1978 Mercedes-Benz 400-Series 450 SEL AMG

[motec 6.9]

Hi Mark Dan is the maker of the extracors in the state's told me he only sold about 5 sets still has tools to make more and yes they will not fit RHD this is Dan's car http://www.nast-sonderfahrzeuge.de/...try.php?id=10672&page=0&order=time&category=0 . By the way i am the only person i know of with RHD extractors for a 6.9 http://www.topklasse.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2884

 

[MB_Mike]

To Styria,

I am simply speculating here, but I think that the speedo my have been replaced with a 450 unit at the time of Federalization. Meaning, when the home market 6.9 was brought to the States, they would have removed the KM/h unit for a M/h one. In many cases they used what was available.

My home market 560 SEL has a speedo from a 500/420 and I just recently found a Km/h 560 unit to replace it with.

My point is if someone is considering purchasing this car they should pay for an independant inspection and perhaps request the cluster to be pulled to look for importer markings. This would help to confirm the 450 unit is 'original' in terms of verifying mileage.

On a personal note, I like the car

 

[Michel]

For the price, it is a bargain in AMG terms.

Pity it wasn't closer... even on ther West Coast.

I'm sure whoever gets it will enjoy the rarity.

 

[Styria]

Hi MB MIke, I hate to say it, but to replace the speedo is no more than half an hour's work, so really anything goes. There had to be a reason why the 450 speedometer was fitted. If, for instance, the original unit broke, the car itself should have been valuable enough to spend money on securing the appropriate replacement unit. I don't know if I have said it already, or maybe somewhere else another time, but the 450 unit will read 20% slow. That's a considerable discrepancy. Anyway, someone on the M100 site has indicated that the car has been withdrawn from the listing. Regards Styria

 

[Oversize]

I checked the M-100 site and it appears someone there has bought the car. I can't see why a broken speedo head couldn't be fixed easily and cheaply. Particularly if it was a rare unit with the AMG logo and 300kmh limit. Replacing it with something else doesn't make sence, unless time was a factor, or they were doing something dodgy. Combined with the missing books, the latter appears to be the case.

Styria are the internals of the speedo heads different?? Or is it just the screen printed facia? If it's just the facia, the original one could've been easily transferred to a 450 unit, of which there are plenty available. Honest people would then get the speedo repairer to match the original odometer reading with the replacement. Really you'd only bother if the original was completely ruined and beyond repair.

Although unlikely, maybe they swapped the original km facia with a 450 unit that included mph (for the USA)? Giving the PO the benefit of the doubt, you could say that in a hurry (?) they didn't notice the max speed was different (?) and they didn't understand that the calibration would be effected (?).

On face (!) value all the evidence points to a non-gen speedo head with an odometer reading far less than actual. Call me cynical, but it did seem convenient that the main pic of the dash was blurred and the close-up of the speedo was cut off at the bottom and tended to focus on the 'low' odometer reading....

 

[Oversize]

Hi Mark Dan is the maker of the extracors in the state's told me he only sold about 5 sets still has tools to make more and yes they will not fit RHD this is Dan's car http://www.nast-sonderfahrzeuge.de/...try.php?id=10672&page=0&order=time&category=0 . By the way i am the only person i know of with RHD extractors for a 6.9 http://www.topklasse.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2884

Well we can't have you being the only one with a set!!! If I have to pull the engine in Red Bull due to oil leaks, I might just do it!!!

 

[Tony66_au]

I've had experience with extractors made for LHD cars being bought for RHD cars and its a pain in the bum and usually we ended up having one side custom made off the original we bought.