A potential offer to anyone interested
Hi,
I own 2 Gwagens a LHD LWB 280ge and a RHD SWB 280ge. Now I was thinking (wanted to gauge interest ) would anyone be interested in taking the 2 Gwagens away and stripping the LHD one right down to the chassis and essential repairing issues and checking it completely over (like you see alot on these forums) and in exchange the person can have the SWB one.
They both work fine and run OK. If anyones interested let me know :)
Its only an idea. I was thinking of selling the gwagens but realised that the LHD I've owned for 25 years has never let me down one and you don't get that with many cars at all!
Let me know any thoughts :)
Kind Regards
Joe
Hi Joe
Thats a fair project
You need to expand more on the deal. eg pics of the trophy and pics of the work needed
How bad is the lhd g and how good is the rhd g
it doesn't look catastrophic to me why don't you get a price from a body shop; I'd have thought the black ge280 with recaros would be worth much more than the cost of the repairs
routine and regular maintenance should take care of the rest, chassis rot in the UK is almost unheard of but worth checking as yours is a left hooker, I'm not sure about the interior though, that does need fixing
Ask your nearest Merc specialist for the cost of a thorough service the engine & gearbox are from a Maercedes w123, the brakes from a Sprinter . Befriend them; they might recommend a decent bodyshop too. Check for corrosion on the top of the fuel tank, check your exhaust, if these need replacing I'd go side exit forget going over the tank and discard the heat shields as these hold water. Waxoyl the rear three quarters very thoroughly after the repair and try to rig up plastic protectors 4 the rear wheel arches as in the w463. Your front footwell suggests a fluid leak often this is from the wiper spindles, check these for play. Keep your swivel hubs full of grease, a 14mm hex allows you in and also serves for access to the engine sump. If your auto fluid is still pink its fine just change the filter. These cars are pretty simple really, no electronics, reliable k-jetronic injection, nothing to be afraid of save the rust.
Looking at the pics it needs a few parts
The mechanical is pretty easy, its just the cost of parts. How mint do you want the vehicle
Its a petty you live so far away as i could have a good look and check it over
The exhaust etc is no big issue or brakes etc etc. If it drives well and just needs a good service it would be a good starting point
I would not patch it up i would get some panels as they are not too expensive and just remove what you need to fit them
Remove fuel tank and check it out and fit new straps after its all welded then a cheap respray and it will be good for a few years
A bare shell strip down will cost a lot and it might not need it
To me it sounds as if you need someone who knows what they are on about to check it over well. Mercedes dont see many and are not the right people in my opinion, and it will be very expensive
Look on the site for some experts who know g wagons. I have always had 4x4s and many projects but g wagons are very well built and last forever
My finding is they drive well for a proper off roader, Mine did. Ive spent a few 1000 on it and now its like it should be. When i first had it i thought thats how they were. Its not the case. Good ones with all the parts replaced make for a smooth driving vehicle that you could travel many miles in
Their downside is people dont know how to look after them to save future expense
I hear this one all the time
My landrover track rod ends are only 11 pounds Toyota and mercedes are about 100. Mine has done 190000 now and they are still perfect
We had a defender 90 land rover in for an m o t. It was mint and it was its first mot being 3 years old. Only done 9000 miles and not a farm vehicle. I never forget it. The drivers track rod end was falling off. I invited them to have a look as they said it was just serviced 80 miles ago at main dealer. They did not believe me. I showed them and they were horrified. I have driven some knackers in my time but i would not risk this. It was nearly falling apart. We fitted a new track rod end and set the tracking what most people dont bother doing and we had a happy customer for 2 years. We never saw them for a while. Guess what. They had bought a landcruiser on my advice and it rolled in for its first m o t. Passed perfect. I left the garage 11 years ago and i still see the lancruiser they still own
Mercedes is just the same but i would bore you lol. A beige 230 convertible g wagon. Same story. I think it was on ebay a while ago. A proper farm vehicle from new and only needed minimal repairs since its 1985 year and life of cow muck
To finish. phew i hear people say about time
G wagon will be fine but be prepared for cost if it needs a few parts. But it might all be still just fine
Get it checked by a specialist who knows what they are on about. Or drive to me and i will check it and give you an honest opinion what to do and costs involved
G
Hi Joe,
Rear panels that seem to have the rot in are not too bad from Merc, about £90 as I recall, but the rear side panels start to get very expensive around £400.
Paul
I think I saw a set of rear panels on Ebay recently for a w460 Less than £400 for all 4.
It's an interesting way to get some work done. You could always sell the SWB 1st then you'll have some cash to spend on the 'good' one you want to keep. Not trying to mess up your deal but I would ask a local G owner who knows a bit about them to look it over, drive it and tell you how much it will cost to repair in parts and approx labour.?? I'm sure there will be offers to do this for free or the price of fuel.
D
Is the lhd auto as I would do I swop over I have a diesel and petrol swb manual
Joe
I am sorry to see your plan fail - I too have two Gs, 1983 280GEL and 1991 300GDL. Some months ago I was going to propose just what you did: get the 300 up to scratch and in return have the 280.
Without wishing to hijack your thread therefore ... anyone interested?!
Alan
put some pics of the cars. The work needed and the reward vehicle
The 91 should be ok i would think. It depends on owners and maintainance like all gs. What issues does it have
G
This sounds like a good deal if you're not doing the work, I restore Gs and they eat up hours, they eat up expensive parts and the work you do doesn't really show. The "reward" vehicle as it stands is probably worth about 3k this equates to about 100 hours work deduct from this any parts needed possibly £1000 so we're down to 65 hours. This May or may not be enough to fix up the customers vehicle.
So, the repairer has invested £1000 and a couple weeks work, then the vehicles are handed over and the repairer gets his "reward". This also has to be repaired more money more time.
So the repairers G is finished so to get a wage it has to be sold, this can take weeks
so an investment of probably £2-3000 and 4 weeks work absolute minimum to wait god knows how long for a wage. Which is doubtful if it covers half the time spent.
Nice idea but I don't think anyone will go for your offer
Gordon
Hmm - I will put up photos and a list of horrors!
Hi!
Thanks alot for the reply :) What type of pictures would you like just external and inside the Gwagens? also Highlighting any issues that I know of with them both?
As soon as I get back In and heard back from you I shall get the info posted :)
I can tell you that the LHD is actually not to bad considering the age and same with the RHD but will get more info etc :)
Kind Regards
Joe