My long-term project car is a 1972 250C. I bought it off e-Bay in 1999 from Lincoln Nebraska and had it hauled to DC. It was a failed project car, off the road since about 1988. The PO had all the rust work done and the body primered. There is a lot of riveted metal and fiberglass in the sills and floors and a fair amount of bondo in places on the body, like the sills. Heavily undercoated. He also got mostly new interior pieces and had the engine rebuilt but did not install it. Then he had a heart attack and stopped working on it in 1992. Finally he put it on e-Bay.

Over the winter of 2000, I put the engine back together, installed it, and got it running, only to discover that the transmission was toast. The pump would not even draw the fluid into the converter. Then there were a complicated series of transactions where DrDKW found me a euro stick-shift M130, and I basically traded the rebuilt engine to TMC for all the stuff to convert it to a 4-speed. Which is what it is running and driving with today. While I had the engine out for the second time, I spent a lot of time cleaning and detailing and painting the engine compartment Signal Red in anticipation of a color change.

It is a sunroof car, which are hard but not impossible to find.

My goal for this project is to build the ultimate 250C. I have a five-speed transmission (need to find linkage for it), the high-end stereo with amp, power windows, sunroof as noted, vacuum locks, and a set of the correct alloys. Red with tan. If I can find a set of klaxon horns, I think I will have maxed out the option list.

The clock shows 93K, and the body is in decent shape in terms of gaps, and seals. No rust in the trunk. The dash is cracked, but I have a new one (in the box!). The engine runs like a top and it now has a Timevalve SS exhaust. The wood is toast. Headliner is OK but not great. The consoles were horrible, but I found good used replacements. AC compressor is a basket case, but the rest of it seems OK. Both blowers work. I have found great chrome pieces. Glass is good and windows all work. Just about every rubber piece in the suspension is hard as a rock and needs replacement.

My quandary with this car is that while it has come a long way, it still needs a lot of work and money. The major item left is paint including sills, jambs, etc for the color change. Smaller but still expensive items are complete carpeting and wood.

I am increasingly uncomfortable with the paint. It is going to need a lot of prep – the primer is over fifteen years old – and all of this work and investment is going over a body that has had a lot of rust repair.

So one alternative is to continue on with this car and basically end up with a color-change ruster.

A second is to pull all the good pieces out of it, and use them in a car with a better body and toasted mechanicals that might not need a color change (black, green, red, yellow, blue – anything but the brown that came on this one originally).

While I hate the thought of giving up all the work I have done on this car, I also hate the thought of painting and finishing a color-change ruster. I am not enthusiastic about buying another car and paying for transport. Would need some serious explaining to Senior Management.

Thanks for listening. Suggestions welcome.

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Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe

mechanics, and I live just across the river in Bethesda. My paint/body guy is in Mt. Airy, MD (near Frederick) and he does excellent work, although not cheap, he'll work within a budget, and also spread the work out over a considerable period of time.

I think this could be an interesting vehicle which you would be a long time getting tired of. Send me an e-mail if you'd like to get together and discuss.

Target marketing through community and technical colleges.... Draw up some 5x7 bulletin board ads with pic if possible, then take roadtrip to nearby technical colleges where kids are learning to tear apart cars and rebuild them.

You are contemplating a fairly ambitious project on a car that may not represent a good base, due to discovered and yet-to-be discovered (under the heavy undercoat) corrosion. As you appear comfortable buying a car from across the country, why not look for a good sunbelt car? There have to be a few 250C's for sale in So. Cal. You may pay a relatively premium purchase and shipping price, but I'll bet that the total purchase and project cost with a good bodyshell will be less than it would be with your current car, with a better result.