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3 little (w114) Piggies m130

20K views 96 replies 10 participants last post by  Fonzi 
#1 · (Edited)
Which one gets killed by the big bad wolf, and which two get saved?


--------------------------------
White Sedan:

floors:
http://youtu.be/q_n9bm8-t_E

walk around:
http://youtu.be/9R0W6T44UmQ

--- Pros: runs well. Rust repairs look easy for a noob, all just flat sheet metal I think, probably no panels need to order. I like looks of the sedan body style. Title in hand. floors solid. I have worked through some issues with this car and got it running pretty well, and am well on way to "sorting" the car.

--- Cons: just a sedan, and lower perceived value than the coupes. Trunk almost all rotted out (but hardwood floor could cover welding sins). Rockers rotted. White paint kind of sucks and shows all flaws including the peeling clearcoat from bad paint job. Front seats all ripped except passenger back/top. Back of headliner shrunk and is pulling away from back window. Rotted muffler. Can't ever make a convertible from a sedan.
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Luxury vehicle Classic car

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Classic car Sedan

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Car seat cover Family car

^^^ 114.011.12.002569
- rot in both rockers
- rotted out trunk
- cracked dash
- huge rips in driver seat
- rear of headliner falling down


------------------------------------



Black Coupe:


--- Pros: restored in 90's (by seller), single owner car from 1972-2001 and then stored by son-in-law since. Son-in-law stored car since 2001, garaged until 2013. sunroof, leather interior w no rips, crack free dash, stainless muffler, very solid trunk.

--- Cons: title is going to cost me $150 plus any fees the seller has to pay to get duplicate title for deceased father-in-law if I can even get the title. Not currently running due to rotted trans cooler lines. Rot in rockers and some in floors too.
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Mercedes-benz w111 Mercedes-benz w108

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Luxury vehicle Coupé

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sedan Classic car

^^^ 114.023.12.008xxx
- white leather interior (starting to smell like mold)
- sunroof
- rot around driver rocker front and rear plus around rear driver wheel
- good dash
- small dent above rear windshield
- paint looks pretty nice in my opinion
- original owner --> 2002. I bought from son-in-law who restored the car in the 90's and stored it since 2002.
- title might be a problem. I'm working on it.
- needs tank cleaning. Not currently running on its own.
- stainless exhaust

---------------------------------------


Blue Coupe:


--- Pros: Chrome tunnel/Floor shifter. Interior better than sedan. Rockers solid. Lots of new parts from "recent" mechanical work. Trunk floor pretty solid, but one section of previous welded in panel. Good muffler. Engine runs with fuel in carbs and supposedly sounds good. Could be made into a convertible some day.

--- Cons: rear end body damage including rear bumper and trunk lid that isn locking. big rot in driver side floor, kind of molested with non stock radio, blow-by hoses disconnected for some reason, aftermarket (?) cruise control. Rust spots on hood. Going to cost me another $100 for the title. Ripped front passenger seat bottom. Not currently running because I haven't tried to make it run
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Classic car Luxury vehicle

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Luxury vehicle Grille

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Classic car Luxury vehicle

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Steering wheel Center console

^^^114.023.12.000169
- floor shifter
- floor rot
- Rear end damage
- Cracked dash
- needs tank cleaning. Not currently running on its own.
- good exhaust and many "new" parts.

-------------------------------------


Trying to get together my plan. I need to learn how to use my welding equipment.









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#4 ·
He better have a big appetite. Maybe he could make elephant stew. Cube the elephant,season it well with some Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, add some potatoes and carrots, and two rabbits. Cook it low and slow for about 4 hours. Delicious. The rabbits are optional, because not everyone likes hare in their stew. :D
 
#5 ·
Fonzi, you can pick these things up rust free, all day long in the southwest, unless you are a welding wizard, the cost to repair must be fairly close to buying and transporting, a rust free example, back to the east coast.
Just my 2 cents worth.

Just give it some thought before you take the plunge and order rust repair panels.
I had a Euro 200 /8. It was my Grandfathers car, looked great but it sure was a rust bucket underneath.

Here is one local ad;
1972 Mercedes-Benz 250C
 
#6 · (Edited)
No arguments on that point.
However, my goal is to learn to weld, not necessary to make a car of great value.

Because I figured I could learn to weld on it (before touching my 280slc for which I've acquired all the panels I need), I bought the 1971 250 sedan for $600 with an extra set of wheels. Transporting it home ran me another $150. $750 total. It now runs well, with the exception of the accelerator pumps. Smash the gas when you want to go, and the car takes off like a nice little rocket. I sold the wheels and extra wheel parts for a total of $550. Net in vestment in the sedan: $200 (plus spark plugs and as set of points).

Each of the coupes was $500, and I brought them both home for about 3/5 tank of gas and a $70 trailer rental, about $115 plus my time. So:

$200 for white sedan (including gas and trailer rental)
$1150 for two coupes (including gas and trailer rental)
$1350 total net investment. I am fairly confident I can part out one of these and come close to getting all my money back (or at least help some friends who need parts) and have two cars I can learn to weld on.

That $2200 CL ad car looks a little beat up. It looks like they could use some parts from one of my cars. :)

Edit: to be honest, I still have to pay more for the two coupes to get their titles: $100 for blue and $150+dup title fees for black car (if we can even do it).
 
#9 · (Edited)
The trunk damage is really the biggest thing stopping me from restoring that one. The dash is a little cracked up, and the top in the passenger seat bottom. But I think it's a real decision between the blue coupe and the sedan. One must become a parts car.

(Edit: Videos moved to post #1)

Just comparing the videos, it looks like the sedan will be much easier to bring back, and all the welding/body work I think I need to do on that sedan isn't in any high profile areas.
 
#10 ·
Beautiful collection there. Two w114 coupes is awesome in any condition. I taught myself how to weld on the w114 coupe. Great car for that especially with what you have, does not seem that bad at all.

With the mold though, you might have to strip the seats completely to dry them out and treat them, which is actually not that bad of a job.

Great vehicles regardless
 
#11 ·
Beautiful collection there. Two w114 coupes is awesome in any condition. I taught myself how to weld on the w114 coupe. Great car for that especially with what you have, does not seem that bad at all.



With the mold though, you might have to strip the seats completely to dry them out and treat them, which is actually not that bad of a job.



Great vehicles regardless

Thanks for the comments from a guy that knows.

Apparently it's going to cost me about another $300 to get the titles for these cars. The blue title will cost me $100, but I'm not sure I should bring that one back. However, it might come in handy, so I guess I should just pay up and get it. The the seller asked for $650 for the last time around, and I never haggle at these prices, but I did want to leave some incentive for these sellers to get the titles to me. So $600 for the blue and $650 for the black were the asking prices, and I dragged the vehicles home with Bills of Sale for $500 each. That seems to be the magic number for these low cost w114 cars. The white one was $500 for the car, and an extra $100 for the chrome 5x4.5/4.75/5 wire wheels that I was able to sell for $550 including selling off the extra wheel parts (net $50 for car plus trailering costs).

So I've driven a w114 sedan with a bad accelerator pump, but I have yet to drive the coupes, as I haven't even made an effort to turn the engines.

Dr. Eurocar's love for the w114 coupe has me wondering if I will feel like I'm cooler when I am driving a funky old coupe. So I'm starting to think that rather than fixing body work, I should clean out the fuel tanks and get the coupes mobile again.

Which first? Well, the black one is parked in front. I guess cleaning that tank, and putting trans cooler lines and some usable hoses on the car will be step one.

Any suggestions on whether I should make the car run before wasting money on fluids? Perhaps some compression tests first?

Hmm... Gotta get working on these.




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#17 ·
#19 ·
I took a bunch of videos of the two coupes this morning. Here they are:




Black 1972 250c:

Passenger side of interior, patch in front floor and acorns under seat:




Passenger door panel and back seat w leather rips:


Surface rust all around on floors:


Pull up back seat, steering wheel, odometer, general look around interior from passenger side:


Dumb attempt to open sunroof. Dumb attempt to crank motor:


Engine Bay:


Blue 250c animal urine in trunk:


See end of last video under blue 250c for stainless muffler on this black car.


Blue 250c:

Interior and walk around back:


Interior inspection. What's here?


What's up with the odometer? Love that shift knob and shifter plate. Small rips in driver seats. Aftermarket cruise control:


Junk Video:


Attempt to crank motor.


Rust in floor. What's the "oil line"? Fuel? Nice exhaust, and also stainless exhaust in black car:




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#22 ·
These

Alloy wheel Wheel Tire Rim Automotive tire

Alloy wheel Rim Wheel Auto part Spoke


And these:

Alloy wheel Tire Rim Spoke Wheel


Are all still in my garage and wouldn't be too shabby in my opinion.

If 8x16 et11 on all four corners is too wide up front, I've got both the Fondmetal (on my convertible) and some 7" BBS RA to go with the black ones.

Unfortunately, those wire wheels were junk. They weighed 40lbs each, and had rust on them. Good riddens. :) I do still have one center cap I have not yet been able to dump. It's a cool paperweight. Helmet Metal Turquoise Fashion accessory Glass










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#27 ·
That black coupe looks great. As do those wheels - love them! Are they the ones you mention in your signature line? Are they Rial or BBS?

Cheers, Drew

Oh. I've got tons of wheels. Those are just the two sets I have that currently have black paint. The top ones are rial and the bottom ones are bbs RA.


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#30 · (Edited)
A few days ago I through I'd give a shot at starting the black 1972 after realizing that it cranked easily.



And after blowing those shells out of there, I sprayed some starting fluid in there:



With just a lot if cranking on the starter, approximately a half quart or more of trans fluid dumped out below the radiator. That was surprising to me, but what the seller said would happen.
 
#32 ·
Yes. I noticed that one connection has nothing connected anymore. I didn't even bother to look at the other. Next step is to get the part numbers from the EPC for all the hoses and belts and see which I can just buy new inexpensively. If any are expensive, that's when I start looking at the other little piggies and start salivating.


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#33 ·
Son of a b.

I just drove by my mechanic' slot where he is letting me store these cars for free right now, and someone threw a golf ball sized rock at the windshield on the black coupe.

So does the sedan windshield match a coupe? Or did the blue coupe just get designated as the parts car?

Time to hit the EPC I guess.





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#35 ·
Any chance there are cameras on that part of the lot?

Not sure. Last time I was in there, they showed me their video of a car speeding down the street, running a red light almost killing someone, and then driving the wrong way down a one way street on the sidewalk. So they've got a security system. I doubt there's anything in that corner though as it is on the opposite side of the block from the garage. They own more than half of the city block including three of the corners, but this is the small isolated corner opposite the shop. So it is very unlikely.

On the bright side, one of these cars is a parts car, and I probably wasn't going to sell a windshield. So it's just going to be the cost of moving a windshield from whichever car gets the ax.

I never got to the EPC last night to check the part numbers for the windshields (or rear end clips).




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#36 ·
No cameras at the shop if this location, but they said that other local businesses may have video.

Automotive exterior Grille Vehicle Bumper Hood


Water Reflection Glass Line Rain


Fuel Tank cleaning and these trans cooler hoses are the only reasons I know that I can't try to get this car running and mobile. I guess I better get that done ASAP, plus get a cover and tarp over the cars.

Animals.

I hope I can get a windshield for cheap, whether from a parts car of mine or elsewhere.



Auto part Exhaust system Automotive exhaust Pipe Fuel line



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#37 ·
Damn. windshield part numbers differ:
Coupes: 115 671 05 10
Sedan: 115 671 01 10

I am guessing this is not an interchange part.

Anyone parting a w114 coupe near philly? Thought I'd check before deciding to make the blue coupe a parts car.




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#38 · (Edited)
And the sheet metal for the tail, the vertical piece from tail light to tail light is part:
115 640 02 71 for blue coupe (not black) but replaced by 115 640 04 71

The same goes for the sedan. So the irony is that now that I know I can use the sheet metal from the rear of the white coupe to save the blue one, now I need a coupe windshield to save the black coupe.

Transport Drawing Sketch Automotive design Vehicle


Edit:
The blue coupe trunk lid looks like it could probably be straightened, but the trunk lids are different:

Coupe:
115.750.01.75 replaced by
115.750.07.75

Sedan:
115.750.00.75 replaced by
115.750.06.75
 
#39 ·
Today I drove my sedan to the same storage lot at the coupes and wrapped them up in car covers and tarps. I should have done that in the first place and maybe I wouldn't have this windshield issue. Life goes on.

Speaking of which, while wrapping up the cars, since my car covers and tarps don't have a pocket for the good star like the one I have on my sedan, and I see that the hood star is already off the black coupe, I thought I'd try to remove the hood star from the blue coupe. Damn. I broke the little bit of metal that attaches to the hook. I don't know if I will be able to fix that, but I guess I've got a few parts cars. Things definitely seem to be heading in the totally wrong direction with these cars. Three parts cars??? At least I haven't ruined anything on the sedan yet and it is driving well. After I get the coupes both running I will make a better informed decision about which needs to be parted out.

I got a few leads on some windshields in case the blue coupe is worth saving. So it gets a temporary stay of reprieve from the executioner.

Having the three w114 "off-site", I may consider shifting my work focus back to the 107s and maybe selling off some parts instead of working on these. They can probably handle a bit more time sitting, as they are now well covered from the elements, and my storage is free... for now.










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#40 ·
I promised to compare SL windshields to w114 coupe windshields to determine if an SL windshield and frame could be used in place of a w114 coupe windshield (in the way it was done on my 450slc 5.0 custom convertible). I have my done it yet, but I did have my sedan finally in the garage next to the convertible, and I can confidently say, just by looking at the two side-by-side, that it isn't going to happen. The SL/SLC is much more curved than the w115 sedan. The cowl vents and more would need to also come if there was any possible way to make this happen.

It ain't happenin'

:-(

I know that there are some nice conversions possible, but knowing that the windshield section would not be as pretty as I had hoped, I may decide to can the idea of converting one if these to a convertible. That allows me to make the blue car a parts car if I want too, as the goal of that one would have been to make a convertible. Sadly, aside from the rear end damage, that car might be the best maintained of them all. It appears to be all stock with the exception of the added cruise control.

Sunroof and leather on the black coupe seems to make it the one to restore. Damn those kids throwing rocks at windshields. Grrr.







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#41 ·
Oh. One other thing. The anodized aluminum trim on the white sedan looks horrible and doesn't just clean right up. Painting it the same color as the car sounds more appealing than putting in all the work to strip off the anodization.



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