Quote:
Originally Posted by zelrik911
Looks good, you should buy it. I had one just like this & it was nice to own.
Mine had rust inside the petrol tank around the "swirl pot", however this car looks too good to have that problem.
Also check that battery acid hasnt leaked out onto the firewall and got into the cabin & corroded the floors (mine was RHD).
|
Since the battery is in the trunk, I'm not sure how the battery acid could make it to the firewall and cabin?
A 1982 380SL is not a desirable or valuable car in any world. In fact, it's the least desirable R107 SL, a model that was sold in huge numbers and had other undesirable years/models. It's underpowered and has the problematic single row timing chain, which failed so early that MB switched to a double row chain almost immediately after releasing this model. It took them a couple of model years to implement the redesign engine and the 1984/85 380 engine models are less awful. The expense of converting this one to a double row chain makes zero sense, a better plan would be to drive it until it blows up and then buy another, if you still actually wanted to drive this model after owning it. A better plan still would be to not buy it in the first place.
All R107 SL cars are boulevard cruisers and not sporty. They are heavy and built like tanks. Mercedes was selling quality and status in those days, not fun. Then the 380 models came along as a half-assed attempt to improve fuel economy during one of the "oil crisis" era times, (previous fuel mileage on MB V-8s was horrendous), and a big part of the quality equation took a powder.
I drove my dad's 450SL when it was new and thought it was great because it was built so much better than other cars at the time but the bloom is off the rose for me on all of those cars because they really don't stand the test of time wrt performance or efficiency. Remember, they are not sporty. If this car is cheap enough and mint, go for it if you like it. It's worth maybe 5 grand including anything you have to put in it to get it on the road.