New member introductions

[Peter van Es]

Welcome, and we hope to see you here often! Feel free to ask questions and share your experiences !

Peter

[mespe]

Never really formally introduced myself in this forum, but here goes,,,

I have been a Mercedes enthuisast for 20 years now. My first SL was a '73 450SL. Long story, not getting into it,,,

To date, I have owned mostly diesels 240D 300D 300SD but throw in a 190e and now my 250SL,,,

My Occupation is selling Quality Pre-Owned Mercedes parts, currently most sales on eBay. I ship World wide, and have shipped parts to every continent, 'cept Antartica, go figure.

Since I'm in the business, I really should part this baby out, but I've become attached to her after just two drives (and she needs a bit of restoration)

I've started a thread with photo's and video's to show my progress,,,

[paza]

Hi my name is Patrick, i live in bondi beach austarlia.

I discovered this site a while ago.... so, why shouldn't I join it.

I have a 1965 230 sl automatic in burgunday and beige interior...

this is a great forum, learned a lot from it...

thanks

pat

[Kemal]

Welcome Pat,

Beautifully polished & your soft top fits so well around the corners.

Kemal
280SL
Manual LHD69

Hi my name is Patrick, i live in bondi beach austarlia.

I discovered this site a while ago.... so, why shouldn't I join it.

I have a 1965 230 sl automatic in burgunday and beige interior...

this is a great forum, learned a lot from it...

thanks

pat

[kbudd]

Hi. My name is Kevin. I live in St Louis MO and we have a 1970 280SL. My wife owned the car when we got  married about 5 years ago. I know very little about these cars so I want to learn from this group. I am an old British motorcycle guy so working on a German car is interesting. I have tons of questions so I am off to the other subject areas.

[dhunter]

I know very little about these cars so I want to learn from this group. I am an old British motorcycle guy so working on a German car is interesting. I have tons of questions so I am off to the other subject areas.

Hi Kevin.

It sounds like we have the same classic car AND motorcycle tastes.  Good luck and enjoy your ride(s)!

Regards, Doug

[Bullethead]

Hi, I'm Russ Hibbard, noob to the Pagoda group but active with early Porsche 911 and 356 Registry groups. We became the second owners of a '68 in 1992. Began a nut & bolt restoration of it for my wife in late '98... which has been somewhat >ahem< protracted. Will post some pix ASAP, it's quite striking in DB904 Blue with red leather. We also had a '68 280SE s/r coupe for about 10 years as well, regrettably sold back to Germany in '97. Oh, well... there's only so much space to keep even a small collection, and we've enjoyed every car we've owned in the past 25 years.  My wife and I now use four of our German classics as daily drivers. Currently only one in the collection is a Mercedes.... I've promised to complete her 280SL this Summer. 
I know... I shoulda never taken it apart in the first place! 

I hope to learn much from the W113 Bretheren, and offer what assistance I can. If there are any other members in the SoFla area, give me a shout.

[Iconic]

Hello Russ,
Welcome to the group.
I've only been around here for 3 or 4 months, but that is long enough to know this is a fantastic site and a great group of guys.
I've even met a few in person all ready.
By the way, as dHunter has said, we have the same classic car and classic car tastes (I changed the quote a little). I've got the Porsche / Pagoda thing happening too. I wish I could drive them year round as daily drivers though, like you do !!!
Enjoy,
Mark

[Bullethead]

Many thanks, Mark... hope to make some new friends, and get more active in all the automotive things missed over the past decade because of business requirements. Which has been alot.
We have two early 911s, a 356, my daily driver '64 Microbus Deluxe, plus a 3.0CSL (track toy) that hasn't seen an apex in 8 years and a BMW 700 SC that needs restoration.
It's good to re-focus on the hobby that keeps me out of trouble. 

Cheers,
Russell

[bigbenz]

Hi,

My name is Ken Harkema and recently became a Mercedes Benz 230SL owner. Well actually I bought two of them within a 3 week period. I live in San Diego but travel to Reno, Nevada frequently. While on a trip in April I found a white 1966 230SL on Craigslist and it seemed to be a reasonable price at $12,500. I meet with the owner and negotiated a price of $11,000.00. My wife and went back up on Southwest Airlines a week later to drive the car for several days with the intention of driving it back to San Diego if everything went OK. But the power steering pump went out the day before I was to drive it to San Diego. But during the second trip I found another 230SL on Craigslist in Carson City so I drove the 66 over to have a look at the 65. The owner wanted $16,500 but seeing what I had bought for $11K we made a deal for the same price of $11,000. Both cars are being transported to San Diego at this time.

My specialty is restoring Thunderbirds from 1955 through 1966. I have been doing that for 35 plus years. I own 9 Thunderbirds at the moment. I see some similarities with the Mercedes 230/250/280SLs and the 58 thought 66 Thunderbirds as they are also 'uni-body' and prone to rust. I am looking forward to working on both cars first to fix the power steering pump on the 66 and then to have my body guy repair the rust on both car.

[66andBlue]

Hello Ken,
welcome to the group and congratulations for starting out with two Pagodas!
There is quite a bit of information on this site concerning steering pump repair, for example:
http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=7998.0
Good luck and let us know how it works out.

[Iconic]

Hi,
I had stated that once my car was drivable, I would change my Avatar. I now have the confidence to change my Avatar from the picture of my car on a flatbed truck.
Thank you for your help !!!
I still have plenty to do on the car, but at least now I can drive it to the auto parts store.
Mark

[Amedeo]

Hi Pagoda  Group

My name is Amedeo Gaggion, and I am from Costa Rica in Central America.

I have been a fan of MB since I was very young and had the pleasure of owning several  cars from 190 sl to a W 129 500 sl. They are definitely my favorite cars and the weather in Costa Rica is great to enjoy convertibles.  A group of friends have formed  a local Mercedes Benz Club that hosts sveral events a year that includes car exhibitions, rallies , weekend trips and monthly meetings.

So far we have found that there at least 10 w113 in Costa Rica been mine that oldest, a 230 sl from 1966 numbered 1500 in original silver color with black interior.

Again I am very happpy to join the forum and would love to join the group in the next annual meeting

Sincerely

Amedeo Gaggion

[Peter van Es]

Welcome Amedeo...

Do you have a picture of your car you can post?

Invite the other Costa Rican W113 owners to join the forum too!

Peter

[bossanov]

I am Bossanov.  I am located in Potomac, Maryland USA. 

I recently inherited a '71 280SL from a relative who died while in the process of restoring it.  The car is a blueish gray (not sure of the the name of the color), auto, 2 tops, AC. The car is in pieces, it was stripped down and re-painted, but never put back together.  I have boxes and boxes of parts and nuts and bolts including a new soft top, new carpeting, re-finished seats, and a bunch of stuff.  I am not sure of the condition of the engine.

I am not in a position to complete the restoration personnaly, so I am seeking a local resource to perform the work.  I have always wanted one of these cars and I am committed to completing the restoration and driving this beauty.  I will take some photos and post them as soon as I can get help in pushing it out of the garage.

If anyone knows of any DC area shops or persons you can recommend, please let me know.

Thanks,
B.

[dtuttle123]

Hi Bossanov -

Welcome to the forum!  I was reflecting on your situation - inheriting a partially restored Pagoda, with many boxes of parts from a relative.  Depending on the state of completion you may want to consider a different plan.

What I have discovered is that we need to be both passionate and dispassionate about our cars, and define the 'real mission'.  You may have the mission to restore this car because it was your father's and you had great memories of the car growing up.  Or, your mission might be just to get into a really cool 280SL because you always admired the car.

If your mission is to get into a 280SL and have fun driving it, one thing that you may want to consider is sell the car as is, and taking the $5-15K (no idea the value), and investing it in a restored and running car of your choice and color that might be selling for $25K now (market is down a bit).  This path could get you in your dream car in 2-3 months.

If the mission is to restore the car, take the journey, smell the grease and leather, and create a memorial to your relative, this may be a longer path - 2-3 years, and $30K+.  You would truly be a steward for the car, but it takes vision, commitment, and money.

Something to consider, and either way, we still want to see some photos!!

[tom.hanson]

Hello Group,

I just started posting to your forum again after a very long absence. if I can assist any of you in any way, don't hesitate to contact me. It's good to be back and I'll try to find the time to stick with it.

Tom Hanson
Mercedes-Benz Classic Center USA
MBUSA LLC
949 598-4842 direct
thomas.hanson@mbusa.com

[sctripp]

All,
My name is Stan Tripp and I live in Houston. I am married and have 4 children. 
I am not really new, but more accurately, returning. I am on my third W113. I have owned and sold a 250SL and a 280SL. It has been about 4 years since I was last was on this site. The advise and support were invaluable and I look forward to becoming reaquanted with some of the oldtimers and meeting new folks.
I recently purchased a 280SL that has been in my family for some time. She is a 1968 survivor and she is beautiful.
I will post some photos when she arrives.
Regards,
Stan

[JCM]

Hello,

My name is John and I have just upgraded to full member.  I have a 1970 280 SL that I have owned since 1990.  White with black hardtop, manual tranny.  It has gone thru various stages of attention and inattention from me that have lined up with other time consuming events in my life, kids, new job, etc.  About 4 years ago I got the car running again after about 8 years of sitting in the garage.  The most expensive thing I have had done is to replace the 2nd gear cluster so that the transmission shifts properly.  My car currently has serious paint issues (the paint is falling off).  I plan to restore the car including paint, new carpet, new headliner, new soft top and mechanical fine tuning.  I am interested in members' opinions about what is the correct order to proceed with the restoration.  My current thinking is mechanical first, then interior, then finish, but I wonder if interior should be last.  I am in Wimberley, Texas which is near Austin and not too far from San Antonio.  Does anyone have mechanic or paint shop recommendation for my area?  Also what should I expect to pay for a proper strip down to metal and repaint?  John 

[Peter van Es]

John,

welcome. Good question to ask. On this page: http://www.sl113.org/othersites.html you'll find a link to member bpossel's amazing complete restauration: everything stripped, everything done again. A great resource. On the same page you'll find other useful links to e.g. Motoring Investments, who also have lots of detail on full restorations. And don't forget our Technical Manual.

I'm sure some of our members will chime in on what's the best... however, it also depends on your needs. If you want to do a rolling restoration and drive the car, it may make sense to do the mechanicals first. If you need an engine rebuild, you might as well go the whole hog and have everything taken out... then do body, paint, interior... etc.

Before we start discussing this topic in extensive detail, it may be best to create a new topic message for it, rather than misuse this one!

Peter

[JCM]

Thanks Peter, I will start a new topic.  John

[gazikasa]

Hi All,

I am quite new to the Pagoda family of enthusiasts.  Nearing 50 years old, I have a history working as a "backyard car mechanic" having fully rebuilt quite a few cars.  The 70's were my youth and I remember fondly working on Volkswagen bugs (69, 70, 71), Fiats (2-850 sport spiders), throw in 2 BMW 2002's not to mention all the Japanese cars...   But other than the 2002's none really sparked the love for a car.  Now as I continue to look at these Pagoda SL's I am starting to fall for them.

What keeps capturing my attention for older cars are the lovely curvatious lines coupled with open tops.  The Pagoda series captures these lines and I fear that I am hooked!  The curves, coupled wiht subtle chrome detail create energy just standing still.  Knowing a Ferrari is out my reach, this lovely car looks like the winner to take my fancy for the several years.  They are sold (when not rusted), safe and reliable with the brilliant look.

So I am taking the plunge and starting to read up on all I can BEFORE I buy a car.  Thanks for the forum and I look forward to my reconstruction efforts knowing that at the end of the 2-5 year journey I will have brilliant car the provides the essence of this great time in automotive history.
Feel free to let me know of any of your “gatchas” before I make my purchase.

THANKS ALL!

Tony G

[nikopu]

Hello!

I have been lurking around for some time. Now that I have picked up a car, I think it is time to join in 

Attached is a picture of my car.. plenty of work required 
It's a '66 230SL, driven and wrecked in USA and then exported to Finland some years ago.

I haven't ever worked with a pagoda, nor with any car so extensively damaged, so I am hoping to learn a lot in months-years to come.... I have started to strip it apart to evaluate all the body work required (I already know it's both rotten and bent.. ). I probably won't have much time write here, I hope you understand why 

I am also starting to gather up documents and material required for restoration. One thing that looks like a great deal is the BBB on CD-ROM available from MB Classic site. Unfortunately, they don't ship out of US Could somebody help me source that!?

Cheers,
Niko

[pgxif]

hi
i'm Paul, from Sydney (originally British). Have always loved Pagodas and now am beginning to learn a bit about them before purchasing one. Love early 911s , have had an MGB for 12 years, and currently restoring a 1955 Land Rover.
Looking forward to a crash course about the cars from the forum - v excited !

[ja17]

Hello Niko and Paul and welcome!

You will not be disappointed with a pagoda. It has timeless classic lines and is still very drivable compared to modern cars. It is tough and dependable when put right. You have reached the best place on the web for help so you are off on the right foot!

Niko, if you need someone to relay the disc to you from the Classic Center, just let me know. ja17@att.net