Restoration of my fin tail Mercedes Benz

[VEEeight]

It is in superb condition, MashAllah.

thankyou so much and good to hear from you. The weather is "on the mend" so hope to meet up again to take you up on your very kind offer to do photo shoots of the cars you saw. This one, although very much a part of this "nostalgia collection" lives just a couple of kms up the road in a specially built garage for it at my brother's house. Every few Sundays,it comes over for a polish and a check over

[VEEeight]

MashaAllah, what a stunner, would love to see some photographs of the interior.

Thankyou, in its own way it is indeed a stunner. I will take and post pictures of the interior. It never had any seat covers on it ever and looking at their condition you would never think that the late owner would pile all his rather small ( at the time!) grandchildren in it every Sunday and go for a drive involving sweets and ice creams, some of which the seats would "eat" more of rather than the kids

[VEEeight]

My (late) uncle, Sardar Saukat Hayat Khan had a 240D in Pistachio green but I recall his being the earlier W115. His son (my cousin) and I used to cruise around Islamabad in it. It was slow but the A/C used to make the eyeballs freeze over!

Your car is a very special vehicle. It's direct connection to your dad can not be weighed in gold. MB is one car that will respond to TLC like no other. Even a car that has been allowed to go down to the brink can be brought back. Your car, Sir, was good from the beginning and it stayed in one family just like the red VW. No other W123 in the country can come close to this gem. Your brother has been entrusted with a responsibility that he is fulfilling in a most conscientious manner

I bet it became even slower with that A.C. on:), just like this one does, although the old piston compressor was replaced by a rotary one when the former seized up. I couldn't agree with you more on the role this and the red VW......and curiously enough a samurai red Datsun 240Z......play in the value system I try to live my life by!! There are innumerable stories on this car....for a start both my brother and I used it as the "baraat" car at our weddings. He drove it on mine and vice versa. Then there is the "joke" about how, when the car was jacked up and in storage as a "bride" itself during its 22 month "ageing" in the UK, someone was deputed to turn the wheels every Sunday so that the discs would not fuse onto the pads! This had to be done bec I too was away for a few months that summer. This "deputation" obv didn't go down well as I got "dumped" as soon as i got back from my travels!! Looking back on that, it was a worthwhile turn of events as the wheels stayed jerk free when I mobilised the car

[VEEeight]

Speaking of pistachio green 115s, this is Raza Sial's super super original 230.6 with just 4000, yes 4000, kms on it. If anything, it outshines the 123 bec of its total originality and low low mileage. A true time capsule.

The red VW (not mine!) u can see next to it is an interesting item also. It's LHD and has an original manual winding steel sunroof and very smartly fitted air-conditioning! It's the owner's daily driver with the signs to show for it!!!!

[AhmedBaig]

^ jumped in joy here! if only there was a button on this forum that could express one's joy upon seeing such priceless german antiques!

[incognito59]

That will be awesome. It will be a pleasure and honour to do a photo shoot of your pristine cars Looking forward to it!

thankyou so much and good to hear from you. The weather is "on the mend" so hope to meet up again to take you up on your very kind offer to do photo shoots of the cars you saw. This one, although very much a part of this "nostalgia collection" lives just a couple of kms up the road in a specially built garage for it at my brother's house. Every few Sundays,it comes over for a polish and a check over

[VEEeight]

^ jumped in joy here! if only there was a button on this forum that could express one's joy upon seeing such priceless german antiques!

I think you are doing well enough

[VEEeight]

That will be awesome. It will be a pleasure and honour to do a photo shoot of your pristine cars Looking forward to it!

Looking forward to setting it up !

[msabbasi]

Speaking of pistachio green 115s, this is Raza Sial's super super original 230.6 with just 4000, yes 4000, kms on it. If anything, it outshines the 123 bec of its total originality and low low mileage. A true time capsule.

The red VW (not mine!) u can see next to it is an interesting item also. It's LHD and has an original manual winding steel sunroof and very smartly fitted air-conditioning! It's the owner's daily driver with the signs to show for it!!!!

Certainly Mr. Raza Sials collection must be a sight to behold if this is any indication of what lies aside from these two. My Uncle's W115 eventually got quite run down.

[VEEeight]

Every now and then there have been breaks in stating the progress on this now year old Fintail resto' but this by far has been the longest. I purposely had the work stopped as was away and want ed any work on the interior to be done under my own supervision

Hopefully work will start during the week and pictorial progress will follow!

[Xulfiqar]

wow - 4000 kms

[Xulfiqar]

I bet it became even slower with that A.C. on:), just like this one does, although the old piston compressor was replaced by a rotary one when the former seized up. I couldn't agree with you more on the role this and the red VW......and curiously enough a samurai red Datsun 240Z......play in the value system I try to live my life by!! There are innumerable stories on this car....for a start both my brother and I used it as the "baraat" car at our weddings. He drove it on mine and vice versa. Then there is the "joke" about how, when the car was jacked up and in storage as a "bride" itself during its 22 month "ageing" in the UK, someone was deputed to turn the wheels every Sunday so that the discs would not fuse onto the pads! This had to be done bec I too was away for a few months that summer. This "deputation" obv didn't go down well as I got "dumped" as soon as i got back from my travels!! Looking back on that, it was a worthwhile turn of events as the wheels stayed jerk free when I mobilised the car

240D automatic with A/C running full blast moves at a very glacial pace, you get beat by bicycles, old guys in wheelchairs - you can see the finer things in life - e.g. the tumbleweed rolling by as you gracefully gather speed and you see the next red light but still dont let go of the pedal - as you know it will turn green before you get there.

OK the last piece was for 200D

One thing is for sure - even if a nuclear bomb is detonated you wont know it in the 240D or 200D - the engines require no electrics to run. No EMF mish mash.. when a guy asked my why in the name of God is a mercedes so vacuum controlled I say - have you ever heard of a "vacuum fire"

[VEEeight]

Yes indeed, just 4000 and the condition more than confirms that. I feel that no amount of restoration can measure up to this sort of as new patina. It DOES put the car at a "disadvantage" though as it would be a shame to use it regularly.

As for the "power" that the aircon saps out of the 200D/ 240D, you're dead right. In fact I remember very clearly, Mercedes did not offer aircon as an extra on the 200D at the time, hardly a surprise. The 240 churns out 72bhp, the 200 even less. The car is excruciatingly slow as it is.....a spiritedly driven alto can embarrass it.....but that's not the point. The 123 has a solidness about it which generates a feeling of well being that very few cars can emulate.

[msabbasi]

Yes indeed, just 4000 and the condition more than confirms that. I feel that no amount of restoration can measure up to this sort of as new patina. It DOES put the car at a "disadvantage" though as it would be a shame to use it regularly.

As for the "power" that the aircon saps out of the 200D/ 240D, you're dead right. In fact I remember very clearly, Mercedes did not offer aircon as an extra on the 200D at the time, hardly a surprise. The 240 churns out 72bhp, the 200 even less. The car is excruciatingly slow as it is.....a spiritedly driven alto can embarrass it.....but that's not the point. The 123 has a solidness about it which generates a feeling of well being that very few cars can emulate.

Time for me to butt in with a short anecdote from 1977. I was doing A levels in Karachi. It has already been established that my attempted A levels did not turn out to be my proudest moment. My best friend's dad had a 1960 MB 180D Pontoon. It was decided that my old Jag (at the time it was my father's old Jag) and the 180D were to be pitted against each other in a drag race to find out which was the "slower". We thought that the Jag's blistering 0-60 time of 25 sec made it a good match to the 180D. In those days the Boat Basin road had sparse traffic and was straight enough to get these two up to a decent speed. So the scene was set to "race" these two hot rods:). With our four point harnesses securing us to our seats, adorned with our racing goggles and safety helmets we set the cars against each other. By the time I shifted the Jag into 3rd (using the racing technique of double de-clutching at every shift), the 180D was about three car lengths behind and by the time I crossed 40mph, I developed a fuel starvation problem which caused me to retire and pull over while the 180D gracefully sailed by. Race results: Top speed attained 40mph. Time from start to finish: 2.5 min. Conclusion? Yes, the old 180D, 190D and the newer 200D and 240D were slow but they just went on for ever and ever.

Who says life is no fun in the slow lane?

[VEEeight]

Time for me to butt in with a short anecdote from 1977. I was doing A levels in Karachi. It has already been established that my attempted A levels did not turn out to be my proudest moment. My best friend's dad had a 1960 MB 180D Pontoon. It was decided that my old Jag (at the time it was my father's old Jag) and the 180D were to be pitted against each other in a drag race to find out which was the "slower". We thought that the Jag's blistering 0-60 time of 25 sec made it a good match to the 180D. In those days the Boat Basin road had sparse traffic and was straight enough to get these two up to a decent speed. So the scene was set to "race" these two hot rods:). With our four point harnesses securing us to our seats, adorned with our racing goggles and safety helmets we set the cars against each other. By the time I shifted the Jag into 3rd (using the racing technique of double de-clutching at every shift), the 180D was about three car lengths behind and by the time I crossed 40mph, I developed a fuel starvation problem which caused me to retire and pull over while the 180D gracefully sailed by. Race results: Top speed attained 40mph. Time from start to finish: 2.5 min. Conclusion? Yes, the old 180D, 190D and the newer 200D and 240D were slow but they just went on for ever and ever.

Who says life is no fun in the slow lane?

All I can add to this is that you seem to have accepted "defeat" most graciously What the hell!!! You after all WERE in a jaguar motorcar, the epitome of automotive grace.

[msabbasi]

All I can add to this is that you seem to have accepted "defeat" most graciously What the hell!!! You after all WERE in a jaguar motorcar, the epitome of automotive grace.

.....but not much pace:)

[Xulfiqar]

you want to know slow?? try a 240D automatic with A/C on loaded with 5 people and luggage in the boot and roof climbing a gradient with a mistimed pump.

sillowww,, ZZZZzzzzzz (snore) - you get beat by a fat jogger - the jogger may give up at the next quarter mile but the little 240D will drive around the world without shutting the engine off, hail or storm, rain or shine, war or peace. Its the story of a little 240D that could. I have even towed an old stuck rangie with an old 300D turbo LHD W123.

Lets see a mehran do that.

[Xulfiqar]

.....but not much pace:)

old jags were mostly about looks because the AA was very efficient in UK, the germans followed the notion of 've mek a vehikul to run evun in du midst of aafrika' - hence it will even run with minimum requirement. e.g. the 1995 E300D that I have has the old vacuum engine shutoff - its 1995 for crying out loud.

I once made a anti theft device for it - it was a vacuum tee with a switching tap - just flip the tap and all vacuum is rerouted back to the shut off valve - you can then do whatever you want, that engine wont start unless you know how mercedes vacuum system work.

[VEEeight]

.....but not much pace:)

Taking into account the issues with the gearbox, better not say anything about "space"
hope today will bring you good luck and success!

[VEEeight]

you want to know slow?? try a 240D automatic with A/C on loaded with 5 people and luggage in the boot and roof climbing a gradient with a mistimed pump.

sillowww,, ZZZZzzzzzz (snore) - you get beat by a fat jogger - the jogger may give up at the next quarter mile but the little 240D will drive around the world without shutting the engine off, hail or storm, rain or shine, war or peace. Its the story of a little 240D that could. I have even towed an old stuck rangie with an old 300D turbo LHD W123.

Lets see a mehran do that.

Interesting that u talk about the 300D. I had a W116 with this engine 20 years ago, mated to the original 4 sp manual gbox and it could tear down walls with the available torque !!!! it sorely needed a 5th gear but in those days they were relatively hard to come by.

Perhsos it's an unfair comparison bec no merc was able to do what the mehran and the fx were able to, which was basically to put Pakistan on wheels I am going to put the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons by going one step further and saying they drove much better than the old minis..........! What say you?