Hey y'all, I find myself in an interesting situation. I could use some advice...

I was in the position to help a friend this past weekend. I was happy to do it too. I didn't want anything in return. He's shared enough with me. However he's insisting that he gift me something... his bulletproof Euro 1978 W116 450SEL 6.9. It's an unbelievable offer and I'm truly honored. I didn't really know how to respond. I turned him down a few times, but he wouldn't stop haha He knows how much I love tinkering with and driving my W123 and he wants his car to go to a loving home. I won't take the car as payment for a favor, no thank you, but I do want to help him bring life back into his car...

See, my friend is in his 70s now and the car needs some work. He's not in the position to do it anymore. It's got 160k and it's been parked outside in his driveway for the past few years. The paint is rough. The driver's door doesn't look aligned towards the fender. The cloth interior has moisture trapped I'm sure it's been growing something wild in there. No rust problems though! The hydro suspension is slammed to the ground. Apparently leaves and debris got caught under the car recently and it caught fire temporarily the last time we went to start it. No bueno. It gets more interesting though... Somewhere along the lines, it's been both rear-ended and shot at. The bulletproof window held up great with just some small chipping on the rear windshield where the driver's head was. The car's rear bumper and trunk area was repaired and you wouldn't know a hit ever happened, but unfortunately because of insurance reasons, the car had been given a rebuilt salvage title many years ago.

If I don't accept my friend's kind offer and do something with this sentimental piece of history, it'll turn to dust or get crunched by some CA recycling program. I bet nothing would make him happier than if I brought his favorite car back to life and took him for a ride. I want to take that adventure on. It's not about the money with him. He wants to see it go to a good home and maybe have its story continue. Here's my dilemma though.... I definitely don't have the time money skills or space to do this "properly" haha If I do this, it'll have to be a compromise from the beginning. Purists beware.

I have a basic roadmap in my head. Keep in mind that this would be a free salvage titled gift. My priority would be to get it operational and somewhat reliable. There is a fun upside to this though. The damaged structure gives me the opportunity to make something unusual, unique, maybe even sacrilegiously fun that this forum has never seen before.... 1) Remove all hydro and replace it with shocks/springs in the rear, plus coilers up front. This is cheap, flawed, and effective way for getting an operational suspension. Spending thousands of dollars on repairing the hydro system on a salvage title example makes no sense to me 2) Minimize all other unnecessary items to lower weight, limit liabilities, and to fund further restorations. I'll be able to sleep well knowing the parts will go to help a healthy w116 that's in active need of help. This includes the hydro suspension, A/C, cruise control, who knows what else random 3) Fix all items relative to safety. The car was running great in 2015 and very safe. So it can't be too too bad? 4) Either make it look purposely even more worn out on the outside, or perhaps using plastidip. Im leaning towards doing a MadMax or safari theme. Something aggressive. 5) Loud exhaust to show off the 6.9 as the muscle car that it is. Gas prices are insane and I would never daily drive something like this. So if I'm gonna work on a car for weekend fun, I want something bananas. And something like this would be an especially fun counterbalance my daily driven 240D haha

So how insane does all this sound? Wanna help? What would you do?

it feels good to things for other people. i like that feeling but i also struggle when people want to do things for me. i have learned to allow people to express gratitude and/or accept help if i need it. your friend wants to honor your friendship by doing something for you. you might consider allowing him to do this and taking him for a cruise next year when you have it ready! just my opinion....thanks for sharing and Happy Holidays to everyone!
g

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James 4:8

"...let us put aside the blindness of mind of those who can conceive of nothing higher than what is known through the senses"
-Saint Gregory Palamas, ---Discourse on the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ


Centrally located in North East Central Pa.

Your better site for guidance would be www.w116.org

Beware - mostly purist over there but the member’s over there are very knowledgeable

Sorry, but that's like making the Queen Elizabeth a trash scow. If you are going to take it, then repair it with the respect it deserves. Otherwise sell it to someone who will take care of it. If anyone had done that to my 6.3, I would have had a stroke.

I totally get where you're coming from.

Unfortunately I objectively don't think anyone should be investing many thousands of dollars to get the hydro suspension working again and then repaint the entire car.

It's a salvage title. There's no un-doing that. Perfection and purism is not on anyone's radar.

Star Motors used to have a monopoly on the HPN system rebuild game. It’s a $20k investment to rebuild that system

Yeaaaahhhh.... ummmmm.... no.

How much do used parts sell for? hahaha

As a long time member of the w116 board I can tell you to try and polish this turd would be folly. There are other HPF specialists out there like Martin Werminghausen, top notch service. Not cheap but nowhere near 20K either. But again I would not try and drag this dead horse over the finish line personally.

A conversion for the springs is pretty simple- just 450SEL “regular” springs

I would just look to see what non-6.9 450SELs owners do for suspension

I agree with Greazzer. Surely the manual suspension can't be that hard to install.

The guys here taking the purist pov are welcome to spend their money how they wish. To me if the manual suspension can be bolted in how hard would it be to go back to the air?

In the mean time it will be cared for and running making its long term survival better.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I do not disagree with the changeover of the suspension. But painting it a MadMax theme and running glasspacks; that I believe is headed the wrong direction.

To be fair, I would never do glasspacks. It would be a custom magnaflow weld most likely. And because of CA, I would have to retain my midsection cats.

Thanks to a geazzer on here, I've been checking out some coilover kits.

https://www.germanmech.com/ceika-coilovers/

I don't really understand how these would mount up though. Mechanical engineering, fabrication, and suspension calculations are not my strongsuit.

If I can sell the hydro system, and use that money to fund a new suspension (parts+labor), I would be the happiest camper around.

If anyone knows someone between San Fran and San Diego that would be up tackling a suspension swap, let me know!!

The OP said:

"So how insane does all this sound? Wanna help? What would you do?"
and
"I definitely don't have the time, money, skills, or space to do this 'properly'."

Proceed accordingly.

If any work is initiated, begin with steel suspension. If, in fact, it is an armored body, it will be quite a bit heavier than a standard spec W116 450, and sourcing strong enough springs may be a challenge.
If the M100 were to depart in favor of a M117 (or LS), do not shed a tear. Bon voyage!

Remember you’ll need to modify your front perches.

I also said, "If I do this, it'll have to be a compromise from the beginning. Purists beware."

You should have be'd more ware.

That's the part I'm really lost with. The rear seems more straight forward.