64 230SL project in Norway

[Jaru]

Hi
My name is Jan and i am located in Norway (so pardon my elementary school english..)
Last fall i bought a 64 230SL euro model. I dont know the history of the car, it was imported to Norway from the U.S in 2000.
The car was mostly in pieces when i bought it. It has been going thru a pretty big rust repair job. All fenders and floor panels ++ has been replaced.
The welding job has been carried out by Ermanno Martinuzzi an Italian body maker who built the full scale model of Il Tempo Gigante from the film Pinchcliffe Grand Prix. After the rust repair was carried out the previous owner gave up and sold the car to me. The front panel and the beam where the bumper is mounted still needs to be replaced. It has been replaced before sometime probably because a accident in the front, but the job they did is pretty crappy.
I have worked on some w108 and w111's before but this is my first 113 so i will probably need som help and advice during the restauration.

Some pics of how it looked when i got it home.

[Jonny B]

I certainly hope you are not trying for the first photo that is posted!! And I suspect you are not. The site has a large amount of information, and the search function can be your friend to find a lot of specific information. We all just love to see and read about the "bringing back to life" process of a Pagoda, so keep the photos coming. And the members just wait in anticipation of questions that they can all answer. Welcome!!

[Jaru]

Thanks Jonny
Hehe.. The photo of the Il Tempo Gigante was just to show the creativity of the  guy who did the bodywork, thankfully he has not been that creative on my pagoda

[Jaru]

There are quite a few signs that this car has lived a rough life. The whole drivetrain has been swapped out with a 280 engine, manual transmission and a 3.69 rear end with disc brakes. One good thing is that the original 230 headers has been bolted on the 280 engine.
The chassis# 113042 12 xxxxx tells the car left the factory with automatic transmission. I have not decided if I shall use this engine and transmission or try to track down a 230 with automatic transmission, or go for 280 with automatic. Any thougths..?

[Jaru]

Another sign of abuse is the pitman arm, it has been cut off and replaced with an 280 arm and mounted up side down further down on the frame rail:o
After reading Andy Burns thread i was aware that there are several different types. And with the help of a good friend who work on these cars for a living we found out wich arm to use, and he had one on a 250S parts car that i could cut off.

The 280 arm was cut off and the correct one welded in the right place. I used a pipe wich fitted exactly inside the tube on the new pitman arm. And I had another car to measure on so i hope it is correct now.

[Jaru]

Found another dodgy old rust repair on the left framerail. No drain hole and the sheet metal patch is too thin, so I cut it out and made a new piece with the drain hole. Its a good thing to have the Motoring Investments pics to look at when reconstructing

[DaveB]

That looks like nice work! Do you have your own workshop?
Re: the motor. If the 280 motor and manual transmission are in good condition that seems a better option than chasing a 230 driveline. But judging by the initial condition of the car, that may be a big if.

[Jaru]

Thanks Dave I dont run a workshop its just a hobby working in my private garage, but i buildt the garage for this purpose so there is no entrance  for lawnmovers and bicycles

I had a look at the engine the other day and noticed that it has the digits 12 after 130-xxx-(I dont have it in front of me now therefor the x's) does that mean it originally came with an automatic transmission?
If so I am skeptical to the balance of the crankshaft and the flywheel..not shure if the people previously working on this car knew that the crankshaft and flexplate they swapped with the manual flywheel was balanced together at the factory..

[GGR]

I think the M130 was already internally balanced, ie crankshaft and flywheel were balanced separately to "0" each. It is mentioned somewhere I the Workshop manual.

[Jaru]

I think the M130 was already internally balanced, ie crankshaft and flywheel were balanced separately to "0" each. It is mentioned somewhere I the Workshop manual.

Hhmm thats interesting, I have to check that out further.

Have sorted out the right framerail as well.

[Jaru]

Didn't get much time in the garage tonight, but i managed to make a new horn bracket that was missing on the right side. I am not shure if this is the correct bracket for 230, I looked at a friends 70' 280, it had the same bracket on both sides. So I just made a copy of the one on the left side. Hopefully it will be ok.

[Jaru]

Fixed a small dent in left framerail and made a exhaust bracket last night. I didn't find the exhaust bracket in the EPC so i cut a oval hole in a Mdf board and made a 10mm thick metal piece with the same shape just smaller, and put it in the hydralic press with a sheet metal in between. Turned out ok. Let me know if I bore you with stupid details..

[Bonnyboy]

I am facinated with your pictures.    A genius fabricator friend of mine insisted that heineken was the secret ingredient in all of his creativity.  It must be true. 

Keep the pictures coming - we love them.
 

[Jonny B]

Don't stop with the pictures or the details, I can pretty well say, most of us really to like to understand those details!

[Jaru]

Hehe the Heineken sure helps

Ok I'll keep the pics coming

I couldn't stand looking at all the poor welding on the front cross member anymore so i cut it out and attached the new cross member and front sheet metal with a couple of vise grips. The existing front panel sits to high so it does not match the hood, so it will have to be replaced. The guy who did the job on the front end back in the States solved this with 10mm of bondo on the hood, guess he had a couple of Heinekens to much..

[Garry]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing.

This is often a forgotten area for a lot of people and I think that the front cross member has to be near the top of the list for rust areas.  Very hard to find until you poke around with a sharp point in the centre of the member and more often than not there is rust there.  Both my Pagodas have had rust in the cross piece rather than the floors or elsewhere to the point that there was a small hole in the centre of the beam. 

An area for our members to check and keep an eye on

Garry

[Jaru]

I have not decided if I want to keep the manual transmission or convert it back to automatic, but i want to keep that possibility open.  So i had to fabricate the bracket for the wire from the transmission to the switch on the firewall. When the car was converted to manual they apparently removed it. I  took all the measures from another car so hopefully it is in the correct place

[Jaru]

Back on the wheels..    made a rear- and front axle so the car can easily be moved around.

Welding is finished for now. Front panel and crossmember will be tackled by the bodyshop.

Next week its going of to dry-ice blasting and some sandblasting in the surface rust areas.

[andyburns]

Jaru,  I love your work.  Keep the pictures coming! Looks as if your doing a fantastic job with all the fabrication.  Very tidy.  What color are you going to paint.  I am also interested in the original color of your car.  It looks very similar to mine which was MB519 Light red.  I have never seen a photo of a car complete in this color.  Was very rare. 

I also see you have a W108 in the drive as well.  Whats the history behind this one.  Did you restore it as well.  Beautiful under rated old cars.  I also have two at the moment as well.  Just wish the prices would move in the same direction as the 113's

[Jaru]

Thanks Andy, its actually your thread that inspired me to start mine its interesting to read about all the little things that makes a restoration so comprehensive.

The original color is 050 white with blue Tex. I have spent quite some time deciding the color, I have thought about 172, 190, 180, and 387, but I can't seem to get this 181 hellbeige Pagoda out of my head so at the moment this is my favorite. I love the dark brown interior with this color, but I really want a red interior and I think that will work with the light beige exterior color.

[Jaru]

The W108 is a 72 280SE 3.5. I bought this car in boxes about four years ago and I spent two winters putting it together. The engine was toast so i bought a 85 500SEL and took the engine and transmission over in the W108. It was pretty much bolt on, it even fits on the original 3.5 motormounts. Being av K-jet engine its not too much electronic hassle so a friend of mine removed all the D-jet stuff and hooked it up in a couple of evenings. The car was finished last june and the first test run went to Italy on a three weeks holiday trip. 5250km and 820litres of fuel without a missfire we even got a lap at the Nürburgring. This is actually my favorite car to drive on longer trips.

You can see more of it here, but i guess you dont understand too much of the language but pictures say more than a thousand words..

http://mbentusiastklubb.no/smf/index.php?topic=50870.0

[GGR]

I went to see that thread in Swedish, and though I don't understand the language, I can tell from the pictures that you did a very impressive job! So you have a car as fast as a 6.3, only lighter, better balanced, and technically much simpler. With the audio system and insulation work, I can see why you like that car on longer trips! From the pictures I can tell that your rear axle went through some adventures! What ratio did you end up using? Also what exhaust manifolds did you use?

I did a similar job on a Pagoda, only with a 5.6L M117 and a 5 speed manual transmission. The story is here:  http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=15521.0  I also did a similar project with  a W111 Coupe, story here: http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=14796.0 I may embark in a third project of that sort soon as my wife just bought a w110 230 (she wanted a 4 door to take her nephews and nieces around) and I have an early euro 500 motor lying around.  But she wants it automatic and comfortable on long trips, so it may look very much like what you did on your w108.

Other than that, yes, light beige with dark red interior is a superb combination for a Pagoda. I used to see one like that every Sunday when I was living in Paris and it was absolutely superb! 

[Jaru]

Thanks GGR, but i must correct you, it's in Norwegian, not Swedish

I have read thru your threads a few months ago, and i found it quite intersting to see how you solved it. Looks like you did a great job. It was espesially interesting to read about the manual transmission conversion on the M117. I have been thinking about doing the same conversion in a 64 W111 220S with this kit from Elbe engineering.

  http://elbe.ee/products/drivetrain/gearbox-conversion

The rear axle project on the W108 was a nightmare.. The short version: i tried to use the 2.82 ratio from 6.3 in the diff house from a 3.5 for steel springs, we got the Pinion in by expanding the diff house, but when it was time to bolt the two halfes together there was a gap of 5mm between the two halfes of the diff house. So I ended up using a 4.5 axle with 3.27.  If i come across a complete 6.3 axle I will try to convert the axle tubes to work with the steel springs.

The right side exhaust manifold I think is from a W107 450, the left one is from the 3.5 that came with the car.

[GGR]

Norwegian, sorry!

Yes, on my Pagoda I used the center part of a 6.3 and the wheel tubes from a 3.27. Some 6.3s have the bracket for the center spring, some don't. If you end up not having it, you can get around with stiffer side springs and no center spring. If you get a complete 6.3 rear axle, cut the anti dive system fixing points out of the donor car. That way, you can retrofit the complete 6.3 rear axle with the anti-dive system. The arms are different and not interchangeable but you can fit the spring holders on the 6.3 arms as a straight bolt in.

The 450 and 3.5 manifolds are smaller in diameter and not centered the same way. I wonder how you went about it?

 

[Jaru]

Ok, good to hear that the 6.3 housing works with the steel spring tubes. I will try to track down a 6.3 axle with the center spring mount. It is far between 6.3 donor cars here in Norway so I guess i have to find a axle in the U.S and get it shipped here.

You are right about the manifolds I tried several different types that did not match the exhaust ports.  I am not shure what car the right one came from since I found it laying around in a friends garage. But it fits perfectly. The two piece 3.5 manifold on the left side also lines up with the exhaust ports but it might be smaller in diameter. When I first started up the car and took it for a test drive, it didn't run as it did when it sat in the W126 donor car so i started thinking what have i altered The only thing i could think of was the exhaust, I used the original exhausts from the 3.5 and that was to narrow for the 500. So I made new 2" pipes from the manifolds and a collector, now the car ran much better.

What manifolds did you use?