Author Topic: New car arrived today.... (Read 13760 times)

amg65ri · « **on:** April 22, 2011, 00:11:43 »

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the board but I have been driving merc's for a few years. My current daily driver is a CL65 amg (VERY FAST).... ok ok , back on topic. So for the past 2 weeks i have been driving by this old SL at a dealership. I stopped in the other day and the owner said he would sell it. I looked over the car and found a lot of things that needed help. First and most importantly it would not run...so thats the battery at the very least, but I am thinking, fuel pump, fuel injection and possibly other issues. The hardtop and softop are there. Small hole in soft top. No rust (small bubble here or there... but really not bad) the car has not been registered since 98 when it was traded in by the original owner!!! the current dealer has been driving it (with a dealer plate from 98-2006) until he garaged it. I saw the car when it was moved outside. I talked the dealer down to 1200.00 no warranty just tow it off the lot. i figured it was worth that just for parts... ok, so back at home I found the original dealer invoice. Can you believe the car's owner still lives at the same address!! I googled them and left a voicemail. 2 hours later they called back (awesome) so technically I guess I am the second owner...

now for the current situation... I bought a battery, oil, oil filter, antifreeze, brake fluid etc. Drained everything (even flushed the engine oil a bit) I tried to jump the rear fuel pump, its the shorter version pump (thank you sl technical forum) It is currently not pumping but I did hear it try to move. i figure it needs a cleaning. so I will attempt that tomoorow. fingers crossed. the dealer said the car drove great until the month when he put it away from not running, he thinks the fuel injection pump is bad. I am hoping it is the rear fuel pump and not the FI rack, but who knows.

Any thoughts or comments would be great. i will post pictures very soon, I am also disassembling the car and getting it ready for primer because the dealer painted it metallic candy red.... yuck, its going back to original. White with tan/brown interior. It is a 4 speed and it has 4 wheel discs brakes (which are new as is the e-brake)

amg65ri · « **Reply #1 on:** April 22, 2011, 00:17:50 »

Sorry, it is a 1968 250sl. it had a 280sl tag on it, but I found the 250sl tag in the trunk and confirmed it is infact a 250sl on the dealer invoice and from the original owner. Also it needs seat covers and a front bumper (missing) everything else is still here...

As you can see i removed the top, sanded and primed it....

ja17 · « **Reply #2 on:** April 22, 2011, 01:54:19 »

Hello and welcome!

Looks like a nice hobby. Do you know if that color is correct or has it been re-painted?

JamesL · « **Reply #3 on:** April 22, 2011, 06:26:07 »

Gorgeous

Another one of those stories that always happens to sopmeone else

badali · « **Reply #4 on:** April 22, 2011, 12:20:42 »

Did you say $1200? Wow!! The car looks to be in very good condition. Nice find.

Rolland · « **Reply #5 on:** April 22, 2011, 14:11:21 »

Welcome and nice find!

Have fun with your new ride.

Rolland

amg65ri · « **Reply #6 on:** April 23, 2011, 02:05:39 »

Thanks everyone, this forum is awesome. I have learned so much and i have only had the car a few days....

I could not bare the metallic candy purple/red. the dealer sure did a good job painitng it. I have had to disassemble everything.... carpet, door jambs, trunk, weatherstripping etc etc etc...

Grabbed some white paint today from a good friend (and client) car took 1 gallon to paint. maybe I did a few extra coats, but I do not want to prep this car again for paint for at least 5 years.

Here are some pics....

dseretakis · « **Reply #7 on:** April 23, 2011, 03:07:53 »

I cannot believe you bought that car for $1200!!! Parts cars go for 5-8K. It definitely looks more correct in white. Where did you paint the car?

thelews · « **Reply #8 on:** April 23, 2011, 04:11:24 »

What color is the dash?

Rolland · « **Reply #9 on:** April 23, 2011, 04:15:00 »

Wow, you've been a busy boy in he last 24 hours!!

Rolland

amg65ri · « **Reply #10 on:** April 23, 2011, 19:22:51 »

I have been busy. Work is even busier. My girlfriend has been a great help though. After work yesterday we sanded the entire car, while we dissasmbled and taped off everything. Not much wrong in terms of rust and really no filler i could find. The original color is brown (also on the dash). I know "paint it brown". My plan is to eventually do that, but for the time being i wanted to get the car on the road in some presentable form and i really like white. So we sprayed it in white this evening at 6:15pm (about 4 hours before the rain!!) . 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of white and 3 coats of clear. I let it sit for 30 min then rolled it in the garage.... 40 min before the first drops...

As of now the car does not run. It needs seat covers, a front bumper and a full safety check. I will be using the technical manual on the forum to go through everything. The fuel injection system might be toast. The dealer said one day it just stopped and would not run. I have a lot to check. i noticed the sight window has been removed from the FI rack. I tested the fuel pump and that is defintiely jelled up. It energizes and moves for a sec, then its paused. i will slowly bring this car back, it is very nice, however I will be trying to fix or repair, rather than replace, so that will take time.

Any ideas on the fuel system feel free to let me know.

amg65ri · « **Reply #11 on:** April 23, 2011, 19:28:25 »

My oldest daughter has taken to the car already (shown practice driving) . Now that it is cleaned up she really likes it. I put her to work installing the wipers. Yes she is actually installing them.

I found an original Michelin tire in the trunk under the cover with tools and jack. Does anyone know what the black knob/rod does? it has 3 prongs at the business end (like a key)

thanks
ben-

badali · « **Reply #12 on:** April 23, 2011, 22:40:48 »

The knob looks like the seat recline knob. If you get the car fixed and running in a week you could work on OVERHAULIN with Chip Foose.

Rolland · « **Reply #13 on:** April 24, 2011, 01:46:16 »

wonder if Chip has ever done one of our cars.........seeing some of the overhaulin shows, it would be fun to see it done, but not with some of the tweeks he usually does.

Rolland

nikopu · « **Reply #14 on:** April 24, 2011, 10:18:28 »

For a three hour outdoor quicky, the paint doesn't look half bad from those photo's!

Hmmm.. getting wife/girfriend to do the sanding and prepping.. now there's an idea. I've always hated doing that

(That was a joke.. you are a very lucky fellow!!)

joes · « **Reply #15 on:** April 24, 2011, 15:40:44 »

Ben,

Congrats on a wonderful find and an awesome beginning to a great story. The pics are great!

Also, not sure when your book is coming out "THE ART OF NEGOTIATING" but let us know when it does. It seems like you have used your skill on the dealer and your girfriend!!

regards,
Joe

MichaelB. · « **Reply #16 on:** April 24, 2011, 16:17:38 »

Cool thread

dseretakis · « **Reply #17 on:** April 24, 2011, 23:48:47 »

my car suddenly stopped running one day and after much fussing it turned out to be the fuel pump. Even though the pump ran, it failed to put out the correct volume of fuel which turns out to be so critical for these cars.

amg65ri · « **Reply #18 on:** April 25, 2011, 02:16:32 »

Well i thought i would tear apart the fuel pump today... (fingers crossed i hope i dont wreck the pump) I decided to gently tap the 6 slotted screws with a hammer and apply 4 seconds of heat. then I placed some pb blaster on them and tapped again.

All 6 came out great. After cleaning out the pump (and screws), I tried to see if the motor worked.... YES... whew that was close....

Installed the Pump and some new gas (cleaned out the tank) and gave it a try.... No luck....

What should I try next? I am guessing I should make sure the fuel is getting to the injectors? right? maybe replace the fuel filter and check the lines up front. Anyone have any other ideas?

thanks... heres a pic of the pump...

mdsalemi · « **Reply #19 on:** April 25, 2011, 11:38:23 »

You could piecemeal fix the fuel issues one by one, if you have a lot of time, little money, and an enormous amount of patience.

Short of that, for a Pagoda that has been sitting for any length of time, and not running, best to go through the entire fuel system; in other words, attack everything in the fuel system one by one in the same manner you did the pump. This would include starting at the tank and making sure things are not clogged there; replacing rubber components of the fuel lines, cleaning and testing all metal fuel lines, removing injectors and having those tested, and gulp--ditto for the FI pump. If you don't do it now, you will certainly be doing it all in time, perhaps getting stuck on the road one or more times in the process...

I did it all, but over several years, with, um, getting stuck along the way. There were some big bullets to bite but I saved nothing by putting them off.

dseretakis · « **Reply #20 on:** April 25, 2011, 12:04:19 »

As Michael says, go through the fuel system methodically. From my experience the fuel pump can be deceiving. If the pump doesn't put out 1L of fuel per 15 sec then your car will not run well or at all. In my case the pump was putting out 600cc in 15 secs and the car would not run! Also, have you peered into the fuel tank from above? Take out the fuel sending unit from in the trunk and peer into the tank with a flashlight. If you see a lot of rust and crud them you may have a "flower pot" issue. Do a search on flower pot on this forum. Also, what about spark? Have you checked your point gap? What plugs are you using and what is their condition? My car is very finicky when it comes to plugs. Use only non-resistor plugs such as NGK BP6ES and make sure they are not fouled- car will run very poorly or not at all.

amg65ri · « **Reply #21 on:** April 25, 2011, 16:20:10 »

Wow, Great info!!

I will try and tackle these items one at a time (and take pics). i will get new plugs and drop the tank also. Thanks for the flow rates and FI hints these will save me a bunch of time. Any idea on what books i should purchase to help along the way? Is the haynes manual worth anything at all?

here is a current pic after the quick paint job (yes I did also do the door jambs

) next update will probably be after the weekend....

thanks

hands_aus · « **Reply #22 on:** April 25, 2011, 20:19:56 »

there is a small mess filter on the intake of the fuel pump that could be blocked

Tom Colitt · « **Reply #23 on:** April 26, 2011, 00:20:18 »

Congrats. You are definitely not what one would call a procrastinator :-) You must have meant $12000 though? In that condition you could not possibly get one, let alone from a MB dealer...

I didn't read your progree with great detail, but you may have started slightly backwards with the fuel issue. These cars will surprise to the upside more than one might think. So I would try the simple stuff first, assuming that you already eliminated ignition problems. First the fuel pump fuse, then listen for fuel pump noise, then see if fuel comes out at the rubber hoses in the engine bay. If yes to all that, you can undo number 6 injector and crank while its connected to the line to check the spray pattern for starters. If there was no fuel in the pump it can take quite a long time cranking to fill up all those injector lines, so keep going....

Best, Tom

..and if you want power close to that AMG65, I am offering a 3.0L modified, upgraded engine which looks otherwise exactly like the original, but runs like !@@!$%# ;-)

amg65ri · « **Reply #24 on:** April 26, 2011, 13:45:53 »

Quote from: Tom Colitt on April 26, 2011, 00:20:18

Congrats. You are definitely not what one would call a procrastinator :-) You must have meant $12000 though? In that condition you could not possibly get one, let alone from a MB dealer...

I didn't read your progree with great detail, but you may have started slightly backwards with the fuel issue. These cars will surprise to the upside more than one might think. So I would try the simple stuff first, assuming that you already eliminated ignition problems. First the fuel pump fuse, then listen for fuel pump noise, then see if fuel comes out at the rubber hoses in the engine bay. If yes to all that, you can undo number 6 injector and crank while its connected to the line to check the spray pattern for starters. If there was no fuel in the pump it can take quite a long time cranking to fill up all those injector lines, so keep going....

Best, Tom

..and if you want power close to that AMG65, I am offering a 3.0L modified, upgraded engine which looks otherwise exactly like the original, but runs like !@@!$%# ;-)

Tom,

I did purchase my car for 1200.00 i paid "cash money" as they say on "pawn stars" the used car dealer grew old of the car, he saw it as a money pit. He wanted it perfect. I tried to keep him talking about other things because he appeared aggitated about the car. Someone threw away the front bumper on him before he was able to send it out to chrome, then some kids stole the hubcabs and gas cap. next the radio stopped working, which was only a ground issue i found.

Finally the fuel issue. I am hoping it turns out to be something rather trivial like most other things I found. The fuel pump issue was really caused by sitting. small iron deposits froze the spinning vane section to the case of the pump. Easy fix. Hopefully the rest are as well.

As for the price, I know 1200.00 is nothing, I must admit i was not even looking for a a sl at all. I just saw the car and said "wow thats cool, I should check it out." Then i reviewed this website and went back the next day prepared. His 4500.00 initial offer was knocked down to 1200.00 by explaining the cost of a bumper, leather seats, injector pump , and fuel pump. Not to mention radio, gas cap and hub caps.

i am excited about getting this running. they really are great cars. Is it just me or do these doors close with such precision it makes you wonder if all doors should be compared to them? really I have never had a door close as firmly or with such precise affirmation. I show them to everyone and they just say "its a mercedez"... yeah but my $190k cl65 does not close 1/3 as nicely....

Thanks for the 3.0 engine offer. For now i am trying to keep this cars budget as low as possible seeing as i bought it instead of lunch!!!

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Author Topic: New car arrived today.... (Read 13760 times)

amg65ri

amg65ri

Rolland

amg65ri

dseretakis

Rolland

amg65ri

amg65ri

Rolland

nikopu

MichaelB.

dseretakis

amg65ri

dseretakis

amg65ri

Tom Colitt

amg65ri