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Wierd Stamping on Front Plate

Started by rparker, 06 October 2021, 05:20 AM

rparker

Attached is the Plate in question and the hand punched 1977. I've removed the plate as the car is going in for restoration and would like to know if anyone has a plate with such messy manual punching like this. Its just very curious. Am thinking of getting a new plate, this one is messed up with all the scratches and, masking failures and pitting.

Cheers.

Ryan
77' W116 280S, 4-Speed Manual

daantjie

I would keep it personally, it adds character ;)
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

nathan

RP,

Indeed its looks like someone just did that themselves.

The annoying thing is, these plates are NLA.  I wanted to get them remade, and even made up a template, but couldn't t find a metal printing place to manufacture some.

Id just hang onto it, as I dont reckon you will find another you can have stamped neatly!

Regards

1979 116 6.9 #6436
2018 213 e63
2011 212 e63
2011 463 g55
2007 211 e500 wagen
1995 124 e320 cabriolet
1983 460 300gd
1981 123 280te

rparker

It looks like this company still has them available:

https://identification-plates.com/en/115-mercedes

Expensive though.

Cheers.

Ryan
77' W116 280S, 4-Speed Manual

UTn_boy

Just be aware that this company does not do reverse number stamping like the originals.  The numbers will be stamped from the top.  Mercedes did the reverse stamping so the plate would lie flat on the area it was riveted to.  When you have one that is stamped from the top down the metal plate will have a bow in it once it's riveted to the car due to the downward stamped numbers making contact before the rest of the plate. 
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

rparker

UTn_boy,
Once again, great knowledge and thanks for the information. However in my case, the 1977 is stamped from the top and has already bowed the plate.

Cheers.

Ryan
77' W116 280S, 4-Speed Manual

Type17

The seventh digit in your chassis number is a 6, which means that the car is a RHD that was built outside Germany from a kit (1 is German-built LHD, 2 is German-built RHD, 5 is a LHD kit).
It's possible that the local assembly company stamped the plate as its 1977th W116 or that it's a 1977 model year car.
'76 350SE in Silver-Green

rparker

Very much possible that it may be a Malaysian assembled model. Is it possible that it is a South African import? It doesn't have the normal spec plate on the front brace, actually has nothing except for some A/C warning labels which I duly removed.

It is the lowest spec W116 i've ever seen. Doesn't even have a radio, flat door panels where the side vents on the front door that are supposed to go into the doors just met by just a steel frame of the door. There is also no fancy frame on the doors, just hard square plastic like the W114/5, M110 with Solex 4A1 carb, 4 speed manual, hand crank windows. No sound deadening on the doors. In the boot there is no lining and no sound deadening, just metal and some undercoat material. There isn't even a false floor between the spare tire and the rubber mat, just the rubber mat. Is there a way to check that it might be a Taxi model? The doors perplex me, it looks more like W108 doors and has a metal frame that blocks the rubber seal that normally vents to the door, very strange.

Cheers.

Ryan
77' W116 280S, 4-Speed Manual

Nabstud

Is there any way to verify if the door cards etc are original? A lot can be modified/changed in 40yrs...
1975 280S - Australian delivered

Type17

#9
I've never seen a South-African 116, but a friend here in Ireland has a RHD has a S-A W108 and, comparing it to German 108's, the door cards sound familiar - much simpler/cheaper design with no pockets, and the rest of the car is similarly basic in many small ways.
Also check the window glass to see if it's German (eg: Sekurit) or a locally-made version - CKD* cars usually have locally made glass and interiors, and the glass often has manufacturer's info/country of origin in the markings in the corner.


*CKD = completely knocked down, ie: a kit. Irish people are familiar with locally-assembled classic cars, as we had high import taxes on complete cars to encourage an industry in car assembly in the mid 20th century, to boost local employment.
'76 350SE in Silver-Green

90077merc

So by kit car do you mean cars that were imported as parts then assembled in the destination country? How common is/was that?
1974 450 SEL

Type17

It was more common decades ago, in poorer countries. Cars were simpler, and shipping and customs probably were a bigger part of the cost, so I doubt it happens in many places around the world any longer.


The kits consisted of one car's-worth of drivetrain, electrical, suspension and paint-primered body parts, each of which which arrived in a wooden crate, but items like glass, interior trim, springs, tyres, paint, wiring looms were produced locally, providing employment at suppliers, and in the final assembly of the cars. Apart from the lesser taxation, the cars were often very low-specification, as mentioned by rparker above, which made them more affordable than they might otherwise have been.


On the downside, the quality of assembly and especially of the rust-protection were often inferior to the manufacturer-produced versions, and the low specs meant that there was a gap in the market for buyers who didn't like the lesser-quality local stuff but couldn't afford the stuff that was imported complete (which was mostly luxury/high-end stuff).


If you're interested, here's a detailed article about the Irish motor assembly industry: [size=78%]https://www.completecar.ie/features/post/8198/Book-review-Motor-Assembly-in-Ireland[/size]
'76 350SE in Silver-Green

90077merc

I just got back from a month in Wicklow. The only thing we produce there is methane and insane property values.
1974 450 SEL

rparker

Quote from: Nabstud on 08 October 2021, 10:06 AM
Is there any way to verify if the door cards etc are original? A lot can be modified/changed in 40yrs...

May very well be, it lacks even chrome or side pockets, basically just a handle and door opener. The strange part it how the HVAC vents that are supposed to go into the door actually hit up against the door's metal frame, so it could even be that the 2 front doors might be from another model! The chrome trim on the exterior is all correct though.

Cheers.

Ryan
77' W116 280S, 4-Speed Manual