1963 220Sb Crisis - Need Advice

[Dorothy-220Sb]

Good Morning Everyone,
My dad has agreed to help me with your advice and instruction today, even though Dorothy is not a Toyota (he's a Landcruiser guy). As I am sure some of you might have guessed, my (sub)novice familiarity with Dorothy's inner-workings made me hesitant to dive in solo. I apologize for the delays in updates, but hope to have some real zingers before the day's end. I will be printing all of your suggestions and tips, securing a fire extinguisher, putting new batteries in the camera, and then get started soon!

[ To Ed and others - I am located in the Denver, Colorado, USA metropolitan area. If one of you were down the street, I'd feel like the luckiest Benz girl ever. ]

[ To Tonkovich - You give me far too much credit! I am a mere undergrad in Political Science. I suppose I have had substantial exposure to Marx, Hegel, Nietzsche, etc. As an aside, have you ever read any Kropotkin? I find his style interesting, especially in his "An Appeal the the Young." Some who write make timeless words. ]

[Dorothy-220Sb]

A new day! With new observations and adventures...

1. When first trying to start (with the starter fluid stuff sprayed in the carburetors), Dorothy decided to have a leak (unnoticed before by 3 sets of eyes). It was around this thing:


2. Dad decided to take that thing off.


3. This thing was still stuck:


4. When it came off, it looked like this:


5. Dad reconnected the two pieces of hose that were attached to the metal thing (first pic):


6. Round 2 and 3 with starter fluid were a success, although only for about ~2 seconds.

7. Mom and Dad discussed the issue, decided the spark plugs must be fine because she actually started, albeit briefly. Maybe the line is plugged?

8. Dad disconnects this:


9. I say "the guys told me not to touch the fuel line." Dad says "well, stand back." Mom goes to start Dorothy. She starts, even though gas is flying everywhere and not connected to the carburetor thing. She didn't just start, she hummed and purred. I scream "ahh! gas! shut it off shut it off!"

10. Dad reconnects those things, leaves the weird metal thing off, and Dorothy started for the first time in her 7 years with me /without/ the use of the choke.

Also, happy to say, we had no fires. She sounds just beautiful. I took a video for you all to hear her but it will only let me upload photos.

Dad's words (perhaps more helpful than mine): "Someone added a length of rubber hose to the metal Y-pipe in order to put in a fuel filter between the pipe and the pump. The metal pipe was apparently crimped in the process, as it was bent in order to accomodate the filter. We disconnected the Y-pipe from both carberators and gas flew freely. Once reconnected, it ran fine. We
never really discovered what was "wrong.""

So, to you all...
1. What was that metal thing? Does Dorothy need it?
2. What could have been the culprit here?
3. Should we assume that she will have similar trouble in the future?

Next weekend... we might try to fix the break fluid leak that has become readily apparent. Anyone in? :-)

Thank you everyone so much - you have all been so helpful, generous with your time, and sincere in trying to help beautiful Dorothy back to life. Thank you all!!!

[450slcguy]

Originally Posted by Dorothy-220Sb

So, to you all...
What was that metal thing? Does Dorothy need it? More questions to come, back to Dorothy!

Fuel filter, and yes you need a NEW one. Don't run the car until replaced. Cheap part easy fix.

[Dorothy-220Sb]

Dorothy is waving thank you everyone!

[tonkovich]

uh, in no particular order..

-glad dorothy is on the mend.
-fuel filters are necessary, and make good friends.
-dorothy looks pretty sharp.
- checked out kropotkin on wiki ( a weak source, i know), and he led quite the life.

happy trails.

[Dorothy-220Sb]

Originally Posted by tonkovich

uh, in no particular order..

-glad dorothy is on the mend.
-fuel filters are necessary, and make good friends.
-dorothy looks pretty sharp.
- checked out kropotkin on wiki ( a weak source, i know), and he led quite the life.

happy trails.

Thank you for the gladness directed at Dorothy's ever improving condition. I'm starting to think she did this for attention.

I looked up the serial number on the filter and it is a $3.00 part. If this thing caused the trouble, should we use a different kind or do you think the ACDel Co brand is somehow necessary? She runs so much better without it...

Dorothy is gorgeous, isn't she? Our coming together is a long story... but to keep it short, I was driving home at 3am (I was 17, 17 year olds do things like that) and saw her parked in a vacant lot near my bridge home. Seeing her was all it took. We've been together since around 6 hours after that. "Lemon" everyone said. Prettiest lemon a girl could ever want!

Thank you again! And happy trails as well.

[engatwork]

You may have a fuel hose that has come apart. If you are handy with wrenches you may start breaking lines loose to see if you are getting fuel to the engine.

Seems that you found your lack of fuel getting to the engine. Do make sure you replace the filter. O'Reillies or Advance Auto should have a filter that will work for this application. You can use regular hose clamps verses the crimp on clamp that you removed.

Good job on the resolution.
Jim

[Dorothy-220Sb]

Thank you Jim. We will be replacing that thing. I found one online but it looks plastic, which seems weird. My parents thought perhaps we should look into replacing the whole line there (the bendy one that had the filter hooked onto it that went to the carburetors). Apparently, though, its not like a regular hose - its ends are two different sizes.

Any suggestions on putting a new one of those in, or if it would be relatively inexpensive, or where to get something like that?

[mercmad6.3]

Any NAPA store in the USA will carry that Fuel filter but the fact the car runs better without it means the filter was doing it's job and has become blocked with gunk. That gunk is simply the result of 40 years of dust etc collecting in bthe fuel tank.
(this where you need to buy the Autobooks manual) .
Under the fuel tank in a large bung. With the tank almost empty ,undo this bung and inside is another filter. it will be fouled up too. Clean it and replace it with a new seal.
leading from the tank and to it are two rubber lines. Those will need replacing with Fuel injection rated METRIC hose not imperial sizing.

Refarding the hard line from the pump to the carburetors,retain that peice. it was designed like that for a purpose and although a new one is availabe it is expensive.
If you need parts such as this,contact mr Tom Hanson on thomas.hanson@mbusa.com

[Dorothy-220Sb]

Originally Posted by mercmad6.3

Any NAPA store in the USA will carry that Fuel filter but the fact the car runs better without it means the filter was doing it's job and has become blocked with gunk. That gunk is simply the result of 40 years of dust etc collecting in bthe fuel tank.
(this where you need to buy the Autobooks manual) .
Under the fuel tank in a large bung. With the tank almost empty ,undo this bung and inside is another filter. it will be fouled up too. Clean it and replace it with a new seal.
leading from the tank and to it are two rubber lines. Those will need replacing with Fuel injection rated METRIC hose not imperial sizing.

Refarding the hard line from the pump to the carburetors,retain that peice. it was designed like that for a purpose and although a new one is availabe it is expensive.
If you need parts such as this,contact mr Tom Hanson on thomas.hanson@mbusa.com

Filter: Dorothy got gas a few weeks before her explosion incident. Do we need to replace the filter piece we took out and then run her to burn off the gas, or is there a way to drain so that we can get to the other filter that you mentioned? What should I clean the other filter with? If it is metal, I love Bar Keepers Friend for metal but doubt that is good for a gas tank (hehe).

Hoses/Tubes: I found a listing for "fuel hoses" on this website (http://www.mercedescomplete.com/oem-parts/1963-Mercedes-Benz-220SB-180.941-Fuel&Emission-FuelHoses,Lines&Accumulator-Fuel-Hose.html). Are those what you were talking about?

What does "refarding" mean? I am glad you said to keep that piece - I like the idea of Dorothy being mostly whole. She's only 47 after all :-)

[wbain5280]

I'd like to know what 'refarding' means too, it must be some kind of OZ slang.
From what I can see, I think you were very lucky the car didn't go up in flames.

Please replace all the fuel hoses, not the metal ones covered in fabric. I also noticed that you have a version 1 car, drum brakes, remote booster, flap on the firewall used to let hot air into the ventilation system during the winter. That feature was removed in 1963.

I also noticed the starter circuit was rewired at some point. You also have Solex carbs whuch were later changed to Zeniths. In case you ever need to have them rebuilt, you can get instructions over at www.ponton.org.

Your car looks fantastic. I have a 1965 220S and It will be back on the road very soon. I've been making repairs on it. I'll have to give it a name, any suggestions?

[tonkovich]

i think you smartalecks must know he meant "regarding" (the g be next to the f on the keyboard ). more importantly, his advice (and mr bain and a few others here) is kind of the gold standard. (i never tinkered much on my 69 280s - which is the latter version of your car - and just know a few tricks to try in an emergency.) i will say that you might get a mechanic to do the filter replacement on the gas tank, unless you are a do-it-yourselfer ?

anyway, as to your fortuitous purchase of "dorothy" at such a young age - i am shamed to admit that i did not become an mb owner until i was 38; we won't even touch upon my current benzless state.

[Dorothy-220Sb]

Originally Posted by wbain5280

I'd like to know what 'refarding' means too, it must be some kind of OZ slang.
From what I can see, I think you were very lucky the car didn't go up in flames.

Please replace all the fuel hoses, not the metal ones covered in fabric. I also noticed that you have a version 1 car, drum brakes, remote booster, flap on the firewall used to let hot air into the ventilation system during the winter. That feature was removed in 1963.

I also noticed the starter circuit was rewired at some point. You also have Solex carbs whuch were later changed to Zeniths. In case you ever need to have them rebuilt, you can get instructions over at www.ponton.org.

Your car looks fantastic. I have a 1965 220S and It will be back on the road very soon. I've been making repairs on it. I'll have to give it a name, any suggestions?

Naming... well, that's a hard one. With Dorothy, I had it easy. You see, I already had my 1963 Schwinn, whose name is Toto. I found it uncanny that Dorothy was the same year, and had never had an object worthy of the Dorothy title. This car was absolutely worth it. I think you just have to find some reference that you enjoy or that holds meaning to you.

If the name deserves to have life again, why not pass it on to something you want to spend your life with?

[Dorothy-220Sb]

Originally Posted by tonkovich

i think you smartalecks must know he meant "regarding" (the g be next to the f on the keyboard ). more importantly, his advice (and mr bain and a few others here) is kind of the gold standard. (i never tinkered much on my 69 280s - which is the latter version of your car - and just know a few tricks to try in an emergency.) i will say that you might get a mechanic to do the filter replacement on the gas tank, unless you are a do-it-yourselfer ?

anyway, as to your fortuitous purchase of "dorothy" at such a young age - i am shamed to admit that i did not become an mb owner until i was 38; we won't even touch upon my current benzless state.

I am a try-it-yourself-er more than a do-it-er... I can't find any in-tank filter reference in my book. Perhaps there is an online reference to at least understand it better?

38 is a great age to find a new love! You should not be benz-single right now, though... maybe you should look into fixing that :-)

[mercmad6.3]

The filter is inside the tank ,if you look under the car at the rear you can see the bottom of the fuel tank and in the center is a round bung. This is the filter .
You don't want to undo that until the tank is almost empty unless you have something to catch the fuel.
This what they look like when removed after 47 years...
I wash them in paint thinners which removes all that deposit.