Although we still offer basic, Free membership, and Paying membership which entitles you to receiving our print magazine Pagoda World and our news letter, as well as full access to our technical manual, the membership system has been completely revamped on the new system.
The International Club for Mercedes-Benz 230 SL, 250 SL and 280 SL Roadsters based on the W113 platform.
This site and this Group were established as a source of information relating to the Mercedes W113 cars and to help maintain, restore, exhibit, and promote the ownership and admiration of these cars among the international community of W113 enthusiasts.
For details about our Group, see the menu items at the left. We have our charter, membership information, and lots of fun sections here.
The buttons above this text bring you to our Forum, for a wealth of information and a great community of car owners. Join us today for your free Forum membership. If you become a Full Member for a nominal fee you help to pay for the upkeep of this site and receive additional benefits.
We have a Technical Manual with lots of useful information to keep our cars running and to maintain or restore, or just learn more, about your vehicle. Our Technical Manual is powered by a Wiki, so Full Members are able to edit and contribute to the content. There is some premium content available, only for Full Members.
Pagoda University Blacklick 2009
Pagoda University Blacklick 2009, hosted by Joe and Mary Alexander, was a huge success. Some 80 attendees enjoyed lectures and show and tell sessions on saturday. Useful items to do with our cars and hobby provided for by a number of vendors and individuals were raffled off. Thanks to (in no particular order) Bob Geco, Michael Salemi, Ray Hays, Bud's Benz, Haartz, (Juan) Tomas Santos and Tosh. We ended the day with a nice dinner in a restaurant nearby.
On sunday over 20 cars - and their crews - were present when Professor Joe Alexander did a number of live car tune-ups, diagnosing problems, and fixing smaller ones, and generally performing his magic. Some of the cars saw longstanding, little problems disappear with a few tweaks of the master.
If you missed this great event, then you can still find all the presentations here: Pagoda University Blacklick.
Cars in attendance for sunday photoshoot (photo by Al Lieffring)
230, 250 or 280 SL? Which is best
Many magazines and other sources say that the Mercedes-Benz 280SL is the most valuable car of the W113 range of Mercedes cars. They cite improved horsepower, a more reliable crankshaft with more bearings, and up-to-date equipment such as an automatic gearbox or disc-brakes all around for this.
But is this really true? The experts and members of our forums beg to differ. They consider the lighter, manual 230SL to be more of a sports car. They also prefer some of the detailed fixtures on the car, such as the additional chrome, the mirror posts, the door fittings.
However, even they cannot agree. Some prefer the most undervalued of the range, the 250SL. Already adorned with some of the improvements of the 280SL, but without losing the charm of the 230SL, and certainly without the emissions control features of the 280SL, it may be the best compromise.
Hey, don't take our word for it. Check your thoughts in this thread dicussing the differences in detail.
Technical Manual
Many visitors head straight for the forums... hey that's where it's all happening, right?
Well, not so right. We have a community effort going on amongst Full Members of this forum to produce the definitive source of all knowledge Pagoda. Need to know about minute differences between a 230, 250 and 280 SL? Need to know how to do something that the Mercedes-Benz manual doesn't give you enough detail about? Has the Haynes manual let you down?
Check out our Technical Manual first. Chances are, you'll find it in there. Some bits aren't finished yet, and sometimes it may just be wrong. That's because it's a community effort. It is getting better all the time, and most of it (except for some precious parts that alone will make your Full Membership of this group worthwhile) is freely accessible.
And if it isn't there.. why don't you ask about it at the forums and write up in the Technical Manual what you find out? Because that is what this community of real car lovers is all about: sharing knowledge and helping each other out.
Once the Technical Manual is in a further advanced state, we shall be distributing paper copies for use in your garage or workshop (well, you wouldn't want to get oil in your keyboard, now?).
MBZSE (sounds like a poorly wasp) is correct re the correct tyre size being 185's, that said the only correct whitewalls I have found are the Phoenix ones at about £300 each.
I have found these though in 195/75 which are only £69 each (if you are OK with the 'incorrect" size)
I have just read this on the subject, which appears to match the symptoms on mine (I just need to work out how to identify what the vacuum modulator is now...
This section pertains to the vacuum modulator
Adjust the modulator only after you have verified the proper function of the double acting solenoid. The modulator tells the transmission when to shift and it determines the quality of shift. The modulator pressure should be set at around 4 Bar at idle with no vacuum line attached. This setting will give you a place to start, however, the modulator pressure should be set according to the operation of the car. Remember: Early and/or slip shift is low modulator pressure. Late and/or hard shift is high modulator pressure. These transmissions start in 2nd gear unless it starts off at full throttle, or the gear selector is in low. The fluid coupler (torque converter) makes the transmission feel like it is slightly slipping (750 RPM) until it quickly hooks up.
1) Remove the vacuum line from the modulator ass...
This is interesting, because mine doesn't downshift (annoyingly) when under extra load and as I have only had it for 12 months I put this down to just the way the car was built.
It would be interesting to learn if anyone know what causes this because I would love to resolve the problem.
In that same engine/type group, the #11 cam may be a better regrinding choice since its timing figures are between the 08 and 09 - means less metal removed, larger base circle remains etc.
I'm soon to move to Germany (Paderborn) for a few years and will bring my car with me. I wondered if any of our German members could recommend a suitable insurance company for our cars? I will also need some form of European breakdown cover, and imagine that this is not included in a standard motor insurance policy? Is ADAC the best company to go with?
I'd be grateful for any advice on the subject of how to go about getting classic car insurance, and any pitfalls.
