Hey gang,
My uncle has this old MB in his barn and has asked me to get it running, now that I will have a shop again. (See Z build for Birdcave teaser)
It's a Euro spec car, and I don't know how to search their serial #s. V8, unknown size. Automatic. Ragtop.
It's 5 hours away from me currently, so I'm attempting identify it with pictures.
Likely a 450SL.
Definitely an SL.
I agree with the 450 SL guess based on the air cleaner. There was also a 380 and 560 V8. We've had 2 450s and a 560 in the family. Fun cars, not super agile, but they are tanks.
Where in WA is it located?
If it's European it could be a 380.
I worked extensively on a gray market 280SL. M-B was right to only import the 450. Its main cool factor was that its cylinder head could be used to make a DOHC Nissan L24/26/28 engine, if you wanted to prove a point.
I am curious if it has K-jet or D-jet fuel injection. Yeah, some Mercedes had D-jet! They had a weird diaphragm type MAP sensor...
Pete. (l33t FS) said: Its main cool factor was that its cylinder head could be used to make a DOHC Nissan L24/26/28 engine, if you wanted to prove a point.
Um... where can I learn more about this? I have an L28 on a stand currently
bgkast said:Where in WA is it located?
Sumas area. High and dry during flooding, thankfully
birdmayne said:Pete. (l33t FS) said: Its main cool factor was that its cylinder head could be used to make a DOHC Nissan L24/26/28 engine, if you wanted to prove a point.Um... where can I learn more about this? I have an L28 on a stand currently
Apparently Prince based the L-series engine on the Mercedes inline six from that era, to the point that the DOHC head used from the mid 1970s on will bolt on. I have no idea if the camshaft drive lines up, but allegedly the swap has been done once or twice.
What you end up with is a Nissan engine that drives like a Mercedes, very low power output and then it chokes hard. It's a large 12 valve head with no real upgrade path for power camshaft-wise. Also the exhaust is on the other side of the engine bay from a L/KA/RB engine. The 280SL felt like it had about 100hp or so. That is to say, it made a US market 450SL feel fast, and 450SLs are sloooooow.
The DOHC head was sold in North America for something like one year in the mid 70s and then the six was dropped. It soldiered on in the home market until at least 1981. A friend actually had a Euro market Mercedes that had this engine, carbureted. Little four barrel that looked like a cross between a Quadrajet and an Autolite 4300. I might have pictures.
Small bumpers say that it's a gray market European version that got US spec headlights, or it's a very early pre-74 US car. I don't think it's a 450.
Of course, someone could have also done a bumper swap on a later car too., but I don't think that's the case here.
I think it's a 350SL.
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:Small bumpers say that it's a gray market European version that got US spec headlights, or it's a very early pre-74 US car.
It was common for gray market cars to have US spec headlights installed when they were Federalized, but then the importer would reinforce the euro bumpers to meet DOT requirements (My M535i had big hunks of strap iron bolted to the back side of the bumpers that looked like something off a farm implement.)
In reply to birdmayne :
The lack of badges hide what engine the car had.
Why hide makes me wonder, which was your uncle more likely to be?
The guy with the big engine (expensive model) but taking off the badges so as to be modest/discreet?
The guy with the small engine (less expensive model) but taking off the badges so as too seem more flamboyant?
John Welsh said:In reply to birdmayne :
The lack of badges hide what engine the car had.
Why hide makes me wonder, which was your uncle more likely to be?
The guy with the big engine (expensive model) but taking off the badges so as to be modest/discreet?
The guy with the small engine (less expensive model) but taking off the badges so as too seem more flamboyant?
Neither. He's the guy who acquired it years ago in a trade and only drove it a couple of times before parking it under a cover inside the barn and forgetting about it.
John Welsh said:In reply to birdmayne :
The lack of badges hide what engine the car had.
Why hide makes me wonder, which was your uncle more likely to be?
The guy with the big engine (expensive model) but taking off the badges so as to be modest/discreet?
The guy with the small engine (less expensive model) but taking off the badges so as too seem more flamboyant?
Option 3: The guy who got rearended and worked a deal with the body shop to put the replacement badges on the bill but not install them, taking the parts price off of the deductible to save the owner a little money.
Yes, it's shady, and I've had three friends approached by body shops to do their cars this way after a collision. As a result, they and I began to look at debadged cars as owned by cheapskates who don't want to pay to get their cars fixed correctly.
Also as a result, I'm eyeing the back of the Mercedes for misapplied trim, or misaligned panels...
Those bumpers look too neat and tidy to have not come from the factory that way. And anyone who was motivated to do a bumper conversion probably would have added the Euro headlights at the same time.
I'm not sure what the lighting specs were up there at the time, but I'd be willing to bet that the car passed through Canada back when it was new.
Removing the badges was pretty common back in the 80s.
My best guess is a 350sl. The r107 are not remarkable cars and pretty common. Reliable cruisers and good looking. They certainly look better with the euro bits that's for sure. It should be d-jet.
I'd like to see the interior though.
Mercedes used some ugly air filter housings.
350SL is my guess as well.
To confuse it even more, Early US spec 350SL's came with a 4.5 liter engine. If you can get to it to look,yellow injectors=350 engine blue injectors=450 engine and if they've been replaced get to the engine # stamped on the bell housing. 116=350 117=450. There's really no way to tell from these photos, but I'd say 350SL, witch actually has the 4.5. 71 or 72.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
The euro 280SL had the M110 engine with (I think) D-jet setup. The m110 was a DOHC that made it to the US in the w114 chassis as the 280, I think in 1971-72. The carb is the weakest link-in the US market it was a solex that would warp the flange at the intake and cause all sorts of difficulty.
Gramma had one that I would take up to autobahn speeds on the local tollway-it was smooth!
In reply to Steve_Jones :
Didn't the air filter housing have a smaller diameter base on the m116 vs the m117 engine?
Looks like a euro model with us headlights.
Might be a fun car if it doesn't turn into a money pit. You'd better love it because to make that car a running reliable car is gonna take a whole lotta time and money. Even to get it running might be a challenge depending on how gummed up the fuel system is.
yupididit said:In reply to Steve_Jones :
Didn't the air filter housing have a smaller diameter base on the m116 vs the m117 engine?
Everything externally is the same, air filter housing, distributor, valve covers, etc. there's really no way to tell just by looking
In reply to Steve_Jones :
Ah okay. I've never had an m116 car. I've had several m117's though lol
When I lived in Germany in the mid 80's it was very common to see cars, especially MB and BMW, debadged. I would saw it could go either way, trying to hide the fact you got a smaller engined car or wanting to surprise people.
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