1968 250S : what to do with this car

[DubMutant]

Hi all;
I've found a beautiful 68' 250s just down the road here. It's baby blue, originally from Atlanta. The body is in beautiful shape and there is little to no rust visible, except on the roof where there are 2 large rust spots.
There are many many older service records and the car was kept well for many years- then it ran into the current owner. He had some work done to it, timing chain tensioner was the biggest job, and new tires too. It has been sitting in his garage for 5 years now...why? because one day he was "driving it at 60 mph and it made a thunk sound and died" He reported that it would not turn over from that day forward, that a local mechanic had put a wrench on the crank and reported a "broken rod"

I checked the fluids, all which would need to be replaced, and there was no fluid in the radiator. He reported no overheating when this happened. I am wondering if he somehow sized the engine.

He is currently asking 1500.00 for it. Is it save-able or is this car destined for the scrap heap?

Thanks

[pj67coll]

Originally Posted by DubMutant

Hi all;
I've found a beautiful 68' 250s just down the road here. It's baby blue, originally from Atlanta. The body is in beautiful shape and there is little to no rust visible, except on the roof where there are 2 large rust spots.
There are many many older service records and the car was kept well for many years- then it ran into the current owner. He had some work done to it, timing chain tensioner was the biggest job, and new tires too. It has been sitting in his garage for 5 years now...why? because one day he was "driving it at 60 mph and it made a thunk sound and died" He reported that it would not turn over from that day forward, that a local mechanic had put a wrench on the crank and reported a "broken rod"

I checked the fluids, all which would need to be replaced, and there was no fluid in the radiator. He reported no overheating when this happened. I am wondering if he somehow sized the engine.

He is currently asking 1500.00 for it. Is it save-able or is this car destined for the scrap heap?

Thanks

All cars are save-able depending on how much money you want to throw at tem. Price sounds too high though given that you could be looking at a new engine and that's before you start finding out about other potential issues. As a 500 buck potential project it might be worthwile.

- Peter.

[Pooka]

I used to hear this a lot. It normally turned out to be a bolt that had broken on a rod bearing cap, allowing the bearing cap to be beaten off the crankshaft as the other bearing cap bolt became bent from the force of the crankshaft beating on it. The 'thunk' is one solid piece of metal hitting another one.

In sum: The bearing cap seized up in a part of the engine around the crank area and this keeps the engine from turning.

You should price a good used engine for this as damage like this normally gauls up the crank. The piston rod and bearing cap is ruined for sure and these can cost up $250 each.

This damage take place when the car is run at high RPM. The bolt holding the bearing cap cracks and then maybe years later breaks. This is one of the things you run into when buying a standard car, such as this one, that has been 'hot-rodded'. You almost never see this on a 6.3 or 6.9 as they were fitted with pistons and rods built to take high-performance use.

Bottom line... How much is a replacement engine and a paint job? This really sounds like a parts car to me.

See if it has the three-band Becker radio. Maybe you can just buy that as they are somewhat rare.

Pooka

[DubMutant]

yeah i was thinking that but the radio is gone. He has a bunch of spare parts and carbs but I am thinking the engine is toast. Plus, all the brakes probable need to be done and so many other potential problems to consider.

Perhaps for 100.00 it may be worth it. The interior is getting moldy too...other than that the body is in great shape. too bad.

[todds]

Skip it man. For that price and with a smelly interior, it ought to at least be running so you can properly assess the rest of the car. On the other hand, in the rare case that it is rust-free in the usual places, THEN it is worth an offer of some kind. Most of the 60's cars die due to rust and owners neglecting them resulting in a dilapidated state. I think that engine failure is not a very common killer of these cars from the ones I've seen, finding one with a good engine is relatively easy.

[DubMutant]

is that I have realized that for the amount of work, and money it would take to make this vehicle roadworthy again plus the additional assumed risk of unexpected issues, besides the engine either rebuilt or risk a used one, and to just make the interior drive-able, would take a very patient and skilled DIY'er/mechanic with lots of extra time, or money to make it go.

I spoke to one of my mechanics and he, being in the business of fixing these cars, didn't think it had any value what so ever unless you are throwing 8K at it or can rebuild the front end, install motor, redo brakes, etc,etc,etc or unless it was in "out of the box new condition" then, just the engine and off you go.

I bet the guy will end up junking it unless someone has these resources/capitol/time available, which I certainly don't.

I understand that these vehicles required some 3 hours of tuning after 6K miles. He paid $2500 on it then tuned it once in 5 years of use and drove it till if died. He has kept in his garage now for 8 years! What a waste of space.

[ja17]

Over my forty-five years of hands on experience with Mercedes, I have found that catastrophic engine failures of Mercedes Engines are not caused by weak parts. Mercedes engines are designed to withstand being run at red line all day long. Failure is normally due to neglect, abuse, or wear from advanced miles or the combination of all of these. I most often hear these engines as being over-robost, and over-engineered.