Sweet Summer of '69 - A Mercedes W115 Restoration Project!

[MaleCortana]

The year is 1969, Apollo 11 just landed on the moon, the Beatles Broke Up, but in a industrious factory in Germany a pale yellow W115 rolled out the assembly line, ready to be a nice people carrier equipped with a OM615 2.2 Litre Diesel Engine with a 4 Speed Shifter.

1976 rolls by and it ends up in Sri Lanka shores where it gets registered as an Original Diesel, 50 years later it rolls into my hands with some rats, rust and retched smell coming from somewhere. 

I'm not delusional; this project will cost a lot of money and time but I want to bring this back to a OEM+ Condition if I can so I have a lovely cruiser to use on the weekend!

 

[MaleCortana]

Ignore the 200D Badging, this is a 220D someone before me probably found this badge somewhere 

[MaleCortana]

Car refused to start after stalling it once, I sent it to my trust electrical guy who did a few things to increase driveability of the car;

1. Removed the hacky Alternator that was there and put in a new 90 AMP Alternator
2. Remove the Engine Stop Lever and added a Stop Motor to make the turn on and off like a modern car

The rest of the electric's including gauge clusters will be fixed after I fully do a tinkering and paint job on this car.

[john cooper]

Good luck with your new project!

Love to see the car's interior, so post some of the pictures when you have a tick.

Regards,

JC

[matroska]

This is nice - and I love the opening  .... coming at a time where most of us have given up on projects and 'cool' cars this is truly a sight for sore eyes. The W115 comes from a whole different era of motoring - for some reason I have a mental picture of a guy driving around in a panama hat with a cigar in his hand when I see this. 

Looking forward to more updates and yes I'd love to see the interior as well. BTW the fact that 1968 was almost 60 years ago and 1976 was almost 50 years ago kind of hit hard 

[MaleCortana]

Thank you gents! The interior actually isn't in the greatest knick to be honest with you with some ugly seat covers, I cut open one in curiosity and looks like there are some leather seats underneath

[MaleCortana]

Here's some pictures from before I got the car 

[harshana_n_g]

Loving this ! Keep an eye out in eBay for interior parts. Usually Eastern European countries like Lithuania scrap a complete car and parts are listed there. I got quite a lot of interior parts sorted out like that. When you are doing up the rust, make sure to get the jack points correct. If you don’t the original jack will dent your doors. (Ask me how I know ). All the best for your restoration journey. It will be a very comfortable ride. (Even a reliable daily once you sort out the car properly) 

 

Edited February 3 by harshana_n_g
Update the image

[iRage]

❤️❤️❤️

I hope no rats will be harmed or made destitute through the making of this car...

[harshana_n_g]

Just noticed that I have uploaded your photos too. Sorry. Did it via the phone and it played up. Post any questions in this thread and will help you out ! 
Rats - try to keep every drain hole covered, including the ones in bulkhead for wiring fuse box etc. They love the coir seats and the AC blower to build nests. 

[MaleCortana]

6 hours ago, iRage said:

❤️❤️❤️

I hope no rats will be harmed or made destitute through the making of this car...

All Rats will be displaced AMEN 🙏
 

5 hours ago, harshana_n_g said:

Just noticed that I have uploaded your photos too. Sorry. Did it via the phone and it played up. Post any questions in this thread and will help you out ! 
Rats - try to keep every drain hole covered, including the ones in bulkhead for wiring fuse box etc. They love the coir seats and the AC blower to build nests. 

Thank you for your kind words Harshana, I will reach out! Currently looking at bringing down the rubber door seals and stuff from abroad (I see a few listings on ebay) 

I badly want to source a Pagoda-esq Steering Wheel that the Series 1 cars came with, I think mine has been swapped out to the later safer version.

[tiv]

Thank you for starting this thread mate, will be eagerly following to see this build turn epic. All the best!

[MaleCortana]

[MaleCortana]

As you lads are aware we have started the tinkering phase so there won't be much in the way for updates for about a month/and a half! Glad to see some interest from the old OGs in the thread!

There's some car parts on order from Turkey so I'll give you an update once they make their way to Sri Lanka!

[MaleCortana]

Lot of car parts on its way and landing next week and in the next month;

Full Exterior Restoration Kit of Rubber Door Seals, Nickel Parts Etc, Including front headlamp assemblies
Series 1 Steering Wheel (IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW!)
Rear Trunk Handle
Rear Badge (I think I bought the wrong one cause it says 220 Diesel and not 220 D)
Radiator Enamel Badges 

I'll send pictures as they clear customs! 

[MaleCortana]

CAR PARTS CAR PARTS CAR PARTS

Brought down all the exterior rubbers, door rubbers and nickel trim pieces on the outside, 10 Kilos worth of car parts!

 

 

Edited February 16 by MaleCortana
My Personal Address is on it!

[MaleCortana]

[john cooper]

On 2/17/2026 at 6:12 AM, MaleCortana said:

It is nice to see a "proper" restoration is in progress...

The restoration would cost you a fortune, BUT I am sure it is still worth it.

Looking forward to seeing more and more updates about the progress.

Edited February 19 by john cooper

[MaleCortana]

17 hours ago, john cooper said:

It is nice to see a "proper" restoration is in progress...

The restoration would cost you a fortune, BUT I am sure it is still worth it.

Looking forward to seeing more and more updates about the progress.

Thank you for the kind words! It's my first time restoring a car so I'll be bound to make some mistakes long the way but I'll try my best and keep you gents updated!

[MaleCortana]

Guess which lucky bastard was able to source a Series 1 Wheel with some minor cracks?

(These steering wheels came in a hard plastic so after 60 years they're bound to crack, the plan is to melt plastic into the cracks and also have a thin layer of hard plastic on top as well to increase rigidity and restore it to former glory)

I have plans on setting up an EPS (Electronic Power Steering) to the car so you don't put a lot of pressure on the steering as well to turn the bastard.

[MaleCortana]

Bought a set of original Series 1 Lights and Series 1 Rear View Mirrors, you might notice to see that they are not in the best  nick but got both for a good deal and decided I'll try to spruce them up a bit locally, in mint condition each of these items go for well over 1000 USD 

[MaleCortana]

New metal going in!

[iRage]

Beautiful ❤️

Might have missed it if you had mentioned it before...who is your tinkering guy ?

[MaleCortana]

On 3/20/2026 at 10:20 AM, iRage said:

Beautiful ❤️

Might have missed it if you had mentioned it before...who is your tinkering guy ?

Thank you!, not anyone famous in any circles, just down the road from the Ambagahahandiya junction!

[MaleCortana]

3D Printed the Dashboard Speaker Grille because they were consistently more than 100+ USD on eBay