Restoring A 74 280 W114 Part 1

Hello All,

Spent the morning reading the forum. Was surprised at all the post for vintage Merc’s
I am new to the vintage Mercedes scene.
I’m restoring a W114.060 4 dr 280 sedan. Call me crazy for restoring a 74 4door 280.
I seen this rust free car on the way to work every day sitting with a for sale sign in it. It must have been there sitting for about 6 months or more. I just happen to stop and take a look at it and the owner had seen me so he came out and gave me the story behind the car. He had got it because the person owed him money. The previous owner had spent several hundred dollars trying to make the vehicle operational but to no avail. The engine ran fair but the paint is bad and the interior is totally shot! I drove it and it was a total dog! The owner was ready to sell! I bought the car for 850.00 To much!? Maybe but the previous owner had replace nearly every part on the engine, fuel pump coil, cap, rotor, wires plugs, fuel pressure reg, etc. After assessing the vehicle. I found the Solex carb was a mess! Some one had taken and tried to rebuild but had all the adjustment wrong not to mention someone had neglected to install the fuel strainer so there was HEAVY sediment in the float bowl clogging up the internals. I do have to say I did not find this carb complicated or temperamental to work on as all the negative press has suggested. After a good cleaning and proper adjustments the car runs like a champ! The main problem with the performance was the secondaries were wired shut! The Blower for the heater and the A/C both melted down as well as the blower switch but I have all the parts on order as well as the dash that is also shot and will be replacing this weekend. I have the a lot of parts on order and ready do the restore back to original and will post my progress if anyone is interested.

Bryan

[JCE]

I am always interested in seeing restorations, and will certainly follow yours with interest. BTW, did tou happen to see that someone is selling a 75 280 on the classified section of this forum for $650? If it is the same model, it might be an inexpensive way to get interior parts and miscellaneous components/spares. Good luck, and keep us posted.

[ctaylor738]

Good luck, and do keep us posted. There are lots of parts cars out there as donors. Always keep in mind that there is almost no market for these cars, so you need to be judicious in your spending.

Thank you for your replies,
I am aware that this car has little to no value as a collectible "Vintage Mercedes" but hopefully time will correct that. In the weeks to come, I will be building a small web page to show the restoration process from start, to current progress with pictures. The link to it will be my web page link on this forum. I will be turning this in to a daily driver after completion. Hopefully, if I run in to problem, the good people on this forum will assist me in this project as I WILL need parts and advice!
Regards,
Bryan

I really think it's great that more people are takink an interest in the 114/115 cars. I drove my beater 250C from Virginia home to Tucson, AZ about a month ago and am working on her now. One of the parts cars I am using is a dark green 73 280 in a local u-pull boneyard. I have gotten some lights and wheels from it, and hopefully the rear bumper. Let me know if you need something from it. I sell parts on eBay and am shipping every couple of days. The interior is light green, and the front bumper and grille are still there and in great condition. I am doing MAJOR rust repair on the 250C now, armed with my new POR-15 and lots of sheet metal for new floorboards. What a project! Keep us posted on your progress.