New member introductions

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hello Bo and welcome to the Pagoda SL Group

As Garry mentioned there are several Members here from the UK, if you go to our "Car Registry" you can sort that data base by any of the headings or Pagoda Model sizes. It is a very handy tool to find out Fellow Members near you. I forget if you can access and/or sort this data base unless you are a Full Member. Anyway, for just slightly over $0.08 U.S. Cents/day that is all your Full Membership will set you back you will have full access to everything that surly will benefit you during your resturation project.

Good luck with your project, as you may have already noted you will find many helping hands around here that have some of the fun you have in front of you behind them

Post some pictures of your car, or start a project thread were you can share your resturation experiances with others and get help and tips when you need it ... I will fetch the "Car Regustry" link for you and add it below. When I listed my car info in the Regustry and sorted the data base by VIN number I found that there is a 280SL near me in Michigan that rolled off the assembly line 3 cars behind mine, perhaps you find something similar, it sure made my day when I sorted the data base.

Here is the link ====>>>> http://www.sl113.org/car-registry.html

Edit:- added the Car Registry link

[Paul & Dolly]

Bo 90  Welcome,

Don't get hung up on only 280SL posts, as most of the topics are relevant to all three variants of Pagoda.
Have a background read of the Technical Manual and information on the SEARCH function, and you will quickly see that most topics have been covered over the years.

Have fun,
Good luck with the car

Paul

[Bo90]

Thank you

My SL280 ownership has turned into a disaster.
I've been sucked into a fraudulent web site.
I am struggling to come to terms with it

www.noriscars.com

AVOID *****FRAUD*****

[moment1982]

Hi All, My name is Taam and I live in Denmark. I have recently bought a 1964 230SL which I have been dreaming of buying for many years and finally had the means and courage to buy it. The car itself is in great shape with minor details which will need doing and keep me busy in the winter months.

I am looking forward to being part of this great community!

Regards,

Taam

[Jonny B]

Taam,

Welcome to the group! We will all be glad to assist where we can with those "winter projects"

[Efacewin]

I have had my 230SL for 35 years.  It had 3 owners in Germany before immigrating to the US.  I'm the second owner over here.  No rust, no restoration, no dings or dents.  Original paint.  Only upgrade has been new carpet.   VIN#. 000290. (Confession: paint is not quite as good as it appears in the photo!)

[kampala]

Efacewin,

Welcome!  You have a very early w113.  I know many here would appreciate some detail photos particularly since yours is a very early car. 

You've owned your Pagoda for 35 years --- what is the recent catalyst that has prompted you to join this group now?    Probably an interesting story.

Great to have a longtime owner.

Best,

[Efacewin]

In the late 1970s, I became interested in the SLs.  My brother saw this one on the street in Asheville, NC and asked about it.  The owner was going thru a divorce and needed to sell it.  I got his car and he later got back together with his wife!  (he never asked for his car back)

The car has led a very leisurely life. Probably always been garaged.  I hate to admit it, but I let it sit untouched for 10 years.  Just recently got it back on the road.  It may be my imagination, but it appears to get more attention when I drive it now than it did back before its long hibernation.

[mmp800]

I just got my 1964 230SL this past weekend at an auction! Merry early Christmas to me (in Georgia)! It is light beige? exterior with red leather interior, new black soft top. It no longer has the hard top. It is from France - ROYAL-ELYSSES_CH. F. DELECROIX originally, sold at Mercedes-Benz - Agence Le Mans in June of 1964. Has a Nardi Torino wood wheel (would prefer original Mercedes wheel). Missing visors (would love to know where to get red ones),and cigarette cover is black, not red. Red leather seat covers will need replacing eventually, still comfortable though, just dirty and worn, original. In very good condition. Needs some engine work, which my husband is going to do for me, but I drove it home a few miles safely. I've always loved these. Would have liked the jumpseat, but it is so pretty!

Would like parts sites, please.

[wjsvb ✝︎]

Wow!  Looks like a beauty!  Enjoy!  The leather interior looks to have an excellent patina, at least what can be seen.  You may want to keep it as originality/patina counts for a lot these days.  Look thoroughly over the forum site as it is invaluable for 113 owners, esp. newer ones.  Don't make changes too quickly and above all, drive it!  There are a couple of hardtops on craigslist in the Philadelphia area if you want one.  Nice to have.  Good luck!  Jon

[mmp800]

Thanks. I'm going to try to just clean the seats first.

[Garry]

MMP,

Welcome to the Group.

There is a list of suppliers in our Technical Manual    http://www.sl113.org/wiki/Suppliers/Start
This is strictly a list of suppliers and does not carry any group endorsement but if you are looking for particular items do a search as often members will make comment on Suppliers performance under Vendor and eBay experiences  http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?board=21.0

Enjoy the site, maybe one day when members give you some good advice and save you lots of $$, you may think it is worth the extra few dollars to help operate this site and also then receive Pagoda World Magazines and Pagoda Notes as well as having full Tech Manual access  

Thats my plug as Membership Administrator.

Garry

[mmp800]

I plan on joining as a full member. Too lazy to go grab the card right now. Thanks, Garry!

[Jonny B]

Welcome to the group! I will join the chorus about the red leather seat covers. You will be amazed at what some tender loving care can do for the leather. I am a bit biased as I have a 280 SL with the red leather and it has some "patina" but is overall very nice. I did need to replace the seat pads, and that was well worth the trouble. Also, being a French car, there are some fun (and rare) details, most notable are the amber back up lights instead of clear.

Indeed, these are fun and enjoyable cars.

[mmp800]

Thanks, Johnny. I am very excited about learning more about my car. p.s. Mine doesn't have the amber back up lights anymore. Mine are all red with a small bottom/middle clear lens.

[Iconic]

mmp800,
You mention your black covered cigarette cover. FYI: I believe some of the early cars had black instead of matching. Others can chime in on if this is correct and what the cutoff was.
Also, you mention you are looking for red sun visors, just so you know, the car did not have red sun visors when new.
I don't know if you care or don't care about originality, I simply want to make sure that if you do, you should research before making any assumptions.
You car looks like it has not been "messed" with.
Enjoy the ride !

[mmp800]

I bought my car without visors so I don't know what color I should put in them. Any help as to what was original would be appreciated. Thank you for the info about the cigarette case. I know so I don't know what the original color was. Thank you!

[Jess]

Hi Im Jess, Ive been in love with the Pagoda design for many a year and finally been able  to afford one. Its a 1970, silver,  280 sl  beauty  that needs some love and affection, which is why I cant wait to get stuck in and turn this into my dream car.

[Jonny B]

Jess,

Welcome! You have found the right spot for information, assistance, etc. for these wonderful cars.

Of course, we all like to see pictures, so post some to show us your new treasure.

Happy Holidays.

[Tyler S]

Hello All, Just wanted to say that I am proud to be part of this group and have learned a lot in the short time I have been on. I am actually a trained ASE certified technician but as with anything else, you also need to learn the idiosyncrasies of particular makes and models in order to successfully repair them. This group has been invaluable!  My car is a 1968 (08/1967) 250SL. 74k miles. Manual trans, Silver Grey Metallic (180), with black leather interior. I inherited it from my Father who passed on two and a half years ago. I remember going with him to look at purchasing it when I was about 10. (30 years ago). I took possession of it last year when my Mother also passed. It had not been driven in about 7 years or started for at least 3. My Father was diabetic and no longer able to drive. He would start it from time to time but thats about it. Not taking any chances I had it flat bedded to my place after the estate was settled and promptly went to work changing all the fluids and draining the fuel tank. The fuel tank was pristine. My father would always add Sta-bil to the gas.. One week in I had it up and running. My first purchase for it was a set of radial tires to replace the rotten BIAS PLY tires that were on it!! The time sitting has taken its toll. The heater core fell apart and dumped coolant all over the carpet and stained those pricey anthracite rubber mats. I removed the sheepskin seat covers and found the leather to be rotten and moldy. Those are now fixed and the car is on the up and up. Lots of projects planned and a lot already completed. I even installed a new soft top myself, and it actually turned out great! Better than I would have thought!
Well I have probably rambled on long enough. See you all on the forums!
    Tyler

[Pinder]

Looking really good Tyler. Great color wish mine was that color.Where did you get the seat covers from?

[Tyler S]

Thanks! I got them from World Uph. They don't match at all. You'd think black is black but apparently not. It may be the rest of the leather has darkened over time. I'm going to live with it for now but probably do the rest of the interior at some point or if I happen to come across some nice old patina'd seats.

[kampala]

Tyler,

Welcome --- good that you introduced yourself as I was about to ask why you have such good knowledge of the Pagoda and it's Mechanical.  Now it makes sense.   You seem to have very good grasp on the inner workings of these cars based on your posts.  Keep it up --- it's appreciated.

Best,

[Garry]

Welcome to the Group.

As Qz said it was a bit intriguing to see some of your early posts and there was a bit of behind the scene chatter on what your background must be.  Its great to have another well versed person on site that provides assistance to members, most who like myself have little or no mechanical background and this Forum and the Tech Manual make it possible to maintain the Pagoda in the correct manner.

Normally I would say feel free to ask questions but in this case feel free to answer questions may be more appropriate.

Maybe at PUB, where ever that may be, we will catch up.

Garry
Membership Administrator

[Tyler S]

Thanks Garry! I'm usually the kind of person who asks questions as a last resort. Thats my stubbornness gene I got from my Dad. 90% of the time my questions have been answered by simply doing a search on the site. So I guess you can say I have asked questions in an indirect way. I enjoy sharing knowledge and also like seeing people working on their own cars. So its kind of a win-win for me. I guess what I forgot to put in my introduction is that I have always helped my Dad with this car so I have 30 years worth of tinkering on it stored in my head.