1973 280se

[martinm13]

thanks man!

[orion84gsl]

This on air and a nice classic subtle set of wheels will make for one nice cruiser. Congrats on the purchase, but one thing. Correct me if I am wrong but are you only replacing the one brake hose? Should you not for the sake of preventative maintenance not to mention your own safety replace all the brake hoses? It would be a damn shame to see you, someone else or that car hurt because another line failed when it was too late to do something about it.

That aside this looks like it has huge potential and I love your DIY attitude in regards to fixing the window gear. Keep it up.

[martinm13]

This on air and a nice classic subtle set of wheels will make for one nice cruiser. Congrats on the purchase, but one thing. Correct me if I am wrong but are you only replacing the one brake hose? Should you not for the sake of preventative maintenance not to mention your own safety replace all the brake hoses? It would be a damn shame to see you, someone else or that car hurt because another line failed when it was too late to do something about it.

That aside this looks like it has huge potential and I love your DIY attitude in regards to fixing the window gear. Keep it up.

Yes, it is most likely going to be on air. I have most of the parts already, I just need to build the brackets for the bags. Not sure how I worded it but I ordered hoses for both sides, not just the fucked up one. I took a look at the rear ones and they seem like they have been replaced before, same with the fuel lines. I am most definitely going to do things right. No cutting corners on this car, I am already in love with it too much to have something bad happen to it.

[FunfGang]

Awesome, great story and pictures so far. Definitely keeping up with this build

[Francois Dillinger]

such an awesome find.

[Svenska94Aero]

Awesome car man, and an excellent buy. Good luck with it!

[D&W]

nice one. regulators cost a lot hey! i managed to score a NOS passenger front for $90 a while back on ebay

there is good finds to be had if you put the time in looking.

air??? dddooooo iiiitttttt

looks like there is something up with the ride height, maybe its had 6cyl springs put in up front? it should be a couple inches lower in the rear and couple inches up in front at stock. again, air will solve this

[martinm13]

nice one. regulators cost a lot hey! i managed to score a NOS passenger front for $90 a while back on ebay

there is good finds to be had if you put the time in looking.

air??? dddooooo iiiitttttt

looks like there is something up with the ride height, maybe its had 6cyl springs put in up front? it should be a couple inches lower in the rear and couple inches up in front at stock. again, air will solve this

Yeah, I'm starting to see that most parts cost a lot for this car. I found the star for the hood on ebay for $30 yesterday!

I knew it looked fucked!!!! I was staring it yesterday and thought the rear seemed too high. It almost has a bit of positive camber in the back... I know that the rear accumulator has been replaced with a spring, maybe they put new shocks and springs in at the same time and used the wrong ones

How is the ride quality on air in these cars? It rides so smooth as it is and I would **** to lose that.

[E28stoff]

holy crap that is amazing. what a find! my old boss owned a mint one that looked exactly like yours, same colour and interior. god that thing was a dream to drive and work on. ever since i was introduced to that and numerous other classic benz's at that job i told myself i have to own one of these some day.

nothing and i mean NOTHING compares to driving an older mercedes, there in a league of there own. the level of craftsmanship and engineering that went into these at the time they were built is truly amazing. its something every car buff should experience.

Man im envious, i cant wait for updates...this is gonna be good

[D&W]

Yeah, I'm starting to see that most parts cost a lot for this car. I found the star for the hood on ebay for $30 yesterday!

I knew it looked fucked!!!! I was staring it yesterday and thought the rear seemed too high. It almost has a bit of positive camber in the back... I know that the rear accumulator has been replaced with a spring, maybe they put new shocks and springs in at the same time and used the wrong ones

How is the ride quality on air in these cars? It rides so smooth as it is and I would **** to lose that.

yea with a swing axle rear the camber changes a lot with height adjustments, you could always cut a coil off the compensator spring (and maybe a coil of the rear springs too) there is also different thickness pads on these cars which can be used to adjust ride height.

you can get the correct OEM bilstein shocks with exact part number for about $65 a piece online and they are $300 a piece from MB, so research is key

my car rides real nice on air. when it's on normal height id say almost a touch better than stock. lowered it gets a bit more sporty feeling. has a TINY bit more body roll when doing high speed manueveres. i love it, certainly no reason to avoid air, if anything its probably a bit better overall for ride quality.

[martinm13]

Yeah, I am definitely leaning towards air. Gonna be manual management though cause I don't have the cash to drop on e-level (not even on my daily, let alone this car) First thing is getting the car working 100% though. New brake lines are ordered already. After the car stops properly, the next thing I am going to do is engine stuff. New distributor, wires, plugs, air filter, oil change, trans fluid, brake bleed, etc. Also, the rear diff housing is leaking so I have to deal with that and the car sounds like it has an exhaust leak. Maintenance comes before low

[Marsss]

excellent ride!! good luck sourcing the missing bits though. Well done!!

[D&W]

Yeah, I am definitely leaning towards air. Gonna be manual management though cause I don't have the cash to drop on e-level (not even on my daily, let alone this car) First thing is getting the car working 100% though. New brake lines are ordered already. After the car stops properly, the next thing I am going to do is engine stuff. New distributor, wires, plugs, air filter, oil change, trans fluid, brake bleed, etc. Also, the rear diff housing is leaking so I have to deal with that and the car sounds like it has an exhaust leak. Maintenance comes before low

yep, thats the way to do it. I spent about 18 months gradually fixing maintenance before I did lows.

My exhaust was some aftermarket job with a leak, got so bad, needed a new rear manifold too ($200 from the wreckers) and a genuine MB exhaust came out cheaper after discount than a w108 specific aftermarket job. the genuine one sounds real nice too. the costs do add up though, with fitting it came in around 1400 for the whole deal. depends how much you want to keep things MB parts too, im sure an exhaust shop could make you up something for a lot less?!

[rson]

Hey man i just finished bagging my 280se with manual valves. I did the entire install myself start to finish. No other hands but mine touch the car so i should be able to help you with any questions or problems you might run in to. Congrats on the ride also. 1000 bucks is a definate come up. As far as getting the car running just do what it takes. Dont go into spending too much money on the car to get it to run perfect. These cars arent worth shelling out the dough to run like they came from the dealership. Save the cash until you find a SEL with a v12 or a coupe. Those model benzs tend to hold value but these old sedans tend to just be sexy ass money pits.

Yeah, I am definitely leaning towards air. Gonna be manual management though cause I don't have the cash to drop on e-level (not even on my daily, let alone this car) First thing is getting the car working 100% though. New brake lines are ordered already. After the car stops properly, the next thing I am going to do is engine stuff. New distributor, wires, plugs, air filter, oil change, trans fluid, brake bleed, etc. Also, the rear diff housing is leaking so I have to deal with that and the car sounds like it has an exhaust leak. Maintenance comes before low

[martinm13]

Hey man i just finishing bagging my 280se with manual valves. I did the entire install myself start to finish. No other hands but mine touch the car so i should be able to help you with any questions or problems you might run in to. Congrats on the ride also. 1000 bucks is a definate come up. As far as getting the car running just do what it takes. Dont go into spending too much money on the car to get it to run perfect. These cars arent worth shelling out the dough to run like they came from the dealership. Save the cash until you find a SEL with a v12 or a coupe. Those model benzs tend to hold value but these old sedans tend to just be sexy ass money pits.

I redid the air setup in my Jetta over the winter. I now have a spare tank, compressor, switch box, 2 bags and some other shit in my garage. I'm pretty sure thats where this is headed as soon as the car runs properly and stops properly. I'm just curious about the cups for the bags, did you weld them up yourself??