New Member Bit By the Bug

[Amanda]

Hi all.  I am a new SL owner (although it's not yet in my possession).  Like a few before me, I made sort of an impulse buy, and in hindsight wish I had found this forum and spent more time learning, etc. before I leapt.  I did have the car professionally inspected, and the inspector thought this car was decent example, and the better choice of the two I was considering.  (The other had had a very nice paint/interior restoration, but had swapped out its 230 engine for a 280, and had some rust in the floor).

I thought I'd see if I could get some feedback from this unfortunately very small photos - they were the only ones I could get the system to accept.  I'd really appreciate getting the opinions of the experts here - I'm ready to take the constructive criticism.   :oops:    

Oops - I forgot to say, it's a 1966 230, manual!



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[Mike Hughes]

Amanda -

From the pictures it looks like a decent car.  A couple of things I noticed:  There are no pictures showing a hardtop.  Does the car come with one?  The alloy "Bundtpan" wheels are not original to the car and weren't yet available when 230SLs were new, but they look great!  The spare tire should have a black vinyl cover, with a snappped flap to cover the storage area within the wheel.  The spare wheel appears to be an original steel wheel and should be painted body color.  The spare tire is a Michelin XAS and may be rather old.  If the other tires match, they may all be rather old.  Even if they have good tread it may be wise to replace them.  Look on this Forum for the thread "Tire Nirvana" for hints on available replacements.  The "kinder seat" is a nice option, not found an all Pagodas.  Are the seats leather?  If so, the door panels will be leather as well, if the leather seats are original.  When you get the car, check to see of there is a data card.  It will tell you how the car was equipped when it left the factory.  Look on this Forum for any of the "data card" threads.  Finally, the car appears to have 1966 Virginia license plates, indicating that the most recent registration is as an antique vehicle with plates from the year of manufacture.  Just from the style and location of the pictures I am lead to believe that you acquired the car through a collector car vendor of my acquaintence in Middleburg, VA. If so, I am pretty confident that he described the car fairly to you and you will be pleased with it when you finally receive it.  Enjoy!

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

[Cees Klumper]

Hello Amanda - welcome to the group, and congratulations on your purchase. From the (small indeed, except for the first one; the maximum size the site will allow is approx. 80 KB and these are much smaller) photos, the car does look to be in good shape. Some new owners experience some issues when they start driving their Pagoda, for example due to it not having run regularly for some time prior, but also many just start driving and enjoying the car from day one without such issues. Whatever your questions may be, this is the right place to get the correct answers ...

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

[Amanda]

Thanks for the feedback - as you can probably tell I am very excited.  I've loved these cars since I can remember.  I have larger pictures (the inspector took nearly 100), but not the technical knowhow on how to reduce the # of KBs, and was anxious to share my new baby.  

Mike - the seats are supposed to be leather, but the inspector was not that impressed with the quality of the leather - he called it American leather versus European.  They are definitely not the original seats.  It does have a hardtop, the headliner has a bit of staining around the edges, but otherwise in good shape.  I actually got it from a private seller in Fairfax, not a vendor - I am one of those crazy people buying a car they found on ebay.  I noticed you are in Alexandria - again, wish I had taken the time to find the group before I took the plunge, but hindsight is always 20/20.  

It's been said a number of time before I know, but its wonderful to find this site and so great that people with lots of knowledge take the time to share it with those of us who do not.  I sent in my full membership application today after being a bit of a basic member lurker for a few weeks.

Amanda
1966 230SL
Manual
Red/Tan
Los Angeles

[rhersberger]

Amanda:

Welcome to the group.  I have a '68 280 SL manaul that looks very similar to yours.  I installed a white steering wheel, because it looks more period and goes better with the tan interior, in my opinion.  You've already been told those wheels are not authentic.

My daughter and son-in-law live in Studio City, so maybe I'll see your car sometime when I visit there.

Rod Hersberger

Santa Barbara

'68 280 SL, red, tan, 4sp, two tops
'01 Jag S Type brg
'07 Cayman S Carmon red, sand beige (on order)

[France]

Wow!  I usually start my posts "Hi Guys," because there are only a couple of girls (one from LA) I know of on the forum.  I've been sure there are more in the lurkers.  Amanda, welcome to a great group--I encourage you to join the Frappr group and start to put some weight on our side!

Your new baby looks wonderful--I too am one of those crazies that lucked out on eBay.  My story is in an older Pagoda World in case you're interested.

We are planning to spend some time in my old stomping grounds on the Coast next March and hope to see a lot of Pagodas then!

Trice
1968 280SL US, signal red/bl leather, auto, kinder
Sarasota FL; Alsace France
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes.

[JamesL]

One observation

The steering wheel is on the wrong side[:p]

(hey, that's the welcome I got when I did the same mad thing you've just done! )

[rwmastel]

Amanda,

Welcome to the Group!  Comments on your pictures.

Fist, it looks like the passenger side door mirror is 280SL style.  Is the driver's side the same?

Second, I see the BBB (Big Blue Book, AKA Mercedes Benz shop manual) in the trunk.  If you are technically inclined, it will help you perform maintenance and fix problems.  If you have a mechanic, then you can use it to at least understand what he (or she) is talking about.

Third, you have the Euro headlights.  Are the instruments metric?

Enjoy the ride!

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

[joelj]

Hello Amanda,

Welcome to the best pagoda site in the world

The guys here are just super Their inputs are priceless and everyone truly wants to help.

I saw your photos and the third seat is really a great addition to your pagoda. If it came as original equipment on your SL then that truly is a special car.

You'll have heads truning evertytime you drive your pagoda

Cheers and good luck. You can't go wrong with a car like that

Joel

1969 280sl auto
White exterior
Blue interior

[Douglas]

Welcome and congrats on the new Pagoda. If I'm not mistaken, member David Pease has your twin 230 SL in northern CA.

Douglas Kim
New York
USA

[rogerh113]

Hello,

One important note on the alloy wheels.  They take a longer lug nut relative to the original steel wheels. If you are using the steel wheel as a spare, you need to get 5 of the shorter, original lug nuts to use in case you need the spare (I think the longer lugs will bottom out and not secure the wheel properly).  Hopefully the shorter lugs for the spare are in the trunk somewhere - if not, they are easily available and you need to get a some.

I am also running the bundt on my '66 manual, and while not 'original' to the 230SL they do give a much superior ride relative to the steel wheels.  

Enjoy the car - it's a beauty.  As mentioned earlier in another post, these cars really do better when driven so use it regularly and it will be very happy as well!!

Regards -- Roger

[Amanda]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and the input.  Can anyone recommend a good book on restoration?  

Rodd:  I believe both the mirrors are the same, but I did not know they were 280 style.  Can anyone tell me what the 230 mirrors would look like?  I'll have to study some more pictures.  I'm do not yet know a lot about mechanics, but I'm hoping to learn, at least enough to have an intelligent conversation with the mechanic.  I was hoping to take it to the new Classic Center in Irvine when it gets here.    

Euro headlinghts and no side lights/signals.  The instruments are metric - it's showing about 63,700 km.  The seller suggested it was original miles, but I would think it's more likely that it went around at least once, so it probably has 164,000 km, or almost 102,000 miles.  

Joel:  I think that the third seat was original, but I've order the data card.  Hopefully that will help me figure out how the car was in it's original form.  

Roger:  Thanks for the tip on the lug nuts.  I've haven't decided whether or not to go back to the original wheels, but I'll definitely have to make sure to get some spare lug nuts.  I'm planning on driving it as much as possible, minus the daily commute.


I liked this car because it seemed like (1) it was in good overall condition, (2) as far as I could tell (I've been studying Meredith's Original Mercedes SL) the items which were not original were things I might be able to afford to fix and, I have to admit, I really liked the color.  On the negative side, the car doesn't have it's original books/records, hopefully the data card will help.

It also has what I think is an older European Blaupunkt radio (it has the LMU buttons), but it's bigger than the Becker and all black, so I actually purchased a Becker Europa I'm hoping to have installed. I've been told that they can add an adapter so that you can hook up your IPod - I'm hoping that is the case.  Anyone hooked up an IPod?

Thanks again.  




Amanda
1966 230SL
Manual
Red/Tan
Los Angeles

[mdsalemi]

Amanda in LA,

Welcome; you are in good company here.

I can't tell much from your photos but an issue arose of your mirror.  There are, to my knowledge, two different side-view mirrors, an early (which would be correct for yours) and late (which would still be correct but not the original)

Here are two photos of an early style mirror.  They are lousy and tiny, but the distinguishing factor is there is a "swoopy" arm that connects the mirror to the base:

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I think I've seen this mirror on sedans of the era as well.  Contrast this to a later style mirror: the arm is not nearly as swoopy, but more solid, perhaps less elegant:

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Correctness would be whether or not it is a Mercedes part for your car; since both were for the 113's both are correct.  Original would refer to whether or not it was specific to your car; the later style isn't of course.  The only place this would make a real difference is in a judged Concours of course.

I bring this up because as you venture on this journey you will run into this quite a bit, where MB made more then one part for a series of cars, but now supplies only the later style, or only one color, or similar.  Sometimes this will have you searching for parts other then the dealer in order to maintain integrity.  For example, if you had the early style mirror on the driver's door, and wanted to "upgrade" to one on the passenger door as well, you would not be looking to the dealer--you'd only get the later style.

Hope this helps.

Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored

[JamesL]

Amanda

re iPod.

Do a trawl on here for Konigs radio

They do a little cable that plugs into the Din plug in the back of a Europa and has a 3.5mm headphone jack at the other end.

I asked Becker NA about a connector and they said "go to Konigs as we get ours from there"!

[dwilli3038]

Amanda,
 
Welcome to the group. The only requirement for your new car is to ENJOY!!!! Park it near a porche or Farrari and watch the owners frown as you draw the crowd!

Daryl
'64 230 SL Buckeye Benz Scarlet interior and Grey top Serial # 508
'77 280SE

[rwmastel]

quote:Originally posted by Tosh

Amanda

re iPod.

Do a trawl on here for Konigs radio

They do a little cable that plugs into the Din plug in the back of a Europa and has a 3.5mm headphone jack at the other end.

I asked Becker NA about a connector and they said "go to Konigs as we get ours from there"!

Amanda,

Yes, as Tosh says, there are cables.  BUT, you have to have a connector on the back of the radio and not all radios have them.  You'll have to check.  So a Search (or trawl, as Tosh says) for "ipod" and you'll find lots of info.

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

[Peter van Es]

Amanda,

welcome. I'm the resident website maintainer... to find more info on sizing and uploading foto's have a look at this detailed Frequently Asked Question http://www.sl113.org/forums/faq.asp#GetForum

Peter

Check out http://bali.esweb.nl for photographs of classic car events and my 1970 280 SL

[DavidAPease]

Hi, Amanda,

I'm sorry for such a late response - I've been away from the board for over a month.  Doug has a very sharp eye - if you look at the first photo below, it looks very much like the large photo you posted.

I am in Northern California (near Santa Cruz), and have a '66 as well, in a very similar color.  (What is your paint code?)  My interior is off-white.  I've included pointers to some photos that I posted last summer (before my trip to Blacklick); they show what your car would look like with the original hub caps, and also give an idea of the original mirror shape.

http://www.sl113.org/forums/uploaded/davidapease/2005722191550_View1.JPG
http://www.sl113.org/forums/uploaded/davidapease/2005722191129_View2.JPG
http://www.sl113.org/forums/uploaded/davidapease/2005722191228_View3.JPG
http://www.sl113.org/forums/uploaded/davidapease/2005722191321_View4.JPG

I love an excuse to drive the Big Sur coast, if you ever want to drive north and meet half-way.  I know you'll love owning and driving your car!

-David Pease
'66 French 230SL

[Amanda]

Hi David -

Welcome back.  They do appear very similar, and I believe mine may have been originally a French delivery as well (I'm still working on deciphering the data card).  I don't have the card here at work, but if I remember correctly, I think the paint code was 501 (red).  It's headed to the shop to get a new muffler and heat sheild, some brake work and a few misc items, but once it's back, I'd love an excuse to drive it up the coast!

Amanda
1966 230SL
Manual
Red/Tan
Los Angeles

[bsimaz]

Congrats Amanda,  

Love the color.  Enjoy.

Bill Simaz
'66 230sl
Back on the Road