Becker Mexico....Still Rock's! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

LuckyF8 · #1 12-17-2002, 11:48 PM

Have been playing with the new dig cam, here is one of my first shots of the old 108, interior......hope it turns out.

240 Ed · #2 12-18-2002, 09:27 AM

Far out, solid, and right on!

A beautiful dash! Nice looking wood and you have the brown dash top like mine. I was just figuring out what color to do my wood in--so this is what the original looked like...!

Tomguy · #3 12-18-2002, 04:04 PM

Hmm, maybe it's the camera, my wood looks darker than that...
Well, not the covered part

but when I took my dash bow off, I can see it looks like either a very deep walnut or possibly even cherry...

LuckyF8 · #4 12-18-2002, 11:09 PM

Thank's for the reply's.

It looks like the true color, on my screen, but some computer screens are brighter than others, mine at home tends to be darker than the one at work, that's why I ask for your opinion.

This is original, and the color is on target, I will take some more pics soon.

I have seen many 108's with clean original wood, everyone is slightly unique to itself.

240 Ed · #5 12-19-2002, 05:45 AM

I think the wood is called French Walnut.

And , I think the factory did NOT stain this wood, just simply applied many layers of lacquer.

I think I shall stain my wood a little "red oak", then cover with spray lacquer out of a can.

#6 12-19-2002, 12:13 PM

I have two questions. When I got my car it had a Becker Mexico installed. It is a 1963 220SEb. Is this the correct radio for this car? Also my wood is in terrific shape but I am curious as to what variety it is. It has a gloss to it like a thick varnish coating and I wonder if I should leave it alone or occassionally treat it with a protectorant. Picture is attached,

MikeTangas · #7 12-19-2002, 12:21 PM

As far as treating the finish on the wood, I just use some good old Johnson's Paste Wax (furniture polish).

My dash has sun faded to slightly lighter color, but when I reworked the heater levers, I could see the original color of the wood. New it was a deep chocolate brown, obviously a walnut and very nice looking. Too bad the sun has lightened it so much.

Too bad the original Becker went by the wayside long before I came to own this car. Very classy looking in that dash. I might just have to start hunting one, of course then I'll have to rewire the dash to further repair the cut and slash that was done as some point in the past.

Mark DiSilvestro · #8 12-19-2002, 06:14 PM

Gregg,
I've seen 3 types of Becker Mexico radios in older Mercedes, late '50s to early '60s -Becker Mexico, tube, AM/FM, signal seeking tuner. It's a big heavy unit with a separate power/amp box that mounts in the right footwell.
(My dad had a working one of these in his '60 220SE. He paid $150 for the car in the mid '70s, later was offered $450 for the radio!)
Mid to late '60s Mexico transistor AM/FM/SW/LW, signal seeking tuner
(Dad replaced his 220SE with a '66 250SE that had one of these.)
Late '60s to late 70s Mexico transistor AM/FM/Cassette, signal seeking tuner. Has a separate small power/amp box that mounts in the footwell.
(I got one of these off EBay for my '72 250C)
There may be other variations/Euro models I haven't seen.

I can't tell from your picture which one you have. Can you figure it out from my descriptions or show a photo of just your radio?

Happy Motoring, Mark

#9 12-19-2002, 07:07 PM

Hey Mark, in my opinion it's the early one (late 50's/early 60's) judging by what you said and the year of the car. Also, wouldn't that be the power/amp in the right footwell there?

Mark DiSilvestro · #10 12-19-2002, 07:44 PM

420,
That grey object in the right footwell is the blower housing for the hang-on 'Kuhlmeister' AC. The original power/amp unit mounts to the firewall, behind the glovebox. The radio in the photo kind of looks like a later Mexico cassette unit but my image is very poor. It looks like the radio faceplate in the picture is taller than the space in the dash but that could be an illusion due to my poor image. The original Mexico, Europa, Brescia radios in the 111 series cars had a very narrow faceplate to fit in the recessed part of the wood dash and not override the chrome stip that borders the bottom of the wood. Newer radio faceplates, even Beckers, don't fit in the original space. I discovered all this, last year while trying to fit a radio in 'Miss Daisy', my '60 220S.

Happy Motoring, Mark

#11 12-19-2002, 08:19 PM

Mark,
From your discription it appears that I may have a later model that was installed in my dash. I am including a close up picture of the radio which has a signal seeker, tape deck and am/fm stereo mode. It works great but the original speakers are lousy. You mentioned that the amplifier is in the footwell. I'll remove the panel and check it out. Gregg

Tomguy · #12 12-19-2002, 09:20 PM

Greg's dash is what mine looks like.... erm, LOOKED like. It currently looks like pine

Mark DiSilvestro · #13 12-19-2002, 09:29 PM

Gregg,
That's the transistor Becker Mexico cassette, The most expensive radio option Mercedes offered in the US, from about 1969 to about 1980. It wasn't availible in 1963.
Whatever original radio might have been in your 220SE, it would have had a narrower faceplate that fit down in the recessed part of the wood dash and would have had smaller knobs, matching the other ones on your dash.
Where the power/amp box is located would depend on where the installer of your radio put it. Could be behind the glovebox or someplace else. It may be hard to find with the AC there.

Happy motoring, Mark

Mark DiSilvestro · #14 12-19-2002, 10:01 PM

Gregg,
You mentioned "speakers are lousy".
What size are they and where are they located? I noticed you have a speaker grill on top of the dash. My '72 250C still has the factory Blaupunkt stereo radio with a single'
4"x 8" speaker in the dash and one matching
4"x 8" speaker in the rear deck. They still sound far superior to the four speaker, Becker system that came in my '72 250 sedan, though not quite as good as a modern stereo.
actually, A good factory speaker in your dash might improve things, if there's not one there already. A good sounding radio installation is an art I haven't quite mastered yet. The radio installation in my 220S is still a 'work in progress'. I have 3 original, mono radios that will fit in my dash (I'd rather hear a good mono radio than a lousy stereo) but, without hacking holes in my interior, trying to fit a decent sounding speaker has been frustrating. Unfortunately, the '60 Finback cars had no factory dash opening for a speaker.

Happy Motoring, Mark

Aaron · #15 12-20-2002, 01:28 PM

My '70 280SE originally came with a Becker Europa, but since it wasn't working when I got the car, I slid a period-correct Becker Mexico in there (I had previously had it tuned up by Becker) and it works great. Those twin-knob Beckers sure are better than the later Grand Prix electronic units. I've taken plenty of those out of my '80s Mercedes due to failure. Additionally, a lot of my customers request a CD player to be installed in place of the Becker when it fails, a common thing. When the Grand Prix in my '83 300SD let go during our vacation in Florida, I ran out to Circuit City and bought a Kenwood CD deck but being the originality freak that I am, I've decided to yank the Kenwood back out and have my Grand Prix repaired.