| My 250SE has not been running well lately. Back in April, I hit a Kangaroo and the car was repaired during May and June. In July, the state of NSW plunged into a strict lockdown for COVID-19, preventing more than minor trips up to the shops for necessities. It was during one of those trips that I noticed that car was stuttering and stalling. It felt like it was not getting enough fuel. In some ways it reminded me of a fuel delivery problem I had on my 1967 250SE Coupe. That car had been laid up for some years […] After the impact with a Kangaroo, my 250SE Cabriolet is back on the road and better than ever. While the damage didn’t look that bad at first, the repairs required were extensive. Unlike when you hit another car, A Kangaroo is ‘softer’ damage that isn’t as apparent to the naked eye. It would be the same for hitting a Deer or other medium sized animal. As outlined in the article linked above, there was a fair amount of body work required on the car. In addition, we required a good used headlight, the grille repaired and re-chromed, a NOS grille […] I’ve always been a little surprised that my W111 Cabriolet rear seatbelts were lap only. Mercedes-Benz were such pioneers of safety at the time that it seemed odd that they wouldn’t have fitted lap/sash seatbelts. It hasn’t been a problem for me as I so rarely had passengers in the rear of the car. That has started to change as my kids are getting old enough to want to ride in the back of the car. I wasn’t so keen in a convertible with lap only belts. I mentioned this when my car was at All Classic Car restorations being […] Today I went by to check out how things were going on the 250SE crash repair. Last week the panel work was nearly complete and the car was almost ready for pant. The paint was just done yesterday so it was good timing to take a look at the car. It’s looking really good! The front chassis, wing and bonnet are now all painted and they look perfect. The leading edge of the bonnet got a few scratches from the Kangaroo’s head. the area of the wing just to the left of the grille took the brunt of the damage. […] 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 […] Earlier this week I took my 250SE on an extended drive. I had wanted to try a route going north via the Putty road, across towards Mudgee and the back. The roads were really good but ultimately this is really a two day drive and would be more enjoyable with some more stops. You could make a really nice weekend road trip out of this route. Along the way I also witnessed a procession of pre-war Rolls-Royce cars on the Putty road. It is great to see these cars being driven and used on the road. It is really nice […] I’ve owned my 250SE almost ten years and always had a mind to replace the cheap rubber mats with Cocomats. Today I fitted the Cocomats I bought as part of a group buy with a few friends. I also purchased a set for my 560SEC and went into a bit more about the purchase there. For the 250SE, I went with #53 Black/Grey. This was an easy choice for the 250SE as it works well with the black interior and silver exterior. Like the 560SEC, I went with the four piece set. I have a centre cushion on my […] I had recently noticed that the battery on the 250SE was not in good health. The battery disconnect switch I built a few years ago has a battery health indicator included. Even when connected to the trickle charger it was showing orange. I also noticed that the trickle charger would sometimes go into error mode. My battery tester showed that it was well below where it should be. I had only replaced the W111 battery in the 250SE about four years ago, which is a pretty short life. I was never happy with the battery I put in the car […] After all the recent work done on my 250SE, I wanted to take it for an extended test drive. Its had motor and transmission mounts, front crank seal, re-sealed power steering pump, injectors, distributor cap and rotor, points, condenser, coil, plugs, alternator, voltage regulator and more done. The spark had been quite weak and the engine was carboned up. The Mercedes-Benz club have started running mid-week pop-up drives. I’m not normally able to attend mid-week events but I have a bit of time at the moment. This weeks drive was down to Berry via the Royal national park then back […] On the way back from the September night drive my 250SE stopped charging properly. I was able to make it back home about an hour on the battery. Even using the headlights the 250SE does not use a lot of power. As it happened, a friend of mine had a rebuilt alternator that was correct for my car. He drives a 280SE 3.5 W108 which uses a 55A Bosch alternator. The earlier cars (to 1969) used a 35A alternator which is what he had. This is the correct 250SE Alternator. Initially I assumed I would replace the alternator myself. It […] | |
