SLC for daily use?

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Originally Posted by Bondavi

And the aluminum M117's don't last as long? Just curious....

There's something about the gnarly old 116's...they just seem to keep going and going and going. The 117's are great -- make no mistake -- but things like the single-row timing chain, the oil leaks, and whatnot, hurt their bulletproof reputation...

[t walgamuth]

84 and later, like mine have two row chains.

tom w

[vwnate1]

Tony ~ find a rust free one and GO for it ! you'll love it .

I drive my old Euro 350SLC (116 engine & manual gearbox) every day plus I rally it as often as I can ~ they'll take a beating and make you smile . good ventilation and heating too ~ esp. the early cars , pre - '75 .

[Tony 12]

Thanks Nate!
I hear the 350 manual is a really fun car to drive, but in the time I've been looking, I've yet to see one.
I was tossing up between a '71 350 with a little visible rust and a '74 450 with no visible rust and only 129000 kilometres on the clock. Price lead me to the 350 but I've just decided to persue the 450. It's simply a better car and worth the extra money. I have driven it and it was really nice. I just have to do some final checks before handing over the cash, probably next week.
Thanks to all for the positive responses, I should be in the driver's seat by the end of next week if it all works out.

[vwnate1]

Sounds good to me ! .

The most expen$ive car you'll ever buy is a cheap Mercedes ! beware .

That '74 might have the later CIS fuel injection , or was it in 1975 they switched ? .

I'm an older VW mechanbic so the early Bosch D-Jetronic F.I. is what I understand and like as nearly every part can be taken apart and massaged back to full health...

Remember to change the fuel filter right away and annually thereafter , this will avoid the fuel distributor failure so endemic to these fine old motorcars .

Lots of HOT oil & filter changes , every 5,000 KM or so and it'll outlast you .

Drive it like you stole it ! they like that , keeps the carbon from building up .

[Tony 12]

I thought they changed the fuel injection system in '76............... ??????
Anyway, I'm going for the final look over this thing tomorrow morning....................... cash in hand..........................
Thanks also for the fuel filter advice, not something I would have thought of doing right away.

[vwnate1]

I'm pretty sure they went to the CIS system in the '75 model year but I'm usually wrong about such things

For sure the fuel filter ! no one ever changes the darned things and then they complain when the fuel distributor packs it in from passing filthy , gritty fuel......

clean oil and fresh filters are the cheapest mechanics you'll ever find ......

Let us know how it turns out , I'm soon to look at a 280SL , kinda $pendy IMO but the seller seems motivated so we'll see how serious he is .

[Earlybird]

I have a 1973 450SLC with 60k miles. My right bank exhaust manifold has cracked all the way around and been brazed back together and now it is starting to crack again. The casting just can't take the stress of every day driving. I just got a 1976 over/under manifold design. I plan on installing it soon. This job would be a royal B**** if not for my new Eagle lift. You might invest in a new exhaust manifold as a spare if you are going to do frequent driving.

[vwnate1]

Yeowch ! sounds like the late ignition timing SMOG stuff did you dirt

Does this car have an A.I.R. pump on it ? those things make combustion occur inside the exhaust manidold...

Good to know you had a fallback .

[Tony 12]

So I got me a 450SLC today
It drives just so nicely and has only done 129000 kms. Only really needs to have a few trim bits sorted out to make it spot on.
Despite all the good advice, I can still see myself getting a cheap runabout/project car........................... Maybe a 116 or 123, 280 of some sort................... once the bank balance recovers a bit though.

Many thanks to all of you for the input once again.
Cheers
Tony

[vwnate1]

Oh damn ~ that looks very nice ! .

I am fond of RHD cars , having imported a few back in the day .

Don't hesitate to press this car into daily service , it's built like a tank , albiet a good handling one .

If you simply have more money than good sense , marry me I mean : buy a nice W-123 like a 280CE ~ they're fun and good drivers , a bit too Industrial looking for some folks but seriously fabulous cars .

[Tony 12]

[QUOTE=vwnate1;1356676]Oh damn ~ that looks very nice ! .
QUOTE]

Thanks Nate!
It seems to be a really nice, honest car and RHD because I live in Australia. It's got every document from day 1 when it was imported from Germany in 1974.
As for more money than sense.................... no, my W124 only cost $18000 and this W107 was $12000, most new cars cost more than that but don't have the style or character of an old Benz.
So, I figure another couple or 3 grand for just one more isn't too much to ask. Just one more and I'll stop, I promise..............
However, I do have a shed with a few old dirt bikes in it too.................

[vwnate1]

Did you say $12,000.00 Au. DOLLARS ?! what's that equal to in U.S. monies

It certainly appear to be worth the asking price , if it runs as sweet as it looks .

[Tony 12]

That's about $9500 of your dollars, Nate.
For whatever reason, SLC's are not bringing much money right now over here. Average price seems to be around $AUD10000, with lots below that, but the cheaper ones I saw had rust, high mileage etc. This car has done 129000kms (about 80000 miles) was bought in Germany and imported to Australia straight after purchase. There's no rust that I can see (and I even pulled off door trims etc last night to check) and there's no rattles at all and only a little belt noise from the engine. The original first aid kit is there unmolested and a great pile of documentation from the day it was 'born'.
So all in all, I think it will be a good thing. And it's much more fun to drive than my 300E.

[vwnate1]

You know what they say : when the top goes down , the price goes UP .

SLC's are a hard sell in the U.S. too sad to say .

I'd think a cherry one would top out around $10,000.00 U.S. so I think you did O.K. ~ I certainly wish I could simply afford to buy one of the recent restorations a rich guy got bored with , there's scads of cars like that over here... toys for them really .

In Los Angles , $10K would buy the nicest one there is as we have a glut of old Mercedes cars here , it's amazing .