After owning my 450SLC for over 20 years, there has really only been one thing that has disappointed me about the car. That is the performance of the A/C. I don’t think it was ever optimized for the Australian climate even when new. When you add in the use of R134A gas, plus aging components, on the days you really need it, it can’t...
The under bonnet insulation was starting to reach the end of its use by date. Bits of it in the air filter were a pretty good indicator of this. I’m not sure how long it had been on, but it pre dated my ownership of the car. Looking more carefully, I could see the main insulation mat, which was falling apart. However, I could...
I just got my 450SLC back from having the timing chain, tensioner, camshaft oiler tubes and valve stem seals replaced. These are all jobs that any owner of a Mercedes V8 of this era will need to undertake at some point. The primary driver behind this was the need to replace the valve stem seals. A couple of my sparkplugs, #1 in particular, would...
I fitted a set of original AMG Penta wheels to my 450SLC two years ago. At the time, they did not come with lug bolts. Luckily, I had a set from the replica Fuchs wheels that were on the car when I purchased it. The replica Fuchs wheels were the Australian made copies that were so commonly fitted on Mercedes of this era...
Over the last few months, the blinkers have been playing up on my 450SLC. It started out when the car was first started up, the blinkers would flash very fast. After a while, I guess the flasher unit warmed up and they went back to their normal rate. Over time, this took longer and longer to happen, until they stopped flashing at...
This week my 450SLC has been in the workshop having a major service. This was the first time since the big trip to Adelaide last year. There were a few things to sort out, but one of the major ones was having new engine mounts fitted. These were noted as collapsed when I had the car checked over before the trip to...
I am currently in the process of installing a Becker Mexico Cassette in my 1977 Mercedes 450SLC. In part one, I covered buying and testing the radio. In part two, I covered upgrading the speakers, and in part three I covered the wiring. This part will be all about actually installing everything. My first task was setting up the control button and microphone for...
I am currently in the process of installing a Becker Mexico Cassette in 1977 Mercedes 450SLC. In the first part, I covered buying and testing the radio. In the second part, I replaced all the speakers in the car. In this part I am covering the removal of the old Pioneer CD player and cleaning up the wiring in the car. The challenge is...
I am currently upgrading the radio in my 1977 Mercedes 450SLC. It currently has a Pioneer MP3/CD Player I had installed not long after I purchased the car in 2003. The Pioneer came out of my old 300E and was installed in early 2002. As well as the Pioneer CD player, the car also had Pioneer speakers. These pre-dated my ownership of the...
Over the last 12 months or so, I have been focused on getting period correct Becker radios installed in my Classic Mercedes cars. I had never experienced these radios until I purchased my one owner 560SEL back in 2020. It was owning this car that made me realize how well they work in the car. I’ve started to view them as part of...
I generally like to keep my cars stock. The exception to that is period accessories that are totally reversible. Things that the first owner may have wanted to do to the car to improve it or customize it. The most obvious of those are wheels, but there are plenty of other things that can be done, like changing the steering wheel. I’ve...
In the two years of owning my 560SEL, one of the things I have appreciated is the original Becker CD player. I’ve owned many classic Mercedes-Benz models over the years, but until the 560SEL none of them had their original Becker intact. The Becker radios just look and feel right in the dash of the car. I had never really understood that before. That...
This year I plan to attend the Mercedes-Benz clubs of Australia national rally. The event is being held in Adelaide in April this year. I’ve done plenty of road trips while living in the USA, but not really in Australia. In addition, I am joining a group of friends from the club in an extended drive that will take us the scenic route to...
The Mercedes Benz 107 series uses a separate front subframe. The engine and front suspension attach to the subframe, and then the subframe attaches to the body. The subframe uses rubber mounts (very similar to motor mounts) to isolate noise, vibration and other harshness from the driver. The subframe itself was basically lifted from the W114 series. It wasn’t really up to...
I had previously purchased a set of original AMG ‘Penta’ wheels and had tyres fitted. My next step was to fit them to the car. I waited until the car was back from having the subframe mounts done – It seemed silly to fix nice new wheels to a car right before they are being taken on/off in a workshop. At the same time...
I’ve been doing quite a bit of work to my 450SLC lately. One of my more recent jobs has been to fix the A/C condensate leak. While I was there, I noticed that rats nest of wiring for old amplifiers, car alarms and car phones. I removed most of this, but the result was that the radio in the car was no longer working. ...
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