picture of the engine compartment:

[Squiggle Dog]

I haven't really done a thorough job of detailing the engine compartment yet. I did hose all the old oil and grease off of it and clean parts as I worked on them. It was yucky!

[Maat1985]

well now my p/s is fixed in the green one and the yellow one will today be donating its front suspension to the green on i think the green one will be in decent shape no major issues and the yellow one will prob become parts.... the only downside to that is i know that the yellow one has a good body a few dints on the dors ect but nor rust.... it would be a shame to see it go to scrap metal..... may totally strip it and store the parts or keep it intact until a part is needed..... i know it will be donating its chrome trim to the green one.....

and re:

that idea doesn't sound half bad re crashing them into each other. sell tickets and use the money to buy the crayford. just don't forget my 10% cut. a new carbie at $3,000 has landed me broke.

thats actually a good idea could make more than if i sold the cars lol..... cant believe how much a carbie is makes me wonder how much a new injection setup would be.... i wouldnt know what condition mine is in i just know it works injection that is.....
and re:

Maat, dude... sit back, have a beer & a cigarette and chill...

i took your advice but replace the beer with jack daniels and the cigarette with many cigarettes and i do feel a whole lot better and motivated to make this green one good and try to do it as cheaps as possible but not think bout the $$$$$ just think bout the enjoyment of working on the car and the enjoyment of a great old classic car

[TJ 450]

The good thing about the fuel injected versions is that they are pretty much set and forget for a long time. There should be a good supply of used parts for a while yet, this includes D-Jet.

The Solex carby on the other hand is not particularly common.

Tim

[another sad 280s]

even looking for parts for the carby is a hassle.

[Maat1985]

it'll get to a point soon where we will all probably have to pay for parts to be fabricated and there will be no such thing as original.....

[another sad 280s]

my mechanic told me that the finnies are already getting to that point

[Squiggle Dog]

my mechanic told me that the finnies are already getting to that point

Wow, I guess it's good that I will be using a more modern/common OM617.95 diesel engine in mine! Just as long as suspension parts and rubber seals are available, I think I'll do okay as body parts and interior can be bought used or restored.

[Big_Richard]

my mechanic told me that the finnies are already getting to that point

Wow, I guess it's good that I will be using a more modern/common OM617.95 diesel engine in mine! Just as long as suspension parts and rubber seals are available, I think I'll do okay as body parts and interior can be bought used or restored.

I notice your 300SD has been converted to conventional "euro" headlights, and therefor the cold air intake system that's available to US headlight installed cars is no longer an option to you. Did you notice any difference in engine responsiveness now that your engine is breathing in hot engine bay air ?

Edit: just relised you never experienced that car with the US headlights installed. But have you driven another SD with the cold air intake system still functional? to make a comparison . . .

[Squiggle Dog]

The 300SD is very quick. It had USA headlights for a while.

Right after I installed the Euro headlights the vehicle immediately became dangerously slow. The reason for this is the Euro headlights completely block the air intake port so the engine starves for air.

There was "intense skepticism" and ridicule on the other forums about it. Most people would not believe that the headlight could have any effect on the air intake. They said "it was all in my head". I had to take several pictures and explain in detail before they got what I was saying (even actual MB technicians).

What I did was I removed the tube that goes from the air cleaner to the intake port and clamped a shorter tube to the air cleaner. Now it sucks in air coming from under the hood from the outside, but it is probably not as good as the factory setup. As is, it is still quick and I can't really tell if it is running any worse than it was before.