1977 450SL (60,298) Miles *Is it worth it?
 

Hello Gentlemen, or if your only 40 and people call you sir and you hate it, "Whats up Guys".

I have a chance to buy a 77 450sl with 60,000 miles for $2500.00 Looks and runs great, except that it wont reverse.So right now it looks like I may need to FRED FLINSTONE it to get out of the drive way. My question is, do any of you think that with only 60,000 miles it is premature for it to need a rebuild? I read somewhere that there is some type of "adjustments" that can resolve the problems. Below is a link

http://www.mercedesdismantlers.com/722.118_transmission_adjustments#722.118%20Transmission%20Adjustments

I would appeciate any of your guys input.

No its in California..thanks for the reply though.

I'd check it out VERY meticulously, and if it's in good shape other than the tranny, I'd say it's worth 2,500! You can get a used tranny for very little money, if you can put it in yourself.

Mike

Ahh! Mike mover, a musician....Me too, what do you play? What is your Gear? When you say very little money in regards to the tranny, How much is little money? (approx)

I would say if the car otherwise is in very good shape and you want it then it would be worth it. If you decide not to buy it I would be very interested in taking a look at the car. Stay in touch.

Ahh. Rayson, A believer! Good to meet ya and thanks for the input.

Phil 1:6

I'd be suspicious of a that... First the 3-speed tranny's are extremely reliable. Something must have happened... I'd want to find that out otherwise I'd pass...

I did a rebuild at 110K only because there was a amall leak and I plan on keeping the car for a long time. Now, you have relatively low miles so maybe the car has been sitting up for a long time... the rubber parts will deteriorate...

What you don;t want is a money pit. IF you are as rabid a owner as most of us here, it will be hard to not what to fix the things as they go bad..

I've seen used trannys go for $200-$300...occasionally less on eBay, or you could always get a parts car for a few hundred bucks that has a good tranny, and you'd have a supply of lots of other parts too, or part it out to recover the cost of the tranny. There's lots of ways to go about it. See my post in the "parts" section...My new buddy Chris can probably hook you up with one: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-used-parts-sale-wanted/54211-found-great-used-parts-source-atlanta.html

Mark Herzig in the previous post has a very good point--If the car has been sitting for a couple of years or more, you could end up with a lot of bad seals, and spend a lot of time and $$ fixing leaks. :( Early 70s models are bad about rusting too, so check it out VERY carefully! If it has always been a CA car, rust probably won't be an issue, though...

As far as the music...I'm a drummer...got a 70s-vintage Slingerland kit that I'm in love with! :D The band is called doubleDrive. www.doubledrive.com Also check out this post: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/off-topic-discussion/53435-doubledrive.html

A couple of the guys here have heard our stuff, and seem to dig it. :)

Let us know what you decide on the car!
Mike

Hey mikemover, Yeah, Classic Rock! Hey I'm going to the NAMM show this morning. I also am a Guitarist and if you are my age, you know whew my influences and stlyes are. 1979-80 ? You guessed it, EVH, ZEP, JOURNEY ETC. Although I don listen to those groups anymore thats what I was reared on.

Thanks for making the point about the seals, heres the cool thing, a guy at church has a MOM who the car belongs to. So I can go over it for as Long as I need to make sure it all checks out ok. I think I will do that next weekend.

Cheers

Hey, if you're going to NAMM...tell Bobby Boos at the Sabian Cymbals booth that Mike Froedge from doubleDrive says Hello! I have a Sabian endorsement, but since we were in "record label limbo" for a while, I haven't talked to him in quite some time. Tell him my cell # is still the same! :) There will also be some of my friends there from Attack Drumheads and Vater Sticks.

We talked about going out there this year, but we've got too much going on here right now...Getting the artwork finalized, website building, etc...the record's coming out soon and we're behind schedule on some things. :(

Anyway, have fun, give my regards to Bobby if you get a chance, and drop me a line and tell me how it was! :D

Mike

Good Evening,

Did you get to go over the SL this weekend? Are you going to get it? Just wondering.

Greetings, No I havent gone over it, this weekend was to thin. I will have to do it another day. But I am certain that she will be mine. 60,000 Miles? Shoot thats not even broken in yet!

R