"SBA Thanks You For All The Fish" (santabarbarianlsx)
04/04/2020 at 22:24 • Filed to: None
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"SBA Thanks You For All The Fish" (santabarbarianlsx)
04/04/2020 at 22:24 • Filed to: None | 4
| 12 |
The 450SL purrs up through Arizona’s Virgin River Canyon, that Benz V8 humming smoothly. It’s a Spa Weekend in Deer Valley, Lauren Hutton awaits by the hot tub— cool drinks only a call to Room Service away. Living large in 1980 never felt so decadent.
Beefchips
> SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
04/04/2020 at 22:55 |
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Gorgeous! Wish that driver was me. It’s raining where I’m at.
So!
I’m thinking about buying an old SL
. How is it? Classy, obviously... Powerful? Comfy? Any pitfalls
to look out for in the used market?
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SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
> Beefchips
04/04/2020 at 23:08 |
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Mine’s a 1975. The metallic blue color was gorgeous from new— I’m looking for ways to rejuvenate it without a respray. The leather, if cared for, is amazingly resilient. OTOH, it’s hard to find one where the dashboard isn’t all cracked.
I believe the 450SL/SLC in that era (if US based) were the M117 engine— compression was an absurd-low 8.0 to 1. But, bulletproof. Power was never great 180-190 HP, but they do purr along.
The pieces you feel were still Golden Age Benz stuff- all metal switchgear and surfaces. The interior feels timeless, if a bit dated.
Mine is on lowered springs, so “feels” planted. The steering is recirc ball and VERY slow, very numb. It’s a GT-Cruiser, not a sports car. They built that same design for DECADES though— the M117 was solid, built for well over 20 years.
California cars seldom are rusty, but I assume you have to be careful if you are looking at one from back east. Well sorted cars bring good money-- Mine’s a little needy ( I had to do the brakes from scratch and I think I have a leak on one of the head gaskets) but I only paid a little over $2000. It’s a keeper and a fun, if slow, little car. Those lines are SO clean.
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Beefchips
> SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
04/04/2020 at 23:15 |
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Clean lines indeed! 2k seems like a steal. I’m torn between that and maybe an xjs V12. T hough I hear those have a habit of catching fire.
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SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
> Beefchips
04/04/2020 at 23:26 |
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Oh, man that XJS is a gorgeous car. And, like all true classics, it COULD break your heart with that V12. But, even stationary, it’s a looker.
In terms of “cost to keep one on the road” I still lean to the Benz. I’m shocked at how “available and affordable” NOS, OEM and aftermarket parts are for all these cars. We’re just getting ready to do a full brake job on my son’s W126 and I think all new ATE and Bosch parts will still be under $200.
winterlegacy, here 'till the end
> SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
04/04/2020 at 23:36 |
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Man, I love R107s... I saw one in sky blue that was in immaculate condition that had the quad round headlights, and I had to stop and gaze at it in awe.
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SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
> winterlegacy, here 'till the end
04/05/2020 at 00:49 |
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fintail
> SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
04/05/2020 at 01:26 |
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Something about blue MB dash pads and cracking. I see it all the way up to 126/124 and I think even 140s. Blue seems to be the worst, my fintail is the same way, I suspect some of those little cracks have been there for a long time.
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SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
> fintail
04/05/2020 at 01:45 |
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It’s funny— I looked at a bunch of 107s before buying mine (which candidly needs work)... all over SoCal from SLO to San Diego. And they pretty uniformly had cracked dash pads— but also generally had one of those hard plastic “snap over the top” dash covers to conceal the cracks.
Whoever paid the plastic mold tooling charge to make those must have gotten his money back. ALL the California 107s have that cover snapped on. It looks pretty good-- took me a few times to figure out it was an after-market piece.
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fintail
> SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
04/05/2020 at 01:58 |
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Even here in the not always sunny PNW they crack. I think temperature changes do it. I remember one in my fintail popped up when it sat out in the sun on a cold day - subfreezing in the morning, then the car warmed inside during the afternoon under clear skies, boom, a new crack, Fortunately, all but one of mine are out of the line of sight. I’ve seen those covers for fintails too, but probably out of production 40 years ago. A NOS one would be unobtanium, and I understand it is a pain in the butt to replace.
I have a friend with a 300CD, blue interior, perfect original dashpad. He gets a little protective about it.
It seems to be much worse on blue interiors - I frequently see fintails with other colors and no cracks, even on neglected cars.
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winterlegacy, here 'till the end
> SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
04/05/2020 at 10:46 |
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Yessss. It was just a convertible model instead of a hard top.
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SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
> winterlegacy, here 'till the end
04/05/2020 at 11:59 |
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That’s the color of my 107. My paint’s in much worse shape.... I forget what the color number on the tag decoded to.
davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
04/06/2020 at 17:33 |
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Beautiful photo.