New member introductions

[bas]

Ok, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bas and I live in the Netherlands. After looking for a decently priced and good Pagoda for 2 years, I recently bought this '64 230 in..... my home town. Altough not completely original (engine from a 280, resprayed in non-original colour, interior partly of 280) it looks neat and runs well. Well, I learned a lot from you guys already by reading this forum over the last couple of weeks, and I hope to meet some of you in person some day (Cees, don't let go of that idea to have a meeting in the Netherlands sometime soon, and thank's again for the poster!)

Bas

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[n/a]

Hi all,
I live here is beautiful (not so sunny) Seattle, WA. USA. I bought my white 64 230 sl last year as a birthday present for myself. I initially logged in to see if I could find 113 enthusiasts local to this area, but have had fun seeing owners and their cars from all over the world.

The posted information I've read through so far have been very helpful as I'm relatively new to owning the car. Restoration/maintenance and parts aquisition information is of interest.


-Vicki D

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[J. Huber]

Hi Vicki. Glad you found us! I love your car. It allows me to see what my white/blue combo would resemble with white wheels and covers. (mine has blue ones)... What color is your hardtop?

James
63 230SL

[n/a]

quote:Originally posted by J. Huber

Hi Vicki. Glad you found us! I love your car. It allows me to see what my white/blue combo would resemble with white wheels and covers. (mine has blue ones)... What color is your hardtop?

James
63 230SL

Vicki: It has a white hard top that matches the body color --it's all white in the winter (sorry, I don't have a photo of the car with the hard top on). The only anomaly is a new/replacement steering wheel, which is black (I want to switch it out for a white one). The interior is a light blue.

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[TerenceD]

Hi, my name is Terence Dittman, and I just bought a 1970 280sl from Vermont.  I live in Quebec, Canada, about an hours drive northeast of Montreal.  I am an avid car collector . I have a 1969 300 SEL 6.3, currently undergoing a very slow restoration, and two Innocenti DeTomaso's, although one is for parts.  I have been a Mercedes fan ever since I can remember, and I owned a 1962 220SEL when I was 16, and I loved it.  I inherited my love for cars from my father, who is a british car nut (I think he has 7 now).  I work in the cellular phone industry. I welcome any member who is travelling in this region to stop by, my house is small but always open to fellow Pagoda owners.  I am inexperienced mechanically, although I am not afraid to try.  Hope to see you all at the shows, Terence

[n/a]

With Cees and Peter's help I have at last registered myself onto your site, after many month's occasional look-ins to see what's happening here.  My home base is Leicester in lovely England, and my car's there too.  I work for an international hotel company based in Brussels and travel back and forth each week, sometimes several times.

Our car is a 1967 250SL auto, 050 white with a red tex interior, affectionately known as "Cherry-Pie" - red on the inside and white, just like Mum's pastry, on the outside ( )!  We've had her for nearly 3 years (after a 6 year on-and-off search) and regard it as a privilege to look after something lovely for the time-being, hoping to keep her well for whoever has her next.

I drive the car as much as I can, some for business, some for leisure - she's often a bit of an adventure and always a lot of fun !  It also seems to do her a lot of good :  everything stays in running order, and if it doesn't, I find out about it pretty soon !  I show her too - people seem to like the car ...  

I bring you greetings from the Mercedes-Benz Club in the UK - I know that a few here belong there too, including Naj.  There, for what it's worth, I am the "Pagoda Register Captain" :  all this means is I'm a point of contact and reference for any W113 queries and newbies, I've got a bit of a library of resources, I keep myself vaguely updated on issues arising, and I try to help and point people in the right directions.  What it emphatically does NOT mean is that I know any more than anyone else on these things - quite the opposite infact !!

So :  Hello all you Pagodas and Pagodettes - nice to be here !  Hope I can bring as much to the party here as you all seem to do, contribute as much and be of some small help ...  :oops:

Richard -

W113 250SL '67
W123 280TE '85
W210 230E Estate '97

ex
W123 280TE '84
W123 230CE '82

[jimj]

Hello, just purchased a 1968 280 SL and it just rolled into the driveway yesterday, so I'm both excited and disappointed.  Excited in that I've wanted one of these all my life and finally got myself into a position where I could afford one, and disappointed in that, even though the car was represented as being "fully restored", it obviously needs a lot of work.  So if anyone knows of a good source for parts, such as the interior pull for the hood latch, replacement seat belts, and other such stuff, let me know.

[n/a]

Our 250SL was purchased new by my father in 1967.  It was his pride and joy. With his passing the car is now mine.  As it turns out my 24 year old daughter is engaged to a young man whose father runs an indep. MBZ repair shop in Ontario, California We just got the car back after a nose to tail mechanical refurbishing. I now have to get the trunk floor replaced (the only rust on the car) and eventually repainted to the stock blue color. I work for the state of California but in my spare time I am a professional wine judge and am the new director of the Pacfici Rim Intl. Wine Competition run by the National Orange Show (San Bernardino) My wife and I live in San Diego. (Any suggestions on places to do the trunk floor work are greatly appreciated)

Bob Foster, San Diego
67 250SL, automatic, field air, both tops, blue and blue, bought new by my father in Northern California

[n/a]

My name is Leo, almost pensioned Insurance-brooker, born in Maastricht (The Netherlands), the town where Regan and Clinton did buy bonbons. (no joke: they actualy did   ). At the age of 23, just starting working life after my study, I encountered a brandnew 250SL, driven by a well known directors-wife. I did not fall in love with the wife but with the car and made myself a promise ever to own such a car. But cruel as life is: career, wife, kids, house and so on did just allow me to drive Mercedes, but not the desired SL. I had to wait until 1996, where someone up-there took me to a place where a 250SL was stored, waiting for restauration. Believe it ore not: it was the 250SL from ages ago, driven by Mrs X and afterwards driven by her son in law untill it ended in a box, waiting for me [:p]. I did buy it (yes...to expensive...but what's the price of a dream ?). I got the original delivery-bill from the family, the history and even the factory-data on micro-fiche from Mercedes in Stuttgart. It took me three years to make a brandnew car out of it. To end this weird story: My wife and I live now in a street, just a 5 minuts walk away from the house where the 250SL found his first home   . At last: I had a to busy life to use the car frequently, but that's changing now. Don't worry: my SL dream was already forfilled a bit, years ago, because I also kept my 450SL (R107) and for daily use my 500SL (R129).
I hope I did not bother you with this story ! (btw: Leike is slang-Dutch for Leo; Lb is Limburg; the state where I live)  :oops:

[n/a]

Hi, first post.

Always lusted after a 230SL. I have been living in Orlando, FL for 7 years now.  Four years ago my wife's parents moved in with us.

My father-in-law and me are now looking for a car to spend some afternoon’s together fixing/maintaining...  User j51q in this forum (Jimq in the Rennlist forums) pointed me to this website.  Thank you Jim!!

So at the moment I am reading and familiarizing myself with what is like owning one of these babies…  and from the looks of it, it is even more expensive than maintaining my ’91 Porsche…

There is one for sale close by for around US$13K and Jimq is also selling his (but has not given me a number…  …maybe when he gets back from his trip).

Anyway, just wanted to say hi.

Back to reading the FAQ and posts on typical problems.
 

Drive safe!
Wachuko

'87 Porsche 951
'91 Porsche 964 Cabriolet
'04 VW R32

[WillS]

Hello,
I'm new to the list and wanted to say thank you much for the good help available here. I gave my newly-acquired 71 280SL to a Mercedes "expert" here in Western Washington to do an oil change, and to deal with heavy pinging on any kind of acceleration. Well, he left out the upper filter element seal (the "garden hose" seal) and the car still pings badly. Time to do it myself. The list educated me about the often missing seals for the oil filter and also how the distributor advance system works. I purchased the filter seals from my Mercedes dealer and my distributor is on its way to Dan Caron for overhaul. Couldn't have done it without you folks. I've attached a scan of the wiring schematic for the 062-type distributor retard relay box (for my car) that helped to analyse my ignition problems. Any corrections are welcomed.

Thanks,
Will N. Stevenson

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[AGT]

Hello

Finally cracked the computer code and become an active member.

I am a fairly recent Mercedes convert and having had the good fortune to buy and enjoy a mint "run out" 1989 107 420SL last year, took the plunge earlier this year and bought a 1969 280SL. My 280 was originally sold into the USA and then imported to the UK by a pagoda collector (he had 5!) in 2004. I have learned the hard way that it pays to have a pre-purchase inspection by an expert - although maybe the mud & snow tires should have given me a hint that not all Californian cars spend their lives cruising the promenade. But you know what it's like when you have made up your mind to buy something and, other in that most vivid dream just before you wake up, has any one of you ever had the barn door opened and been invited to make first choice from 5 pagodas.

Anyway, my 280 has now been thoroughly sorted mechanically by the maestros Paul and Steff Mazzoni of Merparts in Port Glasgow - they will be well known to MBUK owners club members - and I have greatly enjoyed driving the car throughout the summer. It is so much sharper than the 107 and because you sit  much lower in the 113 is a much more comfortable roadster. And we are talking Scottish summer here so wind chill is a serious issue.

This website is fantastic.  My sincere thanks to everyone who takes the time to contribute their knowledge. I have learned so much about my car and have been inspired to continue with the restoration of my car. This winter's project is to restore the interior and I will be back for advice. Although I will try hard not to ask what we in Scotland call "daft laddie" questions - please be patient with me.

Kind regards
Andrew

[n/a]

new member here - Just bought a 1970 280 sl in beautiful condition. Have wanted one for a while and finally took the plunge. Looking forward to learning a lot from the experts in this group. Can anyone recommend a mechanic in the NY/CT area for service and repairs.  Thanks!

[Cees Klumper]

AGT - Paul Mazzoni, isn't he the chap who specialises in 16-valve 190's and advises on tech stuff in the UK club? Anyway welcome to all new members who joined lately. You've definitely come to the right place for "all things Pagoda".

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[AGT]

Cees
Yes this is the same guy. Mechanically, my Pagoda was in a pretty sorry state and Merparts gave it a thorough overhaul. Paul and Stefano have a real passion for all interesting Mercedes motor cars and I am very pleased with the way that my Pagoda now drives, steers, rides and stops.

Now that the car drives properly the difficult decision is whether to continue with my "investment" and restore the body and interior. In retrospect, I should have bought a better car with a history as this way round seems the expensive way to do it - although I am saving one of these wonderful cars for the good of all mankind.

Regards
Andrew

[Cees Klumper]

Press on Andrew - although there are widely varying expense levels you can go to. Example is when I took my car to get a quote for some bodywork and a respray a few years back, the specialized shop with the guys in the white overalls quoted EUR 9,000 (GBP 6,000 I guess) whereas the shop that I actually had doing the (exact same) work, not in the best part of town but with guys who know how to do a job for the least amount of money (because that is all they and their customers can afford) did the job quite to my satisfaction for EUR 900. 10% of the cost for 90-95% of the quality-level. So it pays to shop.

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[n/a]

hi new owner and member!!!
just purchased my 1967 250sl pagoda from ebay....{i know, i can hear people screaming noooo}
i picked it up from the shipping terminal in the pouring rain, the car was full of water from where the hard top seals have perished.
The car started..only just.. and i drove it back firing on about 3 cylinders..the interior was shot to bits which i knew about!!!These car sellers are very clever people at the wording they use! The car had been owned by the same lady since 1972 and had been serviced well since she owned it.Had everything done including engine rebuild suspension, paint ect.After a clean, dryout and inspection of her i found it to be very genuine, six new plugs she fired up and purrs like a kitten!!!!interior and restoration to come!!!i tried to upload pic but file was too big!! i will try to down size..Looking forward to speasking and hopefully meeting some of you folks!!!

[n/a]

hi,i am the happy owner of 230 sl,250sl comming next week,i hope from u.s. and 280sl also american model.
the 250sl and 280 sl are bought from the first owners and the 230sl is restored in holland and romania,was bought from new zeeland (europeean model).
next month i hope to send you photos with all of them.

[Cees Klumper]

Welcome Gabriel, you are I believe the first member in Romania. Besides your three cars, are there many other Pagodas in your country?

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[n/a]

there are anoter 4 in romania

[n/a]

Hello to everyone on the Pagoda Group. My name is Jim Lambert and I live
in Glasgow, Scotland ...... I am restoring a 64' 230sl which I have
owned since 1987. After many enjoable years of motoring in the car I
decided, in 2000 to give it a 'spruce up', which turned into a full chassis up rebuild (including the outer chassis halves !!! ouch) I am
finally nearing the ready to paint stage and chanced upon your group while browsing for new rubber bits... I have undertaken all of the rebuild in my rather cramped garage, but have managed to source all
of the original panels new over the course of two years,I look forward to contributing to the group and will be looking for advice as I seem
to have forgotten where lots of the boxed bits are supposed to go...
Best wishes ..... Jim Lambert... P.S. My dailt transport in Glasgow is
a 1947 Indian Chief... hence the Indianjim handle..... SEEYA

[n/a]

Hello,
My name is Richard Sturman.I have owned my 1965 230sl since 1982.Immediately after purchasing it, all the wings came off and both the inner and outer wings were replaced with genuine Mercedes Benz items.It was given a bare metal respray and in the intervening years I have had the engine rebuilt and replaced rubbers and the soft top.I also had a leather interior fitted, and the hardtop completely refurbished.I currently have the radiator out and have just had it reconditioned.I love the car and do not envisage ever selling it.

[n/a]

New member

Not bought a SL yet, not even looking for one yet, but sometime before 2008 I will have one. 40th Birthday, I would like a 68 280 so that we would both be the same age. I am currently using this site to build up a knowledge of what to look for and what to avoid.

Liam- no chance of a rush buy from this department.

[n/a]

Greetings!  I have only been browsing your website for a week or so and just purchased a '71 280 sl.  It is black with a maroon interior, alloy wheels, 2 tops, was on a short auction (3 days) and didn't meet reserve.  I flew down to Palm Springs to check it out and wound up buying it!  I am sure I will be visiting this site regularly, and hope to meet some local owners soon!  I am in Santa Cruz, Ca.  
                          Jim Kohman

[J. Huber]

Welcome Jim from another Jim. Good luck on the new acquisition. There are more than a few Pagoda owners in the Northern Ca. region and if we ever get our act together (myself included) -- we should be able to have another nice gathering before too long.

James
63 230SL