Best smoker barges 1-5 large [vol8]

[Easternlight]

Nice looking Ls400 for £1400
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

[sam303]

mccrackenj said:

She's given up, just rolls her eyes now. Also, I'm 50 this year and I told her this was my Birthday present.

And I promised to sell the SEC, which will be fully repaired and restored to it's former glory the week after next.

First refusal for threadists, right? I do fancy an SEC...

[Strawman]

r129sl said:

I was just about to post this and bust the budget myself. That's what budgets are for, right? Personally, I'd value it closer to £5k than £7.5k anyway. What do the threadists (my auto correct always changes threadist to therapist, more appropriately than it realises, I'm sure) reckon to it? Oa, how do you think your 300 E would handle 340bhp? It would certainly be interesting in the wet.

I've driven one but not in the wet, last summer. It's easy to pootle along in (when trying to save fuel) and on boost they are very fast. Provided the suspension and tyres are in good condition it feels very sorted as well, I suppose the basic setup is so good it can happily handle the power increase.

ETA- Warning though, if driven flat out everywhere the mpg drops to 10 (or something) the then owner told me.

[cat220]

mccrackenj said:

mccrackenj said:

mccrackenj said:

Oak Green said:

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/175910/merc...

nice early low mileage 260E on Retrorides

I'm sure that's the same car I enquires about last time it was for sale, maybe a bit over a year ago? In South Yorkshire?

I'm very interested indeed, but I've also been pondering the Daniel Curnock 260. Anyone had any dealings with him?

Edited by mccrackenj on Sunday 22 February 14:13

I am currently 'in negotiations' . . . .

Well, ANOTHER THREAD PURCHASE!

Picking it up sometime next month. Now, where am I going to put it and what am I going to do with the SEC and R129?

It's an illness.

Excellent! Congratulations! Two thread purchases in two days! Has to be a first.

[Stegel]

mccrackenj said:

hornetrider said:

Outstanding dedication to the cause, sir! I'm guessing you don't have a wife.

She's given up, just rolls her eyes now. Also, I'm 50 this year and I told her this was my Birthday present.

And I promised to sell the SEC, which will be fully repaired and restored to its former glory the week after next.

Is that really the week after next or just what you have told your wife? Congratulations anyway!

[mccrackenj]

sam303 said:

First refusal for threadists, right? I do fancy an SEC...

Of course.

[mccrackenj]

SpeckledJim said:

mccrackenj said:

hornetrider said:

Outstanding dedication to the cause, sir! I'm guessing you don't have a wife.

She's given up, just rolls her eyes now. Also, I'm 50 this year and I told her this was my Birthday present.

And I promised to sell the SEC, which will be fully repaired and restored to it's former glory the week after next.

Because of what you've spent though, you'll need to ask way more than a realistic price, and so its long-term parking in the Barn of Dreams is assured.

If only it was a 'barn of dreams'. Instead it's more of a small cramped driveway of frustration at times.

[Krikkit]

mccrackenj said:

If only it was a 'barn of dreams'. Instead it's more of a small cramped driveway of frustration at times.

Hah, that resonates nicely!

Congrats on the purchase, that looks absolutely corking.

[Adrian E]

r129sl said:

W00DY said:

Motorrad said:

BigBen said:

I was thinking this recently. When the thread started one could purchase a very nice W140 S500 for sub £2k, not a chance these days, 7.5 large would perhaps be a better upper limit.

+1 I've also thought it. 7.5K would probably bring the thread back in line and differentiate it a little more from the retro cars thread.

RE: W8 passats- only seem worthwhile to me in estate and manual form which you almost never see.

For illustrative purposes £7.5k would allow this:




http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Benz-300E-24-Tw...


But given the looming ban-hammer I won't post it as a candidate for this thread

I was just about to post this and bust the budget myself. That's what budgets are for, right? Personally, I'd value it closer to £5k than £7.5k anyway. What do the threadists (my auto correct always changes threadist to therapist, more appropriately than it realises, I'm sure) reckon to it? Oa, how do you think your 300 E would handle 340bhp? It would certainly be interesting in the wet.

If you didn't want the plate (which he says is included as it's been with the car all its life) you'd clear £1k back on that I would've thought, despite the suggested value in the advert.

It looks to need some fettling under the bonnet to deal with what appears to be your typically damp lockup garage. That exhaust looks a bit rough and ready, although could just need realigning and/or new tips.

Given the mileage now I'd be slightly concerned about the health of the turbos so would probably factor in the cost of a strip and check, if not a full refurb depending on whether it smokes or not

I do really like that though - nice sleeper appeal

[dbdb]

r129sl said:

W00DY said:

Motorrad said:

BigBen said:

I was thinking this recently. When the thread started one could purchase a very nice W140 S500 for sub £2k, not a chance these days, 7.5 large would perhaps be a better upper limit.

+1 I've also thought it. 7.5K would probably bring the thread back in line and differentiate it a little more from the retro cars thread.

RE: W8 passats- only seem worthwhile to me in estate and manual form which you almost never see.

For illustrative purposes £7.5k would allow this:




http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Benz-300E-24-Tw...


But given the looming ban-hammer I won't post it as a candidate for this thread

I was just about to post this and bust the budget myself. That's what budgets are for, right? Personally, I'd value it closer to £5k than £7.5k anyway. What do the threadists (my auto correct always changes threadist to therapist, more appropriately than it realises, I'm sure) reckon to it? Oa, how do you think your 300 E would handle 340bhp? It would certainly be interesting in the wet.

You really don't see many of these - I'm not surprised the advert claims it is one of 75. How much power did Turbo Technics get from these Mercedes engines? 340 bhp?

Turbo Technics conversions of Jaguar XJ40s were much more numerous - though still fairly rare. The Turbo Technics engines made 330bhp on the 3.6 litre AJ6 which made it a very fast car for the mid '80s. The 4 litre Turbo Technics was available with 340bhp from 1990 - or an incredible for the time 450 bhp.

The XJ40's chassis/handing and running gear had no problem with 340 bhp, but I imagine 450 bhp must have made it a handful!

Whatever the power of the Mercedes, the turbo conversion makes it a very desirable car.

[Krikkit]

Adrian E said:

If you didn't want the plate (which he says is included as it's been with the car all its life) you'd clear £1k back on that I would've thought, despite the suggested value in the advert.

It looks to need some fettling under the bonnet to deal with what appears to be your typically damp lockup garage. That exhaust looks a bit rough and ready, although could just need realigning and/or new tips.

Given the mileage now I'd be slightly concerned about the health of the turbos so would probably factor in the cost of a strip and check, if not a full refurb depending on whether it smokes or not

I do really like that though - nice sleeper appeal

A strip down of the turbos should be cheap/easy enough, they're very accessible stuck up there! More than a couple of hours labour in and out and I'd feel robbed.

[BeirutTaxi]

dbdb said:

r129sl said:

W00DY said:

Motorrad said:

BigBen said:

I was thinking this recently. When the thread started one could purchase a very nice W140 S500 for sub £2k, not a chance these days, 7.5 large would perhaps be a better upper limit.

+1 I've also thought it. 7.5K would probably bring the thread back in line and differentiate it a little more from the retro cars thread.

RE: W8 passats- only seem worthwhile to me in estate and manual form which you almost never see.

For illustrative purposes £7.5k would allow this:




http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Benz-300E-24-Tw...


But given the looming ban-hammer I won't post it as a candidate for this thread

I was just about to post this and bust the budget myself. That's what budgets are for, right? Personally, I'd value it closer to £5k than £7.5k anyway. What do the threadists (my auto correct always changes threadist to therapist, more appropriately than it realises, I'm sure) reckon to it? Oa, how do you think your 300 E would handle 340bhp? It would certainly be interesting in the wet.

You really don't see many of these - I'm not surprised the advert claims it is one of 75. How much power did Turbo Technics get from these Mercedes engines? 340 bhp?

Turbo Technics conversions of Jaguar XJ40s were much more numerous - though still fairly rare. The Turbo Technics engines made 330bhp on the 3.6 litre AJ6 which made it a very fast car for the mid '80s. The 4 litre Turbo Technics was available with 340bhp from 1990 - or an incredible for the time 450 bhp.

The XJ40's chassis/handing and running gear had no problem with 340 bhp, but I imagine 450 bhp must have made it a handful!

Whatever the power of the Mercedes, the turbo conversion makes it a very desirable car.

The 1995 XJ6R runs about 330bhp and is a very competent car. Surprisingly good in the corners and surprisingly good steering and sense of agility for a big old car.

This is the one I drove and nearly bought.. Decided not to go ahead in the end because of a house purchase.

Edited by BeirutTaxi on Thursday 26th February 19:43

[Baryonyx]

BGarside said:

Probably the hideous fuel 'economy'. They achieved around 18mpg in one period road test I read.

Also not that quick, too heavy, lacking low-rev grunt, doesn't sound like a V8 and mega complicated. Most garages unfamiliar with the engine.

Would rather have a V5 or V6 personally...

I take the points but still think that the customer who buys a four litre W8 is of the means not to need to suffer a grumbling 1.9TDi.

They sound better than a V8 too. Not that I dislike the sound of V8's (I love them, far more than a six) but the W engine is almost V10 like!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mDhtSYLRyE

[Adrian E]

The W8 I test drove belonged to a gent who used it as his tip run hack (from new!) as his other cars were Ferraris....

Unfortunately that meant it was rather cosmetically challenged through being a 'cheap' £40k

[Baryonyx]

What a hero!

[harrykul]

Congratulations John!

[E65Ross]

Baryonyx said:

I take the points but still think that the customer who buys a four litre W8 is of the means not to need to suffer a grumbling 1.9TDi.

They sound better than a V8 too. Not that I dislike the sound of V8's (I love them, far more than a six) but the W engine is almost V10 like!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mDhtSYLRyE

I'd say that definitely sounds like it has 8 cylinders. Hard to say how good it normally is because that isn't standard. There are other far nicer sounding V8s IMO. Too bad the W12 sounds rather dreary for a 12 cylinder car too....

[W00DY]

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C588498#

Looks like a lovely car at very reasonable money.

[mccrackenj]

harrykul said:

Congratulations John!

Cheers Harry, as you know it's just what I've been looking for for ages, the only things that would make it perfect would be velour and the 3.0, instead of 2.6 - but those are mere details. I've finally got a willow green pre-Sacco saloon. Just a pity I sold the Almandine pre-Sacco 300TE; they would have made be a nice pair.

Flight & ferry booked for 18th March. Just hope I make it home this time!

But which alloys will I fit as soon as I get it home - the 8 holes or the 15s? Obviously the 15s are correct but the 8s do look really good on an early car. Decisions, decisions.

[r129sl]

mccrackenj said:

harrykul said:

Congratulations John!

Cheers Harry, as you know it's just what I've been looking for for ages, the only things that would make it perfect would be velour and the 3.0, instead of 2.6 - but those are mere details. I've finally got a willow green pre-Sacco saloon. Just a pity I sold the Almandine pre-Sacco 300TE; they would have made be a nice pair.

Flight & ferry booked for 18th March. Just hope I make it home this time!

But which alloys will I fit as soon as I get it home - the 8 holes or the 15s? Obviously the 15s are correct but the 8s do look really good on an early car. Decisions, decisions.

Glad you got it.

Steels with trims, surely. Or forged 15 holes. I'm not a big fan of the 8 hole rims on early cars. Never available and just look wrong...