Update on 280C Progress, question regarding air pump... (W114 M110)

[Rahulio1989300E]

Hello Everyone,

Back at home for the weekend, got some progress made on the 280C this fine Friday afternoon.



I decided to pull the radiator and condenser to get a better look at the engine... this car is just interesting to me, so I don't mind tearing it down a bit to explore each part and clean it properly. It seems like there is a quarter inch on gunk caked on the entire lower half of the M110!







Three odd things that I found:

1. It appears the engine fan came loose at some point and got the blades notched a bit by the pulley above the fan clutch. The blade is tight and the clutch appears healthy, so it was repaired by the previous owner.

2. Maybe a victim of the fan failure, the fan shroud appears to have been cracked, but repaired using a bracket and a couple of rivets. It is holding fine, but I may want to replace it if I can find someone with the part.



3. The vacuum/air pump was loose and had only 1 long bolt holding it in. (As opposed to 2!) There was a hose plugging into it on the back, I have since removed this pump. It looks like I will have to take the one long bolt I have and match it up at Home Depot so that I can reinstall it properly.

Other findings:
When I got the car it was missing the A/C compressor belt, I assume the compressor has seized. I am planning on extracting the entire A/C system as I don't care to put any money into bringing that part of the car back. The A/C lines had no pressure so I removed them from the compressor and found one to be lined with a rust colored dust powder... I assume the compressor is dead... but I will pull it off the car tomorrow and take a closer look.



QUESTION:
What is the function of the vacuum/air pump? I assume it does what it says? generates vacuum for the engine and the accessories? Am I to assume it is non functional since even when I got the car in its poorly running state (Solex 4A1 with warped top cover) the door locks had to be unlocked one at a time? (Does this car even have a vacuum controlled door lock system??!? )

I will update tomorrow with more pictures and progress! Thank You!