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....
The DS door contact switch that controls the interior lights based on the doors being open or shut had disintegrated, which meant that the interior lights were always on. Not the most helpful feature if you want to be able to restart the car after leaving it parked. The actual switches are easy to remove and install, but the problem is that since...
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...
The fourth and final door card for the DS is now installed. The reason for the long delay was that the rear drivers side door would not lock. If the door was unlocked, the mechanism would not hold the door closed, if locked, it would behave as if it were unlocked. Therefore, before I fitted the door card, I wanted to fix the...
EMBARGO: Please do not publish before Sunday April 30, 1972 SUPERB NEW TWIN OVERHEAD CAMSHAFT ENGINE FROM MERCEDES-BENZ Confounding the criticism that today’s automobile engineers are too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...
Today was the 2014 French car day. Like last year, the event is put on by the French car clubs in Sydney, i.e. Peugeot, Renault, Simca etc. It was a lovely day and a good turnout – especially of DS including a few cars I had not yet seen in the club. A couple of cars in particular: – A yellow D Special...
My brother has been removing items from the interior of the E39 BMW before it goes off to become beer cans. Scrap dealers only offer a few hundred dollars, so this can be a good way of making a bit more from the wreck. The black leather front seats will make great chairs in the house too!
These photos are a good example of how the Rigid passenger safety cell works. You can see how the front of the car has crumpled, the bonnet is crumpled, both front wings are crumpled – as they are all designed to. However, the passenger cabin is still intact, all four doors open and close properly and there are no intrusions into the...
NSW already has the most expensive car registration in the country, with no change from $1,000 to register the typical car – and that is just the Greenslip, Registration fees and other Government taxes. NSW also has a particularly useless conditional registration scheme, whereby collector cars can go on ‘club’ plates and be used only for club events. Great if you are able...
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