Dear Lord, What Have I Done???

[kjt]

So I've only owned a vintage Mercedes for about a week now. Holy crap I can't believe how expensive parts are for this thing. It doesn't help that I know literally NOTHING about these cars.

I work at a hot rod shop here in Atlanta, and fabricate and build cars and bikes all day long. It all seems really simple to me - well, it did until I started on this thing.

Today I started by trying to rebuild my crusty dual Zenith carbs. Seriously, who designed these things? And so I call to get a simple rebuild kit for these things. $120 for each carb???

I need a book on this thing. I need a good parts source, and a knowledgable person to help my retarded butt before I mess something up. I probably need to find a running engine I can bolt into mine. More than anything, I probably need someone to tell me that vintage Mercedes aren't for me, so that before I sink $5000 in just getting a running engine that only puts out 100 HP, I can just cut my losses now and go back to building hot rods.

Any of you guys run into stuff like this when you first started? What helped you?

[socalbenz]

Here is a link that might help with the carbs

The Zenith Carburetor: The MB Adjustment Manual

You might get more help if you tell us the year and model of the car.

[JMela]

$130 for rebuild kits is a little much. There's tons of zenith info on this site, do a search.

If you're feeling like the car is killing your wallet at the outset, uh, it's not going to get any better. MB parts can be expensive, some times extortionately so.

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by kjt

So I've only owned a vintage Mercedes for about a week now. Holy crap I can't believe how expensive parts are for this thing. It doesn't help that I know literally NOTHING about these cars.

...

What have you bought?

[kjt]

The car is a 1966 (I think). It's a 230 110.011

So far I haven't bought anything. I've just been pricing stuff out.

The carbs definitely need to be rebuilt, and I've printed every page off of the link you gave, and I've been going through that for days. I need like an exploded diagram... maybe a set of procedures for rebuilding the carbs. Stuff like that.

I havent even been able to get to the bowl on this thing. I dont want to pry or mess anything up, but I've removed every screw on this thing, and still it won't come apart.

[junqueyardjim]

This page might help

Mercedes Benz EPC 110.011 Chassis Information | Everything Benz

[POS]

Perspective, my good man. Coming from Chevys and Fords - yes, parts are expensive as hell. Coming from vintage Ferraris, old MBs are quite cheap! We MB guys are just used to this, but the 60s Mercs can be quite pricey.

[mbzjag8090]

It's not a cheap hobby. You should decide whether you want to do it or not. Once you start sinking money you will not want to stop. True, it might only have 100 hp. You probably don't want an old MB for power. You do want one for the driving experience. Getting my 1984 300SD up to speed on a beautiful day with the big sunroof open is such a pleasure. You will probably develop the same affection for yours if you fix it. The older cars are an experience to drive. With that being said, you can probably find other old cars that are as much fun to drive for a much smaller overall cost.

[Fulcrum525]

This is a 230SL?

Pictures?
Overall condition?

There is a lot of knowledge here on the board and once you get most things sorted you often won't have to worry about them again for a long time.

[JMURiz]

Add me to the list that wants details on the cad model/year.

BTW I said the same thing as the title of the thread (Dear Lord, What Have I Done???
)when I got my car home
Ask me again in the spring when I hope to have it running tip-top.

[PanzerSD]

Originally Posted by kjt

I work at a hot rod shop here in Atlanta, and fabricate and build cars and bikes all day long. It all seems really simple to me - well, it did until I started on this thing.

Hot rod the hell out of it, put in an alternate powerplant. I don't want to be the only Hot-rod Mercedes here
If you're in Atlanta, you are in the heart of this forum. I unfortunately am but a shirttail Canadain member I find parts MORE expensive than you might..

[JiveTurkey]

Parts for my ford are way ****ing more expensive than parts for any of my old mercs. I was literally floored when I priced things out on my truck verses the mercs.

[Tomguy]

I guess it depends what you're buying. A set of pistons and rings for my Jeep would cost way less than 2-3 pistons and rings (nevermind all 8) for my Benz. But then again, the pistons & rings for a 4.5 last 400-500k on a maintained engine vs 200-300k on the Jeep 4.0 before oil burning and slap becomes a big issue. I just picked up a set of rockers (both sides) for my XJ for $50 shipped. But good brake pads F&R for a 108 are about half as much as front pads alone for the XJ, nevermind the rear shoes.

No way to get around rebuilding worn carbs, but a lot of times people throw parts at an MB it may not need versus finding the actual issue. The mechanic my parents went to for years did that on occasion, I guess if you throw enough parts on it you'll eventually get lucky and solve the problem!

[JMela]

Diagram:

[kahea]

There are screws hiding in the holes that the air cleaner bolts go through.