A very thorough restoration / preservation has been completed with a special eye given to its originality by not replacing parts with incorrect or non-German parts.
This 240D was made during the first year of the W123 chassis.
I bought this car last year from the owner near San Francisco, California. He had owned it for 29 years, and stopped driving it in 1994.
I pulled the car apart in order to restore it, and spent many, many hours repairing and restoring quite a bit- much more than a 240D would be worth, but I wanted to build this special car for myself since it was a great color combination and rare stick shift and the first year of production. Sadly it must go in order to repair my expired VW engine.
It was a great car to start with since it was nearly all original paint, this way I would know that there was no rust or accidents hiding underneath a re-paint.
I stripped and removed the trim, bumpers, rubber, lights, grille, door handles, door seals, interior panels, trim, etc in order to do a thorough paint job.
I will try to describe the car as best I can but you are welcome to send me any questions, and should.
EXTERIOR
I stripped the car down and repainted it the original, Mercedes 922G Pastel Blue color. Cost of paint jobs can vary wildly depending on the shop, but I spend $3000 after I helped prep and block the body before paint. I also color sanded and polished the paint before re-assembling. I took each piece of belt moulding and cleaned then dyed the black portions. I would replace, with original German trim, the pieces which either had dents or were bent.
Replaced the grill insert and aluminum strips with German replacements. A new 123 hood star was installed too. The plastic headlight doors are original and dated 77. I polished the plastic in order to bring as much clarity to the plastic. In order to be of the same caliber as the rest of the car, I would recommend replacing them with good German new ones. I did not because I wanted them to be the original ones to the car which is unusual since they get broken and replaced often. This helps to highlight the originality of the car.
There are a handful of signs to look for with these W123 cars which will reveal if they are truly low mile/garaged/ well kept. One of the most common problems with these W123 cars is the anodized aluminum trim surrounding the doors. The clear anodizing turns milky white when its been exposed to the sun/ UV for any length of time. This is one specific way you can tell if a car has been covered or garaged. All this trim on my 240D is still bright. It is nearly impossible to replace since its not available and becomes damaged when removing it.
This 240D has all the aluminum trim is very nice, clear and bright condition, something you can not restore.
I removed the door handles and cleaned and serviced them so they operate smoothly. I also dyed the plastic handle parts black again. I also removed the air intake grilles below the windshield, restored them then sanded and painted the wiper arms and wiper bases satin black to look new.
I AM PROUD TO WRITE THAT ONE KEY FITS ALL THE LOCKS, THAT IN ITSELF IS SEXY.
I replaced the windshield and windshield rubber with a factory seal from the Mercedes Dealer. I polished the aluminum trim around the windshield before re-installing it.
All the rubber pieces around the bumpers are in excellent condition with NO cracking or discoloration.
The chrome on the front and rear bumper is also excellent with no blemishes. The rubber impact strip on the rear bumper has some scratches so I found a better one which I will install before the end of the auction. I wanted to get the photos and auction up right away.
I removed the old tires, then clean and sanded the original 1977 date coded- matching rims, then painted them the semi-gloss black. There are new Hankook white wall tires with 20 miles on them. I had the wheels balanced and had the weights only placed on the inside of the rims so as to not clutter the look of the outside of the rim with the hubcap. I also had to find hubcaps one at a time since the original hubcaps were scratched around the perimeter. This is no easy feat, trying to find un-damaged Merecedes hubcaps! I polished and buffed each cap then had the paint shop repaint the blue centers with the Mercedes factory tool, so you will see NO crooked tape lines- just a perfect painted center as they came from the factory- $200 later. I will include the best of the original hub caps as a spare.
I removed both the 240D and Diesel emblems, buffed them on my polishing wheel then re-painted the thin black line below the lettering before re-installing them. These are the sort of details often overlooked, since it takes extra patience and time.
I removed the original 1977 dated tail lights and plastic-polished each lens and they look spectacular, with no sun cracks or damage- another sign of an indoor car.
INTERIOR
The interior overall, is in excellent condition.
I removed the original navy blue, loop carpeting, hand brush-cleaned it, then re-installed all of it.
All of the door panels are in excellent condition with no rips or blemishes and the chrome is excellent. I installed a vacu-formed dash cap which I dyed the correct blue to match. Both front seats are the pre-1979 basket weave and heat-stamped originals, but the driver's seat has a long 6 inch tear in the lumbar section of the back rest.
The seat backs are in excellent condition with both nets in perfect condition. These are often broken or rotted.
The car comes with a full set of matching blue and black coco mats in excellent condition.
The original 1977 headliner is in remarkable shape with no rips, dis-colorations or sags.
The original back seat had been attacked by a rat some years ago and therefore has multiple holes both in the top and bottom sections. I found, cleaned up and repaired the stitching of a VERY RARE European back seat with optional head rests. I did this because the original seat, which comes with the car, is in my opinion, not good enough to leave in the car. There is a company which makes the matching original seat covers for both seats should you want to take out the Euro seat I installed, in favor of keeping it all original.
The rear shelf area below the back window is in superb condition with no fading to the original carpet and I re-dyed the first aid kit box which has the original German first aid kit installed!
All the wood is in excellent shape with no dis-colorations or de-limitation, which is so common in these cars.
The glove box latches as it should, another frequently broken part on these cars.
The center console is also in fine shape as well as the original stick shift only numbered knob. The stick shift boot is not original Mercedes and does not fit.
The AM/FM stereo works well.
The steering wheel is in excellent condition with the rubber around the wheel still fitting tightly. These wheels are notorious for having the rubber come loose and slip- not on this wheel, nope.
TRUNK
The trunk and all its contents are in immaculate condition.
I removed both left and right trunk liners and fully restored them as well as the spare tire access board. These boards are almost ALWAYS warped or cracked. This one is in perfect, like-new condition.
The spare rim is the original one to the car and the Mercedes jack as well.
This 240D comes with its original tool kit with all the correct tools, all in like-new condition.
Some of the early 240D cars came with the grey rubber mat in the trunk instead of the grey carpet. These rubber mats often go missing or simply get stained or ripped apart since they are somewhat fragile. This trunk mat is further indication of a low-use 240D.
The original Hirschmann German antenna had a broken mast so I replaced it with a similar, non-electric antenna. I have included the original Hirschmann antenna should you want to have it repaired and re-installed if total originality is your goal. The original non-electric antennas are very difficult to find.
A new trunk seal was installed as well.
You can put your whitest of linens in the trunk without any fear of having them soiled- thats true.
ENGINE/MECHANICALS
The engine has just 166K miles on the original engine.
I removed many parts on the engine in order to either re-build them or to restore them, but not before steam cleaning and degreasing it first to find any leaks to address. This may be one of the few Diesel Mercedes which does not leak oil in your driveway. If you have owned one, then you will know precisely what I mean. There has been quite a bit of detailing I put into this engine compartment, since these early Diesels often get painted and cleaned up, but the engine/drivetrain is frequently overlooked.
I did not paint the engine compartment since it simply needed a deep cleaning and polishing. All of the often missing, or painted over, decals can still be seen, including the ones on the fan shroud housing.
The 4 speed manual transmission works well and had the slave cylinder serviced and lines replaced. The gears shift without any buzzing between gears. Please understand that these 240D stick shift cars are not very fast at all but are quicker than the automatic 240Ds.
Compression is good on all 4 cylinders and there is no significant blow by either.
Re-sealed the vacuum pump, replaced the main vacuum line to the brake booster. The brakes work well ( good vacuum and not spongy ) and have plenty of life on the shoes.
Flushed the radiator and replaced the thermostat. These manual transmission cars run much cooler than the automatic cars and this car does as well.
Removed and restored the correct original air cleaner in correct semi-gloss black. Replaced the rubber air cleaner mounts, and the correct Mann German air filter.
The injectors were replaced as well as the glow plugs.
Power steering pump was re-sealed and the steering box has been tighten and adjusted so that there is no slop in the steering.
I replaced the differential with a later one so as to have taller final drive which adds a higher top end speed with less rpms.
I also replaced both rear axles with rebuilt German ones.
As hard to believe as this is, the muffler says Mercedes Benz and dated 1977! It is not rotted out or rusted, worth hanging up on my garage wall.
ANOTHER PROUD FACT:
I replaced the idle cable and gear drive with a perfect working one, so that the knob on the dash still controls the idle as it was originally intended to do. These cables are so often not working and it is difficult to find a working original one that someone has not modified. This cable is fun to use. In the morning you can just turn the knob to the left to increase the idle until the engine is warmed up, then turn it down and head out. It is such a primitive function, but great when they work.
I polished all the original paint under the hood before installing a correct hood pad from the dealer. I also replace the rubber hood stoppers with Mercedes ones, then polished the bolts which hold them on.
LAST DETAILS
The car comes with the correct German owners manual, three duplicate keys, original tool kit and lug wrench, one spare original hub cap, the original back seat as well as the European one in the car, one original Calif blue plate ( the front one is missing), the original manual Hirschmann antenna and a 29 year old Certificate of Title.
You are welcome and encouraged to inspect the car before the end of the auction. It is located in San Fernando, Ca - @ 30 minutes north of Downtown Los Angeles.
Payment must be completed within 7 days of the close of the auction. I will store the car up to 10 days after the close of the auction- thats it. I will help with the loading of the car onto a carrier or you are welcome to drive it home.
I can also go over the car on the phone with you as well. Ask all the questions now. This description has been quite thorough and I am tired of writing now. Good luck, its a very nice 240D with a lot of work in it!
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Auto blog
Tue, 29 Jan 2013
With the redesigned 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class getting closer to production, the camera-wielding crew over at Autospies somehow managed to get inside of the car to snap some detailed spy shots. As the prototypes continue to shed camouflage, it would appear that Mercedes-Benz is getting closer to unveiling the car, and with the Geneva and New York auto shows coming up, it could be sooner rather than later.
From what we can see of this car's interior, the overall look of the S-Class' cabin isn't a ground-breaking departure from the current car, but it has been completely redesigned with more advanced technology. The styling is now even more upscale with larger swaths of wood, more shapely door panels (without the built-in armrest cubbies) and the concept-like two-spoke steering wheel. The highlight of this car though is probably the two massive digital screens with one being used for driver information and the other used for navigation, audio and infotainment systems. One other detail we noticed about this car is that it was equipped with the new 360-degree camera that debuted on the new GL-Class and will also be used on the 2014 E-Class. We also know that the next-gen S-Class will be getting the new cloud-based MBrace2 infotainment system.
As for the exterior design, it looks like the next S-Class will carry a similar profile as the current car, but we can see through the camouflage that the new styling will fit in better with current Mercedes-Benz products. Up front, the grille is much larger is flanked by aggressive LED-trimmed headlights, while the rear view of the car shows us the LED brake light now at the top of the rear window, a more pointed trunk opening and a more squared-off rear fascia with exhaust outlets pushed to the corners.
Tue, 05 Mar 2013
The recent history of AMG is turning out amped-up versions of Mercedes-Benz offerings that would hardly ever be mistaken for their sedate counterparts. Sure, you'd need to pay attention to pick a G-Class from the G63 AMG, but dual side-pipes are a quick giveaway. The Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG is not only a new era in Affalterbach's attention on smaller cars, it is probably also the most subtle transformation we can think of in the line-up.
Low and chunky enough in standard guise to make a sporting impression, the aesthetic makeover is confined to black trim around the lower rim of the hatch, black wheels with red brake calipers and a single, rectangular exhaust tip on either side of the diffuser. It's easier to make a positive ID inside, where the flat-bottomed steering wheel, red seatbelts and red-rimmed details say, "You know what I am..."
If the car is running, though, it won't take but a second. The 2.0-liter turbo spitting 360 horsepower and 332 pound-feet will grumble through a sport exhaust at idle, and bellow through the same on it's way to a 0-60 time of less than 4.5 seconds. And if you need something that looks a little harder - and you want those quad pipes - then the A45 AMG Edition 1 is the treasure you seek. There's a press release below for all the info you'll need until the hot hatch goes on sale in Germany later this year, and photos for the rest of us while we wait to find out if we'll get a chance to buy it.
Wed, 13 Mar 2013
Now Even Sharper Than The Razor's Edge
There have been five Black Series models since the Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG Black Series introduced itself to European audiences in 2006. Following that, the Black Series club has hosted appearances by the 2008 CLK63 AMG Black Series, the 2009 SL65 AMG Black Series and last year's 2013 C63 AMG Black Series. The sixth member of the group is one we would have thought already was a Black Series car in its standard guise. Right out of the box, the SLS AMG is loud, frenetic, cozy, boisterous and frightfully easy to oversteer. How much more Black did it need to get?
Quite a bit so, apparently. The SLS AMG Black Series has lost weight, gained power and been refitted with upgrades and aero bits from front to rear. If you liked the way it looked before, you'll probably be an even bigger fan of this one. If you thought it looked ungainly, well, this one should stay even further away from pageants. Regardless of where you come down this is the best SLS AMG variant we've driven.
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