Thunder, that is one very sweet looking car! If the body is as solid as it looks, it must have been stored in a garage for most of its life,especially for a UK car!

I don't know how "common" are Benzos in your neck of the woods for you to find a reputable repair house to do the tranny repair OTHER THAN an MB dealer. Over my side of the globe anything dealer wise is going to cost lots of $$$.

I had a similar problem with my '70 280s, slipping and such. Was going to have a mechanic friend fix it for me but he insisted on having ME do it myself. Well, with his coaching (and his shop) I took it apart, found a couple of parts worn or broken, got replacement parts from a tranny "wrecking" shop, cleaned it all up (cleaning being vital to a successful tranny job!) and assembled it myself. This was aver 3 years ago and it still spins like a top!

You mentioned not minding to get your "hands dirty" so I threw that story in. However, I do just about any job needed in any of my cars but like the "great one" siad, "a man needs to know his limitations." I learned why they charge so much for that job!