Another journey has begun...a restoration

[66andBlue]

.. or as Yogi Berra said Déjà vu all over again.

In January I bought a 280SL from its third owner. The car was originally sold in Florida as a roadster with hard top but without the soft top installed. The car then went to Colorado where the second owner made numerous changes because he did not like certain aspects. It was too noisy for him so the car was stuffed with an incredible amount of sound dampening material. The wheel was to big and a Nardi went in. Seats were not right and a pair from a Pontiac Fiero were installed and lastly the color was changed from green 268H to 470 Colorado beige. Along the way a soft top was added - but never installed correctly - and an engine valve job was done.  While noise must have been a big problem for whatever reasons there were also some vent holes added under the parcel shelf - who knows why?  Obviously this was the wrong owner for a Pagoda and he sold the car in 2002 to the third owner in Phoenix who drove it and aside from new tires did not make any further changes.
When I inspected the car I found only a bit of surface rust in the trunk and was happy to see that the seat attachment points were unchanged. Since the second owner's changes were all reversible I took the plunge and bought it. After thinking about it for a while now I decided to have the engine overhauled and to change the color to midnight blue 904G together with the usual replacement of all rubber items and a new leather interior.  I found a pair of Pagoda seats at a reasonable price and also acquired a 3.27 ratio axle to replace the 4.08 that is in the car.
Here are a few photos of what the car looked like and where I am now on this journey.

[66andBlue]

.. and more photos.
If anybody wants a pair of Pontiac seats for free let me know!  

[hauser]

What could possibly be the purpose with these "vent" holes?  Aside from this looks like you have a very sound car. Congrats!

[Jonny B]

Alfred,

You may be in for some visits from one of the newest Ca residents, me!
Can't wait to see the project in the metal.

[ds58]

wow i really love the color as it is reminds me of my 3.5 w111 coupe

[Surfer65sl]

The midnight blue will look much better and I can't wait to see the finished product. 

[ctm14]

Alfred,

  I wouldn't mind looking over your shoulder or lending a hand on occassion.  I would love to learn more about these cars from a hands on perspective.  Let me know if you could use some assistance.  I saw Johnny's post that he is now in CA.  Are we ready for another Quaffing of the Ales??

[66andBlue]

Jonny B and CTM,
thanks for the offers. I'll keep it in mind when the time comes to reassemble everything again, that's when I'll need a few more hands for sure. On not just for quaffing!  
Hauser, I have no clue whatsoever why those holes were added. There is plenty of venting through the rear wheel compartment.  
Surfer, there is still a very slight chance that I may go back to the original green - it will depend a bit on how much additional work the painter will need to do - but 904 is my favorite color. (BTW, where are you located?)

[Ulf]

It always makes me happy to see cars like that being brought back to life, but it also makes me angry to see the mods by the previous owner - what was he thinking???

[lurtch]

Hi Alfred,    I vote for going back to Green!  . . .  would it be the green seen in these photos?

This was a STUNNING example of our beloved Pagodas. The occasion was the day I was an MBCA sanctioned judge for this class.  Yes that is me and , yes we had to wear a navy blue blazer and tie and and matching straw hats (courtesy of our local chapter).

Regards, Larry in CA

[66andBlue]

Hi Larry,
for sure you look as attractive as the green car!
I believe this is a different green. Take a look at 268H here: http://www.sl113.org/wiki/DataCard/PaintCodes
But as i said 904G is my favorite - and the finance minister's favorite color.

[teprngr]

It is indeed different from what I understand from you and the pictures. As I was reading, terrible images of the car started storming my brain, after looking at the pictures, it wasn’t that bad after all. I guess it would be really great to have such a cool ride. But on the downside, you will really need a lot of time polishing it from rust to shine again. Well, I guess it is worth it.

[66andBlue]

Thanks for the encouragement but I am not sure which pictures you looked at.
The car has no rust and the painter who looked at it for an estimate thought the wrong beige color was quite shiny. 
The modifications that were done scared me initially.

[114015]

Hi Alfred,    I vote for going back to Green!  . . .  would it be the green seen in these photos?

Regards, Larry in CA

Larry, no.

"Yours" (the one you jugded  should be 834 moss green metallic and it certainly was the original color code of that particular car. Otherwise you guys would have judged "non-original" 0 (zero) points. 

Alfred's is 268 dark green (or blue green called) and is one of the most beautiful color tones that Mercedes ever used
... as to my very humble opinion...

Achim
(sadly only partly with green glass)

[66andBlue]

The journey continues - literally.
Just before the European event the car was transported to Joe Alexander's work shop in Blacklick, OH.
It was interesting to watch the loading process, cars being rearranged depending on their destination, and finally secured for the trip next to a Porsche and a much older Australian car from the 1930sthat was on its way back to Australia.

[66andBlue]

Inside the trunk there was also a partially disassembled 3.27 axle that will be swapped for the 4.08 that is now in the car.
It took me a while to securely put the parts into the trunk but despite all precautions at some point the universal joint hit the housing a broke off a small piece.   
I am posting the results here for a warning to others who plan to take an axle apart - watch this stub carefully!
Last weekend I joined Joe and the car in Blacklick and the good news is that he believes that the piece can be welded on again. In addition I was happy to see that my tests that I did before I bought the axle were confirmed - the pin hole was not elongated and the axle is in good shape. 

[66andBlue]

After removing the a/c system (which will not be installed again) Joe removed the head and then the block together with the transmission and disassembled the motor for rebuilding.
Fortunately, there were no major surprises, everything is in a condition one would expect after 125K miles.
However, considering that the car was originally sold in Florida I had to chuckle when Joe pointed out that there was a heater installed in the block! My guess is that it was installed by the second owner in Colorado
Joe was also astonished to see knurled valve guides. I have records that in 1996 a valve job was performed but have no details on what was done.

[66andBlue]

It took me a full day to clean and assemble all the parts that need to be CAD plated.
The attached photos show some of the small parts that went out to the plating company (http://www.detrayplating.com/) and at the next PUB we plan to have a test identifying the location of these parts. 
Whoever gets the most correct will receive a prize!

[69280sl]

Alfred, it looks like you have included the band clamps for the coolant reservoir to be cad plated. I have seen pictures of high end restorations where these are not yellow cad. Just wondering.

Gus

[66andBlue]

Hi Gus,
that is correct, those clamps should not be yellow.
Fortunately, the company does yellow and gray Cadmium plating.