Hello fellow Mercedes l319 and o319 enthusiasts,
I am not going forward with my business plan to start a wine tour business here on the Central Coast of California. I took out a $100,000 loan to restore both buses and start the business. I got in over my head and did not know how hard it would be to source parts. Purchasing parts from Germany and paying that premium, plus shipping and handling, and money wire transfer fees. Then there is a lot of surface area on these busses and with the amount of metal and body work involved, it just sucked up the money very quickly. I was only able to restore one bus and buy a lot of parts for the second project bus before I used up ALL the $100,000 loan and have nothing left to restore the second bus or start the wine tour business.
I have a nicely restored, (not off chassis nut and bolt restoration) 1961 o319 2 door. I have the original motor and transmission but I put a Toyota 20R with 5 speed manual transmission with overdrive so I get it up to 65 MPH, (barely).
For the 1963 project bus 3-door panorama, it has been stripped and media blasted and primed, and comes with a low mileage Mercedes w115/m115 110 HP gas long block motor with a 4 speed manual transmission, (not installed). It is complete except for seats/interior. I have purchased a lot of body replacement sheet metal and other parts for it.
Anyway, I can provide a more detailed list of work for the restoration but basically, most everything was done.
It will be on Bring A Trailer .com next week
and there will be an article write up about the bus in Hagerty online magazine next week also
theslolife@charter.net