Hi everyone,
Impressed by the amount of information gathered in this forum, I joined it yesterday. My baby is a 1964 230sl that I bought 3 months ago. It has been nicely restored by previous owners, except that some of the mechanical aspects have been completely neglected or even tampered with. The wiring of the start mechanism had been altered in order to make a quick fix for a nonfunctioning thermotime switch. I brought it to a mechanic that put in a new thermostat and did some rewiring but we are not yet back to the original wiring scheme. The result is that until the car is warm the engine stalls when brought to iddle... He pretended that he could not get back to the original wiring because of the fact that the engine had been replaced by a 250sl engine. With the appropriate lamp, I read the engine number at the bottom of the block and discovered that the engine was perfectly original and matching. Right then, I lost confidence in this guy.
The car has a suspension problem or may be several ?! It sits very low on its rear and (consequently) the steering is very approximative. The overall handling is disappointing. My uncle used to have the same car that he bought new in 1964 ( same year as my car...) and I think I remember how beautifully it was behaving. At present, mine is a far cry from that. I read the various messages about suspension problems. I certainly have to do something as regards the shocks, the springs, spring pads, steering damper, etc. I am not equipped to do this myself and consequently, I am looking for a good mechanic i.e. familiar with W113, in New Jersey, New York or Pennsylvania. All leads will be welcome !
Jean-Paul Fouillade
1964 230sl Euro.
