The technical articles (essentially a compilation of posts from the old Yahoo! W113 site, sorted into topics) are on the Group website here:
http://www.sl113.org/articles/default.aspThe list of suppliers is also on the website, here:
http://www.sl113.org/data/show_table.asp?table_name=usr_parts_and_service_suppliersI have noticed how prices in the UK for Pagodas are higher than in The Netherlands. I always thought this was because there isn't the flexibility in the market to be able to import larger numbers of cars from the continent or the US, due to the right hand drive that is needed. Then again, also in Germany the prices are markedly higher, even though it is nowadays very easy to move cars from, say, The Netherlands to there, so go figure. Then I have also noticed that there are a few specialized resellers that offer Pagodas for waaaay more than you need to pay if you just do a little research and seek out the car you would like to have through, for example, this club. Maybe Chelsea is one of those resellers.
As for the ignition, the topic discussed recently involved a complete new distributor set-up to replace the old, with internals being electronic. The standard, original distributor from MB (without the points etc) is over EUR 500, so the electronic replacement unit discussed is not overly expensive. What people were commenting on I think was the difference between that electronic replacement distributor and the typical electronic ignition people fit from Pertronix, Crane, Luminition, Sparcon or others, that are a lot less expensive, mainly because they replace only the points and not the entire distributor.
As for the cost of the maintenance and finding good mechanics. When I bought my car, in 1999, I was expecting to do most maintenance and repairs myself, having owned amd tinkered with Triumph Spitfires two decades before. Then once I owned my (ex-US) 280 SL, I realized that the mechanicals, and so the possible associated problems, on the Pagoda are definitely a lot more complicated. So I set out to find a professional specialist to sort out the mechanical problems my car had when I bought it (for top-euro I might add), only to find that the various places I went to either did not have the necessary expertise, or did but charged far too much. So I went back to the drawing board and joined the Dutch Mercedes Benz vintage club. Little acual value in terms of assistance with technical problems. So I searched further and found the W113 forum on Yahoo! and found the support I needed and within literally days had enough information and support to be able to sort out most of the problems I was having by myself. Then, in the summer of 2002 Joe Alexander organized the first of his outstanding Tech sessions in Blacklick, Ohio and I decided to go to that, not only to gather up more knowledge but also to meet in person some of the gracious people I had 'met' via that Yahoo! site and discuss also the possibility of starting our own club, a discussion that Rodd Masteller had initiated sometime earlier on the Yahoo! forum. The rest is history so they say, but I am very happy we then did decide to form this international club. We have members from over 60 countries and in particular members in countries like the Phillippines, Kenia, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Japan, where there just aren't the same numbers of Pagodas around much less the support that we are now complaining about in The Netherlands or the UK, benefit tremendously from this club.
Originally, over half the cars were sold new to the US and many more were later imported there by servicemen who had been stationed in Germany or elsewhere and brought their Pagodas back home with them. Since then of course, many have been repatriated to the old country (and elsewhere) but the sheer numbers of cars still in the US, coupled with a language advantage (Americans in general speak very good English) AND the fact that the Germans, the other country with a lot of Pagodas, have their own (German language) club, means that it makes sense that most contributions here are from the US or at least English speaking countries. I participate here because my English is pretty good and I don't participate on the very active German forums because my German is much less good.
The manual Bob was referring to is indeed in the plans (not yet really in the works) because the collective knowledge here deserves to be organized, sorted and distributed out. Only bottleneck is the fact that many of us have dayjobs, so it takes longer to pull together. When I started pooling interest in helping out to start writing, no less than 25 people stepped forward.
As to the in jokes, this is the first time I have come across that as a phenomenon. I am probably guilty of it myself, although I think it comes with the territory. When you have conversed on this forum for, now, three years, you do develop inside jokes (although I can't think of any offhand) and those would tend to make the atmosphere even more enjoyable to many, though probably less so to newcomers.
I did a detailed calculation of the cost of maintenance and repairs a few years ago (I am a chartered accountant) and came to an average of EUR 1,400 a year if you do the basic things yourself and have the major things (body and paint, engine and transmission overhaul etc) done by the professionals.
Finally ... I am convinced that, like any vintage car (only more so than average), the Pagoda draws a specific type of person to its character. Then these people tend to have similarities in character that makes the atmosphere here one that many can identify with and like to be a part of, sort of a social cohesion phenomemon. You could also frame this by saying we're all equally nuts (about our car). But seriously, I enjoy coming here for that reason as much now as for the tech and other ownership talk, so much so that this is the only non-work website that I frequent almost daily, even when on business trips, just to stay in touch with what's happening.
Anyway, Nick, please do keep coming here, ask and answer and critique so, in short, participate.
Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic
