New member introductions

[kampala]

Rafik,

Welcome.  There is a massive amount of information here about checking these cars --- so much so,  that some would probably never purchase a car if looking for perfection.   Here is one link within the Technical Manual about buying a Pagoda.

http://www.sl113.org/wiki/Buying/PrepurchaseEvaluation

Have a wander around the tech manual and you will find more information. 

30,000 KM is of course possible, but highly suspect.  If true, it would be shockingly impressive if preserved.    You also have several members and an expert in your area who know these cars well. 

Best of luck in your search!

[rwassily]

Thanks Kampala; I will definitely be looking at all the car details using the provided link.

Can you provide contacts for the members and experts in my area so I can have them look at at it too.

I wasn't able to find the VIN in the registry so I guess the owner didn't know about this site; is there a way to know what options and colors came originally in this car from production?
About the mileage; it's hard to tell if it's true since the cluster has only 5 digits for the mileage; unless there's a another way to tell.

B.regards
Rafik

[jpinet]

Thanks Kampala; I will definitely be looking at all the car details using the provided link.

Can you provide contacts for the members and experts in my area so I can have them look at at it too.

I wasn't able to find the VIN in the registry so I guess the owner didn't know about this site; is there a way to know what options and colors came originally in this car from production?
About the mileage; it's hard to tell if it's true since the cluster has only 5 digits for the mileage; unless there's a another way to tell.

B.regards
Rafik

Welcome to the Pagoda world Rafik!
This site is an invaluable source of info and advice.
I'm close to Quebec city.
In Montreal, check out Eurowa, on St-Jacques street.
Franz was being trained by MB from when he was 16. He's in his late 50's now and knows his stuff.
A bit of a scruffy character type of guy, but he's good.
Enjoy your car!

[kampala]

Rafik,

I am no expert. This site will provide you with much information as it has helped many of us.

Some color and option information can be figured out based on the "plate" under the hood/bonnet on the Left side of the car near the washer bottle.   This plate only carries some of the information, including color, but not all.  This is not the VIN plate.

http://www.sl113.org/wiki/DataCard/BodyandPaintNumberPlate

To get FULL option information you will need to see if the seller has the DATA CARD, or the "owner" can request a data card from the Mercedes Classic Center (Irvine California, Tom Hanson) at no-cost and the information is provided usually within a couple of days by email.   In many cases, folks get this after they own the car. Some cars still have their original data cards with the documents.

http://www.sl113.org/wiki/DataCard/Start

Not all owners include their vehicles in the registry on this site -- so it's not an indication if the seller was a member or not.  

Odometer readings will need to be judged based on many factors, least of which will be what the odometer reads as these can be non-functional or disconnected.

best of luck,

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hello Rafik,

Welcome to the Pagoda SL Group both Gentleman above have provided you with excellent advise as far as the research on this car is concerned. When I purchased my car in May 2013 (first saw her in March 2013) I took two months to truly research the background of my car as well as inspected the car (basically on all of the points mentioned above).

When the seller named his price I paid it, his price was lower then what the car was actually worth based upon the condition of the car. You should know that the price of the 280SL has more then doubled since Jan 2013. I assume the seller of the car you are looking at knows this, thus he is asking $70K for the car.

It would help if you can get the background for the car from the seller as well as the data card, only he can request it with proof of ownership. Further I would suggest you get some photographs and post them here so we can have a closer look to help you further in your decision proccess. Now it is important that someone with mechanical knowlageble (unless you are that individual) check out the mechanical condition. This will bring to light additional funds you have to come up with after purchase to put the car on the road. You mentioned that you saw the car, I don't know if you saw the car in person or on the Internet. If the later is the case, you can find someone here that can look at the car to give you feedback unless you like to take a trip to the car and do that yourself.

If you like you can have a look at my car by clicking on my homepage link, remember I mentioned the price doubled since Jan. 2013 and my car if I would sell it (and I am not) would get over $80K for it. In September 2013 I was in Williamsburg, Verginia for the 50 year Pagoda celebrations some fellow from Texas offers me $70k and an air ticket home, I turned him down of course.

Lastly as an ex Montrealer, I like to welcome you and wish you success in your hunt for the car.

[mnahon]

Hi Rafik,

I'm in Montreal and could give you a hand. Call me at 514-992-2146

As others have said, in order to get additional information and validation, you should (a) get the data card and (b) ask the seller for evidence that the car has 30K miles. This should be in the form of detailed records from original purchase. If he doesn't have that, then the car might have 30K miles; 130K miles, 230K miles...etc. I think a 30K mile car would be pretty easy to spot. I also think it's extremely unlikely. And from that, if it turns out the seller is giving you suspect information, it would warrant being especially careful.

Meyer

[mnahon]

Rafik,

My neighbour, who's also into cars, had mentioned to me last week he saw a 280SL advertised for $75K. I expect it's the same car. I called him to find out where he saw the ad and he pointed me to this:
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-autos-camions/ville-de-montreal/1970-mercedes-benz-sl-class/1080863852?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

For those interested, there are pictures. It does not look like an original 30K km car. Depending on what it looks like underneath and what shape the engine is in, this car might be worth half what they're asking.

Meyer

[Cogsworth33]

Just purchased a 1966 230 SL, Blue/Parchment combo. I have been appreciating the Pagoda for number of years but just started looking for my own about 18 months ago. Finally found a nice, low mileage (72K), no rust car. Still needs lots of tlc but it looks to be a fairly solid base to start from. The forum on the hwat to look for when purchasing was very helpful. I had a pre-inspection done and then some maintenance work done right after purchase but before I shipped to Chicago. Got it off the trailer and 5 miles in it breaks down! Welcome to the world of classics. Turns out the alternator/voltage regulator has issues. Looking forward to getting it on the road then starting a rolling restoration. Curious if anyone has recommendations on order (engine/engine bay, body/paint or interior?)

My prior automotive experience was in taking a 1977 Volkswagen Rabbit and gutting it for a weekend SCCA racer (new engine/suspension/sway bars/new interior, etc) but that was pre-kids. This will be my foray back into getting my own hands dirty vs. dropping the car off at the mechanic.

Looking forward to learning more on the boards here.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hello,   Cogsworth33
Welcome to our Pagoda SL Group, you did everything right ... Looked for a car that meet your requirements, checked our pre-purchase check list, and had the car pre-inspected. Well done.

You will naturally find several issues that need to be addressed before you can undertake longer road trips. You can be sure of two items...

1) once you have located and corrected all issues your car will be very reliable

And

2) whatever funds you put into the car will not be wasted your car will not deprichiate like a modern car will (mine doubled in price since purchase in 2013 and I did very much what you have done in finding the car and then checking it out).

You will find many helpful members here, as far as upgrading the car further like engine bay paint etc. this all depends how much you wish to invest and how you wish to use your car like ... A driver or a show car.  A motor complete inspection / rebuild and engine bay refurbish can run you $15K to $20K or more all depending what is found during the motor / transmission inspection.

Most of us find or found the best car we could afford, then do small projects as time goes on.

Good luck and happy travels always!

BTW. Your exterior color is close to mine, you will get a lot of comments like "like the color"

[Jonny B]

Cogsworth, indeed welcome to the group.

Familiarize yourself with the "search" tab. There is a lot of information out there to answer the questions you have posed.

[Theclaw]

Robert,

Welcome!  Whereabouts in IL are you?  I'm in the western burbs of Chicago. there's a couple more of us lurking around too.

Jeff

[N-Kurt]

Hi everybody,
Im Kurt and I live in Norway. We just bought a 1969 model 280 SL, manual gear that was importet to Norway in 1969. The car is in silver with red interior. The car needs some work "here and there" and our plans are to strip it down and bring her back into best possible condition.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Welcome Kurt to our Pagoda SL Group as you may know you will find many helpful members here to provide tips and help during your strip down and rebuild. Good Luck with everything.

[Jonny B]

Kurt, welcome to the group! Great color combination, as Dieter has typed, there is a lot of information on the site to assist, and a lot of folks ready to help too.

[zak]

Hello all, I just signed on as a full member. I own a 1967 250 SL, late model 4 spd ,originally sold somewhere in France. It's Horizon Blue with dark blue tex and just 121,000 kilometers on the odo. No side markers and the euro headlights with yellow bulbs. It came to the US in the early 80's.I have owned her for over 25 years. Before that I had an early 250 SL that had rust all over but drove like a tiger. That's how I got hooked.
I have never had to do any work on the car at all, just normal maintenance.
Since de-garaging it this spring I have been driving  it every weekend.
I want spiff things up a bit on the old girl.
New soft top, new carpets and maybe new seat covers, maybe a new fire wall material?

My soft top is pretty rough and my carpets are worn. But my seat covers are the old style MB tex, a very smooth texture unlike the grainy texture of the newer tex. They are worn but not ripped anywhere. If I do it I will go to navy leather seat covers. My question is should I preserve the originals because they are original or not even if I don't love them ? I had blue canvas seat covers made with the silver star logo to cover them but they are getting old.
It's the same question on the firewall. Mine is original but looks old and dirty but no tears of missing pieces.
All the 113's I see for sale seem to have these new replacements.
I'm happy to be a member of this forum with such knowledgeable people. And look forward to being a part.
thanks

jz
   

[Garry]

Hi JZ,

Welcome to the Group.  You appear to have only signed in as an Associate Member and not a Full Member.  Associate members are given access to most parts of the Tech Manual but not full access nor do Associates receive the Pagoda World now published twice yearly nor Pagoda Notes.

To be a Full membership you need to click on “Join as Full Member” and go through the process paying the paultyr fee of $30 p.a. that helps the Group defray the cost of incorporation, insurance for the committee, hosting costs for the Forum and the publication of Pagoda World.

We would love to see you as a Full Member.

Garry
Membership Administrator
‘other than Americas'

[RoyB]

My name is Roy and I live in Inman, SC near Greenville / Spartanburg.  About 1.5 years ago I bought a 1963 230SL VIN 11304210000211.
The car was imported in 1967, and had the side marker lights added.  The original owner supposedly kept the car until 1997 then sold it.
White with red interior.  4 Speed Manual.  Very clean and runs well.  Interior has been redone, engine rebuilt, and suspension components replaced.
I am supposedly the 3rd owner, but am not too concerned about that.  As seen by the VIN number, this is one of the early production models.
This is not my first MB and probably not my last.  I do most of the work myself, but there are things I do not wish to undertake.
One of the issues I have is rust holes in the rear frame.  I have taken the car to Bud's Benz in GA and am waiting for a quote on the frame repair.  Patch panels are required along with some other slight fabrication.  The front frame rails have been slightly collapsed due to someone jacking the car up on the floor pan.  These require welding.  If anyone out there knows another location in the SE that is capable of doing this type of work correctly, let me know.  I have been looking over the forums and tech manuals and have found them to be very informative. I am in the process of fixing the little things such as oil leaks, leaking rear wheel cylinder, leaking steering box and other minor items.  Thanks to everyone for their willingness to help out and respond to questions.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Welcome to the Pagoda SL Group nice car and detailed introduction, your Full Membership will provide access to all areas of our Tech Manual and you will find helping hands from other members here.

Happy and safe trails

BTW. Our PUB 2015 will take place Sept 12 and 13 this year. You can read all about it in our "Event" area. I mention this since this event only takes place every two years and in case you can make it. It would give you an opertunety to meet some of our members and perhaps answer some of the questions you might have.

[Garry]

I can only agree fully with Rolf Dieter that if you are planning on maintaining it was ourself then you need full access to the Tech Manual that has the 'linkage tour' to help you keep the car at peak performance and this is only accessible to full members.

Garry
Membership Administrator

[zak]

Gary, I signed up as a full member and paid by Amex.
Didn't go thru?
Should I redo?
Pls advise.

jz

[Garry]

Zac,

PM Sent

[f.n.g]

Hey all,
my name is Steve and i live in Australia and whilst I don't own one at the moment, one day I'd love either a 230/250/280SL. So I figure that this would be the ideal place to start, I'm keeping an eye out for something that needs a lot of work (full resto.).

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hello Steve,

Welcome to our Pagoda SL Group, you have come to the right place, there are some great threads for you to read up on from fellow members that have restored one of the three available models. Should you become a full member then you will have full access to our Technical Manual as well as receive two (2) Pagoda World Magazines each year.

Happy Hunting to find the car you love.

[Bo90]

 Hi everyone, not sure how everyone can keep up with newbies arriving every day but I'm here at last and not a moment too soon. I have a 280 SL 1970 in the wings ready to be salivated on soon.

Clearly I'll be heading directly to all the 280 SL topics to get a heads up on owning this beaut but if anyone wants to pass on info or just say hi, you're all welcome.

Looking for advise on;
Importing, first registration, vat/duty, inspection and service/maintenance,

Thanks in advance
Bo

[Garry]

Hi and welcome to the Group.

There is a wealth of information here between the members and the Tech Manual which as an Associate Member you will be only to partially access.  Ful Members get access to the full Tech Manual and Pagoda Notes access as well the Pagoda World magazinel so you may want to think about joining as a Full Member sometime in the future. Especally if you are planning on doing the daily maintenance of your car and will need access to the Linkage Tour for tuning and setting the fuel/air mixtures correctly.

There are a couple of members un UK that have done importing and am sure can provide advice to ease the entry of your car.

Good Luck

Garry