Exhaust header cost

[Jonny B]

A friend of mine is rebuilding the engine of a 280SL and when he pulled the exhaust headers out, one of them broke (front I think). In his defense, when we looked at the header, it was quite obvious that it had been cracked about half way around for some time (black staining in the cast wall).

In searching for a replacement, hold on to your seats. From Miller's it was US$ 1225 EACH! SLS considering the Euro conversion was a tad higher! MB with his discount was just under $1000.

Treat them gently friends!

[waqas]

I've heard of three other cases where the front header broke easily. Purely anecdotal I realize, but I wonder if there's some issue with the front header being more sensitive to stresses? (down-pipe, etc)

Somewhere in the garage, I think I have a spare rear header for a late M130 (not sure if they're different for early/late). Looks like I should put it in a bank vault instead!

[Naj ✝︎]

I'm quite sure a header from a 250 SE or 280 SE would do nicely.
Part # on casting should be 129 142 0002

BTW what's the engine #?

naj

[Cees Klumper]

The sedan ones should work fine; I picked up about 14 spare engines for a while there, and they typically came with these headers still attached. These complete engines cost me less than what these headers alone appear to be worth (they are either in fine shape or cracked/broken, nothing in between), so it makes sense to try a breaker's yard first before buying one new ...

[jeffc280sl]

I assume the manifolds are cast iron.  I have seen great cast iron repairs to cylinder heads and other engine components.  Has your friend considered having the header repaired.

[Jonny B]

I believe the part number is correct for a left hand drive version. The engine he is dealing with is a 130.

We tried to do the cast iron repair on my header several years ago (it cracked while on the car) and had no luck. The machine shop still has it, but all he was able to do was chase the crack around.

Bank vaults indeed! I also acquired a set some time ago on ebay (after I spent what I thought was outrageous money 3 years ago ~US$ 350). I found a set for around $200. Better than the current stock market!

[jeffc280sl]

Just a suggestion.  You may want to consider getting an "expert" in cast iron repairs if there even is such a person.  I know it is a specialty that is not common.  I have seen some very impressive work from a guy that has done some small jobs for me.

[mdsalemi]

If you need an exhaust header, $1,000 is crazy.  If you can't find one either on eBay or a dismantler, my goodness, time to have a custom one welded up.

Though I have not looked because I have not had to, thankfully, I suspect that one could send/take a [broken/cracked] cast iron model to a custom shop and have one made for a whole lot less money.  Yes it isn't Mercedes, but neither is the SS exhaust system either.

At some point you just have to say enough is enough with parts pricing.

[66andBlue]

There is an eBay seller (dismantler?) named "euro7" in Wisconsin who sells them quite frequently. He also has a web site:  http://www.eurocars-mercedes-sl-parts.com, perhaps he has another one.

[Benz Dr.]

I have 3 or 4 sets.

[Longtooth]

The thread subject is exhaust header Replacement COST or REPAIR I think.  Some do and some don't realize that some W113 authentic parts (both cosmetic & mechanical) will appreciate in price at an accelerating rate with time.  These aren't Chevys or Fords or even MB sedans of the era, so some parts will become more and more difficult to find as more W113's bite the dust or parts break beyond repairabiity.  Reproduction parts will become available but also at elevated prices as the total demand volume is low no matter how it's cut... thus amortization of expense in producing reproducation parts still requires high prices.  

Basically, don't throw away a part that's less than perfect if you're replacing it with a better or new one, since those less than perfect parts will eventually be worth more than the parts you're replacing them with.  The acceleration rate of parts cost appears to be increasing recently... it may I'm guessing be due to the increased European demand for restored W113's ... so available parts are being bought up and restored for use in restorations.

When a restored 250SL in #2 condition (non-W113 paint color) sells in US at MB Classic Center for $95k and which sold in '05 on E-bay for $36k - $40k you know prices for high quality restorations even for the 250SL's are heating up ... parts included.  A couple of years ago there was a guy combing CA for any and every W113 he could find in lowly condition... all were being shipped to Europe... virtually by the boat-load.... this kind of thing was occurring not just in CA but in the western US in general (for rust-free cars).  Cars that otherwise may have been used for parts in US were being consumed in Europe for restorations being done there...I'm guessing here that the labor intensive aspect of parts restorations were being done probably at lower labor rates in what were the former eastern block nations.

Just realize parts costs are appreciating... they drop in price when MB decides to resurrect a tool and reproduce originals --- this occurred a couple/three years ago for the beauty rings for example.  Prior to the new ones being produced for/by MB the best used examples available were selling for $250 - $300 per each... after MB began producing them again the price dropped to $80 (wholesale... $120 at MB retail).  It appears that when demand reaches a specific pent up level and prices for the available used ones in pristine condition have appreciated accordingly, then it's economically profitable with sufficient pent-up demand to go thru a production run for some new ones.  The problem is that you can't tell apriori which parts these might be --- but you can guess that they'll be the ones with highest volume demand over time... things that are most easily damaged or worn... so I've been expecting the all red tail-lights to be reproduced in full authentic form again one of these days... 22k 230SL's and another approximate 3k 250SL's used thise all red tail-lights... that's as many of these as there were the dual colored ones used on the 280SL's.... but thus far this hasn't happened... and maybe it won't.  Just keep the less then perfect parts you replace... sooner or later they'll have a value far greater than what you think.