Guest Article Update: Mrfrotop’s 1978 280CE

After purchasing my 280CE, I was keen to discover more about its history. Through the history file, I was able to make contact with the 3rd owners of the 280CE, the lovely John & Jenny. They owned the CE from Jan 1995 to Oct 2011 during which it was cared for and meticulously maintained by an expert mechanic (Peter Klarenbeek, ACT).

In their care, the CE also underwent a full engine rebuild, which explains why it runs so well for a 445,000km car. I always felt that this little coupe was shown some love at some stage in its life, […]

MBCNSW May 2021 night drive to Bilpin

Last night was the monthly MBCNSW May 2021 Night drive. This month we did a repeat of our very successful November 2020 drive to Bilpin. As with last time, we met in Windsor and then headed up to the Apple pie cottage for a late dessert.

Unlike the warm summer weather of last year, it was a little colder last night. Only one brave soul (our club president) did the drive with the top down, with temperatures ranging between 5-13C. Probably due to the cooler weather, the turn out was a bit smaller, but we still have 11 people […]

450SLC Rear screen rust

A couple of years ago, MB Spares & Service closed their spare parts division to focus on their restoration and servicing business. At that time, I was able to buy a very nice rear screen for a C107 SLC. The car that it came out of was very rusty, but surprisingly not around the rear screen. My screen is quite delaminated from previous rust around the screen area. As you can see from the picture below, the new screen is really good.

After having that screen sitting in the garage for the last couple of years, I figured it […]

W111 Kangaroo damage repairs

Back a couple of weeks ago, I hit a Kangaroo in my 250SE. I’m Insured through Shannons who handled the claim well. Surprisingly, impact with an animal does not impact my premium. The car is now with All Classic Car restorations in Brookvale, and I’ve popped down to take a look at it a couple of times. All Classic also did the repairs to my Citroen a couple of years ago.

As part of the process, I helped them track down some parts. The grille shell will need to be repaired as they are no longer available. The two door […]

National Motoring Heritage Day 2021

Today was National Motoring Heritage Day. National Motoring Heritage Day is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of each May, with 2021 being the 15th year of this event. The basic premise is multiple car related events all around the country to showcase our rich motoring heritage. The Mercedes-Benz club combined this with a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 107 chassis.

The 107 was released in 1971, first as the R107 SL, and then quickly followed my the C107 SLC. The SLC carried on until 1981 when it was replaced by the W126 based SEC models. The R107 continued […]

450SLC Passengers floor surface rust

Back in March, I discovered how wet the passengers floor was in my 450SLC. Over the time water was getting on the floor, it had started some surface rust. It appears that at least some of it was coming from the A/C drains. I still need to test a hose on the windscreen and cowl drains to make sure water is not getting in from there too.

Obviously the most important thing is to fix the source of the water. I also felt it was important to fix the surface rust on the floor. It still wasn’t too bad, so […]

MBCNSW April 2021 Night Drive – Eastern Suburbs

A couple of days ago I went on the April 2021 night drive with the MBCNSW. This month was a drive from Luna Park to Coogee via Vaucluse. We had run a similar drive in December 2020, but the weather was a bit iffy on the day and quite a few people decided not to chance it. This time there was no such issue with the weather. As usual we had a nice turn out of cars on the day from the 70s onwards.

One car that was quite interesting was a W123 300D with a turbo conversion. These were […]