Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

fintail

Speaking of 300E, here's one heck of a frankencar project

tjc78

Interesting, lots of hours there for sure!

Mr_Shiftright

there's kind of a fascinating madness behind the whole thing.

fintail

Swedes, they do crazy things sometimes. The most insane W210 E55 AMG I know of is also in Sweden.

I wonder how much work would be needed to simply drop the 300E I6 into a fintail. Plenty of room, for sure.

Mr_Shiftright

Probably not too much trouble to fabricate the motor mounts. You need to weld in some transmission mounts or a frame cradle no doubt, and then get the driveshaft from the 300E to mount up to the differential (or maybe you'd need the 300E differential, and then things start getting complicated.). Then you'll need to re-work the cooling system to match up to the engine, and re-invent the gas tank for fuel injection, then install the 300Es engine management system, fabricate a new exhaust system.

Probably an afternoon's work :P

omarman

Is the owner saying that this is the second resto/rebuild on his car over 10 years? First was a stock (maybe cosmetic) rebuild and then the second version is the total wild thing transformation in the pics? I don't believe I've ever seen anything like that.

stickguy

long winters, lack of sunlight, and too much grog can make a man do odd things.

Mr_Shiftright

Pretty neat VW oddball, but worth that much?

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/3659435705.html

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Oh it just needs a transmission and paint---that shouldn't cost too much:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/3712969728.html

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You know, not bad, not bad:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cto/3710155470.html
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I'd love to see the "proof" on this one!

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ctd/3708920569.html

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We need a reality check on Aisle 6!

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/3714888556.html

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The engine bay is not encouraging:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/3709162242.html
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just the kind of friendly seller you'd rush right over to meet!

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/3713976067.html
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Alas, you shoulda drove it while you owned it, pal:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/3714934987.html

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Obviously all that money did not go into the seats:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/3711016878.html

fintail

VW is cool, but he's trying to get his parts + labor back. Good luck.

560SL - you can get a very nice one for 12K, or one that probably needs 8K in work for 9.5K. Decisions decisions.

Never seen skirts on a 59 Ford wagon.

Funny for the seller of the 280SE - there's only one kind of offer on a W108 sedan, and that's lowball. When pristine ones struggle to hit 5 figures, you know there's disappointment.

fintail

Yep, it appears the car had maybe a cosmetic restoration before it was frankensteined. Cool idea, I like the idea of a hot rod fintail, but more than I would ever dare want to attempt.

qbrozen

Oh, man, I want that rambler wagon! Ugh, damn you California!

Mr_Shiftright

Well you can fly out to SF International, take the airporter up to San Fran, and drive 'er home. What state are you in?

qbrozen

NJ... just a tad far. He says drive anywhere, but c'mon... that's pushing it. I'd almost be tempted to transport that one... but that's gotta be like 50% the purchase price, yeah?

Mr_Shiftright

You could get some college coeds to drive it out for you :P

Let's see -- plane ticket one way maybe $200 bucks, then $20 for airporter, then about $700 for gas, maybe $500 motels and meals.

Oh yeah, better to ship it!

qbrozen

just checked one place and was quoted $1077.

Mr_Shiftright

That's on an open trailer no doubt.

qbrozen

Yes. I figure, for $2500, it can't be in the kind of condition that requires a closed trailer. Closed is over $1800.

hpmctorque

"300E was a good car."

I've always liked the 300E a lot, but I imagine that it would be difficult to find a good, unmolested one that isn't miled up. I'm sure there are still a few out there, but not many good ones for sale. For whatever reason I see more 123s, which I also like.

hpmctorque

That would be far, far more expense than it would be worth, in my estimation. Better to just look for a nice 300E.

qbrozen

Mine is going up for sale soon. :P

hpmctorque

Year, mileage, history, condition, price?

qbrozen

'86.
~95k miles. Interior is ridiculously clean. I've seen 2-year-old cars that aren't this nice. Zero rust. It shines up, but it does demonstrate a problem with the paint typical to this generation. I'm not sure how to describe it but it looks like hairline cracking throughout.. I think its called crazing(?). You can't feel it, as it is under the clearcoat, and there is nothing to be done about it (other than a full repaint). Its just there and you can see it when you get close. In any case, its actually very minor compared to some others I've seen. It was evident on every w126 I looked at when shopping. Maybe fintail knows more.

Guy who had it before me was incredibly anal. When I bought it, I shared somewhere around here how this guy actually had 4 small pieces of carpet in his garage for the tires to park on. During his short time with it, he had every fluid changed, the injection pump rebuilt, and more.

I've gotta fix a few things on it now, which is why I haven't put it up for sale yet (and I'm waiting for winter to REALLY be over). I have a new underhood insulation pad to install. It also has a small oil leak that I believe is the timing cover. I have a new timing gasket set and valve cover gasket to install. I also have a new air line for the cold start valve, which I know is cracked and I believe may be the cause of an off-idle stumble it has when cold. Oh, and the cruise stopped working. Also a common problem, so I gotta pull the board for that and check for cracked solder joints.

As for price ... I haven't quite figured that out. It depends on how it all comes out in the end. I'll probably be asking about $4500 for it, I think. Tough to find one with miles and interior like this. Considering I got $2k for my 190E with near 160k and horrible exterior, I feel this has to be worth double that.

qbrozen

I couldn't resist. I just emailed the seller for more pics and info.

I showed my wife the ad and, as I predicted, her response was "ewww!" So convincing her I need it may not come to fruition.

hpmctorque

Interesting. Did you buy it from the original owner?

Mr_Shiftright

That is not an encouraging first response. Maybe you should have shown her a picture of a Zimmer first, and then when she recovers her composure, you can "compromise" with 'something more practical'. :P

qbrozen

No. He bought it from the original owner ... the proverbial little old lady who had it sitting in her garage not being driven. He wasn't mechanically inclined and had the bright idea that he could purchase a well-kept 25-year-old german car and use it as his daily and only car... hence the maintenance money he put into it to try to make it reliable. I believe it was about 18 months before he realized it wasn't the best idea.

qbrozen

I figured she'd call it a big banana.

She did say she liked the front end .... but "that's about it."

I'm hoping the interior is literally something to write home about. If it really is nice and rust free, I might have a talk with her about using this as my 40th bday gift instead of the Skip Barber school.

fintail

In comparison, here's what I think is the nicest one on Seattle CL - looks good but twice the mileage

qbrozen

Good idea, I'll show her this!

qbrozen

So I think that means mine is too cheap. Guess I should ask for more.