Interesting car on Ebay it ia all wrong

[mamali]

Converted 1971 280SE 3.5ith engine fire, no title less than 2K???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercedes-Benz-200-Series-280-SE-3-5-CONVERSION-THAT-CAUGHT-ON-FIRE-AND-W-INCORRECT-VIN-TAG_W0QQitemZ150065720749QQihZ005QQcategoryZ6329QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#mainImage

[POS]

I saw that car - what a nightmare. It's worth the $1500 the bidding is currently at and not much more.

[Larry Delor]

Talk about brutally honest.

Many people have been burned by coupes that have been converted. Pun intended. You can take a 5k coupe, and make it a 20k cabrio, much more, if it is a low grill model like the 3.5 in question.

The real sad part is that there are many of these conversions out there, unkown to many buyers and some sellers. They are dangerous, because they lack the reinforced undercarriage that the cabrio models have.

The fire was probably caused by leaking rubber fuel injector fuel hoses, used on D-jet injection M117 and M116 v-8 models until 1975.

[Tomguy]

Originally Posted by John Holmes III

The fire was probably caused by leaking rubber fuel injector fuel hoses, used on D-jet injection M117 and M116 v-8 models until 1975.

That may be the first assumption, but trust me (from experience): A bad tranny cooler line can be just as bad (if not more so) in under-hood fires.

That's something to think about, isn't it? Out of sight and out of mind, until something happens.

I guess I'm pretty paranoid about the fuel injector hoses because a friend of my dad's bought a 1972 280SE 4.5 many years ago and only drove it a week before it burned to the ground in his driveway.

My buddy once checked for spark on his 1973 VW bug by pulling a plug wire out of the distributer, then he checked for fuel by pulling the fuel line off the fuel filter...... by a stroke of luck, there was a five gallon bucket full of potting soil ten feet away. That made a real mess.... but we saved it.

[Tony H]

Just between the Behr AirConditioner and the bumpers there's $4500 worth of parts on the car. I have been looking for a Behr for my coupe and the least expensive one I have found was $2500.

[david s poole]

when i was in germany buying cars in the early 80's [those were the days $1 would buy 3.4dm and a good sl could be had for 10k] i was warned by my friends about the 280se coupes that were converted to rag tops in italy and sold to unsuspecting buyers that didn't know the vin # difference.they were said to do a very decent cosmetic job but that the extra reinforcing was not there.

[meltedpanda]

So I worry about theft and bumps and bangs on my old 71, and now fires?. All vintage MB's or the models you discuss with FI?

[Tomguy]

Ron, if you replace all the rubber bits, you dont need to worry about fires at all.

Any older vehicle with old rubber hoses may be vulnerable to burning down. The ones of our vintage moreso, because they're older. The older the rubber is, the more prone to failure it'll be. Honestly, new hoses and lines for everything are cheap enough to do and justify with your own safety.

[SootyPast]

Originally Posted by Tony H

Just between the Behr AirConditioner and the bumpers there's $4500 worth of parts on the car. I have been looking for a Behr for my coupe and the least expensive one I have found was $2500.

I too saw that a/c and drooled a scosh.....

I bet the car brings upwards of 5k in this market.

[300SDog]

Along the same venue, here's a Pagoda project - something you dont see everyday: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/71-mercedes-benz-280-sl-roadster-convertible_W0QQitemZ180059463644QQihZ008QQcategoryZ39405QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[wbain5280]

Originally Posted by 240Dog

Along the same venue, here's a Pagoda project - something you dont see everyday:

Yikes, that's some project...