280SL - Thermostat Housing

[Pastarnac]

I am looking for the injection pump thermostat housing for a 280SL. It has to be new or in very good condition; I do not want to replace it twice.

Per my observation, there is a difference between 230SL and 280SL thermostat housing; I am not sure it is interchangeable. I attached a generic picture.

Thanks

[lpeterssen]

Niemoeller will be a good place to source them.

I have bought that part there many times for various restoration projects.

Best regards
L.peterssen

[lpeterssen]

If you are not certain of the part number, you can go to www.realOEM.com and there go to the mercedes parts catalog to find out which is the part number and try then to source it in USA.  That part is always better to buy NEW, not used, it corrodes too much and you want to make a repair that will last some years.

[lpeterssen]

Here after a photo of one invoice from Niemoeller where I bought what you are looking.

[Pawel66]

I trust lpeterssen provided enough leads to help you, so just to complete the picture:
1. This thermostat housing, to the best of my knowledge, has not been offered as a spare part, therefore it is not on the parts list, so I cannot find its Daimler part number. We could track the Bosch part umber, but it may not make sense.

2. By looking at the thermostat itself, that was and is a spare part and has the part number, I can see that the change was introduced together with M129 engine, so with 250SL and did not change for 280SL (early thermostat A 001 203 61 75, late A 001 203 9575).

3. They are not interchangeable. The old one was difficult to find, now I think I see it at SLS. The new one was available by several vendors, including Niemoeller.

4. As for the thermostats themselves, they are available at Mercedes, but the early type costs horrifying amount of money (ca EUR 700 + VAT). The newer one is just moderately more expensive at MB, ca EUR 120 + VAT than in other stores. I bought it from Mercedes as you do not have shipment cost, can return easily, etc.

[Pastarnac]

First - Thanks to everybody in the forum for the details.

I found it in several locations but most convenient was at: www.vintageeuroparts.com

They have listed the one for 230SL on the website; it is a reproduction. After I discussed/email with them I found out that they have also the 280SL version available, at the same price.
I bought previously from them. They outsource the parts; the customer service is friendly.

Niemoeller is a good source; I used them years ago but sometimes they have issues. Returning is at your cost (is it worth?) even if is their mistake and  -lately- shipping from EU is slow and risky. If item is damaged you may have a hard time working out a solution; happened for me with DHL/USPS. DHL is working with USPS in US; USPS does not have a process for damaged parts coming from outside US

Injection Pump Thermostat Housing fit Mercedes W111 220SEb W113 230SL 0012036175    VEP101988 - $105+shipping

Regards,