Starting My '67 230S Rally Tribute

[Mint2Me]

Originally Posted by dobrodan

I think that Becker Grand Prix would look a lot better in my 230S. I'll take it off your hands for you. By the way, a column shift 230S is somewhat rare. Cool.

I didn't know that. Do you have a source for that information? I actually have become very fond of the column shift.

[Mint2Me]

We are closing in on the completion of the Phase I of the build. We fabricated the bracket for our vintage Marchal spot and it looks great. John Rogers donated a pair of NOS Cibie light support brackets he just happened to have in a box among his collection of old parts.

We went over the a wiring plan and I spent a good part of Mother's Day running wires for the lights, outside temperature gauge and the tachometer. We managed to squeeze everything through an existing grommet too. We should have everything wired by Wednesday.

The last thing will be tacking down four luggage strap brackets for our leather luggage holding straps. This will keep our set of vintage German leather luggage in place in the cavernous trunk.

BTW, if you look at the front picture, you'll see a Puerto Rico badge and an Belgian license plate. The Colonel (our M-B's name) was purchased by a US Army Colonel while in Belgium. That is the plate number assigned to the car when new. The Puerto Rico badge was affixed to the grille when the Colonel was transferred to the island after the Belgian post. It's been there ever since.

[Mint2Me]

Cruising down route 7 heading to my mechanic to weld in some luggage strap brackets and voila, I lost my column shift. The linkage just gave up. I coasted down the hill keeping in front of traffic and turned into his driveway.

Turns out inside the engine compartment, the bushing pressed into the linkage just disintegrated. But here is the best part...my mechanic remembered a similar problem with a 230SL he repaired maybe 10 years ago. He had an extra one and just kept it in a batch of odd parts. It fit perfectly and the repair was done. Although we did discover my clutch master cylinder is leaking and that too was a good thing to catch.

Here is a picture of my "not so fitted" luggage in place. It is an original set of dark green leather Offenbach luggage from 1950s. In beautiful condition.