450SEL 6.9 - Daily driver project

[Delibes]

Alright! Driving a Hyundai is really getting old.

Miss the bank-vault feel to the doors, the grippy brakes, having real wood in the cabin, and most of all, having enough torque to pull the Queen Mary. I daily drove one while working in the Al Ain Car Museum, and have not looked back since.


"Steiner", my daily driver during my 8-month stunt as a museum curator.

So, I set to the task: finding a Milan Brown 450SEL 6.9, which has proven more of a challenge than I originally thought. Eventually, I found a runner in Hyattsville (MD) and made an aggressive offer on it.

The owner, who claimed had installed a rebuilt tranny in it, accepted.

So, now that the car is paid (as of last week), I am the proud owner of a 6.9 that I will be restoring to "Ronin" specs and daily driving in the UAE while fuel is still cheap.


Shiny Milan brown paint and French-spec headlamps is all I need.

The car will take a couple months to get shipped, but for the sake of good order, the official purchase date was April 11th.

I look forward to sharing the restoration process on this beast!

[Tomguy]

Put your build thread / updates in the Vintage Forum, so we can all enjoy it!

[Delibes]

Originally Posted by Tomguy

Put your build thread / updates in the Vintage Forum, so we can all enjoy it!

Good suggestion! Could a Moderator do this?

[Delibes]

First major update! Our broker just got it in North Carolina!





By the looks of it, it will need headlamps (planning on French-spec yellow ones alla Ronin), paint, correct rims, interior and hydraulics. Luckily, no rot!

[Delibes]

I found a car in Spain with French-spec fog lamps; they gave me a reasonable price and bought them immediately. They will take some time to arrive to Dubai, hopefully a little earlier than the car.



.

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by Delibes

Good suggestion! Could a Moderator do this?

Moved it for you. Looking forward to the updates!

[Hellcat94]

Im looking at buying a 74 450se that has sat in place since 1980.. The cars paint is effed, but I kinda prefer that, less to worry about, I figure all the rubber has gone bad by now.. but the mechanical history over its 117,000 miles has been superb so I figure after fluid flushing and changes i might have a running vehicle, and potentially a well running vehicle. The interior is nice and the body is in good shape and not rusted out and minus a small dent in the passenger door it overall looks workable.. The old quote is that there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes, and I believe this, but I'm hoping this wont be too much for me. I'm used to an OM617, and Ive never worked on a M117 before but I am quite determined. Is that rear suspension on the w116 as big of a monster as it seems as well? If I decide to buy it, what are the Must do's and must not do's?

[ATATEXAN]

You are a brave man and galant soul. I will share two cautionary tales from 6.9 friends here in Texas.

1) Be very careful to inspect each injector for function and spray rates. A well-known Dallas M-B shop neglected to do this, fired up the car, but did not realise one injector just gushed fuel into the cylinder filling up the combustion chamber. It hydroshocked that cylinder causing huge damage as you can imagine to piston, connecting rod, and crankshaft.

2) Another guy skrimped here and there on his otherwise top notch restoration. He did not have the oil reservoir tank removed and cleaned like you would an old fuel tank. Driving at night from Houston to Dallas at 130mph+, the large oil capacity completely heated up to proper high speed temp. Alas there was a largish patch of old oil sludge on the bottom of the tank which lifted by the warm oil. Like a blood clot causing a stroke, this oil "scab" shot through the engine oil system taking out the entire left bank of cylinder gear including breaking the camshaft and camshaft journals.

[Delibes]

Originally Posted by Hellcat94

Im looking at buying a 74 450se that has sat in place since 1980.. The cars paint is effed, but I kinda prefer that, less to worry about, I figure all the rubber has gone bad by now.. but the mechanical history over its 117,000 miles has been superb so I figure after fluid flushing and changes i might have a running vehicle, and potentially a well running vehicle. The interior is nice and the body is in good shape and not rusted out and minus a small dent in the passenger door it overall looks workable.. The old quote is that there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes, and I believe this, but I'm hoping this wont be too much for me. I'm used to an OM617, and Ive never worked on a M117 before but I am quite determined. Is that rear suspension on the w116 as big of a monster as it seems as well? If I decide to buy it, what are the Must do's and must not do's?

I also come from a OM617 background, but have driven a 6.9 previously. Vacuum and fuel are everything in those cars —clean filters, a good WUR, and so forth. I'd rather take a ratty car with little to no rust than a clean-looking driver with hidden cancer!

The four-wheel telescopic hydro-pneumatic suspension in the 6.9's is grossly overstated. There are a few professionals who can rebuild each valve for a fair fee, as well as the shock absorbers. Very happy that the car has no coil springs, as I am petrified of them for some reason.

Must do's and don't? Off the top of my head, like I said before, pristine fuel system. Add a solid vacuum system for good measure. Don'ts... rust, wrong coolant, little else. Parts are plentiful and cheap in the 4.5L W116's. You will be getting the 225hp version, closer to the US-spec 6.9-liter!

Originally Posted by ATATEXAN

You are a brave man and galant soul. I will share two cautionary tales from 6.9 friends here in Texas.

1) Be very careful to inspect each injector for function and spray rates. A well-known Dallas M-B shop neglected to do this, fired up the car, but did not realise one injector just gushed fuel into the cylinder filling up the combustion chamber. It hydroshocked that cylinder causing huge damage as you can imagine to piston, connecting rod, and crankshaft.

2) Another guy skrimped here and there on his otherwise top notch restoration. He did not have the oil reservoir tank removed and cleaned like you would an old fuel tank. Driving at night from Houston to Dallas at 130mph+, the large oil capacity completely heated up to proper high speed temp. Alas there was a largish patch of old oil sludge on the bottom of the tank which lifted by the warm oil. Like a blood clot causing a stroke, this oil "scab" shot through the engine oil system taking out the entire left bank of cylinder gear including breaking the camshaft and camshaft journals.

Thank you for the compliments! Indeed, the fuel system is first on the list —from tank to injectors. The oil system will get new hoses, so I will remove the sump and clean it thoroughly. Same goes for the hydraulics!

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Due date for the car in Dubai will be August 12th... very close to my birthday!

[ROLLGUY]

I have not heard from you in a while, as I have been in DD mostly. I am working on a '71 280SE, so I am here every once in a while. I will be lurking around this thread, it seems to be very interesting. Good luck with your new acquisition.........Rich

[Delibes]

Originally Posted by ROLLGUY

I have not heard from you in a while, as I have been in DD mostly. I am working on a '71 280SE, so I am here every once in a while. I will be lurking around this thread, it seems to be very interesting. Good luck with your new acquisition.........Rich

Been Mercedes-less for nearly a year... and unfortunately it does not make any sense to get a diesel here. There were a couple interesting diesels locally, a 190D 2.5 and a W126 300SD, but resale value is closer to zero and few truck stops actually stock up fuel. Most gas stops are gas-only.

Life is good in Dubai, nothing too eventful. Went to Korea recently to meet the GF's parents and go road-tripping around the country. Good times.



Drove the Ssanyong Chairman H, essentially a W124 E320 produced under license. I was rather surprised when I opened the hood and found the M104 there. Good driving dynamics (duh!), but awful interior and build quality —very Daewoo-like. My current 2002 Equus is a better car in that respect!

[pj67coll]

What is that building in the background with what appears to be an Observatory dome on the roof?

- Peter.

[Delibes]

Originally Posted by pj67coll

What is that building in the background with what appears to be an Observatory dome on the roof?

- Peter.

It is an actual observatory! Somewhere in the southern coast of Korea.

[Delibes]

Progress! Got the French-spec headlamps with the yellow reflectors today —a must for any Ronin tribute car.

[Delibes]

The car will arrive to the Dubai Port in 2-3 days. I bought it sight-unseen so don't know what to expect; our broker described it as 'solid'. Feel like a child on Christmas Eve. Will do my best to be there to open the container at the port —at over 120F, it will be a VERY HOT morning.



Ronin's eyes: French headlamps are cleaning up nicely.



Tons of Bosch replacement parts, mostly fuel related, to compensate for years of sitting.



Crowning achievement: the car will proudly wear its MercedesShop badge once it is finished!