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Team California
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Just put another coat of clear on the wood, engine project is held up slightly waiting for a head gasket.
  
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Denis "It won't interfere with the current building. It'll be near it but not touching it." -Grifter in Chief, July of 2025 |
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08-03-2019, 04:02 PM
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Functionista
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: CO
Posts: 7,717
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Nice car and nice work. Much better than the rusty 73 I posted a couple years back.
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Jeff 74 911, #3 I do not disbelieve in anything. I start from the premise that everything is true until proved false. Everything is possible. |
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08-03-2019, 06:34 PM
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Team California
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Pulled the driver’s seat out to deep clean and repair it:
   They look like they’ve never been out and the tracks have about 50 years of spilled coffee and other nasty stuff on them:  I have them soaking in my parts washer overnight. Tomorrow, they will look clean and work like new. Mercedes-Benz of this era were incredibly well made cars. The plastic they used, as on this seat adjuster handle, was such high quality that it looks and feels like Bakelite. I use this plastic cleaner and polish on stuff like this:  
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Denis "It won't interfere with the current building. It'll be near it but not touching it." -Grifter in Chief, July of 2025 |
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08-03-2019, 10:39 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Denver
Posts: 9,732
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I know what you mean. My first Mercedes ever. Running, driving, new brakes and suspension. $1k. Couldn't say no.
 
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08-05-2019, 11:49 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Fairport, NY
Posts: 1,221
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These are the best strays to have! I have had my share if them as well. All have been restored and are a joy to work and own. I still have the blue coupe and green wagon. A few before and after photos.
       
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Von http://vonsmog.com 73' 911T Coupe, 76' 911S Targa 73'& 80' Mercedes Unimog DoKa 59' Austin Healey 100-6 |
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08-06-2019, 03:31 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 3,347
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Looks like fun. Reminds me when I was young, our family had a 1967(?) 250 sedan. Same body. Blue over blue. Manual trans (4spd) and manual sunroof too. As a kid, one of my favorite items were the adjustable vent windows! I miss vent windows
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1970 914-6 Past: 2000 Boxster 2.7, 1987 944, 1987 924S 1978 911SC, 1976 914 2.0, 1970 914 w/2056 |
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08-06-2019, 04:35 AM
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Team California
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I’ve owned my share of w123 cars and diesels, (like the ones in the last few posts), but the subject of this thread is a w114, which is one generation older in style and design. The w123 replaced the w114/115 cars.
The w123 was an evolution at the time and an improvement in objective terms but lost a lot of style and unique Mercedes-Benz character from its predecessor. They are quite different cars. I own both presently and the newer car is all plastic inside compared to the w114, which was the bottom of the line at the time but still had a more beautiful dashboard than anything that came later from MB. And yes, beautiful chrome edged opening vent windows, from the days when everyone smoked and A/C wasn’t as prevalent in cars. The quality of the wood and chrome in the older cars was astounding. A couple of years ago, I owned a 1961 Ponton body Benz and it was even better. To really illustrate what I’m talking about, here is what you got from Mercedes-Benz in 1970 when you opened your wallet a little wider:  That all disappeared a couple of years later, to be replaced by lots of vinyl and plastic that met new safety goals and was easier to mass-produce.
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Denis "It won't interfere with the current building. It'll be near it but not touching it." -Grifter in Chief, July of 2025 Last edited by speeder; 08-06-2019 at 07:47 AM.. |
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08-06-2019, 07:44 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: outta here
Posts: 53,594
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Can a W108/109 be found in the same condition as your W114, without it costing stupid money, even in that condition? I like those even better than the W114, mainly because I like the larger, longer models.
Does yours have 42k miles, or 142K miles? I assume it was a non-runner when you bought it, care to share what you know of its history and how you found it? |
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08-06-2019, 08:22 AM
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Team California
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Quote:
I would never say that miles don’t matter on a car, (because that’s BS), but not all miles are equal. Proper maintenance on an older MB goes a long way, as well as a dry climate and lack of collisions, owners who did not murder the poor car, and on and on. As for the w108/109 question, the answer used to be an unequivocal yes but it’s gotten tougher and the prices have gone up. Depends on your definition of stupid $$, I guess. With the rise in prices of air-cooled Porsches and other truly collectible cars, $20k for a beautiful old Benz in road worthy condition starts to look cheap. I’m lusting for a nice r113 these days, (1968-‘71 280SL), they have basically doubled in price in last 3 years.
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Denis "It won't interfere with the current building. It'll be near it but not touching it." -Grifter in Chief, July of 2025 |
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08-06-2019, 10:36 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: outta here
Posts: 53,594
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I guess what I'm asking is what does it take to buy these cars in a condition such as yours. I'd define that as a:
car that had been parked for a number of years and would need to be resurrected, like you are doing to yours, but not needing major mechanical (engine or trans rebuild) or a paint job. I wouldn't be looking to do a total restoration, or even a complete repaint but I don't mind doing light restoration work, deep cleaning and getting the deferred maintenance up to date. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to share the details in public. Where do you find these cars? Lots of the car search engines I used to use don't allow searches for really old vehicles. I appreciate any advice, older Benzes are an unknown quantity for me. By the way, that website you pointed me to the other day had some incredible cars. |
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08-06-2019, 10:50 AM
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Unregistered
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: a wretched hive of scum and villainy
Posts: 55,652
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Craigslist is a good place to start ... These are runners but if you keep an eye out you can find ones that are cheeeeper and need work.
MERCEDES BENZ 1984 (300 SD) - $1500 (Anaheim) 198 Quote:
Last edited by sammyg2; 08-06-2019 at 11:41 AM.. |
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08-06-2019, 11:10 AM
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Unregistered
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: a wretched hive of scum and villainy
Posts: 55,652
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Quote:
 https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/d/capistrano-beach-1983-mercedes-benz-w-d/6950332540.html |
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08-06-2019, 11:33 AM
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Bandwidth AbUser
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: SoCal
Posts: 29,522
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Quote:
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Jim R. |
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08-06-2019, 11:33 AM
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Bandwidth AbUser
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: SoCal
Posts: 29,522
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Quote:
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Jim R. |
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08-06-2019, 11:35 AM
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Unregistered
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: a wretched hive of scum and villainy
Posts: 55,652
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here's a fixer:
Quote:
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08-06-2019, 11:36 AM
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Unregistered
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: a wretched hive of scum and villainy
Posts: 55,652
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Quote:
  https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cto/d/gardena-1960-mercedes-benz-200-series/6949171483.html |
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08-06-2019, 11:40 AM
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Unregistered
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: a wretched hive of scum and villainy
Posts: 55,652
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Now this is cool:
***1957 Mercedes 219 PONTON - $8950 (OC) Quote:
 https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/ctd/d/la-habra-1957-mercedes-219-ponton/6936385245.html |
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08-06-2019, 11:45 AM
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Bandwidth AbUser
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: SoCal
Posts: 29,522
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Meh, if I can’t have a wagon, I’ll settle for a Pullman 600.
Sorry to trash your thread, Denis. I’m really enjoying what your doing with your “stray.”
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Jim R. |
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08-06-2019, 11:47 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: outta here
Posts: 53,594
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It's been a week with no new pictures of the resurrection...
Just sayin'... |
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08-11-2019, 08:55 AM
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Did you get the memo?
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Wichita, KS
Posts: 32,620
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I gotta say that a classic Mercedes sedan is the most class you can buy for the money in a collector car. They are built like tanks and the interior styling is timeless. Keep the updates coming Denis, good work as always.
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‘07 Mazda RX8-8 Past: 911T, 911SC, Carrera, 951s, 955, 996s, 987s, 986s, 997s, BMW 5x, C36, C63, XJR, S8, Maserati Coupe, GT500, etc |
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08-11-2019, 01:53 PM
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