1968 230 (W110) Rolling Restoration
 

Hello all,


Long story short I used to have a 1964 190c that I loved but was eaten up with rust and I had to part with it. It wasn't safe to drive it was so bad. That was a few years ago and I occasionally would look for fintails on Craigslist ever since. In early June I found an ad for a 1968 230 for sale. Called the guy, he told me he's owned it for 10 years, had it painted 5 years ago, and it broke down 3 years ago and has been sitting ever since. The issue was a broken T fitting in the fuel line that parked the car. So I borrowed a friends trailer, a winch and my son and I went and picked her up.


She's in really good shape, no rust just some surface stuff going on, interior is almost perfect, has power steering, power brakes, and A/C.


Here is another thread that has pictures of when I first got it
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/vintage-mercedes/387044-purchased-1968-230-w110.html

So the first order of business is to figure out where to start. I went with brakes and tires.

I got all the 2 piece hubcaps and tires off. Got the rims cleaned up, I'm going to paint them black, right now they are rust and gray.

Got the car up on jack stands, I forgot how much of a struggle it is the jack up the back end of a w110 lol.

Started takin the brakes off. Got the passenger side disassembled. Front caliper was frozen up took it off, and hose. Rear drums disassembled, wheel cylinder was toast. The lines look newer so they are good. It has the incorrect master cylinder resivor in it so I'll swap that. The master cylinder itself looks like complete crap so I'll probably replace it too.

So since the last post I took all 5 wheels to get the tires dis-mounted. Cleaned and painted inside and out of the 4 worst wheels. I left the nicest looking wheel gray to sit in the trunk as the spare.


I finished up removing the entire braking system with the exception of the hard lines which are in great shape, I imagine they have been replaced at one point. While I had the master cylinder out I painted it and sucked out the brake fluid that had leaked into it from a leaking master cylinder. I'm trying to source a rear brake hardware kit, which is impossible. I talked to the Mercedes classic center and they can get pretty much any part I need for the rear brakes as far as springs and what not.


I cleaned and greased the passenger side front suspension, I forgot how may freaking zerk fittings there are on this car. Just on that one side I think there were 7. I noticed the front sub frame bushings are totally shot, and the motor mounts are collapsed. I still have to find a service manual but I think I can semi-easily do that all at once.


My car has a smog pump and associated plumbing and attachments, which I thought was strange for a 1968. The smog pump was disconnected along with the power steering pump (they share a belt). It was hard to spin felt very crunchy, so I looked for a replacement online. The pump comes back as belonging to the late 70's era of GM vehicles, and they are pretty expensive to replace. So instead I decided to junk the smog system. I removed all the plumbing and controls, opened up the smog pump and pulled the insides out and just left the bearings. Ill reinstall it and it will function as a belt tensioner for the power steering pump. It took me forever to figure out the size thread to cap the smog ports on the head but I finially got it. They are M12 with thread size of 1.5. I couldn't find any plain caps so I bought acorn nuts in the correct size. They look kinda funky but it will work.

Next I decided to tackle the broken heater slide knobs. I dropped the A/C from under the dash, mine is not original its some sort of aftermarket add on. Then pulled the radio and I was able to get to them. The knobs for both heater valves are broke off, surprise, and the knob for the fresh air vent on the cowl. I was able to get the driver side heater valve to move but the passenger side is frozen. I may pull the heater core later in the fall and service them, I found a decent walkthrough on a pontoon or pagoda website about how to refurbish these valves. I pulled the fresh air vent cowling, trim and the flap it's self to clean and replace the horribly deteriorated flap seal. I cleaned inside the ducting and will put POR15 on some of the rust spots to stop the little bit of rust I found in there. The filters where in really good shape surprisingly so ill reuse them.

Next I pulled the carburetors off for rebuild, the car has a twin weber 32/36 DGAV conversion on it which I think it pretty nice. It looks like it was done correctly. A lot of stuff on this car appears as though at one time in the not to distant past someone cared about it. The carbs should be a simple rebuild, im not changing any jets or anything and webers are pretty simple. Also pulled the valve cover, all looks in order inside.

I also pulled my distributor and sent it to Jeff at Advanced Distributors in Minnesota. Advanced Distributors – Automotive Distributor Rebuilding Services He rebuilt my distributor on my MGB, he's a legend in the British car community. It will get completely refurbished, rebuilt, and recurved to work better with todays fuel formulations. I cant wait to get it back, ill be sure to post up pictures of it.

Im sure im forgetting something.

Nice work....

I wonder if that engine with smog ports in its head is a replacement? You may find out some interesting things if you e-mail the Classic Center to request a data card for this vehicle.

CTD, as soon as I get my title back I'll get in contact with them about it. I'm curious also.

Today I snapped a few more pictures.
I opened up the thermostat housing (only broke one bolt!) And I was greeted with nice green coolant.
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...39&oe=59C6CDEA
I was kinda worried because there was no coolant in the reservoir and none in the upper radiator hose. I found the engine data plate on the side of the block.
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...62&oe=5A0C0CD3
I noticed the side of the engine block says USA which I thought was odd.
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...31&oe=59C34A10
Nothing much else happening, putting together my shopping list for a complete brake system, tune up, and tires.

Interesting photos you took there. The 180.949 is the correct engine for these cars, but those smog ports are weird. But interestingly, I read on WIKIPEDIA that the smog (air) pump system was invented in 1966:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smog_pump

The system you have described and photographed meets much of the criteria of an early smog air injection system from the late 60s. With that in mind, I suspect it could be original to your vehicle. From what the Wikipedia article states, removing it was a good choice as the operation of the smog pump has been reported to greatly raise EGTs to the point of damaging valves in some engines.

My thought is that the smog pump must have been a 1968-only thing on these vehicles. '68 Fintails are a rare breed, so that could explain why so few are known to have these smog pumps.

My 1967 W110 230 Universal had smog ports on the head, too--and it was a Euro-spec car.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/y4...R=w800-h600-no

That's interesting. Did you ever run the data card to find out where your 1967 230 was originally delivered? I am the owner of a '68 Euro 230 that was originally delivered to Asia. It has an M180.949 engine, but no smog ports in the head. The 949 on the end signifies that it has (or originally had, as is the case with the OPs vehicle) Zenith carbs, which are shown in your photo of the '67. 1967 was the first year of the 949 engine in the W110 230.

But what's interesting is the engine in mine is a rebuilt replacement (the serial number does not match). But it's the right engine, as it's got the 230 head and the 180.949 name plate on the block. I wonder if the engine in your '67 is a replacement as well, but a U. S. 1968-spec one?

Attached is my datacard.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...builtsheet.jpg

At some point it was owned by a movie producer, probably used as a prop in a movie as it was super rusty and patched together and painted in a way that made it look good from a distance but it is clearly beyond saving and about ready to fold in half. Then it was owned by Benz Friendz.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...230engine3.jpg

I ended up selling the engine and putting an OM617 turbo diesel engine in it.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...niversal52.jpg

That's an unusual looking data card there. I found a 513 country code in there, which means that your vehicle was delivered to Belgium. The air pump sticker on the valve cover in the next picture is very likely a 1968 American market thing, with the writing in English and /8 vehicles mentioned. With that in mind, I'd say it's likely that the 230 engine in your car was an American replacement.

That 617 engine swap is some interesting business. Have you gotten it operational yet?

Did some interior cleaning today.

My rebuilt distributor came in today. Looks outstanding. Can't wait to get it put in and get the engine running!

Rebuilt one of my bosch horns today. I'll get to the other one later. Still need to get new brass screws for the contacts. Optest was good, both work and sound great.

Pretty simple process. You pull the 8 screws out of the grill cover, and the grill comes off. There is an inside resonator that is attached to a disc that is the same size as the grill it comes off too. Then clean everything up and paint and reassemble. I'll take more pictures of the inside when I do the next one. Took about 3 hours, beats paying 100+$ for a new set.

I got my data card!

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...ef&oe=5A3108E4

I don't know what any of it means lol