It’s now become tradition between several of us in the Mercedes-Benz Club of New South Wales (MBCNSW), that each year we embark on a road trip in our classic Mercedes-Benz cars that covers several thousand kilometres of driving of 5-6 days. Our goal in all of these trips is to enjoy the cars, with the drive being the highlight of the trip rather than the destination. For this reason we avoid major highways as much as possible.
The first drive was an exhilarating journey from Sydney to Adelaide for the National Rally of Mercedes-Benz Clubs in Australia. We indulged in the stunning coastal views as we made our way south through Melbourne and, naturally, to the breathtaking Great Ocean Road back in 2022. The adventure didn’t stop there; we boldly ventured inland on our return, completing the loop and forever etching this unforgettable experience into our hearts.
In 2023, we decided to do it again, in a trip we dubbed The Concours Run. This saw us taking an inland route from Sydney to the annual Mercedes-Benz Club of Victoria concours. We dubbed this drive the Concours run and created our own merchandise around this:
This inland trip saw us taking in the breath-taking sights of the snowy mountains during spring, hundreds of kilometres of rainforest and harsh outback plains, before ending at Mount Panorama where we did an honorary lap of the track before saying our goodbyes and making our own way home.
If you look closely you can see the outline of the route we took, where we started out in Sydney (at the top right), headed west to Lithgow and did a loop effectively around the snowy mountains, albeit during a particularly lovely spring.
It even scored me a spot on the cover of the club magazine – I’m told it’s the first time a person has been included on the cover – a real honour!
The Long Way Euround
We’ve dubbed this year’s trip the Long Way Euround. It’s a play on words since the ultimate destination is the Euroa Australian National Show and Shine and we’re taking the scenic route there. Ordinarily a trip like this could be done in 10 hours, but we won’t arrive until day 4.
As is customary on these trips, we’ve made our own merchandise for the fun of it. Posters, caps, car number magnets and polo shirts. It’s a bit OTT, but who cares!?
Pre – Trip Preparations
Before starting out on this trip, I wanted to make sure the car was in the best possible shape. It was due for a service, but I wanted to take the opportunity to do some extra maintenance to make sure it was as good as possible:
- Engine oil and filter change and replace sump gasket to fix a leak.
- Transmission oil and filter change and replace transmission pan and gasket to fix a leak (to my horror it’s still leaking!)
- Replace diff oil
I initially planned to just replace the gasket, filter and oil for the transmission but was advised that it’s a good idea to also replace the pan. Getting the actual pan off proved to be a bit of a nightmare as I it wouldn’t clear a crossmember that’s mounted in it’s path. What’s worse is that the service manual indicates that the bolts are single-use self locking bolts an should not be reused.
The method I used instead was to jack up the transmission by around 1cm which gave me the clearance I needed to finesse it out of and around the crossmember. This took quite a bit of effort to complete, but I managed to get the job done. The series 2 W126 has a redesigned crossmember that does not have this issue. Imagine my horror when I found it was still leaking!
I ordered a new pan and started over. I drained the oil, jacked up the transmission, and did the same thing. Filled it up and was just about done when I noticed that it was leaking from a new location. The gasket had come dislodged from the pan near the engine!
I didn’t want to waste too much oil so I did my best to drop the pan without draining it. It made as much mess as you are thinking, but I got it done. Except that it then dislodged from the other side and I had to repeat the process. Finally I got it all assembled with the gasket in place and was good to go – except it’s still leaking from the back of the oil pan. I really don’t know if it’s the gasket, my transmission or the triple install / removal, but I’m not happy with it and will need to revisit this after the trip.
With that sorted, all that was left was to give the car a good wash and the car was ready.
Who’s Going Round to Euroa?
The following is a listing of the drivers and their cars:
| Driver | Car |
|---|---|
| Markos (Me) | 1983 380SEC |
| Bryce | 1977 450SLC |
| Kanwal | 1972 280S |
| Paul | 1994 E280T |
| Harley | 1988 300CE |
| William | 1990 300TE |
| John | 1978 280CE |
| Matt | 1982 500SL |
| Peter | 1972 280SE 3.5 |
| Joel | 1979 450SLC |
