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Garage => Test Drive => Topic started by: 6point9kenya on 22 November 2018, 12:04 AM

Title: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: 6point9kenya on 22 November 2018, 12:04 AM
Hi,

My name is J-P and I restore classic cars for a collector here in Nairobi, mainly Mercedes. I just completed a W189 300 d Adenauer. We have the only 450SEL 6.9 in the country, and it is a bit of a challenge. The hydropneumatic suspension was crudely removed, the gearbox has no reverse and the engine has issues too. On the plus side, the body is straight and sound and the blue velour interior is in great condition.
Therefore I am looking for a donor car, ideally a good running car that is uneconomical to restore due to accident damage or rust, to strip and ship all the parts, leaving only the shell behind. Can anyone here help?

Thank you!
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: Harv on 22 November 2018, 02:36 PM
You certainly came to the right place.

The Adenauer looks beautiful. What a car.
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: rumb on 22 November 2018, 02:40 PM
I have most of an engine, a trans, and many hydro parts and several hydro tubings. Pm me and let me know your email and I can work on finding and photographing what I have. I stripped a 6.9, kept some parts for my other 6.9 so have many extras
, but probably not everything.
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: floyd111 on 22 November 2018, 09:04 PM
I can ask my friend here (in Taiwan) We brought in a complete, but shabby 6.9 from the USA. The car was almost free, came as a bonus inside a container of NOS W116 and R107 parts.  Shipping and taxes were not free, though.. I'd need to ask him, but I would not be surprised if he'd sell it cheap. That car is never gonna see the tarmac again, not in this country. Plus, his business is internationally shipping/selling classics and supercars, so he knows all the ins and outs of shipping to any location.
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: 6point9kenya on 22 November 2018, 10:31 PM
Hi Floyd,

Thanks for your reply. Is your friend's car running, or did it come as a dead spares car?

J-P
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: floyd111 on 23 November 2018, 05:42 PM
It was parked in an Arizona shed for at least a decade or more. It wasn't running when I got it, but it's not a flood car, or
a crash car.
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: 6point9kenya on 23 November 2018, 11:35 PM
Thanks Floyd, 
I really need a car with working engine, gearbox and suspension.
J-P
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: floyd111 on 25 November 2018, 03:50 AM
I thought you were looking for a complete but dead parts car? You want a running one with good metal, so?
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: 6point9kenya on 25 November 2018, 04:34 AM
Yes a running car with good engine, good gearbox and good suspension. The condition of the body and interior is irrelevant as mine are good.
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: Squiggle Dog on 25 November 2018, 12:14 PM
It sounds like he wants one that runs and drives well, but is very rusty (or has been in a crash), so while the body is bad, it would have good parts for installing on his 6.9 that has a good body and interior, to make it driveable.
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: floyd111 on 25 November 2018, 05:45 PM
I am getting a bit slower in the head these days, it seems.
Well, Kenya, good luck with that. Why not simply save the whole drama, and just buy a restored one abroad, switch the engine numbers (if anyone cares) and call it a day? If you can buy a nice one, even for 25000usd, you'll be saving money and a massive headache.
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: floyd111 on 25 November 2018, 05:49 PM
and, how are you gonna source and ship all the parts you need? These days, with the white world drowning in racism and fear for anything not-from-your-country, I would be very worried about any goods that need to ship to any place in Africa. I can't even get Germans to ship to their 2000yr tiny, friendly, white old neighbor, Holland.
You may have done the Adenauer before, but last year is not this year.
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: ptashek on 25 November 2018, 06:45 PM
South Africa isn't that far away (well, in African distances terms at least!), and they seem to have quite a knowledgeable Mercedes fan club there
6point9kenya, have you tried contacting folks from the MBCSA (https://mbcsa.mercedes-benz-clubs.com/about-us/national-committee/) yet?
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: Squiggle Dog on 25 November 2018, 08:11 PM
Purchasing a rusty/damaged 6.9 and having it shipped over cut in half and then making one car out of two might be a lot cheaper than buying a complete 6.9 and importing it due to taxes because a car cut in half might be considered parts and not taxed as highly as a complete car. I'm not sure on the laws there, but in some countries that's how it works.
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: 6point9kenya on 25 November 2018, 11:12 PM
Thank you all for your comments, importing a car over 8 years old is not allowed in Kenya. So the spares route is the only one available. For the Adenauer we imported a running chassis from the US, it had to be cut in 3 pieces and shipped in two crates... The Adenauer ended up costing roughly twice what you would pay for a good one in the U.K. and it's the only running one in Kenya. A few more wrecks left though!
Title: Re: the only 6.9 in Kenya needs to be restored
Post by: floyd111 on 26 November 2018, 12:28 AM
Sounds like what we face here in Taiwan!
In that light, buy a proper 6.9 abroad, somewhere where there's a trustworthy guy to strip it naked, leaving only the parts to ship. That's money spent abroad, instead of money you would have spent locally. PLus the advantage of not cutting chassis', and the advantage of having to ship less volume.