Speaking of paint..... suggestions for color would be welcomed. However, FORGET BLACK! We DONT want BLACK! We're actually thinking of a red color, but haven't nailed it down quite yet. We want something that will accent all the chrome/polished aluminum on the car.....

Any suggestions?

The color of my car looks black in the dark but in the sun it is green. The base color was black with a green shot over it and then clear. It's an individual taste thing. I'm not a purist, having already made numerous modifications, suspension, exhaust, brakes, mirrors, alternator, battery location, aluminum polishing, sound system, interior, etc, that would disqualify me from Concours type shows. It's my fair weather driver that gives me pleasure, not a trailer queen.

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Gregg:
http://photobucket.com/albums/d142/GBambo/

Here is another color choice I made for my 1963 MKII Jag. It is Candy Red with clear.

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Gregg:
http://photobucket.com/albums/d142/GBambo/

My original color was Maroon. I always hated it cuz it was so dark that everyone thought it was brown, which is a color I despise. Green isn't a bad color... but dunno if it will give the car the "flare" we are looking for. We're going after a "sporty" look.... so we want it to be an "attention grabber" paint color. We have a shade of red in mind, but dunno what color exactly it is. We saw it on a 56 chevy, and it looked amazing. Wish I knew what it was! Will have to keep looking and see what we can find!

That red isn't bad lookin at all! Nice!

Technical Info:

From what I can gather, the 1968 250S weighed in at approximately 3,500 pounds US(including driver).

The 1981 Corvette weighed in at about 3,300 pounds, (without driver).

Therefore, assuming they used an "average" man of about 180 to 200lbs, the Mercedes is almost identical in weight to that of the vette. Not a significant difference, suprisingly.

The 68 Benz had a hp of less than 160 hp at 5500 r/m

The 81 corvette had a hp of 190 Net@4200 RPM and had a net torque of 280 Lb - ft. Net@1600RPM

The 68 Benz was approximately 5000 mm (195.85 inches) in length and 1810 (71.26 inches) mm in width

The 81 vette was approximately 4707mm (185.3 inches) in length, and 1753mm (69.0 inches) in width.


We had looked this all up years ago, but had forgetten all of it. But from these facts and figures, it is doubtful that the vette rear end will have any problem pulling this little beast along......

If not black, I like silver. Boring yes, but classic.

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1970 280SE Coupe W111
Chassis Number: 111 024 12
Engine Number: 130 980 12
Exterior Color: 180 - Silver Grey Metallic
Interior Color: 243 - Leather Light Red
Transmission # 004470

Oh, and just for funsies, we have a set of 14x10 rear wheels and tires, and we mounted them on the Benz last night just to see if we could (keep in mind, we have raised the rear end 2"). They went on without a hitch, and if we really wanted to, we could actually run the car with 10" wide tires. However, the 10's extend out a tad past the outer fender, and have about 1 and a half to 2 and a half inches clearance (i didn't take a measurement) between the top of the wheel and the bottom of the fender. While they will fit, and we do have clearance, I'd dam sure be scared to run down a bumpy road very fast though! LOL! SCRAPE! ALthough I did hop up and down on the bumper for all I was worth and couldn't get the fender to hit the tire (and that's with totally worn out shocks!). The ideas of 10's on the back and 8's on the front is intriguing to say the least, and we actually considered the idea, but after seeing it, I'm not so sure. Course tho, it's hard to tell how it would really look when you consider the paint is shot and the mags are pretty old and somewhat pitted (they came off a friend's 1980 cutlass that he had back in the late 80's and crashed... he gave me the wheels and tires and I've kept them around as spares and they come in handy once in a while....).

I have to admit, seeing a 68 with 10's on the back is quite, ummmmm, unique. I dunno what to say about it. Looks kinda cool, but yet looks kinda out of place. I know one thing for sure now though.... I'm going to use my old set to get the car painted with, and THEN go to the wheel shop so we can get a better idea of how she will look with what type and size of wheels and tires....


Oh, and while I'm at it, take a look at this pic and tell me how you think it would look on a 68. I think it would be sharp. It is very similar to what we were considering using, but we wanted ours to be a tad brighter......

http://members.cox.net/draginmasters/cars/latham.jpg



And one more question.... what have you folks found to be the best item to use to get a bright "chrome-like" shine out of the Mercedes aluminum trim?

CRAP! I have been going to tire/wheel shops ALL DAY! Almost NO ONE carries 16" chrome wheels anymore!!!!! Whazzup with that???? They are all 17" (rare), 18", and above! Did everyone just quit buying the 14's, 15's, and 16's??????? GEEZ!!!!!!!!!!!! This is PATHETIC! I would have never guessed it would have been such a pain in the butt to find rims!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guess we're going to end up mounting some 17's or 18's on the car.... sure would have rather had 16's tho.

Always thought this would be a good 108 color. 'Verde Chiaro' is the name of the color in Lambo parlance. I believe mb had a similar green offered in the 60's.

>>>And one more question.... what have you folks found to be the best item to use to get a bright "chrome-like" shine out of the Mercedes aluminum trim?

Try "Muther's Aluminum/Metal Polish" available at Harley Davidson dealerships which also carry an amazing assortment of straight weight non-detergent oil.

Hey '68 where are the pics??

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'80 300SD/ w116
'79 240D 4-spd
'71 750cc Guzzi

previously owned:

'83 240D 4-spd
'77 280SEL 4-spd
'74 280/8
'72 250/8
'65 220Sb 4-spd
'63 220Sb 4-spd
'63 190c 4-spd
'61 220Sb 4-spd
'60 190b 4-spd

Well, if you want trendy wheels, you're gonna have to buy what's trendy, and these days that is a sheet of thin rubber wrapped around a very expensive alloy wheel that rides so hard your teeth will clatter as you run down the road.

Doubtless this will change in a year or two.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

it already has! automakers went to smaller rims in the 50's for more foot room....

Will get pics asap. I don't have a dig camera so I have to borrow one. Will try to get them before next weekend....

Hey 68, I saw 350 conversion 108 (280SEL) on ebay one time. It was a very clean and professional install. I wish I would have got the guy's email since he did the work. It was just your garden variety 350/holley combo. It got me to thinking how cool it would be if someone did an LS-1 conversion. I am restoring a Datsun 240 Z right now and a few people have done this. What is really neat is that the aluminum V-8 weighs LESS than the iron inline 6 (basically a mercedes engine) of the Z. Well, just thinking out loud. It's not like people are just handing out LS-1's on the street corner.