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My 88 560 SEL GenII Euro project

3K views 22 replies 16 participants last post by  1mbzdoc 
#1 ·
I picked up this car a few weeks ago. It was imported into Vancouver BC about 10 years ago from Japan. As I specialize in W126 MB's it is right up my alley. Not a lot of history but came with a few service records from Canada. It's been lowered at some time with H&R springs but with cheapo shocks so some Bilsteins will be on my list. I pulled the interior, steam cleaned the carpets, re-dyed the seats, removed all door cards and serviced the window regulators along with the door straps. Cleaned and cleaned some more. It is amazing how dirty the inside of these or any car gets in 25 years. Fixed all kinds of little things along the way. You have to love the GenII euro bumpers. GenI are nice but the II's are really sleek and smooth.

Now onto the mechanical issues. With the help of members Bondavi and KRH I have identified that I have the Hi-powered Euro engine and all the goodies including factory Tri-Y's, external oil cooler and more. Car didn't seem like a 300hp car when I got it as it had rough idle, throttle surging/hesitation and not much zip. It did run ok but not right. Tracked down the main vacuum line to find a dried out rubber elbow that was cracked and basically fell apart when I attempted to re-install the vacuum line. So a quick and easy project will be to replace all the rubber connections along with the hard plastic tubing. I had a few bits laying around and corrected the most obvious issues. Runs great now. Smooth idle and goes really fast!

Rewired the aftermarket stereo and replaced bulbs in the instrument cluster. Just noticed the clock is erratic but that's easy fix as well. One of the biggest mistakes people make with aftermarket stereos is wiring the speakers out of phase. Years ago I created a special CD to verify speaker phase and it has come in handy ever since. When the speakers are out of phase the bass is thin, that is the first clue.

This car is titled as a 1989 but it is clear that it is an 88. Inside is pretty much complete except I have yet to dig into the rear sunshade. Car has 142,000 KM's which equates to 88k miles. HVAC blows cold and all functions are correct. All windows, sunroof and locks work so I think I got lucky.

As mentioned previously I plan on keeping this car so I'm leaving some mechanical stuff to attend to during the fall/ winter months and when more funds are available.

Here are a few photos. I plan on updating this thread as my mechanical adventures begin. And "Yes" I am aware the trunk badge is not installed at the correct height and I need some kool wheels. I will get there.
Thanks for reading,
Mike
 

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#3 ·
Glad it was an easy fix Mike after a flurry of emails and such a rare spec to lay your hands on over your way.
I have become a mad fan of the 560SEL since purchasing mine. Brilliant cars.
Perfect as a retro wedding car for family and friends
Your going to get great satisfaction having this one as a keeper and bringing it up to your high standards - enjoy the journey
 
#10 ·
I am comfortable with most MB cars from early 80's thru mid 90's. I have restored 3 w123's, 10+ w124's, 10+ w126's and 5 R129's.

MB cars from this era were built with outstanding quality materials which most can be "refreshed" rather than "replaced".

If you notice in most of my posts I do not usually show the before and after photos. My thought is the before is history and the after is now. The other benefit of my restorations is I have partnered with one of the best indie shops in the Seattle area and the owner has 35 years of MB only experience. He worked on these cars at the dealership when they were new. He as well has a passion to bring these cars back to their original glory.

Here are the before and after photos of the front seats of this 88 SEL.
 

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#11 ·
A nice start even before you got your hands on it, everything else is an improvement that you'll get sorted out. Absolutely a head turner there bigdaddy
 
#12 ·
As my plan with the outside is to paint the lower cladding and bumpers white the same color of the car I thought I would give some white wheels a shot. I had a set of chrome Lorinser LO's in the shed so I thought I would do a quick coating with Plasti-dip to see how they look. 2 cans of Plasti-dip were on sale at Pep Boys for $12 so what the heck. I have coated 2 wheels so far using 1 can. This product is very forgiving and hides blemishes quite well. If I like the look I will most likely strip and powder coat in the future. Here is a quick photo of a wheel. Thanks to all for the kind comments. Mike
 

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#16 ·
Looks great! Love Gen II euros. The boot lid badge is sitting a little high though.


When you say main vacuum line, to which were you referring?

Cheers.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Vacuum line - Not the large one that goes to the brake booster but the small skinny one that connects from the rear engine manifold and connects to the multiple pods that feed into the first firewall and then to the cabin. I also did a thorough lube of all the throttle linkage components. There was quite a bit of resistance which could be detected via the throttle pedal. That made a big difference as well. BTW: I already removed the badge from the boot. I'm kind of liking the de-badged look with the euro bumpers.
 
#19 ·
Finally got a little time to finish coating the LO's and bought some new tires. Next step is to go thru the suspension before I get the car aligned. Here are a couple quick phone pic's.
Mike
 

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#22 ·
Dropped my car off today to my trusted indie MB mechanic to inspect and correct a few items on my list.

1. Inspect all steering and suspension components as I just installed 4 new tires and want everything correct before having the car aligned.
2. Install motor mounts
3. Sort out the fuel delivery system as it lacks low end response and tends to surge/hesitate at certain positions of the throttle pedal
He will first set the duty cycle and go from there. Car recently had a new EHA installed by PO.
4. Install new shifter bushings. When the car is cool he can swap those out in about 20 minutes with his special tool and lift.
5. Transmission flared a couple times between 2-3 during full throttle so he will probably do a thorough trans service and replace K2 piston/spring as well.

Then she will be ready for a proper "road trip"

Mike

Here are a few recent pictures -
 

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#23 ·
nice looking car.:smile

As to the sec at the bottom what can you tell me about the supercharged engine?:devil
 
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