Titivating my Mercedes 124

Titivating my Mercedes 124

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r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Monday 3rd March 2014
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jonclancy said:
Lazy boy says: Do you have the link to the door seal vendor, please??
Here is a link to the front right: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221370507945?ssPageName=...
And front left: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221370616969?ssPageName=...

Estates and saloons are the same. They haven't arrived yet so I can't advise as to quality but I am confident Febi parts will be OK.

mwstewart

7,532 posts

187 months

Monday 3rd March 2014
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I'm sure this will make a Coke habit seem cheap hehe

Following with interest.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Wednesday 5th March 2014
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A very brief update from the world's worst hotel (Marriott Bristol, burned down here in the SL, 3hrs 35mins from Newcastle). Lots of progress, rust not as bad as expected, Merc sent the wrong o/s front wing (no diesel vent). I've bought some tail lights. Thinking about a Jehnert sound installation...




















jonclancy

139 posts

137 months

Wednesday 5th March 2014
quotequote all
r129sl said:
Here is a link to the front right: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221370507945?ssPageName=...
And front left: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221370616969?ssPageName=...

Estates and saloons are the same. They haven't arrived yet so I can't advise as to quality but I am confident Febi parts will be OK.
I thank you, Sire!

ETA: I believe these appear to be the seals on the door itself. I'm after the aperture seal (probably, though doing both would be a better job).

I'll have a hunt and see what comes up...


Edited by jonclancy on Thursday 6th March 22:12

dbdb

4,309 posts

172 months

Wednesday 5th March 2014
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The rust doesn't look too bad at all. How are the sills? Does the 124 rust in the sills like many cars?

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Thursday 6th March 2014
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Sills look great. The only rust is on the wings, the inner wings (I've tried to capture the holes above, they will be patched), at the bottom of the screen, the top of the nsr door, the load space windows (quite bad on the os but not as bad as most) and a bleb on the tailgate. I'm really pleased and astonished at the lack of rust given the age and mileage of the vehicle.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Monday 10th March 2014
quotequote all
There has been some progress albeit I was unable to take any pictures today as I had the baby with me.

The car is fully stripped. The plastic panels (bumpers, Saccos, sills) are all prepared for painting (and may even be painted by now—it was this morning when I visited). The car itself has been rubbed back and all of the defects (there is a surprising number) identified and marked for attention. I received the attached photo by text this afternoon showing the start of rust removal. This is the nearside 'C' pillar in progress. Quite a big cut out. Lord knows what the other side will be like, as it is much worse.

Also, loads of parts turned up. The Febi door seals (which look good, especially at the price), a new n/s mirror glass and new tail lights. I have various other bits and bobs which I must gather up while the car is apart: another new o/s headlamp wiper motor and front indicator lenses. I will take some proper pictures tomorrow.


matthias73

2,883 posts

149 months

Tuesday 11th March 2014
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are you going to get a new windscreen for it?


r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Tuesday 11th March 2014
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Yes, of course! The old one has about 150,000miles of scratches and chips on it. They're not very expensive: about £200.

jonclancy

139 posts

137 months

Tuesday 11th March 2014
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Is that a genuine Merc screen with correct banded tint etc?

Seems like good value for £200.

Hooli

32,278 posts

199 months

Tuesday 11th March 2014
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I'm liking this thread, I had a 260e for years & it was a great (if a bit sensible) car.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Tuesday 11th March 2014
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I visited the body shop this morning and took some pictures.

First up, the nearside 'C' pillar area. You can see quite a substantial repair area here. I have no idea whether this is good or bad.




Similarly, the offside 'C' and 'D' pillars. This looks grim to me but the body shop reckon it will be fine. There is quite a lot of rot requiring new metal. I think I will have them fill the cavities with anti-corrosion gunk as well.










Here are some pictures of the sills and jacking points. These are pretty good in my view but they will be cleaned up and protected.










These are the lower corners of the windscreen aperture. Again, it could be a whole lot worse here.






Next, some progress with the bumpers, Saccos and sills, all painted up in 7176 Mussel Grey with a satin finish. Not all of the trim pieces have been removed, which worries me slightly, but I was quite impressed by the masking job. Apparently there will be too much damage if they are all separated and, sure enough, the tailgate trim had cracked when they removed the chrome embellishment from it.








Progress seems to have slowed a bit but I have no doubt that it is hard and difficult work doing those loadspace window apertures in particular. There are quite a few dings which will have to be pulled and one or two which will be filled. And I suppose a lot of stuff will have to be ground out and treated. Watch this space.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Tuesday 11th March 2014
quotequote all
jonclancy said:
Is that a genuine Merc screen with correct banded tint etc?

Seems like good value for £200.
Pass, but I seem to recall that a genuine one is only £252 or something.

Edit, having just now checked, the price to the consumer for a genuine Merc windshield, part number A1246703301, is a mere £208.44. I am pretty confident I can better that, so it will definitely be genuine.

Today I walked past a new BMW M6 gran coupé or whatever they call it and had a crisis of faith: am I doing the right thing? ought I not simply lease something new and flashy? maybe a new BMW 730d? or an E63 AMG estate?

Edited by r129sl on Tuesday 11th March 16:49

bmthnick1981

5,309 posts

215 months

Tuesday 11th March 2014
quotequote all
r129sl said:
Today I walked past a new BMW M6 gran coupé or whatever they call it and had a crisis of faith: am I doing the right thing? ought I not simply lease something new and flashy? maybe a new BMW 730d? or an E63 AMG estate?

Edited by r129sl on Tuesday 11th March 16:49
A 730d lease may be a possibility but an E63 AMG Estate is going to cost a lot, £1000 per month? And I doubt it would permit the sort of miles you do! Also the fuel bill would be pretty big!

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Tuesday 11th March 2014
quotequote all
bmthnick1981 said:
r129sl said:
Today I walked past a new BMW M6 gran coupé or whatever they call it and had a crisis of faith: am I doing the right thing? ought I not simply lease something new and flashy? maybe a new BMW 730d? or an E63 AMG estate?

Edited by r129sl on Tuesday 11th March 16:49
A 730d lease may be a possibility but an E63 AMG Estate is going to cost a lot, £1000 per month? And I doubt it would permit the sort of miles you do! Also the fuel bill would be pretty big!
At the risk of getting diverted from my sacred purpose, there frequently are lease deals to be had on an E63 AMG at about £3,000 down followed by £600 a month or so, but the mileage cap is usually about 10,000pa. See here: http://www.freedomcontracts.com/Mercedes-E63-5Dr-E... . Leasing is too expensive on my mileage, that has always been my reasoned conclusion. The fuel cost would bore me less. I would also lose my licence.

But sometimes I feel like ditching this alternative furrow we plough and going mainstream. I would also quite like (in no particular order) a new kitchen, an en suite bathroom, a serious effort on my garden, a lift for my garage, a r107, a classic 911... all of these demands on my slender purse. Plus I must not forget that I need to repair my wife's car and my brother's car after the former reversed into the latter the other day. I must be happy with my ultra-cool estate car and my soon-to-be-cool SL. After all, most people would be.

harry kular

2,770 posts

225 months

Tuesday 11th March 2014
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r129sl said:
my soon-to-be-cool SL.
Could you elaborate on this? It's already pretty cool for it's legendary mileage!

Loving the w124 work: judging by the delamination on my front screen, I expect to find similar rot to yours. I get the good news next month.

0a

23,878 posts

193 months

Tuesday 11th March 2014
quotequote all
bmthnick1981 said:
r129sl said:
Today I walked past a new BMW M6 gran coupé or whatever they call it and had a crisis of faith: am I doing the right thing? ought I not simply lease something new and flashy? maybe a new BMW 730d? or an E63 AMG estate?

Edited by r129sl on Tuesday 11th March 16:49
A 730d lease may be a possibility but an E63 AMG Estate is going to cost a lot, £1000 per month? And I doubt it would permit the sort of miles you do! Also the fuel bill would be pretty big!
You could buy a w124 per month for that, and soon build up a massive fleet of them.

Looking at your pictures you have frightened me r129 as to what I will eventually find underneath, and have made me think about doing a lot more research regarding bodyshops.

PS thankyou Nick for the email today, I really appreciate it.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
quotequote all
Crisis passed and, Oa, you're right: (1) I can't afford to drop £7k a year on a lease car and (2) even with my attitude, these cars are still super cheap to run.

Back to progress. The near side loadspace window frame has been repaired with a patch and some lead solder:





Some of the work on stone chips and dings:





Repairs to the off side rear quarter. You will remember there was a dent under the lamp cluster and last week it was badly crunched in the office car park. Obviously most of this filler will be removed.



Finally, the insides of the new panels have been painted. This also means the outsides have been done but they will be prepped and re-painted for the final finish. Still, it looks like progress.





I am hoping to draw a line at further expenditure having today received the bill for repairs to my brother's SL and blown the exhaust on the Audi A4 Quattro I am knocking around in (interesting car, it's a 2.8litre 30valve V6 with a five speed manual and it now sounds insane). The Jehnert sound installation for the 124 may have to wait a while.

bmthnick1981

5,309 posts

215 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
quotequote all
r129sl said:
...and blown the exhaust on the Audi A4 Quattro I am knocking around in (interesting car, it's a 2.8litre 30valve V6 with a five speed manual and it now sounds insane). The Jehnert sound installation for the 124 may have to wait a while.
Work all looks good, and thorough. Is the A4 a short term purchase or bodyshop courtesy car>? I've a fondness for old Audi Quattro's.

r129sl

Original Poster:

9,518 posts

202 months

Wednesday 12th March 2014
quotequote all
bmthnick1981 said:
r129sl said:
...and blown the exhaust on the Audi A4 Quattro I am knocking around in (interesting car, it's a 2.8litre 30valve V6 with a five speed manual and it now sounds insane). The Jehnert sound installation for the 124 may have to wait a while.
Work all looks good, and thorough. Is the A4 a short term purchase or bodyshop courtesy car>? I've a fondness for old Audi Quattro's.
It belongs to a friend with the same affliction. It's quite a vehicle. 1999 registered, 136,000miles, a B5. It is fully loaded with everything except electric rear windows: so it has Bose sound, heated seats, cruise, OBC, all that sort of stuff. Nice black leather, dark blue metallic paint. It is fitted with black 15" steel wheels with winter tyres. What I most like is pulling out into traffic, like on a busy roundabout. 4,000rpm, drop the clutch, bang, you're off, not a sniff of wheelspin. We've had no rain, but I should imagine it is great in the wet. My friend reckons it is hilariously invincible in the snow. At the moment it sounds like a racing 911 when you cane it. I could quite fancy an early B5 S4, which might then be tuned to produce ridiculous stealth performance.