Stray followed me home:

[cabmandone]

Feed it well. Give it plenty of love and I'm sure it will be a loyal friend for years... And I hope it doesn't crap in your yard

[expatriot98]

Denis - cool car! I had a 300D in that generation and loved driving it. I applaud how you are diving into it and look forward to watching the progress.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Sweet, Denis. Just enough to do to make it a "project" for guys like you who like that kind of stuff, and enough to do to dissuade guys who don't like to do that kind of stuff, making it attainable for guys who like to do that kind of stuff.

Yep, for a checkbook guy, this wouldn’t work plus they wouldn’t have Rainman working on it.

[speeder]

Thanks all, I’ll try to keep up the thread.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by speeder

Listen to the Cabman's advice....nice strays!

[Tobra]

Mom's father had a 1969 280 SE sedan, same livery as that one. God what a great car, pretty sporty for a tank.

[javadog]

I may pick up something to tinker with in the next year, I’ve been thinking about a Benz of that vintage. That was the era that Mercedes first made an impression on me and I still like the styling from those years, I think it’s pretty timeless. I wouldn’t mind knowing a little bit more about the costs and the parts availability. Feel free to elaborate.

[herr_oberst]

If I had that I'd lower it as far as I could practically get away with, but with the biggest tires that would still fit on the stock wheels and those great Merc hubcaps.... Love those shoeboxes.

Nice score. Cute dog.

[legion]

I still miss my 300D. 20 years after I've sold it, it's still the only car that I dream about.

Some day I will pick up another one.

[VincentVega]

Cool car, thanks for posting. Just about all of them have rusted away around here. I grew up working on 113s-124's, love hate thing for me. I hated the slow when I was younger, now I appreciate the build quality. Still some of the design decisions still make me laugh.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by javadog

I may pick up something to tinker with in the next year, I’ve been thinking about a Benz of that vintage. That was the era that Mercedes first made an impression on me and I still like the styling from those years, I think it’s pretty timeless. I wouldn’t mind knowing a little bit more about the costs and the parts availability. Feel free to elaborate.

Normal replacement parts like brake rotors/pads/hoses are as cheap as it gets, like cheaper than Toyota Corolla parts if you know where to buy them. Same w cooling parts and all other normal repair parts. Some dealer parts are even surprisingly cheap. An exception might be the original mechanical fuel pump on my car; it has been bypassed w an electric one and the OG part is NLA unless I go to Mercedes Classic Center. They sell absolutely anything and everything for any old Benz but prices are geared towards very valuable cars being restored. I haven’t checked w them yet but I’m mentally preparing myself for sticker shock.

As for working on them, it’s a complete joy, IMO, pretty simple and analog for the most part. Really well made but not too complicated unless you get into the high-end models like the 300SEL 6.3 w air suspension. The car in this thread is the absolute other end of the model spectrum for MB at the time.

The w108, (280SE/SEL) w stacked headlights is a sweet spot w a bit more luxury and performance but still pretty simple. I’m at your disposal for any info on these cars.

[speeder]

Brake hoses are around $10 a piece for most older Mercedes:


I’m particular about most parts and will only use dealer brake pads or a brand like Textar, an OEM supplier. I think these fronts ran me a whopping $26:



New hardware was cheap, rears were from dealer and front was aftermarket:


The nicest thing about MB parts and working on the cars is that absolutely everything has a part number on it. Even hoses and small vacuum bits like this:


Porsche and BMW also do this but no one did it to the extent of MB in the old days.

[berettafan]

Such great looking cars.

[craigster59]

Just a heads up Denis in case you're interested, there's an estate sale this weekend in Sunland. Lots of tools, car stuff and it looks like there's quite a few Mercedes bits and bobs in there, I see a front grill and some rear lenses. He's even selling a parts car....

https://www.grasons.com/estate-sale/grasons-co-city-of-angels-mostly-mancave-massive-estate-sale-sunland/?fbclid=IwAR2HhAKtgmyCG6TQqa-_MrFEyQixj3AxdzX5aSq3yRWXnJlYasZwpLPSN-Q

[speeder]

Originally Posted by craigster59

Just a heads up Denis in case you're interested, there's an estate sale this weekend in Sunland. Lots of tools, car stuff and it looks like there's quite a few Mercedes bits and bobs in there, I see a front grill and some rear lenses. He's even selling a parts car....

https://www.grasons.com/estate-sale/grasons-co-city-of-angels-mostly-mancave-massive-estate-sale-sunland/?fbclid=IwAR2HhAKtgmyCG6TQqa-_MrFEyQixj3AxdzX5aSq3yRWXnJlYasZwpLPSN-Q

Thanks! I can almost walk to that one. The only thing I’d want is high quality tools but you never know.

[javadog]

Care to weigh in on the values of the cars themselves? I know what the "finished" values tend to be, what can you buy them for in a condition like yours? I wouldn't be interested in a car that needs a lot, particularly body repairs, but I'd probably be interested in resurrecting something that hasn't been run in a while. The types of things you are doing are right up my alley.

Also, how many miles does that one have? 42K? 142K?

Feel free to talk about the values of the same vintage (say '68-'72) longer wheelbase Benz's in similar condition. I wouldn't pay stupid money for a mice driver, bigger Benz, but are there any deals out there on those? I figure you know that market, too.

[DonDavis]

That's fantastic. Such a cool car.

I learned to drive in 1967 250S, 4 sp, no a/c.

It looked just like this.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by javadog

Care to weigh in on the values of the cars themselves? I know what the "finished" values tend to be, what can you buy them for in a condition like yours? I wouldn't be interested in a car that needs a lot, particularly body repairs, but I'd probably be interested in resurrecting something that hasn't been run in a while. The types of things you are doing are right up my alley.

Also, how many miles does that one have? 42K? 142K?

Feel free to talk about the values of the same vintage (say '68-'72) longer wheelbase Benz's in similar condition. I wouldn't pay stupid money for a mice driver, bigger Benz, but are there any deals out there on those? I figure you know that market, too.

Like all things remotely collectible from the last century, values have risen quite a bit in recent years. What hasn’t changed is the relative value of a 4-door vs. a coupe or convertible and the difference between models but they’ve all tripled or quadrupled. Perfect 3.5 convertibles are now $250k and a pretty nice example of the car I’m working on just fetched $10k on BAT, whereas it use to be a $3k car all day long and 3.5 convertibles in show condition used to be $50-60k. 3.5 coupes, (identical to convertibles other than top), are 1/3 the cost of a rag top.

I actually prefer the sedans, not only because I can afford them but I think they look great and represent what this type of car is supposed to be. A nice w108 sedan that used to be $6-7k tops is now $20k+ but condition is EVERYTHING on these cars. Once they are pickles, they will never be a cucumber again. Of course you know all this and based on what I know about you, you’d only want a really good example. They are old but you look for the same stuff as always, no accidents or rust and nice interiors, etc.

[speeder]

There is a guy in L.A. who hunts down the cleanest, low mileage, original paint old Mercedes-Benz cars he can find and restores and sells them. He’s well known around town and personally, I can’t stand him but he does have nice cars.

The key to his business model is that he does not repaint or restore worn-out cars, he buys the absolute cleanest examples he can find and then goes to work making them perfect. His background is as a high-end detailer, so he takes them apart and polishes and cleans everything. He’s very good at what he does. He sells them to people w “who cares” money for $30-40k and up. We’re talking 4-door sedans that would go for $8-10k on eBay in normal, mint condition.

Fun to look at the pictures:

Mercedes Motoring - Gallery

[speeder]

Did the brake reservoir and fluid, I like to completely drain the system and then clean the res:




Then of course, I already mentioned replacing all of the brake hoses as well as front pads and some new hardware. I always check all of the calipers for leaks and make sure that all pistons retract all the way, (not stuck). This was the easiest vehicle to bleed in my life, I simply filled the reservoir and started opening bleeders. Pumped the pedal w everything closed in the middle to compress pads. I greatly prefer using a clear tube held upwards to watch air escape: