Author Topic: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?  (Read 15193 times)

mrfatboy

  • Associate Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, CA, Rancho Santa Fe
  • Posts: 1339
    • Mrfatboy
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #25 on: February 23, 2020, 22:07:39 »
Does anybody know what the Black Dot is indicating in the upper left corner of a data card means?  I have seen data cards with and without it.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2020, 01:44:28 by mrfatboy »
1969 280sl (Aug 1968 build)
Signal Red
4 Speed

dirkbalter

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, CA, Corona
  • Posts: 1371
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #26 on: February 24, 2020, 15:49:20 »
I also got my data cards from alpina. Great quality, love them.
Dirk
66 230 SL
70 280 SEL
53 CHEVY 3100
18 C300 COUPE
05 HD FLSTNI

114015

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • Germany, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Tecklenburg
  • Posts: 2075
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #27 on: February 25, 2020, 00:21:31 »


One little hint, Gentlemen....,
it is "Schicht-Nr." ... not "Schlcht-Nr."
and means as much as "(work-)shift number"

Rgds,
A.
Achim
(Germany)

114015

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • Germany, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Tecklenburg
  • Posts: 2075
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #28 on: February 25, 2020, 00:45:22 »
Quote
I would like to make It clear, I am not professing to be an expert in Data cards. All I can comment on is what
I have seen and collected for my own purposes. I do believe that the 230 had many different style cards.
These cards were numbered up to 5.
I have no idea if these are copy cards or cards supplied with the car. They just exist. I have no interest in the
Reasons why. Everyone is entitled to believe whatever they want.



Oh no no,  no
I did not anyhow criticize you or your work, Alpina,
that was  not the point of my request.
You are doing an excellent piece of work here, absolutely no discussion.

This was not a critique, I just wanted to learn and understand
mainly how many copies of datacards naturally existed on a 230 SL.
You say up to five, and the same would hold true for the 280 SL, correct?

Now I have got another couple of questions - to all of you.
Again, not to complain but to discuss, and because I am just curious - after collecting knowledge on datacards for about 30 years, there are still many questions open...

1) Ralph has got physically 4 copies he presented here, yellow cards 1 and 3, and additionally no. 2 that is supposingly somewhere (most likely in the owners manual or the service manual - at least that's where I found some...  :D )
.. and two pink ones.
That makes five in total.
And then there is the "sixth" one - no. 4 coming from the Daimler archive.

So my question 1) is,
are you the only Gentleman with 6 datacards in total,
or are there more members out...?

I have never seen anyone before you, Ralph, who owned that many datacards - 6 in total.
Or with other words, could it be that your both pink ones are completely identical,
which should not usually be the case - and you received only _two_ copies of the pink ones because you are such a nice guy...,
and all the other 280 owners have only got one pink one...?

Please, ist this possibly the case?

2nd Q:
Was there ever a 230 SL delivered ex-factory with 3 data cards...
We were assuming so (2 yellow and one pink or white one) or were there probably only two delivered to the customer?
I just don't know for sure, that's why I am asking.
Does anybody actually have three cards - among the 230 owners?
With very original cars?
Like Mike Hughes, MBPaul (who is even 1st owner) or Michael Benett (MichaelB) who once oned a beautiful all-original 230 SL ?

I am just curious and asking and learning,
before I also order my 1st set of complete and all-original looking datacards.

Looking very much forward to your responses...


Best,
Achim

Achim
(Germany)

49er

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, CA, El Dorado Hills
  • Posts: 1411
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #29 on: February 25, 2020, 01:32:14 »
Only 1 pink card came with mine which was unfortunately lost during the cars “awakening” 10 years ago. I, like others, have printed the copy that I got from Tom Hanson on pink card stock.

John
1969 280SL 003820
Un Restored, All Original, including the paint
Original Owner, Purchased September 18, 1968
4 speed manual, PS. 77217 miles
7280 miles since awoken from her 20+ yr "nap" in 2010

mrfatboy

  • Associate Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, CA, Rancho Santa Fe
  • Posts: 1339
    • Mrfatboy
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #30 on: February 25, 2020, 01:39:39 »


One little hint, Gentlemen....,
it is "Schicht-Nr." ... not "Schlcht-Nr."
and means as much as "(work-)shift number"

Rgds,
A.



66andblue caught this typo just after I posted.  That was an easy fix.

Now to the hard question.  What does that "Z" mean? 🤣
1969 280sl (Aug 1968 build)
Signal Red
4 Speed

neelyrc

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, AL, Birmingham
  • Posts: 1205
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #31 on: February 25, 2020, 03:09:13 »
Only 1 pink card came with mine which was unfortunately lost during the cars “awakening” 10 years ago. I, like others, have printed the copy that I got from Tom Hanson on pink card stock.

John

John, out of curiosity, if you don’t mind sharing, what bold number (1,2,3, 4, etc.) is printed on your Classic Center card at the right hand margin?
Ralph

1969 280SL, 4 Speed Manual, Dark Olive (291H), Parchment Leather (256), Dark Green Soft Top (747)
1972 Mercedes-Benz 280SEL 4.5
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SL
2007 BMW 328xi (E90)
Italy
2004 Toyota HiLux D4D Pickup
2008 BMW 330xd Futura Coupe' (E92)

mdsalemi

  • Pagoda SL Board
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, NC, Davidson
  • Posts: 6653
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #32 on: February 25, 2020, 15:21:32 »
Mine was an awful "copy" too, that I got from the CC when they gave them out free. One of the reasons why it's awful is I don't think it is a copy of an original, it is a print off of a bad microfiche...no copy machine ever made such a bad print, but off of a microfiche? Sure. I believe that.

For you youngsters out there, microfiche is basically film storage "analog" copies of paper originals...

I heard the San Diego crowd was discussing this and JonnyB asked if I had one so I sent my original bad TIFF file I got from the CC. To what end the SD crowd is working this, I don't know...
Michael Salemi
Davidson, North Carolina (Charlotte Area) USA
1969 280SL (USA-Spec)
Signal Red 568G w/Black Leather (Restored)
2023 Ford Maverick Lariat Hybrid "Area 51"
2022 Ford Escape Hybrid
2023 Ford Escape Hybrid

49er

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, CA, El Dorado Hills
  • Posts: 1411
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #33 on: February 25, 2020, 16:24:41 »
John, out of curiosity, if you don’t mind sharing, what bold number (1,2,3, 4, etc.) is printed on your Classic Center card at the right hand margin?
Ralph, the copy I received was a "No. 1" card. It wasn't until I came upon this thread started by alpinaltd, that I found out all these other cards existed. Like I said earlier, I printed it on pink card stock and for me, it is close enough too the original card that was lost. :(

John
« Last Edit: February 25, 2020, 18:15:37 by 49er »
1969 280SL 003820
Un Restored, All Original, including the paint
Original Owner, Purchased September 18, 1968
4 speed manual, PS. 77217 miles
7280 miles since awoken from her 20+ yr "nap" in 2010

neelyrc

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, AL, Birmingham
  • Posts: 1205
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #34 on: February 26, 2020, 04:49:15 »
Thanks John, you have the data which is what really counts! :)
Ralph

1969 280SL, 4 Speed Manual, Dark Olive (291H), Parchment Leather (256), Dark Green Soft Top (747)
1972 Mercedes-Benz 280SEL 4.5
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SL
2007 BMW 328xi (E90)
Italy
2004 Toyota HiLux D4D Pickup
2008 BMW 330xd Futura Coupe' (E92)

alpina

  • Vendor
  • Silver
  • ****
  • Spain, Asturias, Villaviciosa
  • Posts: 275
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #35 on: February 28, 2020, 22:01:48 »
John's Data card now looking as good as new :)

49er

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, CA, El Dorado Hills
  • Posts: 1411
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #36 on: February 29, 2020, 00:24:24 »
 Thanks to alpinaltd, I now have a complete set of cards including the correct color pink one. As others have said, they really look amazing.

John
1969 280SL 003820
Un Restored, All Original, including the paint
Original Owner, Purchased September 18, 1968
4 speed manual, PS. 77217 miles
7280 miles since awoken from her 20+ yr "nap" in 2010

neelyrc

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, AL, Birmingham
  • Posts: 1205
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #37 on: March 02, 2020, 04:46:40 »

............
1) Ralph has got physically 4 copies he presented here, yellow cards 1 and 3, and additionally no. 2 that is supposingly somewhere (most likely in the owners manual or the service manual - at least that's where I found some...  :D )
.. and two pink ones.
That makes five in total.
And then there is the "sixth" one - no. 4 coming from the Daimler archive.

So my question 1) is,
are you the only Gentleman with 6 datacards in total,
or are there more members out...?

I have never seen anyone before you, Ralph, who owned that many datacards - 6 in total.
Or with other words, could it be that your both pink ones are completely identical,
which should not usually be the case - and you received only _two_ copies of the pink ones because you are such a nice guy...,
and all the other 280 owners have only got one pink one...?

Please, ist this possibly the case?..........

Achim, I searched through the manuals and even paged through my BBB thinking that the elusive Nr. 2 card might have been used there for a book mark.  No luck yet.  Still looking!

As you can see from the images I posted, the 2 pink cards are identical, that is if you discount the fact that the ink smudges are a little different!  The quality of the printing on the pink cards is of a lesser quality than the others.  The chopped off numbers at the bottom even appear to be identical.

???????
Ralph

1969 280SL, 4 Speed Manual, Dark Olive (291H), Parchment Leather (256), Dark Green Soft Top (747)
1972 Mercedes-Benz 280SEL 4.5
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SL
2007 BMW 328xi (E90)
Italy
2004 Toyota HiLux D4D Pickup
2008 BMW 330xd Futura Coupe' (E92)

neelyrc

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, AL, Birmingham
  • Posts: 1205
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #38 on: March 02, 2020, 05:15:03 »
John's Data card now looking as good as new :)

DM
I noticed that the Nr. 2 card you prepared for John includes red lettering in the box in the lower right hand corner.  Is the use of red lettering in this box based on an original Nr. 2 card you have?

The images of the cards you have prepared and posted are really excellent. Congratulations on the great work.👏👏

Ralph

1969 280SL, 4 Speed Manual, Dark Olive (291H), Parchment Leather (256), Dark Green Soft Top (747)
1972 Mercedes-Benz 280SEL 4.5
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SL
2007 BMW 328xi (E90)
Italy
2004 Toyota HiLux D4D Pickup
2008 BMW 330xd Futura Coupe' (E92)

alpina

  • Vendor
  • Silver
  • ****
  • Spain, Asturias, Villaviciosa
  • Posts: 275
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #39 on: March 02, 2020, 10:29:29 »
Hi Ralph,
Thank you for your kind words.
Yes the red lettering is correct based on the reference cards I have. You can see some of my other recreations here https://www.facebook.com/W113Datacards/
It would seem it is not only me who is disappointed with the photocopy they received from MB. I just took the time (a long time at that) to do something about improving
my Data card.

best regards
DM.

Chris Long

  • Full Member
  • Senior
  • ***
  • USA, NJ, Morristown
  • Posts: 172
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #40 on: March 02, 2020, 20:03:38 »
Just want to say that you for the ones you just produced for me.

Ultra responsive and look great. Thx
1970 280sl 4-Speed Horizon Blue

wwheeler

  • Vendor
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, TX, Dallas
  • Posts: 2862
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #41 on: March 03, 2020, 23:10:52 »
alpinaltd just did a set for my W111. I printed them out double sided on card stock and they look great! What a fantastic idea!

Thanks.
Wallace
Texas
'68 280SE W111 coupe
'60 220SE W128 coupe
'70 Plymouth Roadrunner 440+6

114015

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • Germany, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Tecklenburg
  • Posts: 2075
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #42 on: March 06, 2020, 12:33:28 »
Quote
Now to the hard question.  What does that "Z" mean?

Mrfatboy,

Unfortunately, I also don't know what the (silly) "Z" with the little dot underneath means... ???
Have seen that as well numerous times
but haven't got any explanatioin for that yet.  ::)

Maybe Manfred Luft knows ... I can ask him.

Achim

Achim
(Germany)

TJMart

  • Full Member
  • Silver
  • ****
  • USA, NC, Matthews
  • Posts: 323
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #43 on: March 10, 2020, 20:37:51 »
DM also did a set of cards for me. Fantastic !!
Tony
1970 280SL, 4 Speed

Shvegel

  • Associate Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, OH, Cleveland Heights
  • Posts: 2978
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #44 on: August 13, 2020, 23:41:19 »
I have dealt with alpinaltd over the past couple of weeks.  I find him to be very responsive and willing to help whenever possible.  I deal with many contractors and deal in dollar amounts far higher that we are dealing with here.  Having someone who cares about what they are doing is rare and frankly very refreshing.  I tried to print my own cards on a lazer printer but my printer didn’t like the 100# cover stock I was using and kept slipping register.  Alpinaltd was kind enough to add a little material at the margins so I could try and get it To print.  Unfortunately, the 100# paper was still too heavy but I switched to 80# cover stock and it printed flawlessly.

mrfatboy

  • Associate Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, CA, Rancho Santa Fe
  • Posts: 1339
    • Mrfatboy
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #45 on: August 13, 2020, 23:53:37 »
If you want the 100# stock you can go to Fedex Office or similar. You can also print out the pink cards. Just bring the pdf with you and they will do everything else. Even cut them if you like 😀
1969 280sl (Aug 1968 build)
Signal Red
4 Speed

wwheeler

  • Vendor
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, TX, Dallas
  • Posts: 2862
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #46 on: August 14, 2020, 14:55:44 »
I did the Fed-ex route and they made several copies until the borders match perfectly front to back. It was all of $6 or so. Bargain of the century! I also agree with everything Shvegal said.
Wallace
Texas
'68 280SE W111 coupe
'60 220SE W128 coupe
'70 Plymouth Roadrunner 440+6

Shvegel

  • Associate Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, OH, Cleveland Heights
  • Posts: 2978
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #47 on: August 14, 2020, 19:59:20 »
As someone who’s father used to bring home boxes of IBM punch cards for his children to play with I actually think the 80# card stock is actually a better match for the original weight.

White Thick Paper Cardstock - for... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RU6IGAS?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Norm

  • Full Member
  • Silver
  • ****
  • USA, TX, Wimberley
  • Posts: 315
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #48 on: August 14, 2020, 21:00:18 »
Another satisfied client :)

Thank you DM

Norm
Norm
1966 230SL 162H Blue-Grey
1994 Acura NSX Formula Red
2024 Acura RDX A-Spec, White Pearl
2016 Mercedes S63 AMG Coupe Obsidian Black
2011 Harley Davidson Super Glide Light / Dark Root Beer

MikeSimon

  • Full Member
  • Platinum
  • ******
  • USA, OH, North Royalton
  • Posts: 2392
Re: Data Card – Disappointed with the photocopy from MB ?
« Reply #49 on: August 15, 2020, 11:53:11 »
Very interesting post. I always had one original data card for my 1971 280SL with the paperwork. The other day, I looked through all the stuff and discovered that someone had taped a second card, with the key-numbers punched out, to the inside of the original maintenance booklet. So, I have 1 and 2. Never had or saw a pink card.
1970/71 280SL Automatic
Sandy Beige
Parchment Leather
Power Steering
Automatic
Hardtop
Heated Tinted Rear Window
German specs
3rd owner