I think I'm buying an early 60's 190 gas

[WANT '71 280SEL]

I was at a yard sale this past Saturday and bought an old crappy tandem in the hopes of rejuvenating it. I got it for $35 which should be a pretty good deal considering what they usually go for. Anyways, he drives an '87 300D and bought a 60 something 190c 3 months ago. As far as the body goes it has one hole in the driver's door and some surface rust on the RF fender. I was planning to go around it with a magnet and look more deeply for rust, and if none of it's too bad, I'm thinking I'll buy it to learn body work on. The interior is in pretty sad shape except the seats have no tears. The rear parcel shelf would have to be redone, which I could fabricate, and the dash is in pretty sad shape. Anyways, he wants $500 but I think I could get it for $400, what say you guys? The engine runs though I didn't ask him to start it as I was in a hurry. I'll post pictures next time I'm home.

Thanks
David

[WANT '71 280SEL]

I thought I was leaving right away so I was short with my plans on world dominaiton, ummmmm, I mean fixing up the 190. I am planning to buy it then take it to the car dealer I work for (my uncle's shop), and leave it there for the remainder of the school year. Then, since we just bought a torch, I wanted to look into welding equipment and teach myself. There are a couple scrap cars laying around I could weld on, etc. to get the hang of it. But I thought if I could get the body work done myself, then I'd take it to MAACO and get one of their paint jobs since I'm in college and don't have a lot of money obviously. It's the same color as my 116 was and it was a metallic light blue, pretty color BTW. So anyways, those are my plans and I did some research here but most of the information here pertains to the S bodied finatils. I guess this car will never break! SWEET!

Thanks Again
David

[300SDog]

Performance should be faster than the typical w123 240D and you *will* appreciate the small size of the 190c body. Weaknesses include the oil pump gears and the 4-banger is notorious for stretching timing chains. Also it needs more frequent oil changes than 6 cyl models.

They didnt have metalic paint for the 190c back in the '60s, so you might be repainting somebody else's repaint. If it was me, I'd be tempted to prep it myself and even do a complete DIY primer coat with spray cans - letting Maaco do the finish coat. They've got some amazing primers these days that include fillers and are extremely workable with sanding, etc.

[WANT '71 280SEL]

That's what I was hoping to do. The thing with the paint on there now is that it's cracking all over, my mom's cousin said something about the lacquer? Anyways, that's what's cracking I guess. It's a light blue, I just said metallic blue trying to explain the color I guess.

I had never heard those things about the 190 engine, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. How often do the 4 cylinder models require oil changes then?

Thanks
David

[300SDog]

4 cyl runs dirtier than the 6 cyl and they like non-detergent straight weight oil, can be found at harley davidson mc dealerships. The engine is maxed out most of the time. Hot idle oil pressure tends to be lower than 6 cyl engines too.

Replaced the oil pump on mine when it started idling at less than 10 lbs. Found alot of slime in the pan and changed the oil every 2500 miles or so.

Interior from the 220Sb will fit the 190c, including wood dashboard and window trim.

[WANT '71 280SEL]

Now if I could just find those parts from even a 220S. I looked on ebay a couple days ago and there was a set of headlights for these and a timing chain for sale so not much there now.

Thanks
David