Acquired 1965 230SL Last Year

[cabrioletturbo]

Painted!!!

[cabrioletturbo]

It got eyes!!!

..Headlights, of course... I am really happy the body shop created the headlight creases on the inner sides of the fenders. Now all that align very good with the chrome bezels in place. The repro headlight seals (headlight housing to fender) from Authentic Classics are good, however for best results you may want to trim them - I noticed a few cars with those seals not installed properly. They overhang the bezel and just show poorly when the trimming was not done. Maybe I will take a few pics of a trimmed seal - maybe some members would benefit?

Lesson learned - pay attention: I refurbished the headlights to the best of my abilities until I find a better set. Brand new Bosch glass on the old headlight housing. IMPORTANT: Assuming you already installed the glass on the housing and you are ready to put it on the car - DO NOT over tighten the headlight to the fender right away. I did, so one brand new glas cracked, right where one of the six clips go and it is practically unusable for me anymore. I guess the tension was just too much for the glass. They do not come cheap, so that was a sad day.

Well it took long but I am finally back to the project. Replacing the front subframe from a W108 280SE donor. Mostly new rubber parts replacing worn out ones, but leaving some used when new parts appear to be of inferior quality. New king pins, shocks, some other bits. I know W108 sway bar would not fit, so scrubbing and painting of W113 one in the plan, before install.

In a load of parts which I recently acquired, there was a brand spanking new steering head. On the car it goes.
Last picture shows steering coupler, from the driver's floor side. The picture shows some Godly rays of light, so the picture can go straight to Technical Manual!
The coupler which was on the car was without a bushing on one side - no wonder the car drove funny! I had to remove the steering column jacket to get access to the rear bolt (thank you, Dan). Funny enough I recall removing the coupler without issues from the engine compartment on a W108, but W113 - everything a little bit more complicated, isn't it?

[cabrioletturbo]

Sorting out the bay before I port the engine. Some work here is better done prior to the engine install, as after it would become more complicated. For example, my front brake lines were bent and kinked at several places, so I decided to replace them. At the same time, coolant overflow tank, wiring harness and brake booster are getting some sprucing up before the install - additional pictures are coming by Sunday.

The new firewall pad did not come with cutouts for the overflow tank. I guess that may be because 280SL, unlike 230SL, does not bolt to the firewall. I tried locating a picture with the correct position, so I do not damage the pad unnecessarily. Anyone have a clean 230SL firewall picture without the pad? In lieu of the picture, I will try my luck with a pin needle poking into the firewall until I find the holes...

[cabrioletturbo]

I almost forgot: while I was assembling the front axle onto the car, I ran into an issue with the bracket on the passenger side of the frame arm (see pictures). When the wheels were pointed straight, the long tie rod in the middle of the car rubbed against the bolt on the back of the subframe. In addition, the passenger tie rod hits the bracket. All of this is due to the wrong angle/positioning of the bracket.

Luckily, I have another pagoda which I used to copy the correct angle off of, hired a mobile welder and got the issue resolved. For now. Once all parts are on the car, a visit to the alignment shop will have the last say.

[cabrioletturbo]

Pictures of the bracket fix. How did the picture come upside-down is beyond me.

[kampala]

Igor,

This has come a long way from the photos of 2014.  Impressive transformation.  Very nice work.

[cabrioletturbo]

I prudently worked on it - when I had time, and the results are there, thank you for acknowledging.
I kept the costs list along the way and then at one point I have thrown the calculator. Now it is just what it is - labour of love...

Speaking of which, below a picture of my 'labour of love' with the engine/transmission installed and in a good company.