Rear suspension paint job

rear trailing arms prepped and ready for paint

detail showing weld on center area. Great welding done by neighbor Paul

paint on trailing arms

painting on POR 15 rust inhibitor

finished paint job on rear sub-frame

Rear end suspension disassembly

axle support during trailing arm removal

rear trailing arm off

axle shaft end

trailing arm inner connection

trailing arm outer connection

rubber sub-frame mount removed

axle connecting bolt

trailing arm connections to sub-frame

rear drive shaft flex disk

differential propeller connection

drive shaft connection to differential


looking toward front with gas tank and rear suspension out

gas tank

driveshaft
rear suspension
axle and rear trailing control arm

rear torsion bar connector

Interior Tear-out

30 years of debris

deteriorated horse hair padding

History and Details

Mercedes Benz Factory Unterturkheim/Stuttgart 1968

We have had this Mercedes Benz 230 since 1993 and Teresa drove it everyday to Hallmark for 8 years with very little trouble. In 2001 we decided to get a new car since the old Benz began to have carburetor issues. It turned out that the carburetor was a Stromberg side draft version with a vertical piston that operates on barometric pressure. This meant that it needed adjusting every six months or so. So, due to all that we decided to park it. It remained parked for about 6 years. The first thing I did to see if it was even worth restoring was to get a new carburetor, which I had to research on and off for about 2 years to find a viable solution. I finally put together enough data to order a new Weber 2 barrel down draft carburetor made in Italy. If you are familiar with vintage European cars this seems to be a pretty standard way to go. Luckily for the old Benz this was the right fit and it sprang back to life with new vigor. I drove it on and off for a year then had a Mercedes shop go over it and discovered that to be road worthy and a daily driver it needed a complete suspension overhaul and would cost about 5K. So, of course it was parked for about another 2 years until we saved up enough to cover the parts so I could do the work myself. Now the story of the restoration truly begins and with any luck I can get the car back on the road for another 30 years or so, unless gasoline is outlawed in the meantime...

The German Werk-Stadt, simply means workshop and the /8 is an inside term used by Mercedes to describe the 1968 model change. The model line continued until 1976, but /8 still refers to the official 115 model and was Mercedes answer to an affordable car, however, it still cost much more than nearly any car built in America at the time. This particular model is loved by German Mercedes fans and has car clubs based on this model. I will provide some links later.

Please watch this blog over the next few months to see if I actually can get this car back on the road...

Original Condition