Titivating my Mercedes 124
Discussion
CharlesdeGaulle said:
E65Ross said:
I think CharlesdeGaulle said he'd take me out as he's not toooooo far away from me, about an hours drive.
Failing that, R129sl did you say you'd come to Mercedes-Benz world Sunday service?
The offer stands Ross. Failing that, R129sl did you say you'd come to Mercedes-Benz world Sunday service?
As r129sl says, there are rumours (facts yet?) that there will be a SS on 27 Apr at MB World, and there appears to be some interest on the 1-5 thread to send a posse, so that could be a great chance to be really boring over each others cars!
I usually go to SS events with a mate who's also on here (BeirutTaxi).
I'll keep that Sunday free!!
Rollcage said:
dbdb said:
Rollcage said:
I have to say, that is an impressive amount of decent quality work for £2500. I have a feeling the bodyshop concerned won't be doing themselves any harm with this thread either!
It really is.
The body shop is in Gateshead. I have not given its identity but will provide it privately to anyone who is interested. He just does this work as "fill in" work: it is not his main line of business.
Remember also that the parts are on top of the £2,500 agreed and are likely to amount to the thick end of a grand (wings £373, lights £200, seals £175, mirrors £100, windscreen £150, plus clips and bits, hmm that's more than a grand); remember also that I am paying as we go along, £500 every Monday morning.
Prices are quite a lot cheaper up here. I have a London-based friend who has brought his r107 and s123 up, leaving them with my mechanic (the legendary Phil Baister at Staithes Garage: rough as a badger's arse, ex-Mercedes-Benz, he can diagnose any Mercedes fault blindfolded from 100 yards, he is an astonishing man, when the main dealer is stumped, they go to Baister) for a month or six weeks at a time to have a long list of jobs carried out. Friend and his family spend a weekend with us either end of the job and I keep an occasional eye on progress. If you can be arsed to drive the car up and can spare the time, the cost of the petrol and an off-peak return is nothing compared to the savings.
Remember also that the parts are on top of the £2,500 agreed and are likely to amount to the thick end of a grand (wings £373, lights £200, seals £175, mirrors £100, windscreen £150, plus clips and bits, hmm that's more than a grand); remember also that I am paying as we go along, £500 every Monday morning.
Prices are quite a lot cheaper up here. I have a London-based friend who has brought his r107 and s123 up, leaving them with my mechanic (the legendary Phil Baister at Staithes Garage: rough as a badger's arse, ex-Mercedes-Benz, he can diagnose any Mercedes fault blindfolded from 100 yards, he is an astonishing man, when the main dealer is stumped, they go to Baister) for a month or six weeks at a time to have a long list of jobs carried out. Friend and his family spend a weekend with us either end of the job and I keep an occasional eye on progress. If you can be arsed to drive the car up and can spare the time, the cost of the petrol and an off-peak return is nothing compared to the savings.
Popped over there just now. Not much progress save that it has had a first polish. It looks great, really, really great. I didn't take any photos as they wouldn't look any different to yesterday's. I am kind of wishing I'd had the roof done but that would have added a lot of cost. He's going to block it and polish it for me.
I've bought a set of used door sill trims from Ebay for £26.50 including p&p. They look OK and at that price I can't really complain if they're not. I have a brand new one for the driver's door. I've also bought a new set of pedal rubbers. Amazingly these were in stock at MB Newcastle and cost about £25 for the set. These really tidy up the footwell. I can't think of anything else it is crying out for (or even whispering out for). I wouldn't mind a ribbed boot mat but I don't know where to find one.
The jacking points need doing. There is a bit of the paint job my man isn't happy with. And then it is just the re-assembly and cavity waxing. Hopefully it'll be done by the end of next week.
I've bought a set of used door sill trims from Ebay for £26.50 including p&p. They look OK and at that price I can't really complain if they're not. I have a brand new one for the driver's door. I've also bought a new set of pedal rubbers. Amazingly these were in stock at MB Newcastle and cost about £25 for the set. These really tidy up the footwell. I can't think of anything else it is crying out for (or even whispering out for). I wouldn't mind a ribbed boot mat but I don't know where to find one.
The jacking points need doing. There is a bit of the paint job my man isn't happy with. And then it is just the re-assembly and cavity waxing. Hopefully it'll be done by the end of next week.
All sounds good J - you'll be a happy man when you get it back!
I got the call from my indy today after almost 4 weeks (another as and when job) to say my s124 was ready having had load-space side windows out to fix the leaking, new bonnet insulation mat and new alternator to cure a whine. When I got there they were just washing it which was nice... but also showed up that the damn windows still leak! They've had a real 'mare with them apparently the old rubbers perished so they got new ones. They had to have a couple of goes at getting them water tight already and the hateful non-setting sealant was getting them down. Anyway, they're having another look now. Seems it didn't leak in the rain, but the pressure washer was another story. the tailgate cable trunking was letting some water in too so they've sorted that.
I've been meaning to post the pics I had from last year when I had the driver's side wing done to compare rot... I think they're on my work computer, I'll try and get them up.
I got the call from my indy today after almost 4 weeks (another as and when job) to say my s124 was ready having had load-space side windows out to fix the leaking, new bonnet insulation mat and new alternator to cure a whine. When I got there they were just washing it which was nice... but also showed up that the damn windows still leak! They've had a real 'mare with them apparently the old rubbers perished so they got new ones. They had to have a couple of goes at getting them water tight already and the hateful non-setting sealant was getting them down. Anyway, they're having another look now. Seems it didn't leak in the rain, but the pressure washer was another story. the tailgate cable trunking was letting some water in too so they've sorted that.
I've been meaning to post the pics I had from last year when I had the driver's side wing done to compare rot... I think they're on my work computer, I'll try and get them up.
r129sl said:
Now we are on the outside, adjacent to the offside front wheel, looking toward the car. The rusty lump is the offside front bumper bracket. It could be an awful lot worse than that!
Just for comparison's sake, here's mine - same area. Before The wing was removed and it was investigated - just looked like some bubbling of paint on the wing, exactly like we see in >80% of the photos of 124s for sale.
Happily all nicely patched and new wing and bumper carriers put on back in August
I have been remiss in maintaining this thread lately, a mixture of heavy work commitments which have kept me out of the area and a lack of progress. However, the pressure is now off at work for a few days and things have started moving again down at the body shop.
The glass is in. Although the loadspace windows are coming back out tomorrow because the fitter mistakenly re-used the old seals instead of using the new ones. A simple matter of miscommunication and no harm done. And some re-assembly has taken place. I can't say the new tail lamps have transformed the look of the car, but the dirt that was stuck in the old ones really irritated me. I'll get them polished up in due course. And just look at that front indicator! I can't stand the clears; but all amber would not be correct; whereas this part-clear, part-amber job was factory fit in some markets and in my view looks the business. They have also fitted the new sill cover to the driver's door aperture: it looks great, much better than the tatty old thing from which the metal strips were peeling off that was there before. And, the set of four used sill covers I took a punt on on Ebay arrived. £23 including postage. And they're all good, better than what's on the car by a long chalk. So I am going to clean them up and fit them when I get the car back, along with the new pedal rubbers.
All that is required now is some careful alignment of the nearside doors, repairs to the jacking points and then to finish the re-assembly. At that stage I need to send it off for a MOT. When I get it home, I will put the mint summer wheels on it.
The glass is in. Although the loadspace windows are coming back out tomorrow because the fitter mistakenly re-used the old seals instead of using the new ones. A simple matter of miscommunication and no harm done. And some re-assembly has taken place. I can't say the new tail lamps have transformed the look of the car, but the dirt that was stuck in the old ones really irritated me. I'll get them polished up in due course. And just look at that front indicator! I can't stand the clears; but all amber would not be correct; whereas this part-clear, part-amber job was factory fit in some markets and in my view looks the business. They have also fitted the new sill cover to the driver's door aperture: it looks great, much better than the tatty old thing from which the metal strips were peeling off that was there before. And, the set of four used sill covers I took a punt on on Ebay arrived. £23 including postage. And they're all good, better than what's on the car by a long chalk. So I am going to clean them up and fit them when I get the car back, along with the new pedal rubbers.
All that is required now is some careful alignment of the nearside doors, repairs to the jacking points and then to finish the re-assembly. At that stage I need to send it off for a MOT. When I get it home, I will put the mint summer wheels on it.
Back to slow progress, I'm afraid. The end of the week has seen a little bit more re-assembly and the loadspace windows removed and fitted with the new seals ready to be re-fitted on Monday. My photos show the re-assembled front end and the cavity wax applied to the loadspace window area. We're still on for the end of next week but I feel a little doubtful, although the only big job left is the jacking points.
harry kular said:
r129sl said:
I have ordered two new genuine front wings (£373 inc VAT for the pair)
Hi, can you give me the details of where you got them? My local stealer wants £205 +vat each!I ordered them through my local independent specialist. He passed them on to me without a markup. The best I could get out of MB Newcastle was £405 inc VAT. Although my man hasn't given me a VAT receipt so I would have been better off going to the dealer (I am VAT registered and the car is used for business purposes so all VAT is recoverable).
r129sl said:
I ordered them through my local independent specialist. He passed them on to me without a markup. The best I could get out of MB Newcastle was £405 inc VAT. Although my man hasn't given me a VAT receipt so I would have been better off going to the dealer (I am VAT registered and the car is used for business purposes so all VAT is recoverable).
Ooh. That's a thought. How does the tax work on older vehicles as a BIK? Is it different to the % of new price - which presumably would give a tax liability out of line with the benefit. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff