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I bought a 350SE- AMG project (pending a face lift)

Started by Andrew280SEL, 07 October 2007, 03:38 PM

Andrew280SEL

Hey guys,

Yes Oscar, I am now in the same camp as you. ;D

Yesterday I acquired a '73 350SE for a mere $800. It's a bit of a project, but it's no wreck or anything.

It's got an indicated 355,000 kms on the clock, but since the odometer doesnt work obviously that can be quite wrong. And the speedo makes an annoying tick as I'm guessing the cable is stuffed, and the speedo needle bounces a little too much.

It's just got all new injectors and points; the only fault at the moment is the timing isn't set right because neither the original owner (who used to own a 6.9 BTW) or my dad and I have any ability to set the points gap right. So power isn't quite right until that's set, but otherwise it goes good. Starts really well, and oil pressure appears to be excellent, shoots right up upon starting.

Interior is pretty good, I mean it doesn't come quite close to my cherished interior of the 280SEL, but it's largely quite good.
There's a crack or two on the dash, to be expected in Aus I guess, and there's something funny about the wood along the front of the dash as well....it doesn't look bad, but there's something different about it. You'll see when I take pics anyway. Seats are good too, being MB Tex they have endured the sun throughout the years by the looks of it.
It's pretty basic spec, wind up windows and the like but when I've got the reletively full spec 280SEL I couldn't care less.

Oh yeah, and the funny thing is it's the exact same white as my 280SEL....some may question the usefulness of buying another w116 the same colour, but seeing as it's the first 350 I have seen or driven in Tasmania (so I just had to buy it) and the fact that the paint is cracked in some key areas like the bonnet (which has some bad chips as well), I'm not too worried. Besides, they can be my two White Beauties. ;)

So yes, I'm quite excited to get into it. 
As I said, hopefully I can get some pics today, if not tomorrow. :)
'79 280SEL- 560,000 Kms
'73 350SE- getting an AMG facelift
'79 450SEL 6.9

s class

Dude, well done!.  You do realise that 2 116's makes you a collector rather than just an enthusiast?  ;D ;D

I wish you all the very best of fun.  350's are to be cherished and loved.

Ryan


[color=blue]'76 6.9 Euro[/color], [color=red]'78 6.9 AMG[/color], '80 280SE, [color=brown]'74 350SE[/color], [color=black]'82 500SEL euro full hydro, '83 500SEL euro full hydro [/color], '81 500SL

Andrew280SEL

Quote from: s class on 07 October 2007, 03:41 PM
You do realise that 2 116's makes you a collector rather than just an enthusiast?  ;D ;D




Oh yes! ;D

If you include my dad's w116's, that's a total of 6 w116's in the family. Might as well snap them up before some bogan 17 year old buys them cheap and destroys them. ::) :D
'79 280SEL- 560,000 Kms
'73 350SE- getting an AMG facelift
'79 450SEL 6.9

s class

So you are also afflicted with that sense of social responsibility to protect 116's?


[color=blue]'76 6.9 Euro[/color], [color=red]'78 6.9 AMG[/color], '80 280SE, [color=brown]'74 350SE[/color], [color=black]'82 500SEL euro full hydro, '83 500SEL euro full hydro [/color], '81 500SL

Andrew280SEL

Yeah, I guess you could say that.

It pains me to see the run down ones being tortured by people who just bought them as a cheap runabout and don't bother trying to actually look after them. This 350 and a 450 we have we more or less 'rescued' as they were so cheap and need a little TLC.
'79 280SEL- 560,000 Kms
'73 350SE- getting an AMG facelift
'79 450SEL 6.9

oscar

Hey, hey ,hey!!!!!!!!!!

Andrew, the beauty of having two white w116's is that registration costs are halved if you get my drift. ;)  pay for one, the other is free. ;D  Depends how nosey the neighbours are.

Anyway, WELL DONE! 8)

Your 350 specs sound zactly like mine.  Axctually, I'm gonna ask you a favour.  Can you check your left rocker cover and see if the following sticker is there.  There's a bit cut out of mine and I'd like to; a) know what the info is that is missing, it's to do with CO emission, and b) I'll make another sticker up somehow.




Looking forward to the photos.  $800 eh?  Nice work ;D   Your Dad's got a d-jet 450 hasn't he?  He doesn't read this does he? Because the the 450 has got some handy expensive d-jet parts that swap with the 350.   Have a problem, do the swap, and Dad gets footed with the bill. (mwahahahahahah).  Just kidding ;D 
What I meant to say is that for the purpose of diagnosing, it's handy to have a known good d-jet so you can swap out a part and see if a known good part fixes the problem.
1973 350SE, my first & fave

Brian Crump

Congratulations!!!!!
Enjoy it and have a GR8  time with it. ;D
Regards,
BC

116Benz

Congrats Andrew, another bargain saved from a certain death. Cant wait to see pics!

Andrew280SEL

Thanks guys.

The pics are coming this afternoon when I've got proper spare time.

And Oscar, I checked the rocker cover and sure enough the whole sticker is there. So I'll take a snap of that as you requested. :)

I had another look around the car. It seems the heater has been by-passed, obviously it must have been leaking. There's no evident damage or anything though so I guess it was by-passed quick smart.

Apparently the front suspension is new too. And it shows! It's got beautiful steering and handling (and braking for that matter). Funnily enough the 280SEL is right up there with it though. Considering the 280's 547,000 km mileage, it's amazing because the steering is really direct and well...faultless even compared to the other lower mileage w116's around my place. Makes me wonder whether the 280 had the front done up as well, or whether it's just lasted an amazingly long time.

Anyhoo, back to the 350. It's only early times, but it seems quite fuel efficient. For a w116 anyway. However, the timing is not set quite right yet so spirited driving is out of the question.

I shall take the pics this afternoon as mentioned. With the new badge on the front. Not that I'm trying to make the front look better or anything. ::)  ;)
'79 280SEL- 560,000 Kms
'73 350SE- getting an AMG facelift
'79 450SEL 6.9

Des

$800, you can't go wrong there

what else could you get for $800?

hummm

holden gemini.......no way
ford falcon......no
VB commodore.......crap
some sort of mazda, toyota, 4 cylinder piece of junk......hell no


you made the right choice.

and yes POST SOME PICTURES!!!!!!


CraigS

[url="http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n77/Aegeanfoods/My%20Cars/"]http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n77/Aegeanfoods/My%20Cars/[/url]

CraigS

10 tank fulls of gas !

Admin - Why can't you delete duplicate posts and/or delete your own posts if duplicated ? There is only an option to modify. This occured because of the server problem - whether at mine or yours I don't know but other pages are loading OK.
[url="http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n77/Aegeanfoods/My%20Cars/"]http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n77/Aegeanfoods/My%20Cars/[/url]

Andrew280SEL

Well pics are here for all you pic hungry lot!

Although, Oscar, unfortunately I couldn't get a clear shot of the label. :( Can't explain why, but it always appeared blurry no matter what angle I came from. There was a lot of sun glare seeing as it's late afternoon, but every other pic was still decent.  Here is what that botched pic came out like:



Weird.

None the less, here's the exact bit of info your missing in the exact format of my sticker:



1. 0.10 mm
   (0.004 in.)              1,5-2,5% CO

2. 0.20 mm
   (0.008 in.)              Beru D 200/14/3A
                                Bosch W 200 T 30
                                Champion N 8 Y


As you can see my sticker is set out slightly differently. Sorry I can't be much more help :-[, I might try taking the shot again in different light with a different camera or something.

Anyway, to the main pics.....( and no, it's not the 280 despite it looking identical from the front! ;) )



See the badge, eh? ;D















Notice how the wood is a little odd? I can only think it's some sort of sun damage, but I'm not going to worry about it for a little while because I personally don't think it looks that bad. Oh, looks like there's no air con. Oh well, head out the window it is! ;D










Go easy on me about the engine bay, I only just got the vehicle! :D
I'd like a full interior shot, but the sun wouldn't allow it.

'79 280SEL- 560,000 Kms
'73 350SE- getting an AMG facelift
'79 450SEL 6.9

CraigS

Looks pretty clean, and especially for $800 !

Oscar was after the part number off the label (at the bottom).
[url="http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n77/Aegeanfoods/My%20Cars/"]http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n77/Aegeanfoods/My%20Cars/[/url]

Andrew280SEL

#14
Quote from: CraigS on 09 October 2007, 03:06 AM

Oscar was after the part number off the label (at the bottom).

Ah... be right back... ;)

EDIT: The only number I could find at the bottom was : C500 0443
'79 280SEL- 560,000 Kms
'73 350SE- getting an AMG facelift
'79 450SEL 6.9