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.
European Event 2012
In 2012 the group again organised an event in Europe, in the Ardennes, Belgium. Over 25 cars and 50 attendees hailing from all over Europe and as far afield as Australia and the US attended. The European Event is a social event, enjoyed by Pagoda lovers, and their partners alike. We drive our cars on great roads, have lovely dinners and lunches with responsible amounts of good food and wine, we visit local landmarks and try to fit in one special event. This year we visited the 6-hours of Spa-Francorchamps, an endurance race for classic automobiles on the circuit that hosted Formula 1 only a couple of weeks ago.
With access to the pit-lane, the paddocks, and the unforgettable smell of oil, petrol and the sounds of hardly dampened exhausts, this proved to be a great experience.
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?).
It took three tries for me until I found that my late 230SL actually has the "short" water pump of the 250SL. Selling the two long pumps that I purchased new in March...a three hole (230) and four hole (280). $65.00 each plus shipping. The brand is GEBA and they were made in Germany. Each comes with a gasket. PM me for more info, questions or if you have specific interest.
I'll put them up on ebay next week if they don't sell here.
Did you use #4 flat head screws? I broke a couple of #4 stainless steel screws. That is a PITA. Maybe my drill bit is too small. I think I'll go buy the "correct" drill bit and tap for #4 screw threads. We're supposed to use sheet metal tapping screws, but the rocker panel sill material is structural and too thick to be called "sheet metal". I think it needs tapping as well, not just drilling. We will see. I'll report back when I have succeeded. I am beginning to understand why the previous owner, or one of them, used pop rivets.
It may be all "water under the bridge" now, but the long water pump is an improvement. It works w/o the spacer; is easier to replace. Upon Joe Alexander's recommendation, I changed mine from short to long when mine started squealing some time ago (summer 2011).
