the original intent was to sell after the wedding because it made more sense to me to build the wedding car than rent, because i could sell and make all the money back and more rather than renting and losing all my money for the rental. That being said, I wanted to lower it. It wasnt my first 280, and I never thought of lowering one, until one night I was researchign fuel systems and came across some lowered w108's. So in my journey, I started with cutting springs






Believe it or not, this car was still equiped with the factory hydro-pneumatic compensator....I didnt think it still worked...but after lowering it, it did exactly what it was designed to do, it kept pushing the car back up thinking it was under load.


so...knowing I wouldnt use it the way of its intent, i decided it better to remove it and replace it with a static spring and sell to someone who is actually rebuilding to spec. I sold it to someone in Cali who was doing a authentic rebuild rather than ruining a very rare and no longer produced item.

lowered on cut springs

without surprise, the rear deck carpet was ruined, so i did this

so....without surprise, the cut springs was killing the car, I decided to go ahead and make a custom air setup for the car, since i didnt want to spring for the price for factory air, i made my own system. I did the air system with a friend in a total of less than 24 hours, and then drove the car to NJ from VA as soon as it was completed to a car show where it took 2nd place in its european class [1st was a Mercedes AMG]




my super star wife



[/IMG

My old neighbor wanted to take some photos with my w108 and my w111






another one of its "looks"

last thing ive done to it is added lensed head lamps

You really worked fast.

How long did it take you to accomplish the resto?

I'm not a big fan of the slammed look, but I still admire your work.

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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".

Thanks! I realize its not everyones taste, but I admire honesty. If it makes it any better, the car is never driven low and always at stock ride height as I dont feel like blowing the swing diff just for some "lows"

The actual body work portion took about less than a month, spending about a couple of hours after work during the week and all day on the weekends. Collectively hourly wise, it took roughly two weeks to do the whole lot. The biggest push was getting it running, sitting for over 15-17 years did no favors to the fuel system. The one thing the previous owner did was pour oil into each cylinder through the spark plug to keep away the surface rust. The car was intentionally parked...wish it was at least parked on gravel or a paved driveway.

If I keep the car [which is mainly the plan] I plan on tearing down the car again and doing it right, taking it back to metal all around. She currently is just a occasional weekend driver as the same with my heckflosse.

With all the background on this car with your wedding, I think you have to keep it.

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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".

That's beautiful. A lowered 108 is on my wish list.
Keep that car forever!
Your rust repair and outside paint job is awesome. I hope I can do the same to my 240. I want to lower it too.

What brand tires did you use? I want some skinny whites to make into wide whites.

Fantastic work! I like that you actually cut out the rust and welded in new material. For me, that is the only way to do it. And it does not matter if it is a full rocker replacement or only patches, just get the cancer out!

Too bad about your complaining neighbor. I suspect it was more the grinding than the welding to which he took offense. I have been blessed with very tolerant neighbors and I am thankful for it with every project I start.

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http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...aman/Fleet.jpg

Peach Parts W124.128 User Group.

80 280SL
85 300SD
87 300TD
92 300D 2.5 Turbo
92 300TE 4Matic

Nice cars! Tell us about the fintail!

I am impressed with the speed you got it done. I would have expected a two year project with how it looked in the beginning. Heck, my 6.9 has been a 5 year project. It looks awesome.

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1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

I was running close to my deadline for the wedding with only I think 5 days until the day, the only thing i could get in time were hankook's. They're 195/75/14's.

Meh, he was a jerk to begin with, I always welded when he was at work, my old shift schedule gave me thursday and friday off. He just hated seeing it in my driveway....damn HOA's. Dont have to worry about that now, out in 5 acres in the country and no HOA, means more cars, haha.

Cool

We had a 6.3 as our get away car, no where as cool as this car.