New member 220SB - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

harryskater · #1 04-21-2012, 05:33 AM

Hello All! Stoked i found this forum. I have been buying a 220sb from a guy here in New Zealand. His Dad who owned the car passed away and i bought it from his son just before christmas.
It had sat under a tree for the past 20years and is still in reasonable condition. paintwork is buggered from the sun (would have been much worse if wasn't kept under a tree)
Since buying the car for $1200 ive reconditioned carbys, and got it running straight from a jerry can. Then i removed fuel tank and reconditioned. Sent away radiator for pressure testing. And just finished refitting the brake cylinders after having them all re-sleeved and shoes re-lined, and just bled the brakes this afternoon! over the moon that im gonna have working brakes which will stop when required to. I still have fluid to go into clutch system then in theory it should be ready to drive. I am however missing a threaded plug for the cooling system near the bottom of the engine. It looks like old mate has removed this when hes decided to leave her standing to prevent the cooling system from freezing. Can anyone tell me where i could get a replacement or perhaps a brass bolt could be used?

Im also in a bit of a situation where i dont know how far to go with this project. Shes a runner, but to get her back on the road officially, i will have to go through re-registration and there is some rot to be taken care of.
What are peoples suggestions for going about this. Should i dismantle as much of the car as possible and have it sand blasted ( maybe even go as far as take engine out ) then welded and painted. Anyone have any info on sand/soda blasting for me? Im hoping there is somebody who has been in a similar situation out there who can offer me some words of wisdom.
Any info will be greatly appreciated! cheers. Harry

heres a pic so you can see condition.

wbain5280 · #2 04-21-2012, 09:12 PM

Soda blasting would be better, no metal erosion.

Before you take the car apart, check for problems in the various systems and repair them one at a time. Get the repair CD's and review them. The CD's also come with PONTON manuals and the W111 repair procedures build on the Pontons.

harryskater · #3 04-21-2012, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wbain5280

Soda blasting would be better, no metal erosion.

Before you take the car apart, check for problems in the various systems and repair them one at a time. Get the repair CD's and review them. The CD's also come with PONTON manuals and the W111 repair procedures build on the Pontons.

Thanks for the reply Warren. Im now looking into soda blasting in the area and seems like a good option for me. As for the CD's, I already have the original Workshop Manual in book form which has been very handy. Is this the same thing?
Ive gone through each system on the car gradually and everything seems to function fine, even got it driving (very carefully - without the brakes working) changes through gears fine, electrical system seems fine, fuel system has been thoroughly cleaned through and i think the only functional problem to speak of is the ignition barrel. It will not spring back from when in the start position. any ideas?
harry

Marrs · #4 04-22-2012, 02:37 AM

Harry, good on you my friend for taking on the reinstatement of this beast! You seem to be very lucky that the car is willing to cooperate so well.

Was your car an Australian build? Are you familiar with OZBenz forums as well? Join up and post to both for more comprehensive answers to your questions.

Many parts not available elsewhere can be bought via the Classic Center in Germany or Irvine, CA.

mercmad6.3 · #5 04-22-2012, 05:27 AM

hey Kia ora! ,fellow kiwi here but i come from the king country , not the frozen south

Rust is usually only in the front of the sills and the boxes in the back of the rear guards. Post some pics of the rusty bits and i'll tell you how to fix them. I do it all the time as part of my biz.
Cable Price were the agents in New Zealand For Mercedes and most of them were German made. I am not sure if they sold Oz made finnys .
Thats a nice color too. What is the color code on the plate on the front of the radiator Support?
We have plenty of finnys here in OZ (too damn many at my place sometimes.

)so if you stuck for parts let me know (send a PM) .

harryskater · #6 04-23-2012, 06:03 AM

Marrs, yes i tried to sign up onto ozbenz forum but it doesnt like my email address and have tried emailing the site for another way to join but had no response

Kia ora mercmad, Where you from in NZ? You were right about the rot. Its mainly in the boot on both sides behind the back wheels, and towards fuel filler as pics show. I lifted up plastic door runner on drivers door and theres some rust there too. And small amount on drivers side floor pan and of course the wheel arches which have had some lame patches done in the past.
Ive put a photo up of the plate with the paint info on. Which is the paint code, and how would i go about sourcing a matching paint for when im up to the painting stage? I do really like the colour it is, but its very faded. Im a bit concerned whether i'd like it as much being all shiny and new. Perhaps i ought to keep it sun damaged..
There are some replacement parts i know i will be needing. il make up a list and PM you, cheers mercmad

Marrs · #7 04-23-2012, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harryskater

Marrs, yes i tried to sign up onto ozbenz forum but it doesnt like my email address and have tried emailing the site for another way to join but had no response

Im a bit concerned whether i'd like it as much being all shiny and new. Perhaps i ought to keep it sun damaged..

I had trouble signing up at first also but did eventually get a reply. Not sure why it's difficult.

Is your paint all original or has it been redone at any point? If it's original and none of your rot goes through to the paint, meaning all undercarriage, I'd suggest giving it a cut and polish and leaving it. These cars look great in "survivor" mode, and I have left mine with just some touch-ups for now and really like it. Concours cars make you look wealthy, not always good in this economic climate, but "rough around the edges" old Benzes seem to be very endearing to people and many assume I inherited an old family car. If you do have rust through but the paint is original, you can always just touch up those spots, that is common and a good shop can make it almost impossible to notice. Leave it if you can, and a side benefit is you will save lots of $$$ too! (NZD's of course.)

harryskater · #8 04-26-2012, 06:02 AM

yeah Marrs, its definitely showing some filler on the roof, one of the doors has been battered too. Thanks for the suggestions, its got me thinking. Im gonna price up a soda blast and a re-spray and if its rediculous i may have to resort to leaving it "rat look" which is kinda cool like you say.. Although i do daydream about polishing it on a sunday morning..
Do you have pictures of your 220SEB?? would be interested in a look!

mercmad6.3 · #9 04-26-2012, 06:06 AM

Hi, i 'm from TeKuiti ,I'm a direct decendent of the First Maori Kings,hence the king Country.
The town is famous for having been the home town of the meads brothers and the discovery a while back of a Alloy bodied Gull wing in a shed. Now..I thought I knew of every old car in that place but i missed that one,and believe me some real gems were hidden away there.

Your car's color is 516 mittlerot, middle red in english .A really nice color!!And i would say the car is German assembled as I have never seen a OZ built finny or roundie with that color. Most were Toyota colors here because the same company assembled Mercs,Vanguards and the first toyotas in Australia.

So being in NZ it could have been owned by a resident of middle earth,a mr H. Obbitt,possibly?
Those rusty bits are easy fixed and you can buy the bottoms of the boot boxes . A new boot floor would be the way to go to fix the rear by the fuel filler. If you know someone who can wheel up a copy of the one in there ( i do it here but postage to NZ would be too much i think.) .
I was wondering why there is only a couple of NZers on the OZ benz site .
try sending an email to John Green via his work email..spares@mbspares.com.au

Fulcrum525 · #10 04-26-2012, 10:08 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't New Zealand one of the easiest markets in the world to import used cars into?

Marrs · #11 04-27-2012, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harryskater

Do you have pictures of your 220SEB?? would be interested in a look!

Sure, oddly she looks much nicer in photos, I guess the white color washes out flaws, but her paint is worn, the seats are in need, dings in the rear bumper, etc. She looks "well loved" in person.

I love this shot from the day I first test drove her because you can see the grille badge laying in the center console! lol Funny that they also put down the carpet protectors.

JiveTurkey · #12 04-27-2012, 09:13 AM

I thought NZ was chock full of old Pom Marques which would make the Finny an uncommon car there yeah?

mercmad6.3 · #13 04-27-2012, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JiveTurkey

I thought NZ was chock full of old Pom Marques which would make the Finny an uncommon car there yeah?

In the 80's that was quite true but after labour got voted in and indulged in an orgy of thatcherite asset sell offs they also wiped out the local car factories by allowing the import of used cars without duty.
It was a license to print money as all sorts of crap from Japan was dumped there.
After WW2 you couldn't buy a new car unless you could finance it with money overseas (overseas funds ) so although quite wealthy,the country was full of cars that were way past the use by date. Into the 1970's it was common for people to be driving 1920's cars about as everyday drivers.
So any sort of mercedes was the badge of a seriously wealthy person but that didn't stop a lot of them being imported. Our family had quite a few over the years and i saw my First merc in 1958 which was owned by a local Saw mill owner .I understand it's still in the same area ,albeit being just a shell now laying out in a paddock.
NZ has ownership papers which stayed with the car form owner to owner .Because of the shortage of cars some had a lot of owners. My own 1939 Ford had 72 owners listed on the papers...

Marrs · #14 04-28-2012, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercmad6.3

Into the 1970's it was common for people to be driving 1920's cars about as everyday drivers.

I always wondered why in the movie Dead Alive (Peter Jackson's horror flick) had all those old cars, I thought it was a period piece but couldn't reconcile why the sets were modern.

Quote:

My own 1939 Ford had 72 owners listed on the papers...

Jeeze, I doubt even a coin in pocket has had that many.

mercmad6.3 · #15 04-28-2012, 02:59 AM

If you want to see what it was like in NZ before the japanese junk car invasion,watch this movie. it was filmed at Horopito motors, 200 acres of cars going back to the 1900's ( most of those have gone now)
Smash Palace (1982) - IMDb