Titivating my Mercedes 124
Discussion
[quote=r129sl]The car is just about fixed. Paul has done a great job of straightening and re-gapping the front-end panels, as well as paintwork./quote]
Looks excellent. Fingers crossed that it will stay away from the body shop for several years now, it's had more than it's fair share of bad luck in the last year
Looks excellent. Fingers crossed that it will stay away from the body shop for several years now, it's had more than it's fair share of bad luck in the last year
I've been following this thread with great interest for a while now.
Seriously considering, aged 19, on giving up on the modern world and chopping my daily Aygo in for one of these. Would look better alongside my old Sovereign and probably take to 35k a year better than the Aygo which after a couple of years is starting to suffer.
Seriously considering, aged 19, on giving up on the modern world and chopping my daily Aygo in for one of these. Would look better alongside my old Sovereign and probably take to 35k a year better than the Aygo which after a couple of years is starting to suffer.
They are cars for the long haul but even the very best of them have backlog maintenance. People just don't look after their cars properly in the UK. And 35k a year is going to take its toll.
On which note, my bodywork stuff is done but... Baister has found a few problems. First off, the duo valve almost caught fire this morning, it appears to have jammed in position and then the current kept flowing to it. A new duo valve is £650 and is only available from Germany. Very, very helpfully, Mercedes Mark has got me a used one for delivery tomorrow at £55 plus carriage. Thanks to him: he is a good source of used parts.
http://mercedesmark.com
Second, it needs new discs and pads at the rear. The discs are completely shot. Happily it was getting new handbrake shoes anyway.
I've just got to keep my fingers crossed that it'll be fit for our travels at the weekend. It has had a pretty full service in the meantime. Oil, oil filter, fuel filter, cabin filters, coolant and it'll get a good check over, too.
On which note, my bodywork stuff is done but... Baister has found a few problems. First off, the duo valve almost caught fire this morning, it appears to have jammed in position and then the current kept flowing to it. A new duo valve is £650 and is only available from Germany. Very, very helpfully, Mercedes Mark has got me a used one for delivery tomorrow at £55 plus carriage. Thanks to him: he is a good source of used parts.
http://mercedesmark.com
Second, it needs new discs and pads at the rear. The discs are completely shot. Happily it was getting new handbrake shoes anyway.
I've just got to keep my fingers crossed that it'll be fit for our travels at the weekend. It has had a pretty full service in the meantime. Oil, oil filter, fuel filter, cabin filters, coolant and it'll get a good check over, too.
The extra holes, one each side, 180 deg apart from each other, are for accessing the parking brake componentry. You adjust the brake through a wheel bolt hole; but the extra holes are used when separating the cable end from the spreader.
The car is back on the road. What marvellous car it is. So smooth-riding and easy-going. I've had the interior deep cleaned to good effect, getting rid of most of the child-dirt that is usually in every nook and cranny. After a Saturday afternoon in the office, I ran it up to meet my entire family at my brother's newly acquired pile. I am not quite sure that sticking in at school was my best every idea. I suspect cultivating a ruthlessly entrepreneurial bent might have served me better in the long run. Anyway, I'm sure you'll agree that on the gravel and by the Georgian stone, the car is in its element. Old money... Whatever.
I am still waiting on the new front bumper and grille. No availability until late-October, which is faintly ridiculous. In the meantime we have stuck on a bumper which I had lying around and the used grille I bought.
The car is back on the road. What marvellous car it is. So smooth-riding and easy-going. I've had the interior deep cleaned to good effect, getting rid of most of the child-dirt that is usually in every nook and cranny. After a Saturday afternoon in the office, I ran it up to meet my entire family at my brother's newly acquired pile. I am not quite sure that sticking in at school was my best every idea. I suspect cultivating a ruthlessly entrepreneurial bent might have served me better in the long run. Anyway, I'm sure you'll agree that on the gravel and by the Georgian stone, the car is in its element. Old money... Whatever.
I am still waiting on the new front bumper and grille. No availability until late-October, which is faintly ridiculous. In the meantime we have stuck on a bumper which I had lying around and the used grille I bought.
Edited by r129sl on Saturday 19th August 22:29
At dinner with my parents tonight I mentioned meeting r129SL in applecross and my mother immediately responded - the nice old merc chap with the young boys! I forgot about the York meet.
Good to see the car is running well. Shamefully I'm about to can my green w124 so I can focus on my other old mercs - the lowish mile early gold w124 will receive more spending...
Good to see the car is running well. Shamefully I'm about to can my green w124 so I can focus on my other old mercs - the lowish mile early gold w124 will receive more spending...
On the northern-most inhabited British isle earlier today (at Uyeasound on Unst).
On the way here yesterday, a green w124 E220 coupé parked by the ferry ramp at Gutcher, about to be eaten up so it would appear by a hungry ferry boat. Its driver was a foot passenger and gave us a big wave as he sped south. Behind us was a fully kitted up Unimog camper which I have not seen since.
Earlier in the day we whiled away a few hours in Lerwick, which is quite an achievement.
I do take pictures of things other than my car (CdeG), I just don't post them all here. Shetland is marvellous, Unst in particular. There is nothing to spend money on. There is little driving to do but the roads are all very good indeed. It makes Wester Ross seem positively busy and cosmopolitan. The weather is also astonishingly good given how far north we are. Highly recommended.
On the way here yesterday, a green w124 E220 coupé parked by the ferry ramp at Gutcher, about to be eaten up so it would appear by a hungry ferry boat. Its driver was a foot passenger and gave us a big wave as he sped south. Behind us was a fully kitted up Unimog camper which I have not seen since.
Earlier in the day we whiled away a few hours in Lerwick, which is quite an achievement.
I do take pictures of things other than my car (CdeG), I just don't post them all here. Shetland is marvellous, Unst in particular. There is nothing to spend money on. There is little driving to do but the roads are all very good indeed. It makes Wester Ross seem positively busy and cosmopolitan. The weather is also astonishingly good given how far north we are. Highly recommended.
Couldn't agree more dbdb. Just the kind of vista to whet the appetite for a road trip. The late, great Phil Llewelyn wrote a fantastic book called The Road to Muckle Flugga; well worth a read.
I'm currently in Mallorca, which is turning out to be a little slice of 124 heaven.
Jonathan, once again huge thanks for taking the trouble to keep this splendid log up to date. I'm very much looking forward to meeting you and this car at some stage!
M
I'm currently in Mallorca, which is turning out to be a little slice of 124 heaven.
Jonathan, once again huge thanks for taking the trouble to keep this splendid log up to date. I'm very much looking forward to meeting you and this car at some stage!
M
A bit more mooching about on Unst. The first picture is on the main road that traverses the island. The second is by a Viking standing stone, the biggest in the whole of Shetland apparently and quite a lovely thing. And then finally down by the sea. We are about to head to Skaw, the northernmost settlement and the limit of the UK road network.
What surprises me is how well this remote place functions. The two stores that I have visited so far in Baltasound are well stocked with everything you could need to live very well. Diesel is only £1.25 a litre. Yet the population is only 700 with very little in the way of tourism.
What surprises me is how well this remote place functions. The two stores that I have visited so far in Baltasound are well stocked with everything you could need to live very well. Diesel is only £1.25 a litre. Yet the population is only 700 with very little in the way of tourism.
The road runs out here, in Skaw.
And this is Britain's northern-most post office in Baltasound.
We read "The Road to Muckle Flugga" before leaving. Unfortunately, I think that is a stretch too far. My wife isn't keen on a pointless boat trip and the walk to the top of Hermaness is too much for my chaps' little legs.
And this is Britain's northern-most post office in Baltasound.
We read "The Road to Muckle Flugga" before leaving. Unfortunately, I think that is a stretch too far. My wife isn't keen on a pointless boat trip and the walk to the top of Hermaness is too much for my chaps' little legs.
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