New member introductions

[Jonny B]

Indeed, hope you are able to make it to Blacklick, an absolutely dandy event!

Jonny B
1967 250SL Auto

[RobMarks]

Hi Everyone

I have only just started posting pictures on this site the last couple of weeks of my 1966 230sl. It's incredible some of the work some members have put into their Pagoda's and I take my hat off to them.  I have owned the 230sl this last year as the third owner. With a warm climate here in Australia and a mere 42000 on the dial, time has been very kind to my Pagoda with only a couple of minor services required the last year  The original owner bought the car around her 60th year and well into her 90's was sold on to a Past President of our local Mercedes Benz Club. The car was repainted and required maintenace carried out to make it most respectable. The interior, under the hood and boot space remain original although amazingly tidy for its years. I consider myself fortunate  as previously considered a sl in need of considerable work.

I look forward to being apart of your forum. I enjoy seeing other peoples pagodas, colour schemes and pictures in interesting places.

All the best

rob





RobMarks

[manalishi]

Hi all - Have joined up to find out more about the Pagoda before buying. Although I still haven't quite decided whether to buy a Volvo P1800 or W113. Quite different cars, of course, but they're the 2 practical classics that I've lusted after for ages. I'm in Suffolk, UK.

Seems that (like the P1800) there are a lot of W113s for sale which look great at first, but that have deeper rot/wear problems - the sort of thing that I'd probably not spot through ignorance. So I'll be looking for inside info here and maybe to find a expert/specialist who can check out any likely suspects.

Um - that's all, really

[rwmastel]

quote:Originally posted by manalishi

Hi all - Have joined up to find out more about the Pagoda before buying.

Manalishi,
Hello and welcome to the Group.  The most important things to do are:
1) Start your own discussion thread about your search (and click on the box saying "Subscribe to this topic").
2) Use the Search feature to find threads using search words like "buying", "shopping", "in the market", "how to find", or other appropriate terms.  You could probably spend a whole day doing this and reading the results!
3) Make sure you attend the Pagoda event described here:
http://index.php?topic=7077
Talk to the other owners to find out all the nitty gritty details of buying & owning.

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[mcama]

Hello Fellow 113ers,

My name is Mathieu and I am a Benzaholic. My addiction began as a young lad and is still thriving 30 years later. It became obvious that this is a problem when I decided to leave the corporate world and follow in the footsteps of my father in dedicating my work and passion to the older Mercedes. Some folks choose drugs or another vice to focus their addictions; for me it is the MBs of yore. In addition to fine MBs I thoroughly enjoy close friends, cooking, and vintage audiophile hifi.

The w113 in my stable is a 1970 model, 4 speed, factory 2+2 (no soft top), silver on saddle tex. No A/C or P/S. Quite the driver's car. The car was purchased new by a close family friend and sold to my father (who has maintained it since new) in the mid-1970s. When my father passed last year the car was inherited by me. Since new it has covered just 56k miles and is still in very respectable condition.

My father was trained in Germany at the MB factory in the 1950s. He arrived to the US in 1961 and opened his own shop only a few years later. Beginning at a early age, I was allowed into the shop and began an apprenticeship with him. Starting with tool passing and cleaning, working up to resident parts washer, and from there taking on new responsibilities as seen fit by my father until earning the rank of his approval on any job to be tackled. I left for university promising I would not turn wrenches for a living only to find myself a number of years later wanting to do just that.

Today I run a repair shop north-east of Atlanta doing what I enjoy, bringing vintage MBs back to their proper state of mechanical glory. It is not my aim to be a large shop as management of employees is not my passion, rather it is the cars that keep me enthralled in my work.

Having lurked on the forum for a bit as time allows, it seems there are excellent resources here and a plethora of folks who enjoy their w113s. Seems I may have found a place filled with kindred spirits.

Happy w113ing and best regards,

Mathieu J. Cama
Lawrenceville, GA

1961 Unimog 404s
1965 190c
1967 250s Euro w/4 speed
1970 280se Euro
1971 280se factory 5 speed
1978 280slc 4 speed
1982 280te
1983 409d car transporter
1983 240d 3.0
1983 BMW R80RT
1985 500sel Euro
1986 2.3-16 Street fighter soon to be track fighter
not to mention various other flights of fancy

[steve usa]

Hi,
 I am a new member that is looking to buy my first Pogoda. I am looking on the net and asking as many questions as I know to ask. Would some of you guys and gal that know what you are doing give me some help. I have looked for a few weeks and found this one on E Bay It is Item #160137727954 on EBay.It's a 71 with 33,000 miles with a cosmetic restore only. What do you think about the price do you know anything about the dealer in ST. Luis.

Thanks
Steve
 


HSS

[Chad]

What a stable.  post some pics in the photos section if you have a chance!  Some some some interesting older cars.

quote:Originally posted by mcama

Hello Fellow 113ers,
Happy w113ing and best regards,

Mathieu J. Cama
Lawrenceville, GA

1961 Unimog 404s
1965 190c
1967 250s Euro w/4 speed
1970 280se Euro
1971 280se factory 5 speed
1978 280slc 4 speed
1982 280te
1983 409d car transporter
1983 240d 3.0
1983 BMW R80RT
1985 500sel Euro
1986 2.3-16 Street fighter soon to be track fighter
not to mention various other flights of fancy

1967 230SL

[jsandoval]

Hello everyone.

I am a new member. I have a 1969 280SL Euro I bought for my wife for our anniversary. I didn't do much research before I bought the car, I just liked the style. I have learned a lot about Mercedes as a company and the car itself in the past three years of ownership. It is in good condition and fun to drive. I have lots of question for the forum though.

Thanks,
Jeff

[J. Huber]

Hey Jeff, welcome to the group! I commend you on buying the car for the style -- and not over-researching beforehand. (I just ducked!) Enjoy the new car!

James
63 230SL

[mjp8877]

Hi. My name is Mike Price. I recently bought a 1971 MB 280sl after dreaming about getting one over the last 30 years. I fell in love with the Pagoda's in 1978 when I was stationed in the military in Ansbach, Deutschland. I had a chance to purchase one in '79 in Germany but had to pass it up because of all the cost at changes that would have been made to get the car into the states. I waited until now to get one. The one I have has this aftermarket sound system that is nice but I would like to restore the original system. I have lots of questions as to whether to get the becker europa with just the dash speaker or go ahead with the Mexico with speakers. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I hope to meet some of you some day. Mike

Michael J. Price

[Michael Grommet]

quote:Originally posted by cees klumper

In order to give new members an easy opportunity to introduce themselves (if they feel so inclined) here's a place to do so. Tell us whatever you consider interesting !  

Please don't use this forum for discussions, please stick to new member introductions. Discussions can be started here:

http://www.sl113.org/forums/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2

65 230sl
54 Kaiser Darrin (rare)
61 scout
80 300 D
Honda/Toyota/F250D
77 Beechcraft Sundowner

[Michael Grommet]

Hello,
I'm a new member.  I have a 65 230 sl that was discovered in a barn with a tarp over it.  The owner passed away and I went to help the family clean everything out and we discovered it.  It was in very good shape.. a few minor dings.  Unfortunately, I found the site because I'm in desperate need of a grille shell.   I did something stupid and let the car roll into a pole which dinged the front.  I'm very disappointed and don't like driving it with a ding.  So, I'm springing to have the whole thing repainted... anybody have a grille shell.  
Other interests for car buffs.... I have a 54 Kaiser Darrin of which there are only about 300 left in the world.  My dad bought it new.  Looks a little like the first corvette.  fiberglass body, 2 seater.  If you are interested, do a web search for 1954 Kaiser Darrin and you can see good pictures.  I also do a substantial bit of flying our Beech.  
Mainly, we work really hard in our vet clinic...
Great site... hope to talk to you all soon.
Mike

65 230sl
54 Kaiser Darrin (rare)
61 scout
80 300 D
Honda/Toyota/F250D
77 Beechcraft Sundowner

[Mike Hughes]

Kaiser Darrin - the sports car with the two position convertible top and the doors that slide froward into the front fenders?  Neet ride!  I hope you are able to find a replacement grille shell.  Make sure to obtain it first before doing the body work and repaint. The body man will need it for trial fitting to make sure everything lines up properly.

- Mike Hughes  -ô¿ô-
  1966 230SL Auto P/S
  Havanna Brown (408)
  Light Beige (181)
  Cream M-B Tex (121)

[craigb]

My name is Craig Baulderstone. I live in rural South Australia (Keith), about 250km from Adelaide if you know where that is. (Although Adelaide is relatively small, it is often known to motoring enthusiasts from when  the F1 GP was here.) At 44 I am presently a farmer on my wifes' family property but spent most of my working life as an ecologist. We are working out whether a farm life is us or move back to Adelaide. We have a 3yo and 10month old so I am not as active with restoration work as I once was!

I have a 1969 280sl with manual trans, red/red. I have a number of collector cars from the 20's on and a number of Mercedes. Each has its own special interest to me but the Pagoda No. 1 thing is style. I like the attention to detail and alloy panels (in particular the beautiful poured alloy castings for the doors) and the dual character of the motor from sedate and flexible in lower revs to that beautiful howl up towards redline when pushing it on a nice drive through the hills.

After returning from working in the UK in 2001 I was looking for a usable convertible but Pagoda's were a bit out of budget for a good one and I was looking more at 107's. But finding a good one of them was proving very difficult and having restored a number of cars before, my thinking had shifted to a cheaper Pagoda in need of rust and body repair of which I had seen advertised in the eastern states. Then my car came up locally but advertised at a price way above my budget. I was very honest with the seller and said I wouldn't be buying it but would he mind if I came and had a look to familiarize my self with the model.

Having looked at it he then pursued me with a number of calls asking me to make him an offer! I didn't want to offend him since I thought the condition didn't match his asking price but even what I thought it was worth was out of budget for me. Still, it had cast a bit of a spell over me (I assume you all know what I am talking about!) and the  basics of the car were very good. Eventually I gave in - made him an offer - offended him - then got a follow up call some weeks later with a counter offer but we were going nowhere and he was starting to annoy me because he wouldn't accept there were any faults with the car.

My solution was to pay for an authorized dealer to do a vehicle prepurchase check with the view that I would learn from that as to what to look for and he would finally see some of the faults and the cost of fixing it. Result being he accepted my original offer. I think my only shock from the check was the price of the heater levers but they confirmed what I thought that this really was a completely rust free car which is almost impossible to find.

The car had an original 100k miles and so the interior is very nice. Shocks had little yellow dots so I guess they were the originals, replaced all the hydraulics for brakes, alternator, and the bush above the diff and of course those levers. The red paint was faded so I resprayed it and the only rust I found was in the screws holding the sills on, which I replaced with stainless ones so that will never be a problem again.

One of things I like the most is the history of this car. I have the original order and delivery papers and like so many european cars back then, they were ordered for Australia, picked up in Germany and then personally imported which meant a massive saving in tax. The purchaser in question was and Australian officer on secondment to the 'British Army on the Rhine' Within 6 months of delivery I have a handwritten receipt on the Army letterhead that sold the car to someone in Alice Springs who later moved to Adelaide. He owned the car right up until 18 months before I bought it. I looked the main owner up in the phone book and called but he had recently died. Apparently before he died the children were fighting over who would get it and his solution was to sell it. His son wasn't particularly friendly or chatty but I managed to get out of him that the car had very much been his pride and joy, always garaged and a 'weekend car' although it hadn't been used for many years. He didn't know the car had originally been ordered by someone else and couldn't help me with my suspicion that they may have been friends. I said that I would happily pay for any photos or for the opportunity to copy them and gave him all my details but I never heard from him again.

It would have been great to have a chat with the old man, hear old stories and reassure him that it had found a good home. The bloke I bought it from didn't seem to have much interest in it and judging by its condition and lack of maintenance wasn't really a 'car person'.

Anyway, that's my Pagoda story and I hope that is of some interest. Now for a tech problem in another post!!

'69 280sl

[Michael Grommet]

quote:Originally posted by Mike Hughes

Kaiser Darrin - the sports car with the two position convertible top and the doors that slide froward into the front fenders?  Neet ride!  I hope you are able to find a replacement grille shell.  Make sure to obtain it first before doing the body work and repaint. The body man will need it for trial fitting to make sure everything lines up properly.

- Mike Hughes  -ô¿ô-
  1966 230SL Auto P/S
  Havanna Brown (408)
  Light Beige (181)
  Cream M-B Tex (121)

65 230sl
54 Kaiser Darrin (rare)
61 scout
80 300 D
Honda/Toyota/F250D
77 Beechcraft Sundowner

[Michael Grommet]

Mike, Yes, this is the one.  The doors slide forward into the fender but don't work well due to poor engineering and people that try to open them normally..... Thanks for the advice on the grill shell...they can still use the old one to get it as close as possible,,, then, when I get one, I'll put it on.....can't find anything for less than a grand.
Mike

quote:Originally posted by Michael Grommet

quote:Originally posted by Mike Hughes

Kaiser Darrin - the sports car with the two position convertible top and the doors that slide froward into the front fenders?  Neet ride!  I hope you are able to find a replacement grille shell.  Make sure to obtain it first before doing the body work and repaint. The body man will need it for trial fitting to make sure everything lines up properly.

- Mike Hughes  -ô¿ô-
  1966 230SL Auto P/S
  Havanna Brown (408)
  Light Beige (181)
  Cream M-B Tex (121)

65 230sl
54 Kaiser Darrin (rare)
61 scout
80 300 D
Honda/Toyota/F250D
77 Beechcraft Sundowner

65 230sl
54 Kaiser Darrin (rare)
61 scout
80 300 D
Honda/Toyota/F250D
77 Beechcraft Sundowner

[ejm]

Hello Ive been restoring classic cars for years but now do it mainly for myself. I can help with new and second hand parts if any one is interested and live and work in central london.                              1965 280sl 5 speed manual                                                  1968 280sl 3.5v8 4 speed manual                                      1963 citroen ds chapperon convertible                                1962 220se convertible                                               1969 280sl auto green                                                1968 280sl auto silver                                             1984 citroen cx 2500 gti turbo 1

[glennard]

Any new info on the 'overdrive' installation and performance?

quote]Originally posted by WTF

Hello to all! It is especially agreeable to see some other Canadians as members of this select fraternity! To start with,I am "a young 66 yrs" enjoying my retirement,who would like to call himself "t-ford_man II", if I could figure out how to set it up!In any case,althought we drive our restored 1912 Model T Ford Touring over 2500 miles every year in club activities,3 years ago I purchased in Florida,a 1969 280SL Roadster, that I finished restoring just last spring. New Paint,leather interior,new soft top,chrome,mechanical needs,etc.(I say finished, but for my present project-a complete upgrading of the original Frigiking AC system.) "It is truly remarkable all the excellent data and information that is freely exchanged in these Pagoda SL Forums. What a blessing for the neophyte requiring help to tackle this sophisticated machine!Of special interest to some, may be my installation of a Borg-Warner overdrive unit that -as I desired- brings the engine rpm at 60 mph and 3350 rpm down to about 2350 rpm!What a joy on the highway!
When I have the time I'll write a report on this unorthodox, but successful installation.

Tom Forsythe
8766 Marcel Cadieux
Montreal, (Quebec)
Canada, H2M 2L1
t.forsythe_inc@videotron.ca

'69 280sl Dark Olive DB 291
Automatic + OD,PS,PB,Air,2 tops



W.T.Forsythe
[/quote]

[Paddy_Crow]

New to forum, not an owner.... yet. I have been researching a 2 seater of this vintage and settled on the W113, now I just need to find the right car at the right price...

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch...

[colinwoodburn]

hello everyone at Pagoda SL group, just signed up today .After a few years of trying to track down a nice 113 SL yesterday I finally purchased a lovely white 280 manual with rear fold down bench seat and removable hard + soft tops.COMPLETLEY OVER THE MOON. Colin @ Edinburgh

[GTMSJ]

I'm a new member to the forum -- joined yesterday!  Am the proud owner of a 1970 280sl, silver with red leather, both tops.  I've been lurking around the forum for a couple of months now and have appreciated the excellent information.  I've located my data card and have been fascinated by the information contained therein.  I'm in the process of sorting out the car; it's been in the family for 25 years or so -- my dad bought it in the early 80s.  It was stolen, stripped, recovered and determined totalled by the insurance company in the late 80s.  After harassing/cajolling/threatening them for weeks on end on behalf of my dad, they reluctantly agreed to restore the vehicle (can you believe that!).  The vehicle sat, garaged, for several years as dad was no longer permitted to drive.  I had alot of work done on the vehicle in So Cal in 2001 before bringing it north.  The vehicle is pretty mechanically sound, but her body has a few scrapes and bruises.  Any recommendations for body shops that have worked on w113s in the Bay Area would be welcomed.

Thanks for the creation of a great forum!

Gary

[Douglas]

quote:Originally posted by colinwoodburn

hello everyone at Pagoda SL group, just signed up today .After a few years of trying to track down a nice 113 SL yesterday I finally purchased a lovely white 280 manual with rear fold down bench seat and removable hard + soft tops.COMPLETLEY OVER THE MOON. Colin @ Edinburgh

Colin,

Welcome! So you have a Coupe with a retrofitted soft top? I think a lot of forum members would love to see pix of that. Always lots of inquiries about that procedure.

Welcome & congrats on an interesting find.

Douglas Kim
New York
USA

[franjo_66]

Hi Folks
i've just joined today and already posted an item! Must admit that I've been referring to this forum for a while now and have benn blown away by the level of expertise & excellent information. I have been undertaking a full-blown restoration on a 1966 230SL (auto RHD). What initially was to have been a colour change (from white to black) has endured into a six-year saga. Lots of rust damage in the main structures, floors, boot, etc. So decision was made to go all the way with restoring the car. Car has had all bad sections cut out. new sections welded in. Car has been hand-beaten, shaped, lead-wiped, etc. Black colour chosen is the mercedes black offered on the 600 series (Pullmann). New black MB Tex interior, carpets, kick panels, etc are now being fitted. I am trying to work my way through the wiring harness & connections.

Thanks for the opportunity to join and utilise the fantastic knowledge.

Rgds
Franjo
1966 230SL - black on black.
Gary

[PaulC]

Greeting to all from sunny South Australia S~!

I have been interested in the second generation SL Mercedes since I was a youngster and having been involved with car racing for many years have decided to sell my Lotus 7 & FJ Historic race car and get the car I have always wanted…a W113 of course!!

My car in an early 230 SL from 1964 (the 4544th car made) It’s an Automatic, Light blue with grey leather interior and I just love it. You can see some photo’s of it here:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v640/pc777/My%20230SL/

I am looking to get it back to as original as possible and am slowly trying to locate a few bit’s and pieces, but that’s half the fun of owning an early car I feel.

Overall it’s in pretty good condition and with a little work over time I hope to have it looking even better.

Thanks to everyone, I look forward to enjoying this forum and my W113 in the future.

Kind Regards

Paul

[Kemal]

Hi Paul,
She's good looking & well looked after...(' ')
I always have a problem keeping the white walls clean !

Regards
Kemal
280 SL Manual 69

Originally posted by PC777

Greeting to all from sunny South Australia S~!

My car in an early 230 SL from 1964 (the 4544th car made) It’s an Automatic, Light blue with grey leather interior and I just love it.