It was a great day for a get together, Santa Ana winds brought beautiful weather to the coast. Had quite a showing, a few regulars and a number of new folks, lots of nice cars which drew many looks from the people driving past. There were a lot of pictures taken, I'll just post a couple of the cars and a couple from the drive home.


Daddy, can we have this one???

I think this 500 drew the most attention, beautiful. Glen you should have been here with yours to make a complete set .



A super low mileage car. Still brand new by most folks standards.



A very "EURO" looking 400E, I think the grille finishes the Euro look. If I'd have known you needed a hood star, I'd have brought one of the extras from the parts pile.

After a couple hours of ogling and talking cars, we settled in for a nice long lunch and more conversation. Who'd of thought we'd end up doing a little work on a car after lunch? The kicker is no one had any tools! Gotta love the faith in our machines.

Any how, during lunch the conversation turned to "how to replace an antenna". Answer, simple. Well, all we could muster was a pair of pliers, close study of the replacement mast showed pliers would be fine for removal, After a few seconds the command to turn on the radio was given, and a few seconds later the comand to turn it off followed. The ferrule nut was gently tightened and the owner was advised to tighten it with the proper sized wrench. You have tightened it haven't you Paul??

The party broke up about 4:30 and everyone started home. I snapped a couple quick pics along my favorite stretch of road. The 4.5 gets a good excersize when ever I hop to the other side of the mountain.



The little Honda ahead of me didn't like the fact that I was matching him turn for turn, so I let him have about a half mile lead. Makes for a nice run when you don't have to touch the brakes.





Even though the old girl is pushing 30, she still handles the 30 miles of twisties like a new car. First thing I want to do when I get the 560 finished is do a comparison run.

__________________
Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

It was indeed a fun time! Ernesto took a number of pics, to be posted soon. Some nice cars, 70+ weather with a mild breeze, lots of sun, conversation, and special cars. Quite a bit of slow drive-by viewing by other cars. Alon, David, Glen, et al: Sorry we missed you.

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

Sorry I missed it too, I was looking forward to it.

Unfortunately work got in the way, but with what I was doing it really wasn't work. It has been fun doing it.

hehe

I'll definately try to make the next one.

I'm getting wheels very soon. Then when tax return comes in, I get my euro headlights and maybe some more fun stuff..

I should have a new grille shell too coming in soon as I can find one for cheap so I can paint mine and have a backup in case I seriously botch it.



Alon

__________________
'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

Looks like anoher great time. We were palying baseball until 1:30 today. I hope to have my car back from the body shop by Thursday. It's only been in there since the the ninth of Jan. (my "no Brainer" when I ran over a center divider)

Mike, I'm driving out your way tomorrow. We're going to play the Temecula Thunder in a double header over at the Rancho California Sports Complex. These games are practice for the big President's Day Tournament in Menifee the following weekend.

--Craig

Nice pix, Mike
The weather must have been perfect, it certainly was beautiful here! Who brought the 500E? Where did you all have lunch?

Where was I? Originally, I was planning to go but the demise of our washing machine meant it was appliance shopping time

Sorry I missed this one, hopefully next time!

__________________
Glen Tokuhara
Beauty & the Beast and the wagon that could!

Thanks to Ernesto (Hi-Power) and the marvels of the digital age, here are the pics of the 4th SoCal MercedesShop meeting:

The group:



Hi-Power's monotoned, brabus wheeled, mega stereo 86 300E, and Suginami's (Paul) nice E320: great re-dye job on the front seat - perfect match. Also the tech project car on how to replace an antenna mast (Thanks to Mike Tangas, impromptu course instructor!)


A distance shot of the above, this time including Saliya_400E's Evo wheeled and HID light equipped 400E


A better shot of the Evo wheels, and some of Mark's low mileage S500 in the background. Glad that Mike got a shot of Mark's car above, because our's didn't come out. Good Pic of Saliya and Chris (ChrisLAX)


Thanh Nguyen's 500E. I never realized the 400E and 500E had insulated air intakes - it must really get hot under that hood! Thanh suggestd a driving/touring meet for next time, great idea!


Chris LAX's 300D. No meet is complete without a diesel. Chris had photos on his lap top of his project car - A 600hp supercharged Lincoln Town Car with a 6 speed many tranny!!! Maybe he will post them when the car is finished.


Mike Tangas 30 year old beauty - you have to feel the thickness of that body metal to believe it!


And of course, my Sportline.


The group, clockwise from left:
Leise (Her C230 is still in the Tranny Trauma center, so she rode with me. John (JCE). Mark with the S500. Thanh/500E. Ernesto/Hi-Power. Chris/300D. Saliya_400E. Paul (Suginami). Mike Tangas 73 280SEL 4.5. The next generation of " 'Sadeys" drivers, Michelle and Barbara. Warmed their father's heart by declaring they wanted the blue 300D to drive when they grew up!

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

What! Washing machine shopping! Where are your priorities? Just kidding...

The get together was great. It was interesting to finally get to see the faces behind the postings.

There were a lot of W124's, in particular the 500E that everyone was drooling over. There was the W140 in the picture, looked like brand new. A 1998? S500. There was Mike's beautiful 72 280 SE 4.5, with the shift on the column. I even got a ride around the parking structure (to look for the toy that one of his girls dropped), around the mall, outside the mall, and a U-turm back to the garage. Made me wish I would have bought a similar one that I almost bought in 1992 in Laguna Beach.

There were no coupes. We sure could have used your car there, Alon. Hope to see you at the next one.

John's 300E Sportline was incredibly clean. Like being in a time-warp back in 1986. Love those 8-hole C class rims.

Ernesto's 87 300E was beautiful. I love the monotone paint job. In fact, if I had a pre 91 300E with the black trim, I'd do the same thing. Looks much like a C-Class. He had beautiful Brabus rims, a shift nob with leather and wood and chrome surround that I have to get. He also had a new exhaust that gave the car a throaty exhaust note. He had a subwoofer in the trunk that puts out sooo much base, you might have to go back and tighten down the bolts in the car should they loosen up. Just kidding...

Last, I give the MVP award to Mike Tangas. I had purchased a Hirshman antena mast on E-bay for $30.00, that didn't come with instructions. I brought it with me in the trunk and when I asked if I anyone knew how they went on, sure enough, Mike did. We scavenged a set of pliers from my roadside kit in the trunk, and 45 seconds later, it was installed. Mike is amazing! Kind of like MacGyver. Give him some string, pliers, maybe a crescent wrench, and duct tape, and he could make you a bomb.

I guess it's like Alcoholics Anonymous. My wife and most of my friends think I get too carried away maintaining, detaling, working on, spendind money on, researching, etc. my car. It's not to meet other guys who share the same illness, or rather, way of life. lol.

I always tell my wife that she knew this when she married me. Pre-existing condition. You know, like when you sign up for health insurance.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

All,

First of all, Thanks Mike for the offer on the Hood Star. I left it out because the Star on the Grill might clash with it. Also to get everybody's opinion as to how I should cover that hole. I Think I got the answer, which was use the emblem from SL 500.

Any how, It was a great pleasure meeting all of you and sharing information regarding these wonderful cars. We should do it more often. Specially during the next couple of months. I like Thanh's Idea of a "Driving tour/cruise". Perhaps "Angeles Crest Hoghway" might be nice.

__________________
Regards,

Saliya

My Parts For Sale Page

http://members.cox.net/alpinab6/400e/400e-51.jpg http://members.cox.net/euro-m5/sig
1992 MBZ 400E - 300HP
1993 Euro M5 3.8-377HP
1993 Euro M5 3.8-365HP

I agree. We should do a driving tour / cruise as well next time.

Angeles Crest Highway, PCH from Santa Monica to Port Hueneme, Santa Barbara, Solvang, etc.

We'd meet at a central place around 10:00 a.m., take the drive, have lunch, bull**** about the cars, then go home.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

I don't know if it was customary or not since this was my first. I have to admit that I was a little embarrassed at first because I hadn't done any modifications to the engine.
However, it turned out to be a good idea. We all had questions regarding our engines, things we had read on the site, how to install European headlights, items we replaced, where items are located, etc.

What struck me as most interesting was the huge visual difference between an M103 and an M104. The M103 actually looked like an engine. There was a lot of space to crawl in, You could see the valve cover, spark plug wires, etc. Looked kind of like the straight 6 in my high school buddy's 64 chevelle.
My M104 has everything covered up, very complicated. It must be much easier to work on an M103.

Yeah, I was a bit ashamed that my engine was a bit dirty. Especially compared to JCE's, which looked like it he had scrubbed it with a toothbrush, and then black gloss applied everywhere.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

What can I say...

It was a great way to spend a saturday morning, meet a lot of wonderful people and cars. I would like to thank everyone who attended for sharing their expertise with me and provinding me with great advise.

It was a great experience and I would love to do it again, perhaps in the South Bay next time ( thinking of those who could not attend because of the distance ).

Congratulations to all the proud owners !!!

__________________
Ernesto Molina

1993 500E Pearl Black / Alpaca Grey
2001 E55 AMG Brilliant Silver/ Anthracite
2007 SL55 AMG Black / Anthracite

Bill:

Ernesto actually took the pics, I just posted them on my web site. Regarding the hoods, they always start off closed, but it seems like they always wind up open! Good luck with your Texas Meet - is this in addition to the diesel meet that just happened?

Thje weather was great, todays weather is even warmer, but MUCH stronger Santa Ana winds, and a couple of out of control fires In Orange County and North San Diego county really cruding up the air - actually blocking out the sun in south San Clemente!

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

I just finished talking to Phil at Fastlane - he had been planning on attending, but couldn't make it. Those nice gentle Santa Ana breezes in Mission Viejo were 50-80 mph gusts in Santa Ana! He was busy re-attaching parts of his house and couldn't head down. We had the T-shirt with the design that 'rainmaker' had put together "MercedesShop Fastlane/Parts by Phil". I will send it up to him and maybe he can post a pic of the end result. Thanks again for the design, Rainmaker, and thanks for all the help, Phil!

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E