Béla Barényi rides again!

[OzBenzHead]

FINALLY - after two and half years of buggering around with rear axles replacement, ignition replacement, and stuffed injectors (corroded from being allowed to go dry during arse-in-air-diff-out phase -- doh!), SUCCESS!

Still need to sort the air suspension (leaks and height issues, but okay when engine running), but 'tis good to have Béla (named after the safety guru Béla Barényi) home.

Here he is after a two-day clean-up. Not yet perfect, but I'm working on that. Next cosmetic job is to replace the grille mesh damaged while in workshop. At least I have the spares for that.

http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/ ... E%20coupe/

 

[BenzBoy]

Ah!! The smell of sweet success!! Now, very soon indeed, we will expect you to motor on down to Sydney in her to show us your very special beast.
Regards,
BenzBoy

 

[GreaseMonkey]

A class act OBH, long may it run.
C.M.

 

[OzBenzHead]

I took Béla for a 100 km run yesterday and was very pleased. One short conk-out after 27 km - counted to 30 and went again. (Still getting some muck through the fuel, but as I've installed extra inline filters that can be discarded once finished with, I hope to prevent further blockages - at least close to the injection pump and / or injectors). The other 73 km he went like a dream, floating over the ruts and potholes like the land yacht he is.

What particularly impresses me about the airbag suspension is that the car handles so much better than the steel-sprung version of an otherwise identical machine. When Cadillac tried airbag suspension (some time before M-B), the result was less than desirable - even for American drivers who typically wouldn't know handling if they found it in bed with them. Those Caddies wallowed almost uncontrollably and, as for almost any yank tank, didn't know what to do with bends in the road. They proved unpopular with Americans and didn't sell well, so were discontinued.

My replacement rear axle - at 3.7x:1 - is absolutely silent compared with the original, howling, clapped-out 3.9x:1, and gives me 100 km/h for about 3300 rpm; the old diff demanded almost 4000 rpm for the ton. Still something of a high revver compared with modern cars, but very torquey - the last of the under-square Benz motors. So much so that on a couple of occasions, without trying to, I managed to squeak a tyre changing up to third gear in a turn (LSD effect?). Oh well, gave the kids doing Sunday blockies in their tatty dunnydoors something to think about. As did its squat when parked for about five minutes (leaking air in the suspension system). "Hey, Man, is that car bagged? Kewel!"

 

[Michel]

She's looking good...




Happy to hear all went well..

 

[John S]

It is looking great, you must be very pleased with the way the car looks and runs now. There are few cars as distinctive as your coupe.

 

[Styria]

Hi OBH, I guess you was a bit lucky with them injectors - because, if you had to buy new, they'd be worth an absolute fortune. They are similar types to the units for the 6.3 and CraigS did, at some time, quote something like about twelve hundred hot ones for each one - the 6.3, that is.Multiply that times eight if you had to replace the lot.

I guess your experience proves that long lay-offs are not particularly beneficial to maintaining the overall efficiency and reliability for most cars, particularly older ones such as this 300SE Coupe. I've never owned the 300 Soupe, but did have a 1966 300SEL as per attached picture.....




I had been rather 'lazy' in scanning those pics from my photo album, hence there are also some Rover 3500s I owned from time to time.

I had that 300 SEL for seven years, travelled some one hundred thousand miles in that time, and got twice as much for it when I sold it. It was in a round about sort of a way worn out, but the engine was still strong, it had slurring gear changes, some problem with the right rear hub which I never got to ascertain why the wheel was leaning out on top.

I understand that there are only two of those 300s in Germany (on the road, that is) and supposed to be worth a fortune - more so than the Coupes.

I see that you have headrests in Bela Barenyi - surely they must be non standard as I don't recall any going back to that period. The other matter of interest (that I can think of readily) relates to the rear suspension valve - is it the type with the vulcanized rubber block that seals the valve where the shaft emanates from the housing. I have reason to believe that those valves cannot be rebuilt.

Anyway, OBH, if you have further news driving and/or otherwise on Bela, would like to hear about it. Regards Styria

 

[Styria]

My apologies for getting the moderator to post this. Anyway, whilst I am at it, that white Rover in the pic. was fitted with the P76 4.4 litre alloy V8, and it burned out completely on me in 1982. Full tank, parked down hill, fire being fed by 65 litres of petrol.....the blue one is long gone, and the red one is in the throws of being restored. 3500S, Webasto Sunroof, BEAUTIFUL Schmitt Wallsdorf leather, 5-speed Rover Gearbox...very nice. Regards Moderator cum Styria

 

[s class]

styria, when you have a spare moment, go have a look at

http://www.300se.org

Its run by Chris Johnson who is the absolute W112 guru. He owns something like 30 of them plus a few dozen parts cars.

 

[Styria]

Hi S-Class, thanks for that link which I will have a good look at when I get half a chance. I sort of had known that he seemed to know what he was on by some of the stuff I have read on the excellent M100 site - you know what I mean - as a rule you can usually tell when someone knows what they are talking about, but I was not aware that he had his own website.

I also suspect that Chris may have taken part in the M100 Rallye recently - if so, I am kicking myself for not being able to meet him. Maybe abl567 can clarify this for us. Regards Styria

BTW - I could tell you some great stories (well, I think so) about that 300SEL - great, great family car, and I remember the time when an Air Bag blew whilst parked in the carport - the whole house shook - well, it was a fibro home, wasn't it. Regards Styria

 

[Michel]

http://www.300se.org

Its run by Chris Johnson who is the absolute W112 guru. He owns something like 30 of them plus a few dozen parts cars.

That guy can have a Club on his own...

 

[OzBenzHead]

Hi OBH, I guess you was a bit lucky with them injectors - because, if you had to buy new, they'd be worth an absolute fortune. They are similar types to the units for the 6.3 and CraigS did, at some time, quote something like about twelve hundred hot ones for each one - the 6.3, that is.Multiply that times eight if you had to replace the lot. [...]

Thanks, Styria/Mod.

Is that all? I was recently quoted $3300 EACH. I believe that whilst similar to those in the 6.3 they are not interchangeable with them. And they are different for the 2-plunger injection pump compared with the 6-plunger jobbie (mine's the 6-plunger).

Went for another 80-mile drive at the weekend and Béla performed admirably. The only hiccough was at about the 70-mile mark where he started to hint at losing power going full-bore up a large hill. I pulled over at the summit and changed the temporary inline fuel filter -- element was black as the ace of spades, fuel was like weak-ish black coffee, and again there was a lot of gritty sediment in the can. Bunged the new filter in and drove off into the sunset without further ado.

The next day I took my 81-year-old mother for a Sunday drive in Béla; she had never seen the car before, and her comment on arrival at destination was "magic carpet". Mum now wants "gasbags", as she calls them , fitted to her wheelchair!

Yesterday I gave the steering wheel a bleaching to kill 43 years' worth of sweaty-hand grot in the cracks, and the improvement is very satisfying. (Forgot to take "before" pics, dammit, so no point in "after" pics for comparison, though when I refit the wheel later today I shall snap a photo of it.)

My rear leveling valve is the later, rebuildable type (and was allegedly rebuilt not long before I acquired the car). January is the scheduled month for sorting the suspension. I have ordered a full set of O-rings for starters, and shall probably go for a compressor rebuild / replacement too, as it just doesn't seem to be making enough pressure. (The white light on the dash never goes out, which I interpret to mean that pressure is not reaching the desired minimum of 140 psi -- let alone the more desirable 170 psi; either that or the leak is really bad, though not bad enough to not correctly suspend the car when engine is running.) I'm fortunate in having a local friend -- who owns two air-suspended Benzes (W112 300SE and W109 300SEL 6.3) -- who understands these systems and who maintains / repairs his own. There's not another soul closer than 200 km who knows anything about it.

Headrests: No idea if original or not. They may have been fitted when the seats were partially retrimmed (and not that well, unfortunately: the retrimmer has used thick, soft foam that leaves the seats looking over-stuffed and that feels far too soft. A job for Parks some time -- when I have a bankful of moolah to spend on it).

 

[OzBenzHead]

Here is the freshly bleached steering wheel (with padded boss re-coloured to match upholstery, as some PO had painted it (very badly) white. It's not a perfect pad (cracks and scars) so I wasn't too concerned if it turned out wrongly. I couldn't find the correct vinyl colourant, so used shoe re-colour.

 

[OzBenzHead]

Parts of the dash wood (the easily accessed ones) have been restored; makes the unrestored parts look poorly.

 

[OzBenzHead]

I suspect the carpet is not original; it's like this throughout the car - completely unworn.

 

[OzBenzHead]

Seat. Notice poor repair job: The hole-punched / pleated sections have been re-covered with MB-Tex (no problem with that as it's far more serviceable in my climate) and over-stuffed; also the sewing is not always in straight lines. You can just see the leather cracking on the top right-hand corner (where the flash glare is).


Oh, and the headrests -- poorly re-covered though they be -- may have been original equipment. According to Chris Johnson, they were an option, as was the "dicky" seat cushion between the front seats.

 

[OzBenzHead]

Options plate. Can anyone help me interpret it? I've searched for hours and come up with nothing other than the colour: 717G papyrus white (papyrosweiss) by Glasurit.

_______________

EDIT:

OK - getting there.

It appears that code 516 is for the Becker Grand Prix and 531 is for "automatic aerial with radio installation". My aerial was snapped off before I bought the car, so I don't know if it's powered or not. Shall check next time I visit the shed.

 

[Styria]

....hmmmm, interesting, OBH. One has got to be blessed with lots of the folding stuff to do justice to a 300SE Coupe.That engine, to my mind in particular, insists on perfectly clean fuel, a perfectly clean filter and brand spanking new plugs. Do you still have the original super duper and expensive fuel pump on this car ? I know with 6.3s, the inclination is to fit the later style (116 and 126) fuel pump and filter in the interests of reliability and cost. The original pump will set you back at least a grand, so is not cheap. For all I know, with Mercedes pricing being what it is or could be, that figure may well be two grand nowadays.

I'm not being critical, but those pics don't show a lot of detail - it's just that they lack clarity. For instance, there is no way that one can tell if the carpet is original, and even with the timber, it is not easy to pick re-done from original. What one sees a lot of times is timber that's been done in situ, and as a rule the end result can be less than satisfactory. Of course, to do it properly, one needs to remove the timber from the car and on any 108/109/111/112 it's not a job for the faint hearted. On that aspect, 116s are far more simple to work on. Particularly the timber instrument binnacle is an absolute work of art - from your photo, it's not quite clear what has been, or is , fitted to your car.

I have been able to dig up an original brochure and scanned some of the pics and specifications. Not sure if you're interested, but I'll put them up anyway.








As far as the suspension valves are concerned, are you saying that your contact reconditions those - if so, I would be more than interested in getting details. Regards Styria

 

[OzBenzHead]

[...] That engine, to my mind in particular, insists on perfectly clean fuel, a perfectly clean filter and brand spanking new plugs.

Has new plugs, leads (copper cored), coil, condenser, dist cap - bought by PO, thank god!, and I am attempting to feed it clean fuel (hence the extra, throw-away, inline filter until everything's crystal clear). I have now changed the temporary filter thrice; after the third change, I also changed the main (MAN) filter - only to find that it was quite clean with no grit in the can, so the temp filters are doing their job well.

As soon as I determine (awaiting answers) if the tank from a W108 is identical to that in the W112 (they are the same capacity) I shall recondition (POR-15 treatment) my spare tank and do a straight swap-over. If it turns out that the tanks are not interchangeable, I'll remove and recondition the currently fitted tank. I'd rather do a quick swap than risk having the car's bum in the air for a week while I clean the currently fitted tank.

Do you still have the original super duper and expensive fuel pump on this car ? [...]

Dunno - shall check when I'm underneath the beast later today.

I'm not being critical, but those pics don't show a lot of detail - it's just that they lack clarity. For instance, there is no way that one can tell if the carpet is original, and even with the timber, it is not easy to pick re-done from original. [...] Particularly the timber instrument binnacle is an absolute work of art - from your photo, it's not quite clear what has been, or is , fitted to your car.

Really? Does anyone else have difficulty telling the well-restored wood sections from the un-restored ones? Looks crystal clear to me (okay, so I'm spoiled with a super-duper monitor). The pics were taken with a "serious" camera and downsized only to suit Photobucket's size limits. Seriously, I need to know if most folk can or can't see the detail that I can see.

I have been able to dig up an original brochure and scanned some of the pics and specifications. [...]

Thanks, Styria. I have that brochure in mint condition in my humidity-controlled archive. It's from the era when M-B made some really classy promotional literature.

As far as the suspension valves are concerned, are you saying that your contact reconditions those - if so, I would be more than interested in getting details. Regards Styria

My friend does all his own air-suspension maintenance (re-fitting, adjustments, parts replacement, etc.) but for the actual valve rebuilding he uses the services of Alex Black in Victoria.

 

[OzBenzHead]

Styria: Here are pics of my 300SE fuel pump, taken this morning. Can you identify it from these pics?

Thanks.