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Hey! I moved to San Diego, California from Australia over a year ago
Was in the market for a 2001 E Class or ww202 C Class but came across this for sale so I bought this instead, always loved the body style and couldn't pass it up
1968 Mercedes Benz 280SE
Gunmetal (Anthracite Grey) with Creme/Black Interior
Original California car bought at Hollywood Mercedes (still has the original plate frames on it)
152,000 miles
A/C
Power windows
Fuel Injected 2.8l 6 cylinder
4 Wheel Disk brakes
Power steering
I used this car as my daily driver since buying for over a year. So far so good! Put about 15000 Miles on it since buying. Just bought a daily a few months ago now
It starts up everyday, drives smoothly, shifts nice, gets about 14-16mpg.
Pics;
This is a quick timeline of what I have had done or done myself since I bought it
1st March;
- Replace split Fuel hose behind drivers front wheel
15th March;
- Complete Service
- Replace rear control arm bushings to eliminate squeeking/creaking
15th April;
- Replace Coil with New Bosch Coil
- New Spark Plugs installed
- Correct Spark Plug leads installed
- New rubber hood buffers
- Replace Mirror Glass and Trim
21st May;
- Idle and Mixture Adjusted
- Pertronix Electronic ignition installed
1st June;
- New rear axle mount bushing installed
- Idle and Fuel Mixture Adjusted
15th June;
- New MB Rotors installed
- New MB Pads installed
- New e-brake shoes installed
- New front wheel bearings installed
30th June;
- Replace all fuel hoses with new MB hoses
- Installed MB hood pad insulation
5th July;
- Remove and clean visors
- Clean Front seats
- Replace Rear Dome light
Amazing how much those visors needed a clean... Used some household spray cleaner and finished with a damp cloth and thorough dry.
Just bought the new dome lamp on ebay
Before
After
I have purchased most of the parts from Classic Center (The Mercedes Dealer in Irvine for Classic Benz's) so all the parts are Genuine MB.
I looked into aftermarket parts but found for a little bit extra I could get Genuine. All the fuel hoses, brake rotors, disc's, pads, e-brake shoe kit, hood insulation, horn ring, side reflector are all genuine MB parts.
Let's just say the fuel hoses can be $$.
This little sucker cost $111
And this is the new Satin finish horn ring that I need to install on the steering wheel. Current one is chipped
Two random photo's
Then in July....
13th July;
- Replace Fan Clutch
Was a tight space to do this job. If you had really big hands it would be interesting.
so it's just a matter of removing the fan clutch from the pulley by undoing 4 bolts, then sliding the spacer off the bolts while its still in the engine bay which makes it narrow enough to squeeze out past the radiator hose etc......then once out separating the fan and fan clutch and putting it all back together with the new fan clutch, then re-inserting and screwing back onto pulley
** I Made sure to carry over the small metal tube from old fan clutch to new fan clutch to ensure the fitment was the same. Used the spacer to grab a hold of it and 'wiggle' it out luckily.
all back together
random shot from LA this weekend
[/QUOTE]
17th July;
- Detail inside and outside car
Meguires Clay Bar - This gets rid of bonded contaminents and creates a nice smooth surface ready for next steps
Polish - Not sure of brand, got it from my car detailer roommate. PRO maybe? Went on and off nicely
Wax - Same as above
Paint came up nicely - its had a respray in its life and they did a pretty nice job.
Trying to work out the best way to bring up the anodized aluminum around the windows, there is a little bit of hazing, apparently is best to keep chemicals etc away from this.
Polished up all the chrome, its all in good shape - just used the same polish as the body worked well.
Touched up random stone chips on front with MB touchup paint in 172 G Anthracite - $20 from MB Classic Center
Bit of Black treatment for the bumpers etc
Finished cleaning the seats and door cards inside also, amazing how much brighter they become with a good clean.
29th July;
- Rear Wheel Bearing and Shocks
So I was getting a rythmic knocking noise from the rear after driving for a while. checked out it wasnt center bearing carrier, flex disc, diff mount bushing.
Turns out it was the left rear wheel bearing, had the local german mechanic swap it out, apparently the old one was trashed.
got new diff oil in at the same time and new bilstein shocks mounted in the rear. not sure what the old shocks were but certainly weren't bilstein.
Car feels a lot tighter in the rear and so far the noise is no longer there. glad.
These are the Bilstein shocks
21st July;
- Power Windows
Both front windows go up and down from drivers door control. Passenger door switch didnt work though. Fiddled with lock out switch and passenger door switch and got it to work. Bit of a fluke I think.
Both rears weren't working but I ended up replacing all the fuses too and I now have both front windows and rear drivers side working. Just the rear passenger side to get sorted
See pics below from inside the doors
All wires seem to be good
So the next things on my to do list are;
- Install new genuine MB exhaust (someone installed an aftermarket one in the past and its crap)
- Replace 2 pieces of chrome trim on drivers side
- Re-wire antenna so it raises/lowers automatically like it should
- Add missing trunk light bulb
- Clean trunk properly its kinda dusty in there
- Fix washer fluid pump - seems it has been disconnect in the past. I have the parts, just need 1 more piece and then I can fix it
- Have gear selector fixed - common problem - it's cable driven and the cable snaps after time.
Some more shots
I found the exhaust fitted to the car is an aftermarket set-up. It started to sound a bit strange and when i rode with the mechanic he agreed and thought it was probably the center muffler.
I inspected further and the badly repaired rear manifold seemed to have cracked again
AND the front manifold was not even bolted to the exhaust @ the flange!! I don't know who installed this exhaust but they sucked. Talk about an exhaust leak.
I ordered a whole new exhaust from the classic center and sourced a replacement rear manifold from Sun Valley dismantlers
Car is down at the mechanics now getting sorted out
Looking forward to hearing the car the way it is supposed to sound.
Exhaust fitted to the car currently
Badly repaired rear manifold which I think has a recent crack in it
Front manifold NOT bolted to exhaust!
New Exhaust from Classic center
New Mounting bits and manifold gasket
Finally on
[/QUOTE]
Was in the market for a 2001 E Class or ww202 C Class but came across this for sale so I bought this instead, always loved the body style and couldn't pass it up
1968 Mercedes Benz 280SE
Gunmetal (Anthracite Grey) with Creme/Black Interior
Original California car bought at Hollywood Mercedes (still has the original plate frames on it)
152,000 miles
A/C
Power windows
Fuel Injected 2.8l 6 cylinder
4 Wheel Disk brakes
Power steering
I used this car as my daily driver since buying for over a year. So far so good! Put about 15000 Miles on it since buying. Just bought a daily a few months ago now
It starts up everyday, drives smoothly, shifts nice, gets about 14-16mpg.
Pics;
This is a quick timeline of what I have had done or done myself since I bought it
1st March;
- Replace split Fuel hose behind drivers front wheel
15th March;
- Complete Service
- Replace rear control arm bushings to eliminate squeeking/creaking
15th April;
- Replace Coil with New Bosch Coil
- New Spark Plugs installed
- Correct Spark Plug leads installed
- New rubber hood buffers
- Replace Mirror Glass and Trim
21st May;
- Idle and Mixture Adjusted
- Pertronix Electronic ignition installed
1st June;
- New rear axle mount bushing installed
- Idle and Fuel Mixture Adjusted
15th June;
- New MB Rotors installed
- New MB Pads installed
- New e-brake shoes installed
- New front wheel bearings installed
30th June;
- Replace all fuel hoses with new MB hoses
- Installed MB hood pad insulation
5th July;
- Remove and clean visors
- Clean Front seats
- Replace Rear Dome light
Amazing how much those visors needed a clean... Used some household spray cleaner and finished with a damp cloth and thorough dry.
Just bought the new dome lamp on ebay
Before
After
I have purchased most of the parts from Classic Center (The Mercedes Dealer in Irvine for Classic Benz's) so all the parts are Genuine MB.
I looked into aftermarket parts but found for a little bit extra I could get Genuine. All the fuel hoses, brake rotors, disc's, pads, e-brake shoe kit, hood insulation, horn ring, side reflector are all genuine MB parts.
Let's just say the fuel hoses can be $$.
This little sucker cost $111
And this is the new Satin finish horn ring that I need to install on the steering wheel. Current one is chipped
Two random photo's
Then in July....
13th July;
- Replace Fan Clutch
Was a tight space to do this job. If you had really big hands it would be interesting.
so it's just a matter of removing the fan clutch from the pulley by undoing 4 bolts, then sliding the spacer off the bolts while its still in the engine bay which makes it narrow enough to squeeze out past the radiator hose etc......then once out separating the fan and fan clutch and putting it all back together with the new fan clutch, then re-inserting and screwing back onto pulley
** I Made sure to carry over the small metal tube from old fan clutch to new fan clutch to ensure the fitment was the same. Used the spacer to grab a hold of it and 'wiggle' it out luckily.
all back together
random shot from LA this weekend
[/QUOTE]17th July;
- Detail inside and outside car
Meguires Clay Bar - This gets rid of bonded contaminents and creates a nice smooth surface ready for next steps
Polish - Not sure of brand, got it from my car detailer roommate. PRO maybe? Went on and off nicely
Wax - Same as above
Paint came up nicely - its had a respray in its life and they did a pretty nice job.
Trying to work out the best way to bring up the anodized aluminum around the windows, there is a little bit of hazing, apparently is best to keep chemicals etc away from this.
Polished up all the chrome, its all in good shape - just used the same polish as the body worked well.
Touched up random stone chips on front with MB touchup paint in 172 G Anthracite - $20 from MB Classic Center
Bit of Black treatment for the bumpers etc
Finished cleaning the seats and door cards inside also, amazing how much brighter they become with a good clean.
29th July;
- Rear Wheel Bearing and Shocks
So I was getting a rythmic knocking noise from the rear after driving for a while. checked out it wasnt center bearing carrier, flex disc, diff mount bushing.
Turns out it was the left rear wheel bearing, had the local german mechanic swap it out, apparently the old one was trashed.
got new diff oil in at the same time and new bilstein shocks mounted in the rear. not sure what the old shocks were but certainly weren't bilstein.
Car feels a lot tighter in the rear and so far the noise is no longer there. glad.
These are the Bilstein shocks
21st July;
- Power Windows
Both front windows go up and down from drivers door control. Passenger door switch didnt work though. Fiddled with lock out switch and passenger door switch and got it to work. Bit of a fluke I think.
Both rears weren't working but I ended up replacing all the fuses too and I now have both front windows and rear drivers side working. Just the rear passenger side to get sorted
See pics below from inside the doors
All wires seem to be good
So the next things on my to do list are;
- Install new genuine MB exhaust (someone installed an aftermarket one in the past and its crap)
- Replace 2 pieces of chrome trim on drivers side
- Re-wire antenna so it raises/lowers automatically like it should
- Add missing trunk light bulb
- Clean trunk properly its kinda dusty in there
- Fix washer fluid pump - seems it has been disconnect in the past. I have the parts, just need 1 more piece and then I can fix it
- Have gear selector fixed - common problem - it's cable driven and the cable snaps after time.
Some more shots
I found the exhaust fitted to the car is an aftermarket set-up. It started to sound a bit strange and when i rode with the mechanic he agreed and thought it was probably the center muffler.
I inspected further and the badly repaired rear manifold seemed to have cracked again
AND the front manifold was not even bolted to the exhaust @ the flange!! I don't know who installed this exhaust but they sucked. Talk about an exhaust leak.
I ordered a whole new exhaust from the classic center and sourced a replacement rear manifold from Sun Valley dismantlers
Car is down at the mechanics now getting sorted out
Looking forward to hearing the car the way it is supposed to sound.
Exhaust fitted to the car currently
Badly repaired rear manifold which I think has a recent crack in it
Front manifold NOT bolted to exhaust!
New Exhaust from Classic center
New Mounting bits and manifold gasket
Finally on
[/QUOTE]
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