220SEb Project...

[bsimaz]

I'm working on getting my 220SEb back on the road.  The last time the car was started was about 1988.  One of the first things that needed to be done was the fuel system.  I took off the fuel pump and cleaned it out.  Not a bad job just a sticky mess.  Some carb cleaner and running fresh gas and some seafoam really did a good job.  I also ran the mixture through the fuel lines for a couple of hours.  I just put the return line into the same can as the pump.  Some small stuff came out put now it's running clear.   Next was the gas tank.   After 25 years of sitting around with 3/4 full of gas the inside was a mess.   I took it to a shop to hopefully have it cleaned.  The next day he called back and said "There's nothing I can do".   He emptied out almost a gallon can of what appeared to be rust/shellac/dried gunk.   Well I though I needed a new one so off to the internet.  Wow, new ones are expensive.  After searching and reading what I could I found a posting where someone talked about cleaning their tank.  I decided that I couldn't do any more harm to my tank that was already done so I cut a hole in the top to see what I was up against.  I also wanted to see the fabled 'flower pot'.  Well after dumping out another gallon pail full of rust/shellac/gunk found, to my surprise, that the tank is in pretty good shape.  After a good cleaning and clearing out the fuel lines I took it back to the shop for a boiling.  Turned out nice.  I still have to have the top welded back on but I will save me a lot of money.

I took some pics of the end result...

Next job is getting a different distributor and getting it running.   Shouldn't be too difficult.  The engine was rebuilt not long before it was parked and sat for all those years.

[bsimaz]

And a putting thing back together...

[bsimaz]

Well, after ordering a different distributor and installing it....

Not much...

Just a few backfires and coughs.....

Then I remembered what an old wise mechanic once told me...  "when all else fails....  RTFM"

After resetting the timing ( thanks to the technical manuals from this site) I tried once more.
Viola....
Started on the first crank over.   Runs really rough after setting for ~25 years but it's running.
Going over the history of the car.  The top part of the engine was rebuilt some time ago so I'm hoping
that after the kinks are worked out all will be fine.   Just a few things left.  Looks like I need a new water
pump and a thermo switch.  Small items that are fairly easy to fix.   Anyway  I'm happy....   

I've included a few pictures as a starting point.   Overall not too bad.  Little rust under the car but I've
dealt with that before. 

[wwheeler]

Looks like you have some work to do but will look great when you are done. There are several posts about what to do on a car that hasn't run in quite a while.

Good Luck!