1979 Mercedes 450 SLC
Discussion
Funnily enough the ad is for the same car with the cream interior which I posted on Ebay on the previous page. It was being sold by interior specialists DClass so I have no doubt it would be stunning inside. I can't see it going for that if I am honest...more's the pity.
This morning I put a nice shirt on and took it around a wet London. Being 40 years old it doesn't get charged the ULEZ fee - little victories. Heater is working fine. I have noticed that one aspect I originally thought of as an issue might actually be a feature. After standing in traffic, where the temperature rises just a little, the heater goes to full blast for a short time. Moving on again it will stop this. It only happens after very extended periods where the car is stationary and there is a pattern to it. After a bit of reading online it seems it is meant to do this, or someone else who has this 'feature' has been very persuasive in extolling that it came out the factory like this.
A few pictures below which will likely be the last of the year, leaving the car parked up opposite a wonderful new friend owned by a neighbour. Unsurprisingly the plans I had for this year have not come to fruition - no dash to Berlin, no Le Mans weekend and no trip to Scotland. We are hoping to go to the Cairngorms in a couple of weeks but will be taking the Sportage for the creature comforts. Had some good runs out though, and it's still running like clockwork. If I don't speak with any of you until the New Year I wish you all the best.
This morning I put a nice shirt on and took it around a wet London. Being 40 years old it doesn't get charged the ULEZ fee - little victories. Heater is working fine. I have noticed that one aspect I originally thought of as an issue might actually be a feature. After standing in traffic, where the temperature rises just a little, the heater goes to full blast for a short time. Moving on again it will stop this. It only happens after very extended periods where the car is stationary and there is a pattern to it. After a bit of reading online it seems it is meant to do this, or someone else who has this 'feature' has been very persuasive in extolling that it came out the factory like this.
A few pictures below which will likely be the last of the year, leaving the car parked up opposite a wonderful new friend owned by a neighbour. Unsurprisingly the plans I had for this year have not come to fruition - no dash to Berlin, no Le Mans weekend and no trip to Scotland. We are hoping to go to the Cairngorms in a couple of weeks but will be taking the Sportage for the creature comforts. Had some good runs out though, and it's still running like clockwork. If I don't speak with any of you until the New Year I wish you all the best.
He did - I think it was the SL with a hardtop. I wish I had an underling to deliver mine to me on a whim late at night.
It's certainly a 'V8' sound giving more than a hint at the power as it rumbles around town, mine being around 215hp I think. I have a non-standard exhaust but I am not sure it adds any volume, which in any case would be crass and most unagreeable. Most of the time it seems distant and undramatic until a car pulls up alongside at the lights and the low rhythmical tones of the engine echo back at you and you realise it has quite some presence. The same always happens when I pick the car up from the garage - I can hear it coming out of the unit long before I see it and am always taken aback that is what my car sounds like.
The odd thing is the revs are as if you were turning a dial on an old piece of hi-fit kit. They rise and fall tracking in the most oddly linear fashion directly linked to the loud pedal with no drama whatsoever until you hit a motorway on ramp and kick-down at which point it sounds not unlike an aircraft around you and the back squats noticeably too, although that may be my tired shocks. It's unlike anything else I have driven before, and as it feels a little remote I certainly think the car is more about the drive than the driving, as I once saw written. I took in plenty of London and was far more able to appreciate sights rather than be concerned with anything so tawdry as the rev counter.
The following video is the 500 which is not dissimilar although it doesn't give much indication of the impressive volume when accelerating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMlvTyPl2I0
Whereas this 380 gets drowned out by wind noise - he wants to change his sunroof seals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn_X1pz2VyE
Some seem to think it acceptable to mess with the way Mercedes designed gases to leave the vehicle for theatrical reasons. I might suggest the money would have been better spent on the fuel and ignition system on this particular model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8hgwPAFgJM
It's certainly a 'V8' sound giving more than a hint at the power as it rumbles around town, mine being around 215hp I think. I have a non-standard exhaust but I am not sure it adds any volume, which in any case would be crass and most unagreeable. Most of the time it seems distant and undramatic until a car pulls up alongside at the lights and the low rhythmical tones of the engine echo back at you and you realise it has quite some presence. The same always happens when I pick the car up from the garage - I can hear it coming out of the unit long before I see it and am always taken aback that is what my car sounds like.
The odd thing is the revs are as if you were turning a dial on an old piece of hi-fit kit. They rise and fall tracking in the most oddly linear fashion directly linked to the loud pedal with no drama whatsoever until you hit a motorway on ramp and kick-down at which point it sounds not unlike an aircraft around you and the back squats noticeably too, although that may be my tired shocks. It's unlike anything else I have driven before, and as it feels a little remote I certainly think the car is more about the drive than the driving, as I once saw written. I took in plenty of London and was far more able to appreciate sights rather than be concerned with anything so tawdry as the rev counter.
The following video is the 500 which is not dissimilar although it doesn't give much indication of the impressive volume when accelerating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMlvTyPl2I0
Whereas this 380 gets drowned out by wind noise - he wants to change his sunroof seals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn_X1pz2VyE
Some seem to think it acceptable to mess with the way Mercedes designed gases to leave the vehicle for theatrical reasons. I might suggest the money would have been better spent on the fuel and ignition system on this particular model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8hgwPAFgJM
Edited by paulyv on Tuesday 27th October 23:42
paulyv said:
He did - I think it was the SL with a hardtop. I wish I had an underling to deliver mine to me on a whim late at night.
It's certainly a 'V8' sound giving more than a hint at the power as it rumbles around town, mine being around 215hp I think. I have a non-standard exhaust but I am not sure it adds any volume, which in any case would be crass and most unagreeable. Most of the time it seems distant and undramatic until a car pulls up alongside at the lights and the low rhythmical tones of the engine echo back at you and you realise it has quite some presence. The same always happens when I pick the car up from the garage - I can hear it coming out of the unit long before I see it and am always taken aback that is what my car sounds like.
The odd thing is the revs are as if you were turning a dial on an old piece of hi-fit kit. They rise and fall tracking in the most oddly linear fashion directly linked to the loud pedal with no drama whatsoever until you hit a motorway on ramp and kick-down at which point it sounds not unlike an aircraft around you and the back squats noticeably too, although that may be my tired shocks. It's unlike anything else I have driven before, and as it feels a little remote I certainly think the car is more about the drive than the driving, as I once saw written. I took in plenty of London and was far more able to appreciate sights rather than be concerned with anything so tawdry as the rev counter.
The following video is the 500 which is not dissimilar although it doesn't give much indication of the impressive volume when accelerating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMlvTyPl2I0
Whereas this 380 gets drowned out by wind noise - he wants to change his sunroof seals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn_X1pz2VyE
Some seem to think it acceptable to mess with the way Mercedes designed gases to leave the vehicle for theatrical reasons. I might suggest the money would have been better spent on the fuel and ignition system on this particular model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8hgwPAFgJM
I like the rumble!It's certainly a 'V8' sound giving more than a hint at the power as it rumbles around town, mine being around 215hp I think. I have a non-standard exhaust but I am not sure it adds any volume, which in any case would be crass and most unagreeable. Most of the time it seems distant and undramatic until a car pulls up alongside at the lights and the low rhythmical tones of the engine echo back at you and you realise it has quite some presence. The same always happens when I pick the car up from the garage - I can hear it coming out of the unit long before I see it and am always taken aback that is what my car sounds like.
The odd thing is the revs are as if you were turning a dial on an old piece of hi-fit kit. They rise and fall tracking in the most oddly linear fashion directly linked to the loud pedal with no drama whatsoever until you hit a motorway on ramp and kick-down at which point it sounds not unlike an aircraft around you and the back squats noticeably too, although that may be my tired shocks. It's unlike anything else I have driven before, and as it feels a little remote I certainly think the car is more about the drive than the driving, as I once saw written. I took in plenty of London and was far more able to appreciate sights rather than be concerned with anything so tawdry as the rev counter.
The following video is the 500 which is not dissimilar although it doesn't give much indication of the impressive volume when accelerating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMlvTyPl2I0
Whereas this 380 gets drowned out by wind noise - he wants to change his sunroof seals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn_X1pz2VyE
Some seem to think it acceptable to mess with the way Mercedes designed gases to leave the vehicle for theatrical reasons. I might suggest the money would have been better spent on the fuel and ignition system on this particular model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8hgwPAFgJM
Edited by paulyv on Tuesday 27th October 23:42
Happy 2021. I almost made it six months without anything to report. The car has been sat under cover since October but shortly will be reawakened with a brand new battery and taken out for a scrub and a drive. This year I am hoping to take it on a blast to Berlin or the South of France, but we shall see of course. I still have my tickets for the Members Meeting in October and it is certainly accompanying me.
Not so often that parts for this car can be found relatively cheaply, however a random search on Ebay a few weeks ago resulted in a box of goodies from the SL Shop being sold at a £300 discount, all unused. This means the timing chain is going to be swapped this month by my local handy mechanic. He is not an SL expert but perfectly intelligent and more than up to the task when done one step at a time. How-to guides printed and ready for reference. A service and transmission fluid change will also be done.
I STILL have a brand new windscreen waiting for me in Leeds having bought it in late 2019.
Hope your winters have been okay.
Not so often that parts for this car can be found relatively cheaply, however a random search on Ebay a few weeks ago resulted in a box of goodies from the SL Shop being sold at a £300 discount, all unused. This means the timing chain is going to be swapped this month by my local handy mechanic. He is not an SL expert but perfectly intelligent and more than up to the task when done one step at a time. How-to guides printed and ready for reference. A service and transmission fluid change will also be done.
I STILL have a brand new windscreen waiting for me in Leeds having bought it in late 2019.
Hope your winters have been okay.
Well it's been a while hasn't it.
The SLC has been sat for what appears to have been almost 2 years according to this thread. Lockdown and the rush to make up for lost time thereafter meaning my attention was elsewhere. The car was safe, off the road, and today I returned to it to see what happened when I put in a new battery and turned the key.
Was as if I hadn't been gone at all - started up after 2 seconds tuning over. Gave it time to warm up before moving, then drove straight to the car wash where 4 fellas did the works to it. 30 minutes later we were on our way from London to Peterborough and I've arrived, despite the rain. They really did build them didn't they!
Tasks for the coming couple of months. The timing chain, some matching grey and black velour door cards (took 4 years for those to come up on Ebay), and 4 nearly new tyres to fit.
The SLC has been sat for what appears to have been almost 2 years according to this thread. Lockdown and the rush to make up for lost time thereafter meaning my attention was elsewhere. The car was safe, off the road, and today I returned to it to see what happened when I put in a new battery and turned the key.
Was as if I hadn't been gone at all - started up after 2 seconds tuning over. Gave it time to warm up before moving, then drove straight to the car wash where 4 fellas did the works to it. 30 minutes later we were on our way from London to Peterborough and I've arrived, despite the rain. They really did build them didn't they!
Tasks for the coming couple of months. The timing chain, some matching grey and black velour door cards (took 4 years for those to come up on Ebay), and 4 nearly new tyres to fit.
Nice, try to run some injector cleaner and take it for a long long drive. Fuel can turn into varnish over time, new few will eat away at it but the injector cleaner will also help.
I sold my 1980 450SLC but I still have my 500SL. Just before the summer, I swapped the tie rods and ball joints which were hammered out and installed a set of refinished Lorinser wheels and brand new tires. The weather has cooled off a bit in Texas and I'm now able to get back on it.
I sold my 1980 450SLC but I still have my 500SL. Just before the summer, I swapped the tie rods and ball joints which were hammered out and installed a set of refinished Lorinser wheels and brand new tires. The weather has cooled off a bit in Texas and I'm now able to get back on it.
alabbasi said:
paulyv said:
The groan usually comes from my mouth as I pull up to a petrol forecourt.
I will take a look.
I get it, we're paying almost $4/gallon here in the US for regular unleaded. Not fun I will take a look.
Beautiful Merc btw.. It has aged very well.
Jhonno said:
Beautiful Merc btw.. It has aged very well.
Thanks, I actually dragged this thing out of a field where it sat for almost 20 years back in 2009. It was rust, free but racoons climbed through the top and couldn't get out so they tore up the interior. It was right around the cash for clunker deal and I was fortunate to be able to source a lot of parts from cars that were scrapped in that scheme. A fuel pump got it running and it ran fine. I had to replace the blower motor and clean out the evaporator which was moldy, but the A/C still had some R12.
After a paint job, a new (used) top and seats, the rest was pretty much maintenance.
Groan gone Alabbasi, thanks for pre-empting my having to look under the bonnet. I'll do the filter when I get time.
Got someone who does 'smart repairs' to panels quoting on the door scratch next week. When I have time and a dry day I will update on the process of changing the door cards over, back to originals. Should be fun.
Got someone who does 'smart repairs' to panels quoting on the door scratch next week. When I have time and a dry day I will update on the process of changing the door cards over, back to originals. Should be fun.
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