Eastern Suburbs cars and coffee July 2022

I was able to attend the Eastern Suburbs cars and coffee event this morning. I’ve managed to attend the last couple of these events and there are always a good mix of cars attending. As it is an eastern suburbs event, the most popular car is always the Porsche 911.

It was interesting to see a 930 Turbo parked next to a regular 911 of the same era. The flared wheel arches are really obvious on the 930. While I always enjoy seeing the cars, the 911 is one classic I’ve never really gotten into. I’ve always preferred the 928.

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MBCNSW July 2022 Night Drive – Royal National Park

Earlier this morning I returned from the MBCNSW July 2022 Night Drive. We try to rotate the travel direction around Sydney, so this time we were going South. The drive was actually a repeat of one we did back in February 2021. That drive was quite popular, so we figured we would run it again.

The drives in the dead of winter are less popular, so we had a smaller crowd than last time. One advantage of that is that it’s easier to keep the group together. We had my W111 250SE Cabriolet, two W124’s (A 230E and a 300E) […]

Guest Article: In search of another Benz – Part 1

It’s only been a bit over a year since I sold Oskar, my 1988 300SE at the 2021 Shannons Autumn Auction. It was my father Oskar’s pride and joy, and I was keen to join the MBCV when I inherited the car in 2011. For many years I used the car as a daily driver, then later it was swapped to club plates, with the family enjoying many Club runs. Our kids now have grown up and although they appreciate the Mercedes marque, they’re less likely to participate in Club events, which led to the reluctant decision to part with […]

Stuck W116 ignition barrel – part 1

I was quite keen to start using the 280SE more now I have sorted out the steering, exhaust and drivers seat. I don’t have a modern car, so I rotate the various historic registered cars I own to keep them inside their 60 day logbook. The 280SE obviously has a lot of entries available. I was also looking forward to driving it more now the main issues were sorted out. I brought the car home on Saturday night after finishing the seat. That meant I would have it available to use over the next couple of days.

Sunday was a […]

W116 Seat repair

Now I had the 280SE at the point where I could drive it more, I wanted to attend to the drivers seat. Like most of these cars, years of driving had caused at least some of the springs to break, causing it to feel collapsed and lopsided. The first Mercedes I ever owned, my 1985 230E already had this issue on purchase. It was only 13 years old at the time. This 280SE is over 40 years old, so it’s not surprising.

This is a common thing on these old Mercedes, so I assumed I had a couple of broken […]

280SE W116 exhaust system

The final things preventing me from turning the 280SE from a garage queen to a rolling restoration was getting the exhaust sorted out. It really was a mess. The rear muffler had been changed about 20 years ago (I have the receipt), but the rest was original. It really showed. Not only that, but the 280SE W116 exhaust for right hand drive cars is a poor design. It was shared with the early W123 M110 cars, and later corrected for the W126. At that point the W126 design was applied to the W123 too.

There are two exhaust manifolds, one […]

W116 280SE drag link and tie rod ends

My next job on the 280SE project was replacing the drag link and tie rod ends. Of the six ball joins in the steering, two were really bad, and the others were all quite old. In addition, I planned to replace the idler arm while I was there. The rubber was old and cracking so it was definitely due for it. I already had the worn steering coupling replaced, so this should renew the steering feel as much as possible.

For this job, I went with Lemforder parts. They are a lot cheaper than genuine and I have had very […]

Nardi steering wheel for my 450SLC

I generally like to keep my cars stock. The exception to that is period accessories that are totally reversible. Things that the first owner may have wanted to do to the car to improve it or customize it. The most obvious of those are wheels, but there are plenty of other things that can be done, like changing the steering wheel.

I’ve thought about getting a Nardi steering wheel for my 450SLC for years. There were two main things holding me back. The first was they are quite expensive. Second, their smaller diameter means they obscure the speedometer. In the […]

Planning Becker radio installs

In the two years of owning my 560SEL, one of the things I have appreciated is the original Becker CD player. I’ve owned many classic Mercedes-Benz models over the years, but until the 560SEL none of them had their original Becker intact. The Becker radios just look and feel right in the dash of the car. I had never really understood that before. That got me thinking about putting some of my other cars back to stock.

The first car in line is my 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC. When I purchased the car in 2003, it had a 90’s era cassette […]

The Mercedes W116 in Australia

The W116 Mercedes is no longer a common sight on the roads of Australia. Yet, at one time, it was quite prevalent. With a 450SEL costing more than 8 times an equivalent Holden it was a very expensive car. Despite that, it was a strong seller with little real competition. The closest competition was probably from Jaguar – but they were much cheaper, and the 70s was the nadir of Jaguar’s quality. Rolls Royce was in a league of its own, and BMW were really only competitive with small sports saloons.

The W116 was on sale during a tumultuous time […]