Heckflosse rescue

[Bad Benzo]

A few years ago, I was riding my bicycle on an old rail bed when I discovered a pair of heckflossen at a hack mechanic near my house. They were complete and in decent condition overall. One was a 220S and the other was a two tone Euro 220SE with a sunroof and column shift 4 speed manual. I chatted with the mechanic and said, "if the owner wants to sell one after the repairs were done to the other, I would like to buy the donor car." I never got a call and both cars disappeared. Since then, I saw them disappear and reappear at several locations across the city, but I didn't meet the owner until recently.

Through a tip from a mutual friend, I learned that one or both of the cars would be for sale in the near future. I saw the pair at a new location near a building where I work, so I stopped by to take a look. I was intercepted by the owner, I introduced myself and we chatted for quite some time. He explained that a series of local shops did poor quality repairs to the 220SE, and the 220S was cannibalized in part to restore the 220SE. The straw that broke the camel's back was that a tow truck driver lost the key to the 220SE, and it was left on the grass in front of his cafe.

I expressed my sincere interest in the cars and he offered me the pair at a great price if I could get them out quickly. (Upstate NY winter is coming!) The 220SE runs, but is missing the key and needs brake work. The 220S has a seized engine and is partially stripped, however, the parts are in storage and the body is surprisingly not rusty. A significant amount of spare parts to restore both cars was included in the sale.

Yesterday afternoon, with the help of the seller and a friend, I dragged the 220SE to temporary storage. I will return later in the week to gather the spare parts and the 220S once my storage spot is ready.

My plan is to sympathetically restore the 220SE to be a fair weather daily driver, and I'm playing with some ideas to make the best use out of the 220S. I'm not 100% sure that it is viable at this point, but I am toying with the idea of building some kind of restomod or a partially stripped road rally car using some of the parts I've salvaged from other Mercedes-Benz cars.

A heckflosse is something I've wanted for quite some time, and to have a pair of heckflossen is certainly a real treat. These two will be great stablemates to my W116 280SE and W124 300E AMG.

[Bad Benzo]

Jeez, I can't figure out why the forum won't take these photos as attachments, they're below the max file size and pixel dimensions. Let me try hosting them externally:

[Idle]

If the 220s has an ignition key you can swap the ignition into the se. You could also swap out the door and trunk locks.

The ignition lock is a time consuming swap but is not difficult. The door locks would involve removing the door cards to get at the door handles. Again, not hard but time consuming.

The tough part about having a key made for the SE is finding blank keys. They are available but it will usually take a week or so to get one.

[Idle]

And....

If you removed the ignition lock you will find a key code printed on it that allows you to make a new key. The problem here is I don't know of any locksmith that still has the codes to cut a new key.

I have taken the ignition switch from a 111 to a locksmith and after a few weeks they were able to find a blank and cut a new key from the lock pin pattern. This is a skill that fewer and fewer locksmiths have so try and find some place that has been in business for a long time and will have a real pro on the staff.

[aluminum]

I have had Many Keys made by Impression
Takes about 15 mins , does the door lock have the code also ?

[Phil_F_NM]

Last time I had a W115 key cut from Greenwich Locksmith in NYC, the owner said he had or could find blanks for most Mercedes Benz cars going back to the 50s.
Every time I go into the city, I think about having another spare for my 220D cut but I always seem to forget my master key to make the cut from.
Can't find anyone here in Philly who can do it.

Phil Forrest

[cth350]

Originally Posted by aluminum

I have had Many Keys made by Impression
Takes about 15 mins , does the door lock have the code also ?

Door lock and glovebox lock should all have the code on it, as does the original data card.

-CTH

[aluminum]

Originally Posted by cth350

Door lock and glovebox lock should all have the code on it, as does the original data card.

-CTH

That's what I was thinking also > so all that's needs be done is find a quality
Key shop > they are around I know for sure

Not sure where this Car is tho ? lol simple make from the code unless of course the Ing switch has been changed allready

[benzfan109]

The 111 cars had three (3) different keys. One for the doors, one for the trunk and one for the ignition - all different keyways. The easy way out is to obtain the ignition key code from the data card and have a locksmith cut a key to that code. Blanks are available as well as the cutting service on line. I think the last one I had done was by Rfurtado1 on eBay. It worked great and costs were very reasonable.

Tom

[Bad Benzo]

Originally Posted by Idle

If the 220s has an ignition key you can swap the ignition into the se. You could also swap out the door and trunk locks.

The ignition lock is a time consuming swap but is not difficult. The door locks would involve removing the door cards to get at the door handles. Again, not hard but time consuming.

The tough part about having a key made for the SE is finding blank keys. They are available but it will usually take a week or so to get one.

At some point this winter, I will be pulling the dash out for a full restoration, so it wouldn't be as arduous as a straight R&R job.

The funny thing is the 220SE already has the doors and trunk from the 220S, so if I just swapped over the glove box and ignition, I'd be all set, although it would never be correct to the data card. Do I care? Not really, but I'm trying to decide now what to do with the 220S right now. It was stored indoors for about 45 years, so the body has minimal rust and the red interior is near mint. I dragged the 220S into storage yesterday and I think I really could do something cool with it. Then again, I could easily part it out and pay for whatever the 220SE needs, plus salvage any body panels for any future repairs should I need them.

[Bad Benzo]

Originally Posted by Phil_F_NM

Last time I had a W115 key cut from Greenwich Locksmith in NYC, the owner said he had or could find blanks for most Mercedes Benz cars going back to the 50s.
Every time I go into the city, I think about having another spare for my 220D cut but I always seem to forget my master key to make the cut from.
Can't find anyone here in Philly who can do it.

Phil Forrest

I have a great local locksmith who cuts my classic car keys, plus I have ordered keys from the M-B Classic Center before. I just need to find the data card if it is buried in the car somewhere, or just order one from the Classic Center; I hear they are charging $150 for this service now.

[meltedpanda]

Those are beauty’s. Good luck on your journey. I’ve taken a 62 down to nuts and bolts and back again. Loved that car
I would think MB dealer with a VIN and ownership document could get a key made. Had that done a long time ago. Not sure that is still an option

[Bad Benzo]

I spent some time this weekend cleaning up the 220SE and transferring parts from the 220S. The 220SE has a very nice Euro beige cloth interior that is near mint. The original owner had it covered with custom vinyl covers from new, so it's really well preserved. It even has an armrest and center seat cushion for the front!

As much as I love it, I just know it would get dirty or damaged under my ownership. Historically, I have very good results with maintaining leather and vinyl long term, but between my lifestyle and my new dog, I know that cloth is going to be too delicate. I need something that is durable and easy to clean, therefore I am in the process of swapping the rest of the red MB-Tex from the 220S into the 220SE. The MB-Tex was heavily soiled, but cleaned up well with a terry cloth and some 3M TB Quat disinfectant spray.

The cloth interior will be for sale once I rearrange my garage and can lay everything out real tidy for photos. As much as I'd love to keep it, I could really use the funds to help push this restoration along and hopefully make someone else's dream car a reality. I know that reproductions of these cloth interiors are NLA at the moment, so perhaps it has some real value.

Progress will slow down a bit as we enter our winter here on the shores of Lake Ontario, but I'm pushing to do as much as I can before it gets deeper into the season. I'd really like to sort out the brakes and suspension soon. Sadly, I can't work outside with the same frequency I did last month, it's just too cold to be out there for more than an hour or two.

[Bad Benzo]

I went out this afternoon to finish swapping the interior. As much as I would love to keep it with the original cloth, or even the golden yellow seat covers, the red interior cleaned up so nice. I am really thrilled with how it looks already.

[cth350]

I spent about an hour last week with an old locksmith getting a key fixed for my 2006 Honda. He's got the right stuff to get a key made based on just the key code along with some proof of ownership.

If you'd like to give him a try, send me an email and I'll give you his contact info.
-CTH