Merrill,
You asked for it...I spent ungodly amounts of time and money on parts from suppliers cited in this thread. To that end:
Cheryl at K&K is the Goddess of Mercedes sheet metal. Even MB themselves buys some sheet metal from them. You need not even go anywhere else when it comes to purchasing or questions or anything on sheetmetal. Cheryl is "da man"...er.."da woman". Even though they do sell other parts, their start was on sheet metal. I bought way too much sheet metal to get my basket case free of cancer and poor driving (dents, dings and bondo)and I suspect they had to get another truck to make all those deliveries. They are a factory and actually have the dies and presses to fabricate some of this sheet metal that they sell.
I've had no bad experiences with any of the other suppliers mentioned, other then some of them didn't take me seriously when I asked for pricing and quantity discounts on a long laundry list of parts that looked like a Sindelfingen vendor order! (I think, though, that Caliber and Miller's are still counting the money to the detriment of the others[:0]) So, that being said:
Mike Ochoa at Miller's in California (they have an east coast office somewhere as well)was my main man on mechanical parts. The only caveat is that if you are particular about "original" versus aftermarket or reproduction, make sure you understand what you are getting. A lot of what Miller's has is aftermarket parts. Absolutely nothing wrong with an aftermarket tie rod, for example, but you need to know what you are getting. Don't assume anything.
Caliber supplied me with a lot of original parts available just from Mercedes, and at prices competitive with other sellers. Fast service, because they are a large and professional dealer, with a separate "mail order" parts department. I've been there and seen it. You need a golf cart to get from one part of the property to another. Tom Hanson used to be our 113 specialist but is now with the new MB Classic Center in Irvine. I suspect someone has taken his place at Caliber. You should note that some parts I got from other distributors had a Caliber label on it...
When the dollar was high and the Euro low, I did get a bunch of parts from DB-Depot and a great price. Surprisingly easy to deal with and ship despite the ocean and language barrier.
Tom Koellner of Koellner SL is a regular contributor to our site and has some parts at attractive prices. I will try him for something next time I need something.
Last but not least is our own Dr. Benz, Dan Caron. A mere 3 hours from Toronto, 90 minutes from Detroit, and a million miles from anywhere in the wheat fields of Ontario. A pleasant ferry ride from Marine City. Dan's skills are legendary, and unlike our own Joe Alexander, Dan still does it for a living when he isn't on the tractor planting wheat. I've been there three times, and Dan did some major servicing on my car including tracking down some elusive issues beyond the abilities of a normal mechanic.
It has been said before but we do owe a debt of gratitude to those professionals like Dan Caron and Tom Koellner who regularly contribute to our site and provide their normally paid professional knowledge for free. So, it is a nice gesture to throw some business their way when you have the opportunity to do so.
Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored
