I attended the Mercedes Club Concours this year. It was a lovely day, 18c and a great turn out of cars. Also got to talk to some interesting people and hear about their cars. Unlike the last time I went in 2012, the older cars are starting to come back, they seemed to stay away for a few years, for one reason or another....
The 280CE had been performing well on the road after being put back into service, but the most obvious issue was that it never got up to operating temperature. Running too cool is not good for the engine and also results in higher fuel consumption. As they say, overheating an engine might kill it instantly, but underheating it will kill it slowly....
Mercedes SLC models (280, 350, 380, 450, 450 5.0, 500) had three different steering wheels in their lifetime. All three steering wheels were large (around 19″) and made from plastic. This was a big departure from the elegant wheels of the 60’s and the nicer leather covered wheels from the mid 80s and 90s. These wheels also do not fare well in the...
In a previous post, I was looking at the changeover of production of the 220SEb Coupe/Cabriolet to the 250SE Coupe/Cabriolet. Mercedes used the same number series for the 220SE Sedan, 220SE Coupe, Cabriolet and the 250SE Coupe and Cabriolet. According to a Mercedes Factory Manual I have, the last 220SEb was #82991 (and the first 250SE #82992). At the start of...
EMBARGO: Please do not publish before Sunday April 30, 1972 SUPERB NEW TWIN OVERHEAD CAMSHAFT ENGINE FROM MERCEDES-BENZ Confounding the criticism that today’s automobile engineers are too heavily engaged in meeting safety and pollution requirements to produce better vehicles, Mercedes-Benz has just unveiled a superb new twin overhead camshaft engine. As well as meeting the conflicting requirements of performance with economy, the new engine...
The 280CE was making a knocking sound while steering and it had failed its rego due to a bad tie rod, necessitating a replacement. The job is not that difficult, especially if you have the right tools. There are a few good resources on the Internet, but a few things I found: I couldn’t remove the ball joints with a pickle fork,...
Not a perfect match, but a good repair for $300 cash.
The 280CE is finished. New muffler, passed blue slip and sold. My brother has purchased the car as he wrote off the BMW that we ‘dismantled’ earlier. That means that it will still be featured on this website from time to time even though I no longer own it. There are still a few things needed to do on the car,...
After replacing the water pump and test driving the 280CE, it was time to get it registered. Unfortunately it failed due to a small rust hole in the body work. This is not structural, but NSW is very strict in this regard. There was also a minor leak from the power steering and minor leak from the rear muffler. All...
The 280CE finally has a new water pump and no longer leaves an embarrassing puddle where it sleeps. After fighting with the bolts on the visco fan, it was finally able to be removed with a combination of drilling and vice grips. After that, the rest of the disassembly was not nearly as bad. In total, to get to the water pump on...
I had a problem with the 280CE sticking ignition key. This can turn into a real problem as the way to change the tumbler requires you to be able to move it, so if you cannot, then you end up having to take drastic measures to remove it. It is much better to replace it while it can still move. You have two...
In order to get to the water pump on the 280CE, the fan assembly had to be removed, which is held on by four rather inaccessible bolts. Two of he bolts came out ok, but two were stuck firmly and became even more rounded in trying to remove them. Mercedes must have used high quality bolts, as 20 hours and 5 drill bits...
The 280CE was leaking quite badly, and it looked like it was coming from the water pump. I ordered a pump and not have finally started on the replacement. First job was to drain the coolant – which wasn’t in bad condition, disconnect the radiator, and remove it. The radiator is easy to remove with four metal clips that can be prized...
The 450SLC’s gear stick had become more and more floppy, and given my experience with the 250SE, I thought it was better to take a look and potentially fix the issue than have it totally fail on me. The gear selector bushings are a common issue on these cars. Looking under the car, by 1977, Mercedes had gone to a better design. As...
There are plenty of interesting classic cars out there that I are fun to own, and drive on the weekend. My E-Type is one of those for example. Not so many can be realistically driven every day though. In my opinion, the Mercedes-Benz range from the 60s is one of those who can. I just saw an interesting story of a...
After using yet another bulldog clip to temporarily move the car, I went to look in my parts cupboard and found that I had two of the upper bushings from my old 250SE Coupe that came with some parts. They looked like the right part and had a 112 part number, so seemed correct. Like the lower one, it was quite an easy fitting....
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