Going to pick up my first Mercedes

Post by **Scottyx** » Wed 10 Oct, 2018 1:25 pm

G’day

I had a bit of help from a few dudes on here looking at cars for me and due to work being rained out this morning in Sydney I booked a ticket to Brisbane to pick up my first Merc.

It’s meant to be a big storm in Brisbane this afternoon so I hope the windscreen wipers work well.

It’s a 1971 280S auto.

I’ll snap a photo weather permitting.

Scott

Post by **Bartman4800** » Wed 10 Oct, 2018 2:23 pm

It's all right, you can call us by name

Good luck, and keep us posted!

Bart

Post by **T-Modell** » Wed 10 Oct, 2018 5:11 pm

Hi,
exciting day for you! Good luck, that's always special.
Thomas

Post by **Scottyx** » Thu 11 Oct, 2018 5:43 pm

The car went fine from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast (visit my mum) and the big storm missed me. The dash lights don’t work so I couldn’t tell how fast I was going and a few other little things not working, but still happy with the car. It’s so nice to drive.

Driving around today up here it has a bad miss or maybe flat spot going up hills so the drive home to Sydney tomorrow might be interesting. I think I’ll leave early and just take my time as the car runs fine on the flat road up to 110km/hr.

I couldn’t work out how to resize photos to put up here so I will get that sorted when I get home and my daughter can show me.

Post by **CraigB** » Thu 11 Oct, 2018 7:09 pm

simple trick with the dash lights that often works - the knob on the instrument panel is to adjust the brightness and often the rheostat I guess corrodes a bit. Work it back and forth a bit and often it will make contact and work.

flat spot could be to do with blockage or worn seal in accelerator pump jet, but that shouldn't bother you too much once it is up and running. Pull it back a gear manually and get the revs up before putting your foot down to pass (if need to) might work in your favour. Good luck.

Post by **Scottyx** » Thu 11 Oct, 2018 11:15 pm

I tried the dimmer knob thing after Bart told me about it but it still doesn’t work.

I’m not running to any schedule to get to Sydney so I’ll just see what happens. I can do it in the Prado on one tank of fuel in 11 hours. I don’t think I’ll make it in 12 hours tomorrow and reckon I’ll stop more than once for fuel.

Thanks for the well wishes I reckon she’ll be right. I love this car so regardless of how it treats me tomorrow I think we will get on just fine.

Post by **Scottyx** » Fri 12 Oct, 2018 12:38 pm

So far so good.

When it rains I get a drip on my ankle, but the windscreen wipers are good enough and I’ve got a T shirt to delist the screen so that’s all good.

But about 500m before I pulled onto the highway this morning the speedo started to make a noise that got worse as time went by to the point it was annoying AF and with no tunes to drown out this noise it was going to be a long trip.

About one and a half hours into the trip I slowed to about 20mph for traffic and the noise went away and has only come back briefly.

I’m currently just outside of Grafton getting some go juice and with 256 miles on the clock the car took 63L.

Post by **Pete49** » Fri 12 Oct, 2018 12:53 pm

So about 18.3 Mpg. It might improve with a tune up if its a carby unit. sounds like your having fun and thats what its all about.

Post by **John Green** » Fri 12 Oct, 2018 1:11 pm

Scottyx wrote: ↑Fri 12 Oct, 2018 12:38 pm But about 500m before I pulled onto the highway this morning the speedo started to make a noise that got worse as time went by to the point it was annoying AF and with no tunes to drown out this noise it was going to be a long trip.

About one and a half hours into the trip I slowed to about 20mph for traffic and the noise went away and has only come back briefly.

The grease in the speedo head has gone hard over the years. This causes the chatter in the shaft, you need to pull it out and get an instrument specialist to look at it. We use Ringwood Speedo's in Melbourne.

Post by **Scottyx** » Fri 12 Oct, 2018 8:20 pm

Made it.

Somewhere around the 13 hour mark with the only issue being the 2 arcs scratched in the windscreen from the wipers right in front of the drivers seat.

Not good, but hardly a major problem.

Post by **Scottyx** » Sat 13 Oct, 2018 6:32 pm

Man I love this car and the engineers that made it.

The drivers door did not lock or unlock via the key although the key would rotate in the lock.

I pulled the door trim to have a look for a fallen off linkage like what I might see on a Mazda or Ford etc, but these cars don't have linkages. So I keep looking and can't work out why when turning the key it is not engaging with the mechanism to either lock or unlock the door (raise or lower the button thing). I pulled the outer door handle off to look at it and try work out why this cam type mechanism is not sticking out far enough or going into the door far enough so it will engage with the part it should be touching.

OK I'll unscrew this little cam thing on the back of the door handle to have a look and stuff me as I turn this screw it brings this cam in or out so when I put the outer door handle back on this part is now going into the door further to mate with the lock mechanism.

Who do I thank for being such a smart barstard and making such a flipping cool door lock mechanism.

Now I can lock the car when I park it at the shops.

I hope fixing the central locking will be just as easy. I know it will be fun and maybe not too hard as the vacuum hose from the inlet manifold has been removed from what looks like a one way valve up near the fire wall and it has been blocked off with a screw. I don't think it will be that easy, but I reckon it can't hurt to hook it up.

When I work out re sizing photos I will chuck a few up here.

Back to the garage.......

Post by **T-Modell** » Sat 13 Oct, 2018 6:41 pm

Great that you made it! One tip from a long-time Merc driver: Get knee-protectors, it helps admiring the car

Have fun with it
Thomas

Post by **Scottyx** » Sat 13 Oct, 2018 6:58 pm

Test photos

Post by **Scottyx** » Sat 13 Oct, 2018 6:59 pm

I’ll try put one of the car

Post by **Scottyx** » Sat 13 Oct, 2018 7:08 pm

So I hooked up the vacuum hose under the bonnet that was disconnected and plugged.

The driver side rear door works as it should when operating the drivers door lock.

The passenger side rear door try’s to operate but can’t quite get there.

The passenger side front door lock operates in reverse of what the drivers door lock is doing. I hope the vacuum lines can be switched around to fix this and the rear door on the passenger side hopefully it’s a crimped vacuum line or something easy.

Beer time time. Car time tomorrow.

Did I mention I love this car.

Post by **CraigB** » Sat 13 Oct, 2018 10:29 pm

Car looks great and i agree re the engineering, such simplicity and it all works so well, all adjusts, all rebuildable - almost like that was the pinnacle and ever since in trying to improve on the design it all got more complicated. That's oversimplifying things a bit and later cars handle better, more power, economy etc., but I think about the W116 I have here and all the extra vacuum in the heating system and the nightmare trying to get all that right and W126 with climate control and all sorts of other 'clever' features, non rebuildable bits etc. I love well engineered simplicity!

Often when locks are slow it means there is a leak in that diaphragm. I'm guessing the fact they blocked it off means there is a reasonably constant leak. I am pretty sure you can buy the diaphragms fairly cheap and the units can be dismantled , and repaired. Somewhere on here I am sure someone put a link up to a supplier or ebay listing, but that was a fair while ago. If nobody responds I will have a look and if you find something i am interested - will probably need to do mine. Its not unusual for there to be leaks in joiners or line into the vac tank in the guard. Vacuum pumps with gauge are really cheap now on ebay and its a handy tool for this sort of thing. You can easily isolate what parts of the system are leaking. A bit of fiddling around but great when the system works.

And pretty sure reversing the lines will reverse direction.

Post by **Scottyx** » Mon 15 Oct, 2018 5:01 am

It was pouring rain way to hard Sunday morning for a bike ride, but I don't get too wet driving the Merc and with new wiper blades fitted it seemed silly not to go for a drive.

When I got home I pulled the rear seat out so I could replace the wiring to the speakers in the parcel shelf along with the speakers. I found the carpet to be quite wet just inside both rear doors so I think door seals are on the agenda and also a rear window rubber.

While I was fiddling around pulling out the old wiring for the stereo from the fuse box I saw a blown fuse so obviously I replaced it and bugger me my heater fan works now which I way easier than pulling out the heater box or control switch. The brake lights also now work which is just an added bonus as I never checked them before.

Sure is plenty of room to work on this thing.

I also ordered a Mityvac vacuum pump so I can get to the bottom of the central locking.

Post by **Scottyx** » Wed 17 Oct, 2018 8:03 pm

Got it on club rego and my mate sent someone out to fit 5 new tyres.

Post by **CraigB** » Wed 17 Oct, 2018 8:29 pm

Well done - this is a nice story - looking for a car and going about it the right way, nice 'roadie' to get it home and start the relationship, car needing a bit of tlc with the right sort of owner to give it to it........ much more interesting and real than this stupid program on the TV at the moment the wife is watching supposedly about looking for a real relationship!

Post by **Scottyx** » Fri 19 Oct, 2018 10:13 pm

OK so the stereo is in. I went to Strathfield car radio and seen a dude who was working there in the mid 80’s I got a head unit thing with no CD player and a couple of speakers to replace the ones in the parcel shelf. I also got a couple of box speakers that I can put on the floor in the front when we go to the drive ins.

Every joint was soldered obviously even the conection to the speakers (obviously)

Post by **Scottyx** » Fri 19 Oct, 2018 10:19 pm

Finished cleaning that blue faeces off the tyres.

Ordered shocks all round and that dizzy from 123 ignitions along with a coil and leads.

Post by **Scottyx** » Fri 19 Oct, 2018 10:34 pm

Last night my daughter came down to the garage (15 yrs old) and checked out the stereo for it’s maiden voyage and got quite excited by the car. “Will I learn to drive in this” Yeah no worries sweet heart.

It didn’t take many more questions and many more “I can’t wait” until I think it’s not just my car anymore.

I think we’re sharing it if I’m lucky but I also think she reckons it’s hers already.

Post by **CraigB** » Sat 20 Oct, 2018 9:28 am

You might need to buy another one! Lots of cool older Benzes to be had for modern 'buzz box' money and when they break you can fix them (as opposed to disposing of them!) - the 3 Rs - reduce (no. cars we buy and throw away) reuse the old ones and recycle the bits (rather than just the crusher).

Post by **Scottyx** » Sun 21 Oct, 2018 3:45 pm

Had a bit of progress today.

Pulled the drivers door regulator out to clean and lube. Lubed up the quarter window and some silicon on window Chanel. Mate everything works like brand flipping new.

The handbrake wasn’t working, couldn’t even pull it out far enough for the ratchet to engage.
The handle mechanism was as dry as a Nuns, the cable casing was splitting off and getting caught on the grommet where it goes through the firewall and the pully was fairdinkum drier than a Nuns.

The handbrake now works really close to perfect.

Post by **Scottyx** » Sun 21 Oct, 2018 3:52 pm

The pulley you could just turn

Post by **CraigB** » Sun 21 Oct, 2018 3:54 pm

The last stage for perfection on your handbrake might be to adjust the shoes at the rear. There are 2 small brake shoes in a drum incorporated into the disc. I can't actually remember how to adjust - I think it is a screwdriver in a slot to turn a wheel that spreads the shoes - do it with wheel off the ground and turn it until you hear a bit of drag and then back it off. Great to hear someone going through a car properly and fixing all those bits and pieces.

Post by **Bartman4800** » Mon 22 Oct, 2018 10:56 am

The adjustment for the shoes at the back is with 2 excentric bolts mounted in the anchor plate.

Take the wheels off, and rotate the bolt until you feel a slight drag when the drum is rotated. Pump the brakes, pull up and release the hand brake and try again.
There is a swivel nut just behind the front bumper to adjust the cable length.

Bart

Post by **Scottyx** » Mon 22 Oct, 2018 4:34 pm

Cheers for the info guys.

This stuff was waiting for me when I got home.

Post by **Scottyx** » Mon 22 Oct, 2018 4:36 pm

This stuff also. Good for a bit of therapy.

Post by **Bartman4800** » Mon 22 Oct, 2018 5:50 pm

Exciting times!

Give us a picture on those HT leads you bought when installed...

Bart

Post by **CraigB** » Mon 22 Oct, 2018 8:23 pm

I just spotted something that I hope i am wrong. Unless you had a special option its very unlikely your car has any leather for your leatherique. The good news is that it is most likely 'MB tex' which is really much better than leather that it looks good forever. I am sure someone with much less superior leather in a W126 or something will buy the stuff off you! If you take a picture of your seats we can soon confirm. A common misconception and you see it all the time in adverts claiming the car is leather.

I am interested in Barts ideas on the leads, being an engineer and all that. Over the years there have been lots of comments about using the right leads (bosch or beru) that have specific resistance in them and then non-resistor plugs. I think leads like yours have been looked down on generally but personally I'm not convinced. Especially if you have aftermarket electronic ignition. My vested interest is that the 450 that is now parked in my driveway, but on the standard ignition for that car (electronic though), has a nice new set of aftermarket leads on it. I'm wondering if without that resistance in the leads should i run resistor plugs. I'm guessing you would have fitted the factory ignition recommended plugs - bp6es? Would they be better to be resistor plugs with those leads? Also a recent post by John Green (with standard ignition systems) he was stating that they have been running bp5es and having less fouling of plugs. I should probably ask these questions in a new thread...... but now i must eat!

Post by **matthewz108** » Mon 22 Oct, 2018 8:44 pm

Not sure about the plugs and leads, but as far as I've been schooled, don't use leather conditioner on mb tex. Just mild detergent and a soft cloth, and no micro fibre cloths either as it affects the surface... but yes, ned to confirm its actually mb tex first.

Post by **CraigB** » Mon 22 Oct, 2018 8:57 pm

Pretty much everything is MB tex from that era except for the W109's as a general rule, but anything is possible. And MB tex is vinyl, so yep no point in rubbing leather conditioner into vinyl.

Post by **Scottyx** » Tue 23 Oct, 2018 4:12 am

Well good news I don’t need to waste a heap of time and product “cleaning” my MB tex.
Bad news is I will probably have to spend a heap of time cleaning the leather lounge.

Post by **Scottyx** » Tue 23 Oct, 2018 4:16 am

I got BP6ES plugs and a close up off the HT lead ends.

Post by **Scottyx** » Tue 23 Oct, 2018 4:40 am

A quick go at the boot with the 3 step polish. I’ve done the right hand side but sure it shows up in the photo

Post by **matthewz108** » Tue 23 Oct, 2018 9:18 am

Love the Mothers 3 step polish... everyone has their own opinions, but once you finish with the Carnauba wax, it's a great feeling (until you leave your toddler on the bonnet of your newly waxed daily driver, turn around to grab your phone to take a pic and the toddler's on the garage floor...)...

Will be interesting to see how the electrical system goes.

Post by **CraigB** » Tue 23 Oct, 2018 9:43 am

Looks good and so will your lounge once done with the leatherique!

I will do another post to raise discussion on the leads. When people have asked on a standard car, the usual response (not just here but Benzworld in US etc) is to use the correct leads that will have a precise resistance in the lead and usually come with metal ends, and then to use a non-resister plug like you have (ie. no 'r' in the number) and there was a time they were hard to get and Bosch have completely dropped their non-resistor plug range. No doubt there is a BPR6ES or something like that. But i have never been clear exactly why all that is important. All my other cars have the correct leads but I am just going to turnover this 450 and reluctant to change the new leads that are on it but I also want it to run right and not create problems for the next owner. You have the other complication that you are putting in a new electronic system and might be even less important to have original leads.

Post by **Scottyx** » Tue 23 Oct, 2018 9:10 pm

I had a little spare time and put in the new dizzy. Quite quick and easy with clear instructions so not too bad.

It took a little fiddling to find a 27mm socket to fit the crankshaft pulley bolt and then to look up the timing (I think 2 deg BTDC)

I left the ballast resistor in play for now as I couldn't find where I thought I read to remove it.

New plugs with a bit of anti seize on the threads and then the new leads. They seem to fit nicely to the dizzy cap with a good "click" as they go in and while the boot on the plug end is a nice fit I may need to tighten up the metal end where it goes onto the plug.

OK all good time to kick her in the guts. Mate that doesn't sound right and that's not running right. Well I was pretty sure I got the dizzy fitted and timed correctly following the instructions and I know the leads are in the right order, I not an idiot, it's written on the rocker cover right in front of me...... oh hang on a minute I'm an idiot I mixed up #4 and #6 which I bet I'm one of the only people to make that mistake as they aren't even in firing order next to each other.

Anyway an easy fix and it fired right up and ran smoothly. No time for photo or test drive, but if I get a chance tomorrow I will do both.

Post by **Scottyx** » Wed 24 Oct, 2018 7:20 am

Mathew

Whoops for the toddler accident, hopefully he/she doesn’t remember when they get older and hopefully they weren’t hurt.

My toddler just turned 18 a couple of days ago and we went out for a celebration. During the night we talked about all the times I put her in dangerous situations or accidental hurt her. As it turns out it was quite a lot of times and she laughs about it now.

Post by **Bartman4800** » Wed 24 Oct, 2018 10:47 am

Scottyx wrote: ↑Tue 23 Oct, 2018 9:10 pm I had a little spare time and put in the new dizzy. Quite quick and easy with clear instructions so not too bad.

It took a little fiddling to find a 27mm socket to fit the crankshaft pulley bolt and then to look up the timing (I think 2 deg BTDC)

I left the ballast resistor in play for now as I couldn't find where I thought I read to remove it.

New plugs with a bit of anti seize on the threads and then the new leads. They seem to fit nicely to the dizzy cap with a good "click" as they go in and while the boot on the plug end is a nice fit I may need to tighten up the metal end where it goes onto the plug.

OK all good time to kick her in the guts. Mate that doesn't sound right and that's not running right. Well I was pretty sure I got the dizzy fitted and timed correctly following the instructions and I know the leads are in the right order, I not an idiot, it's written on the rocker cover right in front of me...... oh hang on a minute I'm an idiot I mixed up #4 and #6 which I bet I'm one of the only people to make that mistake as they aren't even in firing order next to each other.

Anyway an easy fix and it fired right up and ran smoothly. No time for photo or test drive, but if I get a chance tomorrow I will do both.

I am the one who told you to remove the ballast resistance Scott. I asked 123 ignition in the Netherlands (who designed it) and they specifically stated to remove it. The ballast resistance is to protect the coil with the original points ignition and compensate for the voltage drop caused by the starter motor.

As for the timing, I am pretty sure the idle advance is 8 degrees BTDC, with vacuum blocked.

Bart

Post by **Scottyx** » Wed 24 Oct, 2018 1:03 pm

G’day Bart

That’s great thanks, and now it’s coming back to me. It’s also no wonder I couldn’t find where I never read it.

I’ll sort out bypassing the ballast resistor and I also need to work out which advance curve to set the distributor on. I’ve gone for position #8 at the moment.

I guess I will look into what the timing should be set at. I do remember reading 8 BTDC but I thought that was for injected engines. There is a white paint mark around the 2 degree point, but silly me didn’t check it with a timing light before I pulled the old dizzy out.

Post by **Bartman4800** » Wed 24 Oct, 2018 4:04 pm

A great video about ignition and vacuum advance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzY74ckp1Xo

Bart

Post by **Scottyx** » Sat 27 Oct, 2018 10:57 am

I’ve been a bit busy with work and haven’t had a proper test with the new dizzy.

I did an oil change last night and set the timing to the painted white mark which is about 2 BTDC hooked up the vacuum advance and assumed it would be good to go. I had a few beers so couldn’t test drive last night.

My test drive today was a 3ish hour drive up to Bathurst and the miss fire under load (going up hill) is still there. Bart told me from the beginning it was probably carbs, but I couldn’t help hoping the new dizzy would make it better.

I have been manually shifting down a gear to get up the hills and I’m not looking forward to Mt Vic hill on the way home.

So now I have to decide if I try sort out these carbs or go for the bolt on Holly option. I like the idea of brand new carbs or do you think this spluttering up hills is an easy thing to sort.

Cheers
Scott

Post by **Scottyx** » Sat 27 Oct, 2018 11:38 am

I’ve set the timing to around 8 BTDC for the trip home.

It brought the idle speed back up to how it sounded with the old dizzy.

Fingers crossed for the 3 hr test home.

Stupid kids sport so far away.

Post by **Scottyx** » Sun 28 Oct, 2018 7:56 am

I only went about 2km and set the timing back to the white paint mark. The car wouldn't get to 100km/hr.

We made it home, but it was touch and go getting up the hill at Mt. Victoria

I ran a bottle of fuel injection cleaner when there was half a tank of fuel left hoping to make a difference but I don't think it did.

I did test the low fuel light it came on about 2 streets from home so at least I know that works.

I was just searching and found a dual Webber carb set up on ebay USA. I'm very temped by this as I don't know if I can be bothered right now fiddling with the Zenith carbys.

Any thoughts on this Webber set up?

Thanks for your time
Scott

Post by **merc-304** » Sun 28 Oct, 2018 10:54 am

Scott ..put Weber carby into search function

And Mr John Green says steer clear of the Holleys..

Post by **Scottyx** » Sun 28 Oct, 2018 12:59 pm

Nice one mate, thank you

Post by **Scottyx** » Sun 28 Oct, 2018 5:43 pm

I just went and filled up. The car used about 18.6L per 100km by my calculations on the trip up to Bathurst and back.

It took 70.5L to fill the tank and I had 234 Miles on the clock.

Post by **CraigB** » Mon 29 Oct, 2018 12:38 am

Having been on a decent run, have you pulled the plugs to look at colour and see if that gives you any hints that say one carb working different to the other.

And have you found this thread yet- viewtopic.php?f=25&t=16274&p=174711&hilit=weber#p174711

Personally I would be tempted to strip the carbs, clean, check for warpage etc - I am one of those rare people that has had a good run with the Zeniths. But obviously new carbs are always going to be spot on and if you value your time messing with it or paying others, often the new carbs end up being cheapest.

Also back to basics, have you checked the compression on each cylinder? That's more of an even running thing and yours is more having troubles with power. I will look for the timing too out of my manual but its in the shed and its late.