About originality of "stock" aircon systems on Pagodas

[GGR]

Hi all,

My 280SL came with what I thought was stock aircon. but I then read that these systems were fitted by the dealers, not by MB at the factory. I'm wondering what was involved exactly. Did the dealer replace the front suspension springs and/or pads to compensate for the additional weight in the front?

How original is a 280SL fitted with an aircon system by the dealer ?

How original is now my 280 SL with the dealer aircon system removed ?

Thanks for all comments !

[JamesL]

Excellent question

I was told that all UK cars were shipped without radios. In the UK, the radios were a dealer option and when added were mostly NOT Becker units (Motorola, IIRC). You'd think there's be a glut of blanking plates somewhere

[Shvegel]

As long as the removal was done sympathetically it should't effect value since there will be no documentation from MB nor a notation on the datacard.  I have the Frigiking manual for the installation and there is no mention of stiffer springs etc.

 

[GGR]

My car is sitting a bit higher in the front now. I measured the diameter of the front spring wire and it is the same as the one on the sedans, when if I remember well the Pagoda's should be a bit smaller according to the BBB. I wonder if they fitted some W108 front springs ?

I also have these two holes in the firewall for the aircon hoses now. They may "diappear" with a new pad, which would be a shame as mine is in very good original condition.

[66andBlue]

... I also have these two holes in the firewall for the aircon hoses now. They may "diappear" with a new pad, which would be a shame as mine is in very good original condition.

If its is in very god condition then I would not remove it. Rather ask for remnants of old pads that are being removed and cut out two disks to fill the holes.

[GGR]

If its is in very god condition then I would not remove it. Rather ask for remnants of old pads that are being removed and cut out two disks to fill the holes.

That's a very good suggestion.

[hank sound]

Hi GGR,

Did you remove the A/C, or did you buy your Pagoda already minus the A/C? 

Cheers, Hank

[GGR]

I did remove the A/C, I'm not a fan of A/C in general, and even less of the system that was installed.

[GGR]

Another question. MB factory fitted with aircon came with additional thermic insulation. I remember my 6.3 had that aluminum foil looking insulation in addition to the rest (my W108 3.5 did not have it).

My pagoda has that aluminised insulation under the carpets. Is it standard on all '71 280SLs? Or did the dealers went all the way up to addding additional insulation to be on par with sedans originally fitted with aircon?

[49er]

Excellent question

I was told that all UK cars were shipped without radios. In the UK, the radios were a dealer option and when added were mostly NOT Becker units (Motorola, IIRC). You'd think there's be a glut of blanking plates somewhere

That was true here in the states as well. Dealer installed the radios and antennas. When I traded in my 250SL for my 280SL, I kept the radio and installed it in the 280 myself (the radio static suppression gear was factory installed). I was lucky that they left the 250's radio blank plate in the car and drilling the hole in the 280's fender for the antenna brought a bit of perspiration to the brow:-) BTW, the radio, a Blaupunkt "Frankfurt" AM/FM/SW was $170 which was a fair piece of change back then. I am also happy to say that radio still works and, if the weather is just right, can even still pick up a German SW station once in a while:-)

And GGR, not sure about the 71's but the 69's just came with a "waffle" pattern jute type underlayment.

John

[Tom Colitt]

GGR

The air conditioning was always installed by the dealer, but the 70 and 71 cars were already fitted with that aluminum insulation material on the floor boards (which weren't actually made of board :-)... The 108 springs are correct for your car. I think Mercedes anticipated a large amount of these cars would be fitted with dealer installed (factory authorized) AC systems and if you look at the spring charts in the BBB you'll find that the stiffer springs were separated by groups of additional weight, like automatic transmission, hard top, AC, etc...., so it didn't matter too much if the car ended up without the AC.

You wouldn't believe how many differences I've seen in the way the dealers followed the MB/ Frigiking instructions for installation. Some (not few...) even went so far as to hack saw (torch cut) out the baffle plate for the air cleaner housing to make more room for the AC compressor installation and servicing. All in all, these AC systems were quite a nuisance and detriment to the life of various components inside the Pagoda although they could be made to work satisfactorily if you take your time. You certainly won't lose any value by removing it and keeping the parts for the next owner and Alfred's suggestion of plugging up the holes would work very well if this is a very nice, original car....

[Iconic]

The air conditioning was always installed by the dealer, but the 70 and 71 cars were already fitted with that aluminum insulation material on the floor boards (

Thank you Tom for that piece of information.
I hadn't read that yet and I've been wondering about my aluminum insulation. It has nice factory looking features like a round hole for the snap, so I was thinking it was from the factory. It is nicely tailored to fit. It doesn't look like someone like me fitted it.
As you know, my car is an early '70. It never had a/c.

[69280sl]

I have been told, altho I don't remember by whom, that A/C was also added at the ports of entry by specialty firms. A high volume dealer would probably prefer this. All the vendor did was A/C installations so they probably had an economy of scale that the dealer couldn't achieve in his back room.

Gus

[Tom Colitt]

Hi Gus

I could easily believe that there were vendors like this. The butchered installations then, were probably done by some dealer with little experience as a last minute rush job....

Mark

Yes, I remember your "unusual 1970". I still need to do that write-up on the unusual combination of features your car had and that idle speed control....:-)

P.S. I still have that factory installation material with self-adhesive, brand new. Never used it on my car.