My "stable"

[pyrOman]

Hi all!

This is my "collection", a pearl white '71 280s, a silver '70 280s, and a '65 VW bus (camperized).



Looking to buy a car for my wife's 40th birthday, I stumbled into the '70 for $3k at a dealer. The motor and tranny needed work so I pulled them both out and with the help of a friend rebuilt both for somewhere around $1500. Sweet ride it is! Longest trip was a couple of years ago from San Diego to Lake Tahoe over Christmas. Did superb!

Just before new year's eve 2002 a friend who buys and sells auctioned cars called me to say he bought one too many cars and knew I would love to have an "extra". He described the '71 280s, great body and interior, running but not great. He figured since I was into them I could get it running better. Then he added "I paid $650 for it and if you give me $800 it's YOURS!" After test driving it I said to him "so you need a ride home!"

This '71 is a Texas car, stickers on windsheild attest to that. Milage could already be over half a million. Needs head work, new muffler system (end to end), leaks oil like there's no tomorrow, but the tranny is in excellent shape and so long as you keep the oil level and water up to par, it just runs like a SOB!

Well, here's where it gets sad It DID run great... until recently when after "switching" ignition systems. I left the wire that feeds the coil loose and went for a test drive. The wire gronded and crossed and fried all the way to the switch in the cabin AND taking with it all wires which where inmediately close to it in the loom. Could not shut the engine off, all lights started coming "on" all by themselves and needless to say, I got a mess now in my wiring. So I did the next best thing and bought it a car cover, parked it, pulled the battery, and left it alone.

It's a sad sight sitting there in front of the house so I need to "psych" myself up to doing something about it

Q. Has anybody here ever attempted a wiring harness replacement? I've done a "Painless Wiring" harness replacement on a '55 Ford F-100 truck before. It cost $325 and though it wasn't all that "painless", I did it all by myself without a problem. Another Q. If there's a harness available for my Benzo, how much do they cost?

[300SDog]

I've replaced bits of the wiring harness long ago on 220Sb..... the sections that were close to the engine. If you gonna be replacing the whole thing it makes sense to lay the new one next to the old and work one attachment at a time. Tough part could be finding one in decent shape that hasnt hardened or become brittle. Of course, if you've done this before on your Ford then you probably know more than i do about what it takes.

Btw, does that VW Bus have split front windshield and two tone front that follows "V" pattern? I'll bet its also got hand crank louvre windows with screens.

[pyrOman]

Thanks for the input.

I was extremely bumbed out when this happened so I parked it "until further notice". Though I did a total wiring harness redo on the truck, well, it was a truck and an old one at that, so the layout was easy having all that room. The tightness under the dash of my Benzo is very discouraging to say the least. My main question is that of availability and price of a new harness for it. The one I got for the truck is a universal GM-style 8, 12 or 18 circuit harness. Mostly used for Hot Rods and kit cars. You pick a decent location for the fuse box and then wire everything from there. Each wire is labeled as to where it comes from AND where it goes at 6 inch intervals, i.e. "rear-right-turn-signal", and color coded to boot! You just can't go wrong.

This happened just about a week ago. Talk about the year going out with a bang. I like to drive my cars too much so it's just a matter of time 'till I get the itch and at least start assesing the damage. The main decision is that if a new Merecedes harness is going to cost $600 then I'll go with the universal one at $325!

That's why I am here to find out from more experienced people. I will not even attemp to go to the dealer.

[pyrOman]

Ooops! Forgot to tell you about the VW. Go to thesamba.com and check out the forums there. You'll find me under the same "alias". I frequent there also. Vast source of info on VWs and the reason that I figured "there must be a website just like this one for Mercedes's too!"

If you do a search for pyrOman there you'll find all my posts and if you do the same at the gallery you'll find all kinds of pictures of my bus. Have fun!

[wbain5280]

Beautiful cars! Timeless styling and a great interior. I would love an S or SE, no V-8's though. That's just me.

[volkswade]

Hey I too have a stable full of VW's I just got our first MB and had the same thought tere must be anothe list out here like the Samba

[pyrOman]

I've owned and worked on many diff brands of vehicles, some easier than others while some I vowed NEVER to mess with again!

But you just can't beat that good old German engineering!

Mostly I lean towards the classic and uncommon styles, the simplicity of the VW, and the uncanny attention to detail of the Benzos. Did you know that the Benzos have an adjustment for even the wing windows?

[pyrOman]

Check it out! I'd LOVE to add this beauty to my stable:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2454591861&category=6019

What'ya think???

[pkzip]

I remember stubling onto a site some time ago while surfing on the net that sells new MB harnesses. I can't rtember who but a google search may turn something up. My guess is that they cost more than $350 but I'd look (check the vets site at mbz.org as well) .

good luck

[pkzip]

fyi - on ebay

<http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=34207&item=2455566830>

[pyrOman]

Thanks a bunch! Something I'll highly considered, the price is just right!

I rarely go on ebay since every time I do I find something I don't need but gotta buy!!!!

[Gregg Bambo Jr.]

This 70 VW Crewcab is one of the most versatile cars I have ever owned. Carries 6 passengers, is a pickup and with the sides folded down converts to a flatbed and you don't have to worry about computers or maintaining anti-freeze! I still love my 63 MBZ 220SEb though.

[pyrOman]

Sweet!

Not that I'm overly looking for it but if the rightly priced one comes along I'd like to get a single cab '68-'71 too.

[pyrOman]

pk, thanks for the tip!

I did buy it and just got it a couple of days ago. Now that'll be the motivation to uncover the car, get it in the garage, "survey" the damage and develop a plan to fix it.

I do like the white '71 more than the grey '70 and I don't like long projects so I expect to get this fixed in short order.

Again, thanks!

[pyrOman]

Man, talk about reviving a very old thread!

Anyway, much has happened since. Did get the new wiring into the '71 and working fine. Was driving daily for a while but one day coming home from work it decided to throw a rod out the side of the iron block!

By this time the wife had bought a new '04 Jeep so my "satble" was being pretty much filled to capacity. Wanting to get that VW single cab truck, I decided to thin it by moving the Benzos out. So I ended up buying a used engine for the '71 and eventually sold it. Did get the truck with the proceeds but the '70 then just sat covered under a tree.

Finally just this past weekend I decided to get off my ass and fix it so I could sell it to someone who will keep it on the road. Could have sent it to the scrap yard long ago but the car is in such solid shape I just could not bring myself to do that! So I put a new head gasket on it, did a cooling system flush, and now is running as good as ever!

Have it posted here for sale. Though the pictures posted are 3 years old, the car still looks just as sweet!