Returning an early car to originality

[ctaylor738]

I recently acquired 230SL #133.  My goals for this car are to get it running and driving well and to back out some of the changes that have been made to it over the years of previous ownership.  I plan to document this process in this thread, one post per change.  Hope it will be interesting to the Group.

Here is a link to the pre-purchase pictures of the car.

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21An%5FHEvei5aWicyw&id=2389509F35BC1CD%214073&cid=02389509F35BC1CD

Happy Thanksgiving 2020, everyone.

CT

[ctaylor738]

Early cars had steering wheels with round horn rings.  Here are pictures from a 1963 brochure, and my car before and after.  I found the steering wheel on eBay, from a seller in Caracas of all places.  A lucky catch!

[ctaylor738]

The car came with Bosch silicone wires and later valve cover.  New wires came from Authentic Classics.  I am still looking for a longer sleeve for the wires. 

I had an early valve cover left over from a long-forgotten project.  Fellow Pagoda owner Michael Egan contributed a NOS oil filler cap.  Thanks, Michael!

[Benz Dr.]

Early cars had steering wheels with round horn rings.  Here are pictures from a 1963 brochure, and my car before and after.  I found the steering wheel on eBay, from a seller in Caracas of all places.  A lucky catch!

I have one of those round horn rings. I didn't know they're all that rare.

[MikeSimon]

The round ring obstructs the view to the instruments at normal straight driving. Probably the reason for the change.

[Benz Dr.]

I agree. But so does the 190 and 300SL's.

[MikeSimon]

O.K., next time I drive my 300SL, I will worry about it....

[FGN59]

I would venture that the flat part of the horn ring also helps keeping the wheel straight (practically and subconsciously).

[Benz Dr.]

Same for my 190SL. It really isn't all that noticeable while driving because it's a very thin ring. You look down at your gauges once in a while but it is kind of important to also watch the road.

[114015]

The round ring obstructs the view to the instruments at normal straight driving. Probably the reason for the change.

Yes, Michael, maybe but this is what it was in the old days ... i.e. until late 1963/January 1964.


Hello Charles,
What a great treat! Always love these early cars.
000133 is already pretty early!

As to your replaced valve cover: fine!   
Like it!

As to your replaced steering wheel .... well ....
The original steering wheel and the steering wheel hub pad had in your car are original for a car of your age .... for a two-thirty before #002035 / 2038 to be exact.
Only your (flat) horn ring was replaced.

That one is now correct on your "Caracas" steering wheel but the rest is not.
The wheel has got the 2 grooves which only the later (fintail & Pagoda) steering wheels had (after # 002039) and the hub pad has got at least a late star without outer chrome ring.
You should have only replaced the horn ring - and everything would have been proper for your VIN.
 

Don't worry,
all best,

Achim

[ctaylor738]

Thanks for the feedback.

So I will change to wheel and horn pad back to the one that came with the car, and use the round horn ring from Caracas.

Cheers,

CT

[114015]

Correct .... 

[lowpad]

I love all the little differences in the early cars that were removed due to continuous improvement or cost, such as the extra chrome strip on the top cover, the simpler air vents On the dash and the round horn ring.  I guess the relocated spare tire was a positive trade off for a larger fuel tank, but it did come at the expense of trunk room. 

[ctaylor738]

I'm trying to combine different jobs to minimize re-work.  So with the coolant tank out for repair, the intake manifold off to do the engine mounts, and the coolant hoses off for replacement, it seemed like a good time to fix one of the major cosmetic issues, namely the black paint in the engine compartment.

I'm using paint from Paintscratch and brushing it on in the areas that would need a lot of masking.  I'll probably spray the rest of the right side.  Paintscratch doesn't recommend brush application, but I'm finding it's working OK with a good brush and not brushing back into wet paint.

Definitely not concours but good enough to raise the hood without total embarrassment.

Cheers

[ctaylor738]

The car came with a later throttle body and a 051 distributor with a Pertronix installed, and an updated breather pipe.  I was lucky to find a correct throttle body at Porfor in Los Angeles and the SL Shop in England had the correct breather pipe and bracket.  My bud Ray pulled a correct 049 distributor out of his spare parts box, and refurbished it along with the throttle body.

Functionally, the change means going back to a vacuum advance from a vacuum retard setup.

I also returned the inner fender to DB 717 from the black that it had been sprayed.

The coolant tank went out for re-soldering and the aftermarket hoses and cheese slicer clamps were replaced with Mercedes hoses and Norma clamps.

Next up - battling the black paint on the left side of the engine compartment.

Cheers,

CT

[ctaylor738]

A previous owner had installed a big-chassis Becker Europa Stereo, very incorrect for a early sixties car.  The installation required that the opening in the dash center piece be enlarged.  Fortunately, new center pieces are available from Authentic Classics and other vendors.  So, I bought one from Authentic.  Gernold provided a radio delete plate and a 230SL emblem.  Here is a before and after with everything painted and installed.

With the dash center and the glove box out, it seemed a good time to investigate the heating system, since the heat appeared to be full on all the time.  It turned out that the levers on both heater flaps were broken and the heater valve was frozen in the full On position.  The fresh air flap was disconnected, and the distributor dash lever was broken.  In addition, the paper mache' defrost vents had deteriorated and were barely held together with duct tape.  Oh, and the right side fresh air vent was inop because the control rod had separated from the flap.

Well, at least the blower worked.

Fortunately, I was able to find a combination of new and used parts and now have functioning heating, defrost, and vents.  The parts tab including various gaskets and shipping came to about $1100.

Cheers,

[ctaylor738]

The car came with decades-old Michelin whitewalls and black-painted rims.  It now has 185 Vredestein Sprint Classics and body-colored rims.  With the vertical spare, you need a nice-looking rim.

Cheers,

CT

[Jonny B]

Chuck, looking fine!

[ctaylor738]

Cars up to number 4350 did not have the access hole for the heater control valve.  So they did not have the curve in the seam across the top of the firewall, and they did not have cut-outs in the firewall pad for the access hole and cover.  On this car, a 25mm hole had been cut to access the valve, and a semi-custom pebbled firewall pad installed.

There are no correct firewall pads available for early cars.  At first I planned to make a pad from bulk pebbled material but I doubted my ability to get the various cut-outs right.  After some discussion, Authentic Classics agreed to sell me one of their pads, but without the cut-outs for the valve access.  I modified it to fit.  After scraping off the old adhesive, I painted the firewall, which had been painted black.

Not totally correct, as pictures of early cars used a more fabric-like material for the pad.

Cheers,

[Benz Dr.]

The car came with decades-old Michelin whitewalls and black-painted rims.  It now has 185 Vredestein Sprint Classics and body-colored rims.  With the vertical spare, you need a nice-looking rim.

Cheers,

CT

That's a 108 rim by the looks of it.

[ctaylor738]

Good catch, Dr. Dan.  All five rims are the 108 6".  I am on the lookout for at least one 5 1/2" rim.

Stay safe,

[SCMagi]

It looks awesome. The Mercedes-Benz 230SL is one of my favorite classic cars, and I wish to acquire one for more than ten years. Unfortunately, it is tough to find one which is in good condition. How much you paid for it, and how much the insurance on such a car could cost. One of my friends who works for https://www.moneyexpert.com/car-insurance/car-rental-insurance/ told me that it is pretty expensive to insure such a car because they are pretty rare the details for such a car are also hard to find. Well, I hope that you'll manage to restore it as soon as possible, and you'll make it look new.

[lreppond]

I’m really enjoying the chronicle of you returning your car to as close to original condition as possible.  I think it’s so commendable. When you are completely finished I hope it will bring you great pleasure and pride.  I think it already looks wonderful! 

I’m also very impressed by the astute observations by many of the other members.  Their knowledge of details and specs is something to work toward.

[ctaylor738]

If you're not a true parts nerd like me, don't read on.

One of the problems with 133 was the poor fit of the coolant reservoir, as seen in the picture.  When the tank's drain was connected to the return pipe, it was canted to the right and the bracket would not attach to the firewall, which has openings with cage nuts.  I finally decided that it was the return pipe that was causing the problem.  But I looked at pictures of various pipes and they all seemed to match what I had.

Then, a careful reading of the EPC showed that "Line" 113 500 00 89 was used in cars up to 934.  Searching on this number, I found a a replacement at Vintage-Mercedes Parts in Belgium.  I thought it had to be a mistake - who would reproduce a part applicable to only 934 cars.  But Anthony assured me that it was correct for my car and would fix the problem.  So I ordered it.

I installed it yesterday.  You can see in the picture the difference between what was in the car and the new one.  And as the last picture shows, it solved the problem.  The tank is now straight, and mounted to the firewall as it should be.

I can't identify the reason for the difference but I suspect the tanks are different for cars before and after 935.  The EPC shows two tanks but does not indicate what cars they were used in.

A little more information.  For 230sls after 935, the correct return pipe is 113 830 01 49.  Tanks for left-hand drive cars are 113 500 00 49 and 113 500 01 49.  My car has the latter.

Cheers,

CT

[rwmastel]

The car came with ... an updated breather pipe.  I was lucky to find ... and the SL Shop in England had the correct breather pipe and bracket.

Chuck,
Thanks for keeping us updated on #133.  A question about the old post mentioning the breather pipe.  My Euro Oct 66 car has the 1-piece metal pipe that you changed over to.  Should it have a 2-piece pipe with flexible connection??  Thanks!