Ladies and Gentlemen,
I'm new to the Roadster board and am the new owner of a 1978 450SL with only 39,000 original miles. The car is a time machine, still has the service stickers in the door jamb, it's unmodified from new, but has been sitting for over a year and will need, by my estimate, around 100 hours of detailing to bring it up to show condition.
But before I go entering in Silver Star Preservation class, I thought I would ask a few questions around "re-booting" this car without risk of harm.
1) Draining the fuel tank. I'm planning to empty the tank to remove the old fuel and any condensed water. Is there a drain plug, or should it be siphoned out?
2) Replacing fuel filter-- I'm assuming this is gummed up from sitting, is there anything special to changing it, just a couple of banjo bolts in the axial dimension. I have a M-B original filter ready to install.
3) Motor. If it hasn't been turned over in more than a year, I think that just hitting the starter would be ill-advised. So my plan is to remove the plugs and squirt some Marvel Mystery Oil in there and turn the crank by hand. What size bolt on the crank pulley? What direction does it turn, clockwise or counterclockwise, facing the pulley?
And of course I will vacuum all those rodent droppings and seeds off the poor air cleaner.
4) I plan to change the air filter and power steering filter, change the brake fluid and bleed the brakes.
5) What about the fuel injection system? I'll be checking the hoses for any leaks or dry rot, of course the CIS system uses fuel pressure to operate. How should the cylinders be primed, do you depress the flapper to signal a larger airmass and cause the fuel distributor to go rich?
6) Electrical system all appears intact, prior owner fitted a group 48 battery which has fewer CCA than the original group 49. But we're not in zero degrees so I'm assuming that a 48 can turn the motor over when the time comes, and I will be using a 50A booster in addition.
THANKS in advance for any further advice or suggestions on bringing this car back from rest. . . any guidance appreciated from those who have BTDT.
I'm new to the Roadster board and am the new owner of a 1978 450SL with only 39,000 original miles. The car is a time machine, still has the service stickers in the door jamb, it's unmodified from new, but has been sitting for over a year and will need, by my estimate, around 100 hours of detailing to bring it up to show condition.
But before I go entering in Silver Star Preservation class, I thought I would ask a few questions around "re-booting" this car without risk of harm.
1) Draining the fuel tank. I'm planning to empty the tank to remove the old fuel and any condensed water. Is there a drain plug, or should it be siphoned out?
2) Replacing fuel filter-- I'm assuming this is gummed up from sitting, is there anything special to changing it, just a couple of banjo bolts in the axial dimension. I have a M-B original filter ready to install.
3) Motor. If it hasn't been turned over in more than a year, I think that just hitting the starter would be ill-advised. So my plan is to remove the plugs and squirt some Marvel Mystery Oil in there and turn the crank by hand. What size bolt on the crank pulley? What direction does it turn, clockwise or counterclockwise, facing the pulley?
And of course I will vacuum all those rodent droppings and seeds off the poor air cleaner.
4) I plan to change the air filter and power steering filter, change the brake fluid and bleed the brakes.
5) What about the fuel injection system? I'll be checking the hoses for any leaks or dry rot, of course the CIS system uses fuel pressure to operate. How should the cylinders be primed, do you depress the flapper to signal a larger airmass and cause the fuel distributor to go rich?
6) Electrical system all appears intact, prior owner fitted a group 48 battery which has fewer CCA than the original group 49. But we're not in zero degrees so I'm assuming that a 48 can turn the motor over when the time comes, and I will be using a 50A booster in addition.
THANKS in advance for any further advice or suggestions on bringing this car back from rest. . . any guidance appreciated from those who have BTDT.