I Found A Cool Fintail Wagon - Page 6

Txjake · #76 03-18-2011, 02:50 PM

I need to start hunting.....damn, that's so cool....

Edward Wyatt · #77 03-19-2011, 12:20 PM

Congrats, that a very cool sled, the ivory steering wheel is tres elegant.

It's also nice to see that classic cars like this are still affordable and with the determination Squiggledog has, I have no doubt it will be on the road sooner rather than later.

The hobby has priced itself out reach of most true enthusiasts, you know, the credit card/checkbook restorers who look at a car as the latest fad/blue chip investment. The crazy prices being paid for mass produced, and poorly built Mopars comes to mind. Heck, split window VW buses are going for a small fortune today. Twenty years ago, you couldn't give one away, crazy stuff.

mercmad6.3 · #78 03-19-2011, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Wyatt

Congrats, that a very cool sled, the ivory steering wheel is tres elegant.

It's also nice to see that classic cars like this are still affordable and with the determination Squiggledog has, I have no doubt it will be on the road sooner rather than later.

The hobby has priced itself out reach of most true enthusiasts, you know, the credit card/checkbook restorers who look at a car as the latest fad/blue chip investment. The crazy prices being paid for mass produced, and poorly built Mopars comes to mind. Heck, split window VW buses are going for a small fortune today. Twenty years ago, you couldn't give one away, crazy stuff.

The really expensive Classic mercedes have always ben expensive. I dont remember too many cheap 190SL's as an example but here in Australia a mate just sold a clean Datsun 1600 (510 in the US) for $9600 . A fintail in the same condition will not sell at a asking price of $3000.
We have cars which everyone wants such as early Holdens and falcons so the prices paid are far in excess of what they are worth in both terms of quality or rarity. Who on earth would pay $50,000 for a car like a holden with drum brakes,no demister,no radio ,plastic bench seats etc etc when the mercedes of the same year has disc brakes...just for starters.?
There is no accounting for fashion tastes in there?

vwnate1 · #79 03-19-2011, 06:46 PM

Happy to see you got it , let the fun begin .

It really is a beautiful car .

tonkovich · #80 03-19-2011, 08:01 PM

sweet ride.

similar one from early 60's but same style and color was sold on craigslist a year back, for $20k ish.

not that i know anything, but i think if you can keep it original, from the engine on up, would be better. (just my $.02)

enjoy.

neubob · #81 03-19-2011, 09:32 PM

no and it was green and went to ohio to a person who was a flipper of mercedes and i cant remember his name.

Squiggle Dog · #82 03-19-2011, 10:39 PM

Today I pulled the fenders from the wagon and judging by the way things look under there, I think it will be easier to find a rust-free car (maybe even a W111) to transplant the roof and other parts to. I would have to replace practically every panel, anyway. I got a good laugh out of the fenders because they are flexible and made of almost entirely body filler.

The front bumper crossmember is eaten away, the tops of the wheelhousings are gone, the boxing around the wheelhousings is eaten away, the rocker panels are gone and they put body filler over the jack holes, the floors are gone, and the transmission tunnel and parts of the frame going under the seats is eaten away.

So, in light of taking a real good look at the wheelhousing area and taking into account all of the other rust issues, I think I'll find a rust-free car with a bad engine and trashed interior to transplant the wagon parts onto.

I'm really not disappointed because I knew it was a rust bucket and I planned on transplanting the wagon portion onto a sedan if need be. Plan A was to replace the rockers and floors if possible, then use the fenders from my 200D. Now I'm taking plan B. Time to research how the roofs are attached. I know the area under the fin trim is spot welded...

tonkovich · #83 03-19-2011, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neubob

no and it was green and went to ohio to a person who was a flipper of mercedes and i cant remember his name.

well, i didn't know there were so many out there - the one i saw was yellow with i think beige/tan interior. missed the green one. wish i had that kind of "play' money.

mercmad6.3 · #84 03-20-2011, 12:10 AM

If you find a good shell, consider removing the roof by cutting the pillars rather than unpicking the roof panel. Welding pillars is a lot easier than welding a roof. It all depends how careful you are when marking out the cuts before plugging the sawzall in.

GGR · #85 03-20-2011, 07:29 AM

You should contact that guy quickly. He was going to donate his car (if not already) in case nobody wanted it: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/vint...967-230-a.html

t walgamuth · #86 03-20-2011, 09:12 AM

Sorry to hear about the extent of the rust. I cannot say it is a surprise though. I would look in our southwest or in the middle east for a rust free shell.

Good luck!

Squiggle Dog · #87 03-20-2011, 12:12 PM

I contacted the guy with that 230 sedan to see if he still has it. I'll see what he says. Even if I could get it for cheap I'd still have to pay around $700 to get it up here and I'm still trying to recover from my wagon purchase (and then my 300SD also needs a steering box, transmission swap out, and a few other things). But I should be able to come up with some money from selling parts from my 200D on eBay.

I suppose I could also just weld in new wheelhousings and front crossmember (I think the ones from my 200D are good) and stick with plan A, I just hope I wouldn't mess up the body alignment.

vwnate1 · #88 03-20-2011, 12:54 PM

Too bad

.

There's no shortage of rust free sedans down here in L.A. , I see them in Pick-A-Part almost every time I go . tatty and cosmetically junk but zero rust , almost every one .