Hello all,

So I leave for deployment in about 6 months, and I'm thinking about selling my 1990 300SE that I drive daily and instead driving my 1968 230 (w110) daily until I leave.

I bought the car not running and over the last year I have done a lot to it. You can see her progress here
1968 230 (W110) Rolling Restoration I installed complete new brakes, new tires, rebuilt fuel system, changed all fluids..... pretty much anything you would do to a car that had sat for 5 years to get it back on the road I did it. It runs and drives great.

Only things I can think of to make it bareable in this virginia heat is to reinstall and update the A/C. It leaks water a bit so i would replace the windshield, rear window and trunk seals. I want to swap the tail light and brake light bulbs to LED for better visibility. It needs a new fan clutch, and a left front wheel bearing. I would probably get extremely light tint on the windows to block the UV also.

What do yall think, should I do it?

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"It's what non-car people don't get. They see all cars as just ton-and-a-half, two tons of wires, glass, metal and rubber. That's all they see. People like you or I know, we have an unshakable belief that cars are living entities..... You can develop a relationship with a car, and that’s just what non-car people don't get."
-Jeremy Clarkson

I daily drove a 1968 W110 200D for a while. I loved, loved, loved it! I get sad when I think of how the rust killed it.

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DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

WOW! What a neat little car! I love that car.

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1976 280C
SLOWER DRIVERS KEEP TO THE RIGHT.
DRIVE RIGHT PASS LEFT

1. I wouldn't sell the 300SE until you get the A/C going in the 230 and start driving it daily. _I_ like driving my old car to work a couple times a week, but that tends to be NOT in really hot weather.

2. Can you keep both?

3. Deployment - you take a car with you or you return home in X years... Again, what happens with the two cars in the long run. The 300SE is at the bottom of it's value and won't go down much farther, and will probably never go up in value. The Fintail is raising in value. If you ask which car will be worth more in 6 years it's the Fintail.

you are crazy...Just kidding, why not , I use my 62 Finny for a daily driver , except for when it rains for the detail you mentioned, I need to replace all seals. The good is that I love to drive it , it brings so many smiles and thumbs up from other drivers and I love the history it represents/ I carry all the necessary tools to fix it roadside should I need to , pretty basic machines . Mine has after market vintage AC, but I roll with all windows down and sunroof open

Good luck , and THANK YOU for your service

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Ron
2015 Porsche Cayman - Elizabeth
2011 Porsche Cayman - Bond,James Bond
Sadly MERCEDESLESS - ALways LOOKING !
99 E320 THE Queen Mary - SOLD
62 220b - Dolly - Finally my Finny! Sadly SOLD
72 450SL, Pearl-SOLD
16 F350 6.7 Diesel -THOR
19 BMW X5 - Heaven on Wheels
14 38HP John Deere 3038E Tractor -Mean Green
84 300SD, Benjamin -SOLD
71 220 - W115-Libby ( my first love) -SOLD
73 280 - W114 "Organspende" Rest in Peace
81 380 SL - Rest in Peace

I know a Doctor that drives his 111 on a daily basis.

He has a 600 he uses when he is entertaining out of town visitors.

He tried a new S class. He thought it did too much driving for him.

This guy grew up in India so maybe he was influenced by the cars of his youth?

Anyway, it can be done.

And this doctor does all his own repairs.

I have a 72 280SEL 4.5 as my daily driver. Has been for over 8 years now. I retrofitted the AC with R-134, a new compressor, and a cross flow condenser.

Any doctor who can do his own 600 repairs is a doctor you should have looking after you. Not an easy car to sort out.

Drive the Heckflosse and enjoy it. I drive mine around all the time! The windows in mine have a stock light green tint.

About the tail lamps: you probably won't have much luck with LEDs due to the orientation of the bulbs in the assembly. The tail lamp bulbs are also very small (and thus are a bit on the dim side). I'd recommend you just try and make sure the wiring connections are as clean as possible.

Thank you for your service.
I retrofitted LEDs in my W108 and I got them at Superbright LEDs. Bulbs fit just fine but the turn signal bulbs required added resistance or a different flash mechanism. I haven't done the turn signals or instruments yet but the ones I have installed work nicely.
I have read here that it is recommended to buy OEM rubber for seals. Going from bad rubber to good rubber was very satisfying when I had done it several times in years gone by.
I drove a 1966 200 4 years without AC in Memphis TN back in the early eighties and I really didn't mind it too terribly much, but my dates didn't think much of it.
All the best.
Brad

I was reading this thread, then I started reading about your restoration of your car, then I got to the part about getting a Data Card, then I ordered mine and I’ve been decoding it ever since. Anybody know what 427 means? (I’m guessing power steering and manual gear box but I couldn’t find it anywhere).

Oh yeah, you should go for it!

According to what I can find, option code 427 matches with "MERCEDES-BENZ POWER STEERING AND MANUAL TRANSMISSION WITH FLOOR SHIFT". Interestingly, my '68 Benz also came with that option.

Thanks very much for finding that for me. It does have a floor shift manual and power steering.The list I found skipped over 427. (I first learned to drive stick on a column shift ‘61 220S. It did NOT have power steering, just a huge steering wheel for leverage.)
The one surprise on my data card was that my car was originally shipped without a radio.