It followed me home (honest)

[oversize]

Really it did (on a flatbed)!  Lovers of the 6.9 should look away because this one's been through hell....      It shocks me how badly some were treated.  I give you Moby Dick (I really should stop naming my parts cars):

[KenM]

That is one sadly mistreated car, where did you find this one Mark?

[s class]

The suspension is up--- is it on springs, or do you have wood blocks wedged in there?

[TJ 450]

It does look like a good parts car Mark.

And, there isn't even as much rust at the lower corners of the windscreen as my 280S (yes I found some large rust holes, more about that later).

Tim

[oversize]

There's lots of curious things about this car....  Wrong instruments, no speedo and no books.  Apparently originally owned by a guy in Kew who owned several 600s.  When the heater went he pulled the dash for repair but never got it back together and it just sat around.  The guy I bought it off had sold it to another person who took possession and made a few minor repairs.  But the deal fell through and that's when I bought it.

The date on the Aussie compliance plate is 8/79 but the engine and chassis numbers are earlier than my silver car which has a compliance date of 2/79.

The A pillars look nasty but the screen surrounds are quite good.  There appears to be very little rust in the sills and none in the firewall.  At this point I can't open the sunroof to check the frame.  It has 3 good doors plus bonnet and boot lid.  The front guards have rusted at the very top corner (WTF?) but the lower sections aren't too bad.  The RR wheel arch is obviously damaged badly along with a large cut hole in the spare wheel well (WTF2?).  LR lower quarter is rusted out.  There's some rust in the front floors which I have to check out thoroughly.  Minor rust on the rear panel and front crossmember.  It's actually better than I expected from a body point of view.

What really seems to make this a parts car is the colour combo (white with tan interior yuk) and the lack of any history.  Does anyone know anything about this one, or know how I can find out more?

Oh there's a strange painted number on the LH rocker cover - V78 644; does anyone know what it means?  I've never seen that on a 6.9 before....

[TJ 450]

From memory I think "V78" is painted on my 6.9's engine block too. It'll be in the gallery somewhere.

Tim

[Kjhall65]

OMG Mark, I can understand why you said there wasn't much chance of bringing her back to life.  Makes my parts car look like its in showroom condition....and it will still only be a parts car......

I can't understand how people let cars like this get to that stage very sad to see.

[Casey]

That'll buff right out. 

I hope this was a stellar deal, and that it provides useful parts for your others. This is in some seriously sad shape... 

Btw what's the '22' in the vin? I've only ever seen '12' there...

Any idea what the special option code 992 was for? Looks like a pretty basic example...

Strange rims...

Also what is that canister thing between the fuse box and coolant reservoir?

[robertd]

"22" code refers to "right hand drive" and " auto transmission"

[oversize]

Struts alone were going to cost me over $1K (in unknown condition), so yes I think I got a good deal.

Funny you mention that Casey because all my other ENGINE numbers have a 22 in them but this one's 12....  I'm not sure if that means anything significant?  Could it be a typo?

The rims are from a W126 and I've already thrown the hubcaps in the bin!  To me they don't belong on ANY MB!

The canister is the 'carbon canister' and is part of the polution control system on Aussie delivered cars.

So does anyone know how I could find the history of this car, BEFORE I commit to pulling her apart for good (reluctantly)?

[Casey]

Struts alone were going to cost me over $1K (in unknown condition), so yes I think I got a good deal.

*nods* This should easily pay for itself over time if you reduce it to spare parts.

Will the sunroof open using the manual control in the boot?

[ptashek]

Btw what's the '22' in the vin? I've only ever seen '12' there...

116.0xx yy some_number

The yy can be: 11 (LHD, manual), 21 (RHD, manual), 12 (LHD, auto), 22 (RHD, auto).

[Bandolero]

Casey means the round canister in front of the brake master cylinder.
It looks like it's got "Auto Shield" written on it along with some wiring, so it could be an alarm.

[s class]

Funny you mention that Casey because all my other ENGINE numbers have a 22 in them but this one's 12....  I'm not sure if that means anything significant?  Could it be a typo?

TJ's car also has a "12" in the enigne number, which we have determined is because it was possibly the first AUS 6.9, and so was assembled using an engine originally intended for the US market.  Could this car have a similar history?

[Casey]

Casey means the round canister in front of the brake master cylinder.
It looks like it's got "Auto Shield" written on it along with some wiring, so it could be an alarm.

Yep, that's exactly what I mean.  I didn't notice the other picture that shows the legible "Auto Shield" text...