Awaiting pick up .
After many months of reassembly and repair work the 280SE 4.5 ute was finally able to driven and delivered back to her owner for minor finish work
280SE Ute project
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Tag Archives: Mercedes W108 restoration
220SE Restoration pt.5
Drivers Side sill section at the Front .
this was hidden under patches and water was leaking in through holes causing more rust .
A closer veiw Showing patches hidden inside.
Drivers Footwell showing patches and rust holes.
This cut out and replaced with a new part…
The part is zinc coated to prevent rust occurring in the future .
Firewall Section above the sill.
The rusted parts were all removed and new steel welded in.
The drivers side outer sill has been fitted.
The Correct shape end caps are welded into place and the new steel painted with an etch primer.
The welded seams are coated with seam sealer prior to the next coat of primer .
- Body under protection applied
Passenger Side patches removed .
New Front end of chassis rail welded in .
220SE Restoration .pt 2
After Removing the Front bumpers , this tell tale was discovered, a spacer between the Chassis bumper mount and the bumper iron. Someone had done this to allow the front bumper to appear to sit evenly . A closer look under the car was necessary .
This picture shows a group of creases in the left front chassis leg
Because i intend to refinish the under side in the correct PVC undercoating I had begun to strip the bituminous underseal that had been applied in the past . This stuff causes rust rather than protect against it . The front of the left hand chassis leg is bent backwards with a large crease in it.
The Circles out line the easiest visible damage which had been covered with body filler to disguise it.
The Chassis leg will have to be replaced to repair the damage .
More damage and bad repairs have been discovered in the sill sections . where the remnants of one the jacking points has been discovered albeit with some bad patches and would have been too dangerous to use.
The sills on either side have been patched several times over the decades to hide rust, the one above was removed and discovered to have been held on with contact glue…..
The Circle indicates an area where the sill is 4 (four) layers thick of rusted metal and body filler with patches applied with contact adhesive.
Contact glue on the upper edger
patch looks to have been cut from the side of an old fridge .
Close up of one of the patches which looks to have been cut from the side of an old fridge.
The beginning…
Photos of 220a restoration. 
I bought this 200a in 2005 with the intention of restoring it …. many years later the body work is done and partially painted ,the doors still need some work and the bonnet and boot lid need a lot of work before painting . Engine gear box ,diff and brakes are done .new bumpers and various lights are there. As for the car it self, it was imported into Australia by MERBENZ ,Melbourne and came with a steel sliding sunroof. it was ordered with a special interior, Dark maroon leather with cloth headliner .
Mercedes Benz 280SE 3.5 ute
25/06/16 Well…. here is a problem that no one foresaw , the drivers side chassis rail is rusted clear through ….and wait ,there is more.:-(
Front ends of Sill boxes are rusted out
Passenger side rusted out , all will have to repaired .
Front cross member behind bumper has been replaced at sometime in the past but never welded to secure it in place ….Not a good idea as it is just floating there.
New exhausts installed to replace the rusted out originals which had lasted since 1972!.
Drive shaft has new flex disc and trans has new shift rod bushes.
Mercedes Benz 280SE 3.5 ute Engine swap.
The new engine and trans are installed with a new oil pan ,rear and front crank seals. New injectors with new intake manifold gaskets,timing chain and rails should see a nice reliable tow car for the owner 🙂 .New fuel hoses and clamps will connect the fuel system together .
Mercedes Benz 280SE 3.5 ute Engine swap .
Unfortunately the engine in the Moss green ute was damaged by who ever it was that did the soda blasting ( i hate that stuff….) .It looks as though the car was covered in the bicarb and then driven around their yard with the air cleaner off… or the air cleaner was clogged so they took it off and then proceeded to drive the car. Any how, the soda got into the engine and has ruined the rings and pistons . A combination which has destroyed any hope of compression and no compression equals no start. I stripped the m116 3.5 engine down and my worst fears were realised with massive bore wear 
As usual the head studs were frozen in the heads and it was days work to remove the heads .The valve seats are pitted because of the biCarb soda .
After pricing the gaskets and rings etc the parts cost came close to $6000 so after consulting the owner it was decided to fit a good 2nd hand engine . After a days hunting a M117 450SL engine was found and this is a Djet engine also so the engine bay will resemble a standard 280SE 3.5 .
This has now been stripped and new seals fitted , the alloy parts have been wet blasted .The timing chain, sliding rails etc will be replaced and the injection system overhauled . The sump has been swapped from the SL short version to the 280SE 3.5 larger version .Water pump was replaced as it wasn’t known how long the engine was on the shelf.
The engine bay was pretty filthy so all of the dirt of 40 years was steam cleaned out in preparation for repair of the paint before the new engine goes in.
Mercedes W112 Rust repair ,More progress.
Rear panel repairs.
The rear panel looked straight to begin with but there was tell tail signs of body filler which was falling out. After stripping it back to the bare steel ,it could be seen tht the panel wasn’t too badly damaged ,
The white stuff is old body filler which will be removed.
A few small rust outs have been welded up the ring shows more filler which has been parti ally removed.
On the right side there is a rust hole which will be repaired with a patch.
On both sides of the fuel door i had to shrink out a pair of dents which had been filled. Hard to see here but it’s now very smooth .
These are the two dents i removed
Mercedes Benz 250S for sale.
250 S in very straight condition. Been off the road since 2010 due to a minor fault. This is a project car and will require normal work to get registration etc . There is very little rust in the right front sill front and the rear boot box bottom,right hand side. 
No rust in the doors or floors!! no dash cracks ,and the MBtex seats are still very good. Original boot mat is in very nice condition . 
Mercedes Benz W108 250 S recommissioning
A few dodgy things have been uncovered on this car ,such as the gear shift wired together …..
And a plastic hose wired on for the pressure line to the fuel filter…..
benzkraft 