April 1999 

---

Here's a summary of my first day working with my newly acquired '68 280S.

Before I start... I'd tell you that the car's been sitting unused since '85... however in '92 a restoration was started and was not completed.   Included in the restoration was bodywork, new paint,new headliner, new carpets, and an engine rebuild -- although the car has only about 80,000kms on it, as claimed by the Previous Owner (PO).  The interior is totally apart except for the dash, headliner, and back seat.  The rear of the car is up on makeshift jackstands and the front is resting on flat tires.  I worked on the car in the PO's garage.
 

Got the keys.  Where do I start?			The red carpet treatment.
The front of the car, untouched for 14 years			That nasty brown overspray on the hood is all over the car.    Notice the flat front tires

I open the trunk to find most of the missing interior pieces.  I say most because the door panels remain missing.   I take all of the trunk's contents and lay them out on the driveway -- old windshield rubber, new windlace, all the interior harware (window cranks, door handles, etc.), a head gasket, a crank pulley, two worn engine mounts, misc nuts and bolts.

Shown here are all the treasures found inside the trunk.

The two front seats were removed from the car and stored outside of the house unprotected from the elements.  A thick layer of dust cover it and they're ripped at the seams and have holes where I believe a family of mice made they're home.  Lying next to the seats was the rear bumper.

I pick up the rear bumper and head back to the car and re-install them. All the bumper bolts were kept in the trunk.  I also re-installed the gas tank door.

There you go! Looks much better, don't you think?

Next I focused my attention to the engine.  I removed all spark plugs and looked inside -- I see light gray color!  YES!! no rust.  At least no visible rust.  I remove the valve cover and again... no rust there too!  The cams and the timing chain were still shiny.  Ok seems like I have a good chance of getting the engine fired up.  I spray WD-40 in the cylinders and on the cams and rockers.  And left it at that for now.

Then I found the two outside mirrors.  One does not have glass and the other has the reflective coating separated from the glass.  I install it anyway.  The car is beginning to look 'complete' from the outside.

The PO produced a set of four MB hubcaps... although a wrong color.  I assume this came from her other MB W123.  I take it anyway -- I'm assuming they're the same for the W108.  I install these promptly -- ugh...  Yellow hubcaps on a white car.

Then I borrowed a bucket and began to wash the car.  I applied some chrome polish on various chrome bits just to see... nice.  I like it.

After seven hours, I packed up my tools, washed up and went home.

I take the car home next week!  I can't wait.
 

Back to Top

There has been an opinion raised to me that german cars traditionally do not come with white-side walled (WSW) tires.  WSW tires are an "American" contribution.   However, it was also noted that WSW are available in all brand new Mercedes Benz's during the era, regardless of the market.

I checked the original sales invoice of the car and my car originally came with WSW tires.  Personally, I think WSW tires would look very nice on a white car like mine.

Back to Top

Quick check and I notice that the rubber fuel lines in the engine compartment are cracked... hmmm no fuel filter too.  I suspected that the gas tank may be full of gunk so we remove the tank from the car, put some gasoline in there and sloshed it around.  I pour the contents out and clean fuel came out -- ALRIGHT, the tank was stored empty and is clean.  I blow through the fuel lines in the car to see if its clogged... and some dust flies out from the other end.  We put the tank back in the car and noticed the rubber fuel lines near the tank are brittle.

I make a mental note to buy new rubber fuel lines and some new hose clamps.  By this time, I decide that I'm not gonna get this car running at PO's garage so I plan to tow the car home and work on it later.

I put the new wheels on and lower the car to the ground.  Man, that looks nice.  She's standing proud on her own and with matching tires too!  Without any brake pads, the wheels were free to turn.

I then call the tow-truck.  I have two hours to kill before the truck arrives, so I began sanding the body with 1000grit paper and lots of water.  The car has been covered with nasty brown overspray and it really looked grimy.  After one pass with the 1000grit, the car is looking brighter than ever.  I tried some 3M rubbing compound on a small spot just to check and it came out nice and glossy.  ALRIGHT!  The paint from the unfinished restoration years ago held on.

The tow truck arrives and liberates the old 280S from her 15 year prison.  I followed the truck home (about 30 kms - 1 hour drive).

I get her home with one minor incident.  The muffler fell off!

I then ran to the auto-parts store and buy some hoses and clamps, and one spark plug (I managed to break the ceramic portion when I removed it).

I rush back home and under the glow of droplights, start working on the car immediately.  The contact point, distributor were cleaned up.  I borrowed a battery from another project car and hook it up... I'm missing one battery clamp.  Out comes the Vice-Grip.  I check the oil, add water.  Without any sparkplugs, I crank the engine.  YES!  It turns without and hesistation.  My friend covered the sparkplug holes to see if there's compression - and all is well.

Thats Robert under the hood.  He managed to rebuild the starter right there on the street and was able to get the engine fired up.

All this cranking go the starter confused and decided to quit!  ARGH.   We remove the starter and did a quick rebuild.  We take the starter apart and cleaned the contacts and put new grease.  Tested the starter and it works.  It goes back in the car and it started cranking again.

After we put the new fuel lines, we pour gas into the tank and some into the carb.  Put the sparkplugs back on and cranked her up.  Shortly after, the engine came to life.  I was jumping up and down with my hands in the air!  YAHOOO... I don't have to spend a lot of money on an engine tear down and rebuild.  It first ran rough then it started to smoothen out.  It was relatively quiet even without a muffler.  Its getting close to midnight, so we decided to call it a night.  I put my set of unpainted hubcaps on just to looksee.

Next on the list are the brakes and the clutch.  Chase some electrical glitches and she'll be on the road again.  I can't wait.

A happy ending, don't you agree?

Back to Top

By this time, I cringe and ordered four new brake calipers assemblies.  At about the equivalent US$110 per caliper, this would be my first major investment in the restoration.  I should get them sometime this week.  I got my first shock of how much MB parts cost.  "Welcome to the MB world", I say to myself.

The clutch master and the clutch slave cyclinders were also severely seized.  I end up ordering new clutch master and slave assemblies too.

I've spent more money today than I made progress.  Not a very good day.

With all the hydraulic systems on hold due to unavailable parts, I concentrate on the jungle of wires dangling under the dashboard.  I yanked out all aftermarket wiring -- there seems to be a anti-theft device with three hidden switches and relays and miles of wire.  It ended in a metal box in the glove compartment.  I removed them all.

In the process, I also removed the under-dash air conditioner.  The AC unit is defenitely aftermarket, however I confirm from the original sales invoice that this was dealer installed.  The chrome bezel surrounding the switches and the vents was corroded and pitted.  The black metal casings also had surface rust.  At least the motor still runs and blows air.

Back to Top

I also painted the inside door handles with Duplicolor Vinyl Spray Paint.  I believe its a perfect match.  Two of the door handles have cracked and has gaping holes.  I fill this in with Silicone RTV and hope that I can sand this down to shape.

Back to Top

All in all, I had the following ready to be installed:

• Four new Brake Calipers
• New Brake Pads
• Brake Master Repair Kit
• New Clutch Master/Slave Assemblies

The old clutch master cylinder had a large aluminum tube on top of the cylinder and the new clutch master assembly did not have this tube.  The mechanic had to remove the tube and transfer this to the new clutch master assembly.

Before the end of the day, the correct calipers arrive and the mecanic was able to install it together with the rebuilt brake master and the new clutch master cylinder.   It was getting dark, so the clutch slave cylinder was not yet re-installed today.

Back to Top

The mechanic came back today to finish the job.  He re-installed the clutch slave cylinder, filled the lines with ATE Original Blue fluid and bled the air out of the system.  The clutch's hydraulic system is fixed.  I still don't know if the clutch disk and the pressure plate is ok since I still haven't driven the car.  We'll find out soon.

As the mechanic was working on the brakes, he noticed that the flexible rubber hoses were blocked.  So, he got on his motorcycle and sped back to the parts store to get the necessary hoses -- none in stock.

The day ended and I still don't have brakes.

Special Thanks to Pee J Car Enterprises, located in BF Homes Paranaque, Metro Manila, Philippines,  for patiently ordering the parts, swapping wrong parts, searching for replacements, giving me a charge account, and overall being very helpful with my Hydraulic System problem.

Back to Top

Sign My Guestbook  View My Guestbook