Engine Bay

[mal]

I removed the bonnet today to change the spring, so I took the opportunity to photograph the detailed engine bay.
here are some photos.
Thanks



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Malek Mrowa - Beirut, Lebanon.
280SL 71- Light Blue-/Blue
190SL 61 - Silver/Red

[knirk]

Mal.

You have a very nice engine bay. I like how your AC hoses are routed. On my picture you can see that the hose from the condenser is above the hose going to the inside unit. And there is now way I can correct this without having to recharge the system. The cost is about $300 here in Norway.

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I haven't seen the yellow decal on the left side of the valve cover before. Is this original?


Per G. Birkeland
69 280 sl aut 834
Norway

[Douglas]

Nice engine bay. Very tidy.

Here's a purely cosmetic question: I'd be interested to hear whether owners out there prefer to route the ignition wires above or below the injection lines. I've seen it both ways in factory photos. (My current car has the wires routed above the lines.)

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[Cees Klumper]

Doug - my ignition wires go above the injection lines - seems like a more 'natural' way.

Malek - the hose between the air filter canister and the intake manifold on your car is missing the (large) hose clamps on both ends. Although from the photos it seems to be on tight enough, I would not take the chance of the hose coming undone and the engine taking in unfiltered air.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[hauser]

My wires travel under the fuel lines.  I believe it gives it a much cleaner look without having all these wires up above the valve cover.  Also my distributor has a rubber cap.

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1969 280sl 5 spd        1999 ML320          Gainesville,Fl.

[hauser]

Here is another engine bay pic I found.  I believe this car was on display by MB.  Note the very nice brake fluid reservoir.

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1969 280sl 5 spd        1999 ML320          Gainesville,Fl.

[mal]

I bought the decals from Miller, and assume they are original!
can anyone confirm?

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Malek Mrowa - Beirut, Lebanon.
280SL 71- Light Blue-/Blue
190SL 61 - Silver/Red

[hauser]

Mal they may just be reproductions.  There is a guy on ebay that goes by the name sgabal.  The decals are sold as a kit.  The soft top storage compartment is sold by itself.  I don't believe he is offering decals for the 113 at this time.  I think Bob Geco has decals as well.

1969 280sl 5 spd        1999 ML320          Gainesville,Fl.

[Douglas]

I believe that's actually for an earlier car like a 190 SL. Bob Geco, care to confirm?

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[JamesL]

Any tips on where/how to start a detail.....?

[230SL67]

Will Samples (S&S Imports in Dallas) sells these decals as a kit and he says these are authentic.  He is the Star restoration advisor for the 190SL and W113s.

Chris

[Douglas]

Chris, I generally defer to Will on matters, but on this one I have to challenge him. I've never seen a period photo of a 113 engine bay with that particular decal -- including all the pix in the Brooklands anthology. I've seen vintage valve cover stickers on SLs, but not that particular one.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[rwmastel]

quote:Originally posted by mal

I bought the decals from Miller, and assume they are original! Can anyone confirm?

If you bought them, then they were not applied in the factory, and therefore they can not be "original".  I do not mean to sound like a jerk about it, but misuse of the word "original" is a pet peeve of mine.  I hate it when I see people advertise a classic car for sale and they say, "100% restored, all original."  Those are mutually exclusive terms, totally opposite!

I guess you meant to ask, "Do they look like the original ones would have looked?"  On that, I will have to defer to Doug and others.  I'm just hear to nit pick the terminology.  

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[bayleif]

My spark plug wires used to go under the fuel injection lines. And my distributor had a boot. Then I adjusted my points. It was much easier to get access to the points if by routing the plug wires over the injection lines I could move the distributor cap well out of my way. So I did. Also by the third time I tried snapping that boot cover on again I decided to leave that off as well.
However, there were plastic wire holders that were attached to a metal bracket in the middle of the engine. The wires snapped into the holders and it really cleaned things up. But mine broke. Does anyone know how to identify them so that I can order them?


Chuck Bartlett
1969 Signal Red 4 Speed

[Cees Klumper]

Chuck - these black plastic wire holders are available new from the usual parts suppliers. Oftentimes one or both of the plastic clips at the back, that are supposed to snap into the metal bracket, break off. In German it's called "zundkabelhalter" which translates to "spark plug wire holder" (surprise); SLS lists them for eur 1.50 each. It makes sense to buy one or two extras while you're at it.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Benz Dr.]

I bugs me even more when people call any post war MB a classic. These are NOT classic cars.

 Classic cars were built during the classic era from about 1925 to 1948 and have very spcific criteria. These were and are very exclusive cars and you won't find ' 57 Chevy Bel Air or Model T's on the list. You will find such cars as Duesenburg, Cord, Marmon, Peerless, Peirce- Arrow and other limited production, hand built cars. Even a Gull Wing is not a classic car.
Our cars ( 113 ) are Milestone cars ( built from 1949 to 1972 ) and include most 300, 190SL,113,6.3 and 111 Coupes. Having Milestone status is a real honour and is nothing to scoff at. The word '' classic '' is so over used today that all of the original meaning is lost.
Too bad really, true classic cars are something to behold.

Daniel G Caron

[Joe]

Rodd, I do think the phrase "restored to original" is used and accepted, and is understood to be different from just "restored." The difference from "unrestored original" is obvious, too.
Joe2

[Douglas]

Here's a photo of an original late-model US-spec 280 SL valve cover sticker:

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And here's the engine. It was a Hatch & Sons car with recorded mileage of 21K on the odometer:

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[hauser]

Doug, I went back to look at pics of your former car. I noticed that there was a sticker on the engine.  Was this the original sticker?

1969 280sl 5 spd        1999 ML320          Gainesville,Fl.

[Douglas]

Hauser,

As a matter of fact, that wasn't the original valve cover sticker. I think there are 2 pix of the engine bay at motoringinvestments.com. I put that decal on there then later removed it because I couldn't find any confirmation that that was indeed the correct detail.

My former SL did come with some kind of a sticker on the valve cover when it was new. I know this because it left a vague impression on the metal. Unfortunately though, I have yet to see what kind of stickers a European SL was delivered with originally.

In the case of the silver SL, it would've been at least partially in French since the data card specifies French language tags throughout.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[mal]

Is the sticker, an attempt to a  restoration to the orginal (Keeping Rodd's hair splitting remarks in mind) or not
Thanks

Malek Mrowa - Beirut, Lebanon.
280SL 71- Light Blue-/Blue
190SL 61 - Silver/Red

[Douglas]

I'm not sure if the question is directed at me, but I'll answer it regardless.

I purchased the sticker for my valve cover because I noticed there was supposed to be a sticker there. As I mentioned, there was an impression from the original sticker still visible. The longer I owned the car, the more I realized this was not the correct sticker. (By the way, Bob Geco prefers to call them "engineering tags.")

I think lots of new owners are excited to make some easy upgrades to their SLs the moment they get them. Typically, people will add a mirror to the passenger door, purchase new cocomats, etc. It's that initial burst of enthusiasm we all have when we fall in love with our SL.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[hauser]

Kinda sounds like me!  Passenger mirror, all red tailights and inertia seat belts all ala Gernold.  The coco mats came 3 weeks later because I couldn't make up my mind between Jaspe and Black&Natural.  I eventually went with the Blk&Nat.

1969 280sl 5 spd        1999 ML320          Gainesville,Fl.

[n/a]

By the way, I had the chance to see Mal's car in person a few days ago in Beirut. It's a beauty!
Mo