Hey guys. As some of you may have recently seen I picked up a really nice 68 280se with a couple items to sort out.
The front windows (electric) were not rolling up all the way so I started digging in to it. Upon opening the drivers side door I found that the last couple cm of the teeth on the regulator were gone. So i ordered another set of regulators to replace the bad ones with and found that the parts were not the same!
The last six of my 108 VIN are 002830. I think this indicates that this is number 2830 to have rolled off the line.
I have the original bill of sale and it shows electric windows as one of the options. The car was picked up in Germany.
On the old regulator there were no part numbers which seems strange for Benz. The old regulator is a stamped cold roll steel part where the newer replacement part is cast. I was a little bummed but saw that the geared section of the regulators were the same so i decided to get crafty and start hacking. After 30 minutes of banging, some persuasion with a drift a hammer and a welder we had a perfectly working window. Yeah!

Now for that passenger side. The gears were again worn, no worries. The problem is that the transmission that bolts up to the motor has a bent up / twisted body. Because of the broken teeth, unnecessary torque was applied to the transmission body resulting in twisting and bending. I don't have part numbers or pics handy til the morning but wanted to post. Are any of you familiar with these early pre split regulators and more importantly the motor and transmission? I googled the bosche motor number but only found references on russian sites. The motor goes direct drive off a rubber cylinder to the tranmission. I might be able to fabricate a new bronze bushings to hold the gear in place which hits the regulator and make a jig and try to press the frame of the transmission back in to shape but it's going to be very tricky and the housing is peened together which will be a pita to take apart but doable.
I didn't want to go with the newer regualtors and buy newer motors because the wiring is totally different.
I guess what im asking is anyone familiar with these parts without seeing pics? I'd love to just find another new or used transmission that i could throw in there and be done with it. Ive spent too much time making these regulators work and just want to button her up and enjoy her for the rest of the fall season. If anyone has any insight, it would be invaluable. I'll post pics first thing in the morning.

Thanks!

Geoff

__________________
-68 280se
-71 BMW 2002
-61 Tbird Convertible
-15 E63

Has the window motor got two wires or three?
The three wire window regulators are rare now so you replace them with the later 2 wire type. The W115 and W114 had the same regulators.
The trick is to wire two relays so that when the power is applied it winds the window UP, and when you push the switch for DOWN the relays reverse the current .
I have a scribbled diagram to make the relay circuit . It's not hard and if you are cunning,you can use all mercedes parts from the wreckers to make it. I use the ice cube relays and the mount brackets to support the conversion in the doors.

The main reason the regulator frames bend is because the glass is allowed to get tight in the channels. As the channels get old,they grip the glass . A quick fix is to spray the channels with teflon spray.

Thanks mac!

The problem is I've already jacked and put back together the drivers side regulator using the old motor and trans and it works fine. It would be a $hame to have to buy it again or undo what I've done. Are there any sources for these old transmissions aside from the wrecking yard? I might try to make a jig today to see if I can encapsulate the trans and press it back into shape.

__________________
-68 280se
-71 BMW 2002
-61 Tbird Convertible
-15 E63

__________________
-68 280se
-71 BMW 2002
-61 Tbird Convertible
-15 E63

I struck GOLD! Found a source that had two of them, fifty bucks a pop. I grabbed them both, one for CHEAP insurance!

Stick a fork in this thread, it's DONE! WOOOOOT WOOOOOT!!!

__________________
-68 280se
-71 BMW 2002
-61 Tbird Convertible
-15 E63

Congrats on tracking down the parts!!

Thanks Turkey!
I'm feeling like isht today, coming down with a cold but am Ohhhh so happy to have tracked these things down.

__________________
-68 280se
-71 BMW 2002
-61 Tbird Convertible
-15 E63

I wonder if these are the same part as the 123 coupe--The two cars are very similar,, I just wish I had the front suspension of the w114/w115/r107. under the 123--it would be much more near to a perfect benz!

No such luck but there are hundreds of W108 and W114 with the later 2 wire motor out there.
BTW,The W123's front end is vastly superior to the 114-107 front end. Simpler and and better design and it's the same as used up to 1992 in the W126 with many parts interchangeable. So if you want to V8 a W123 it's simple matter to drop it in and fit 560 Discs to the front.

I certainly have to disagree about the simpler part--any unit that can be removed as a whole part and rebuilt -IS Simpler, you could have a whole spare unit rebuild it and swap the whole thing out at once, i could use a tractor with an impliment to push down on it to use as a spring compressor - spare unit laying on the ground. The ultimate wiuld be with a rack and pinion included in the unit instead of a worm gear box.

really? on the W116 through W124 Front end there are only two moving parts each side . Removal of the suspension is a matter of undoing the tie rod, remove the top arm bolt,the bottom bolts and it's out. Far simpler than hanging the engine and undoing the crossmember assembly of a W115 through 107 front end. A job which takes several hours,then you have to reinstall it.
Big difference between you and me is that i have been there and done it and do it everyday .
Mercedes Steering boxes are recirculating ball type,not Worm type.
There is no advantage to fitting a rack and pinion. It's been done plenty of times on mercedes and no one has honestly come forward to show their car steers better of feels better to drive. In fact many turn out to be the opposite.
Considering the quality of the engineering in a Mercedes there is little point going through the engineering and cost involved to fit something which is a backwards step.

Well what are you calling the tierod-the tie rods? also there is the rear track rods-- and mainly the hassle of getting the right spring compressor,pitman arm puller etc.
I have only taken out ine suspension and did it steps ay a time over different days and what kind of rack has ever been fitted to what kind of benz that did not come with it origonally-thats interesting.

We are way off topic now but here is a W111 with rack and pinion and it's possibly the best installation you will ever see . there was some serious work required to engineer this and the result is a vast improvement in steering performance. The sharp eyed will notice the work done.



And here is another W111 with toyota R&P .it's a bit hard to see in this lousy video but the car ended up with more turns lock to lock than a stock Merc...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LhJalkC41s

I guess a w111 is Really old from looking at that dash. I was thinking w115 w123