1972 Mercedes Benz 450SL complete with factory removable hardtop and Bobby Nichols golf clubs. I am just not sure how this even happens.
1972 Mercedes Benz 450SL complete with factory removable hardtop and Bobby Nichols golf clubs. I am just not sure how this even happens.
Estate cleanup, I'd bet.
I have seen so many like that or nicer in CA junkyards. They sit too long and won't run well enough to pass emissions testing anymore and nobody cares enough to try to fix them anymore. Modern fuel with ethanol wasn't any help either.
Ok considering what we see up here that is in darn nice shape. My first thought is to 6l Vortec swap it.
In reply to Tk8398 :
That's exactly what happens to a lot of Jaguars. Daddy's retirement gift for a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice.
Daddy gets old it gets used less and less finally won't start or Daddy loses his license.
It will cost too much to get running and fix it. Tires in good shape except they are 20+ years old. That's where they wind up.
In reply to frenchyd :
Unfortunately, you are right.
So how much were golf clubs on the junkyard price list?
I'd probably buy the hardtop too because I'm a hoarder and can't bear to see good rare parts scrapped.
Run_Away said:So how much were golf clubs on the junkyard price list?
I'd probably buy the hardtop too because I'm a hoarder and can't bear to see good rare parts scrapped.
That's exactly like me. The removable hardtop was unbelievably listed for only $50.00 but I have no way to get it home. I too hate to see it go to waste. Somebody is likely looking for one of those.
In reply to Run_Away :
I'm pretty sure they all came with a hard top, at least it seems that way. I'm not sure I've ever seen one for sale without it.
Buy it, and build a replica of this:
Steve_Jones said:In reply to Run_Away :
I'm pretty sure they all came with a hard top, at least it seems that way. I'm not sure I've ever seen one for sale without it.
107 hardtops are pretty well free for this reason. 129 is similar, look for a pano roof though....
stuart in mn said:Buy it, and build a replica of this:
Amen!!!!
Race cars are cheap to build and give great performance. You can either license them for the street. Or eliminate a lot of wiring and put all new wires in. That part is really basic.
Don't bother to rebuild most engines. Just throw a turbo on them to kick up performance. Most every engine will tolerate 6 PSI. High mileage helps because it wears out piston rings to open up the ring gap. Which typically is the one mechanical bit you need to do to use Turbos. You will need extra fuel for the extra power you make.
I'll have to check but we put about $300 worth of tubing in the Jaguar. To build a legal cage. Wheels, tires, etc. you can finish one off for about $2000 ( less if you're good at scrounging) and a lot of work.
I don't know anything about Mercedes Benz but every Jaguar I've torn apart has mostly good mechanical parts. I'm sure just like Jaguars Mercedes Benz have networks of more affordable parts and parts interchange to get more performance at a modest cost.
Title issue.
Steve_Jones said:In reply to Run_Away :
I'm pretty sure they all came with a hard top, at least it seems that way. I'm not sure I've ever seen one for sale without it.
If they are anything like 996 Porsche hardtops , there are many more hardtops than buyers as they take up a lot of garage floor when taken off and it's not a one man job....
I sold my 996 hardtop for $200 because no one wanted it......yes I see them advertised for 1000s but they never sell....
spitfirebill said:Title issue.
Race cars don't need tittles.
Once gutted and stripped of luxuries like a race car is. They aren't that heavy.
My Jaguar XJS with a 700 pound motor and 300 pounds of tubing for the roll cage weighs 2700 pounds. It starts out as 46XX.
Properly balanced and the trailer aligned a single axle open deck trailer is sufficient. And tows easier than a tandem axle trailer. Plus moves around easily without being hooked to the tow vehicle.
A truck, SUV, or suburban painted to match the race car would look cool and you could buy one of those with plenty of life left in it cheap if the paint is bad. Torn up interior can be replaced cheap at the junk yard.
Two things change that to a + 500 hp rioarity car. $135 Amazon Turbo ( $50 waste gate)
And converting the stock ECM to aftermarket like Megasquirt. That's so you can add a inline fuel sensor to use E85. I know you don't know where to buy it. But just have it shipped to you from places like VP fuels. Even with shipping it's cheaper than Premium at the gas station. At some point you down load the app to find E85.
Here's why. You gain 10-20% more power Just using it. Plus it runs cooler which helps so you can use the stock radiator. Etc.
Then it helps doubly because if the engine has around 100,000 miles on it the rings will be worn enough to use over 20 PSI boost so now you're up near 700 hp.
californiamilleghia said:Steve_Jones said:In reply to Run_Away :
I'm pretty sure they all came with a hard top, at least it seems that way. I'm not sure I've ever seen one for sale without it.
If they are anything like 996 Porsche hardtops , there are many more hardtops than buyers as they take up a lot of garage floor when taken off and it's not a one man job....
I sold my 996 hardtop for $200 because no one wanted it......yes I see them advertised for 1000s but they never sell....
I always see them hanging from rafters when not in use.
Grab the bumpers, they are worth money. I would buy them if shippable to CA. Also check truck for rubber floor mat, another $$$. The distributor and fuel pump are d jet only. Small chrome side mirrors, brass radiator overflow. Lots of pricy parts on early 107. The hardtop is worthless.
stuart in mn said:Buy it, and build a replica of this:
Beautiful car!
benzbaronDaryn said:Grab the bumpers, they are worth money. I would buy them if shippable to CA. Also check truck for rubber floor mat, another $$$. The distributor and fuel pump are d jet only. Small chrome side mirrors, brass radiator overflow. Lots of pricy parts on early 107. The hardtop is worthless.
I would expect that all to be gone in the half year since this was originally posted.
It it a a beer Stein by now, wanna find a set of bumpers for a dumb idea. The early cars are near but the stupid d jet is $$$ to maintain.
In reply to benzbaronDaryn :
What I don't understand is why The ECM of the 70'-80's-90's isn't just yanked out and replaced with a Megasquirt, Maxx or one other other ECM's available that are self learning and all you have to do is get the wiring right?
There is a guy over in England charging big dollars for plug and play versions of the Jaguar.
Once you've got a wiring color chart and a sample just how hard would it be?
In reply to frenchyd :
Pretty straight forward on Jaguars. But I don't know Mercedes, BMW, or American cars.
I do know I was terrified until I actually sat down with the shop manual and watched A Few ( a lot ) of U tube video's.
The final one is when I watched a guy down in Texas just go straight ahead and goober one up. The " gas tank" was an old fire extinguisher that he kept forgetting to turn on. Crank crank crank " is the fuel pump on?" Oops click VAAROOOM. !
Just odd pieces of wiring hooked into a 2nd hand mega squirt he paid $150-200? For.
The CIS can be swapped to MS but it isn't just a bolt on. Friend has a 'squirted 560SL and it's never quite run right. Lots of weird parts in the factory setup to be replaced or modified.
In reply to buzzboy :
Oh that's disappointing. On a Jaguar it's really straight forward. In fact when I first went on the site for Jaguars the few guys were arguing about stuff that doesn't really make any difference in how it runs. Most cars of that era are batch fired when it comes to fuel injectors. They let the camshaft decide when the fuel actually goes into the cylinders. Its not sequential from the factory. It's real nonsense stuff that the basic Mega squirt doesn't have the ability to adjust. ( not enough inputs/outputs).
You need to go up to the Mega squirt gold box if you want to play with that. But if you do mess with sequential timing of the fuel. That's how to put back in smooth idle, easy starting, etc. you can also mess with ignition timing. And go to stuff like flex fuel and boost!!!
Then the guy in Texas was hooking right up to the various points needed. He didn't care a hoot if it was analog or digital. It worked!!
Yeh there was some misfiring etc. but considering the shape the rest of the car was in the doubt those were the trouble with the ECU. And just misadjusted throttle, bad plugs or clogged injectors etc.
there is nothing magic about those ECU 's they don't fix stuff so if the engine was running rough because of plugged injectors or bad plugs etc. switch to the aftermarket isn't the big red easy button. What it does do is eliminate vacuum leaks because it doesn't use vacuum inputs. But yeh. Too much air will get in and cause backfiring. Do you need to plug those.
As far as sophisticated running, like dealing with the A/C kicking on and off. Nope! Race cars don't use A/C But you can fix all that stuff yourself. I just wouldn't mess with a street car. What aftermarket ECU's allow you to do is make more power than the factory's feel comfortable. Turbo charge a car? Yeh! E85 a car? yeh!!! Camshafts and compression oh my!
I don't know diddly squat about NOS. But in a heavy high geared car like a 560? It would take a massive amount to keep up with the little imports.
It's like this. If you want to race a big heavy car. Against a light little import? The money demand is too massive to contemplate.
That's why all the luxury stuff is pulled out to get the weight closer. But the big V12/V8 starts out with a serious power advantage and takes boost like a duck to water.
Once the weight is close the bigger engine has the advantage. As is said. There is no replacement for displacement.
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