1969 280S ball gear lever
 

Hello, I am new to the site and also a new owner of my late father’s 1969 Mercedes 280S. I reckon I’m still in shock at his passing. I sure don’t want to do anything to mess up his car! He was the second owner (since ‘76) and kept it immaculate, to the point of putting a hand made half cover over the roof and windows (tied to the door handles) if it would be parked in the sun for more than a few minutes.

Anyway, I remember it had a round ball gearshift lever knob when he bought it (it is a four speed manual) which he didn’t like and switched out for a more modern looking one. I wondered how important that is to originality because I’m pretty sure I can find it in a box somewhere in his garage.

I’m just starting slow working on his car. It is in great original condition and I’d love to keep it but I hope I am worthy. I used to tune up and adjust the valves on my ‘71 Volvo 164 but it was my dad who balanced the carbs...he was a much better mechanic than me!

It also needs the rubber seals around the doors renewed.

Sorry to hear that your father passed.
Original parts, such as the ball on the shifter are always a good thing to have - look for it, and at least make sure it stays with the car (maybe in a box in the glovebox).
The door seals are not going to be cheap - check the windshield seals as well....if they are getting old, they'll let water in, and if you have a wood windshield bow, it will get ruined (plus you really don't water in the interior anyway).
Being able to adjust your own valves is a plus. Couldn't comment on the carbs, but if you do a few searches, I am sure that I recall posts about adjusting carbs on these cars.

Enjoy!

If you want to work on the car I recommend you buy the Big Blue Book a.k.a. Service Manual Passenger Cars starting 1968 Series 108 109 111 113 Maintenance, tuning, Unit Replacement. You can find them on ebay, or hit me up if you don't find one. Not always cheap but worth a lot when you want to figure out the right way to adjust the linkage, etc.

As for the gear shift ball, those are easy to get (I have a little box of them) but the white paint is often worn off.

For carb synchronization you need one like in the attached photo and you also need the adapter that fits the type of carbs you have (probably Zenith, maybe Weber).

Thanks! I was afraid those weather seals wouldn’t be cheap. Fortunately my dad was aware of it and stopped driving it in the rain before anything got damaged. The last few years he only drove the Mercedes for fun and used his truck for daily driving.

Edit: Just saw your reply Scooter, I think I may have that big blue book and a bunch of tools. I will check for them. Thanks!

Sorry to here about your father passing. My father is in his mid 80's and the thought of him passing is something I think about and fear.

For the door seals, there are two opinions on this. The OEM Mercedes ones are pretty expensive compared to the after market ones (URO is one brand).

However, the Mercedes ones are a far superior product, better material and better fit. Install them once and forget about them for 40 yrs. That is the rout I would take, especially since this car has been in your family since 1976 and has been well taken care of.

If possible please post some pics of the car.

Thanks, I need all the info I can get. This is pretty tough, I miss my dad a lot. I’ll post some photos in a couple days when it’s not raining.

Your father had very good taste in cars to own a six-cylinder Benz with a four speed manual!

I personally like the ball-on-a-stick gear change levers on the old Mercedes, especially the white ones that match the steering wheels. It'll be fun to see your pictures when you get around to taking them!

My '71 280 SE is a four speed that came with white steering wheel and the black round shifter knob when new. I found a white knob but now I am contemplating the more modern shaped shifter for comfort after daily driving use for about a month.
Brad

Interesting. I thought that 1971 was the year that Mercedes stopped using the ball-on-a-stick and moved to the W123-style shifter. But I guess so many owners changed these out between the two types that it would be hard to tell after all these years. All the floor-shift W110s I've seen, though, had the shift knob and wheel the same colour, whether black or white. But those only ran up until 1968, so perhaps things changed after that.

I personally prefer the ball-on-a-stick shifter because it lasts longer. The rubbery foam W123-style shifters get kind of yucky after heavy use. Some companies make wooden versions on the W123-style shifter which I've found to hold up better as well.

My 67 W108 came with the black knob. I guess having it white to match the steering wheel would look better.

If you can't find an original knob, try McMaster Carr for a machine tool knob MC is an industrial supply house that has everything.

That is a beautiful interior. The black knob matches all the rest of the black accents. Mine has a black wheel.
I’m looking forward to taking the car out if it ever stops raining. I used to drive my mother’s 1961 220S a lot (35 years ago) with its 4 speed column shift. It seemed almost as hard to steer as the 1954 GM transit bus I was driving at work back then!

I've been trying to upload pictures of my car for a while and I think I finally managed it!

Nice looking car! :)

Thanks!