Mercedes 129 titivation

[hoppo4.2]

Of course other things have been changed but they were the only failure items. I didn't mean to insult your car in any way hope you didn't take it that way. I was just struck with the figure of 4k a year

Fabulous cars and we'll build much better than some other mercs of the time as you say.

I agree with you about the leather being quite stiff in the early cars . However my early one has orthopaedic seats and they are fabulously comfortable.

The 320 v6 is a lovely smooth engine and a good compromise between power and economy.
However the extra power and torque of the 500 is more in keeping with the car.

Mine is the early one with mechanical fuel injection it's a lovely drive but I have no comparison having never tried the later one.

Best of luck with it very underrated cars at the min. A real classic merc design I can see values rocketing in a few years

[r129sl]

Don't worry, I didn't take it that way.

I've taken a year of my ownership at random: 2009. This is a summary of the work I had done that year. There is nothing atypical about 2009, just regular servicing. I think most people have unrealistic expectations about how much maintenance an older car requires if it is to be kept safe and efficient. You can let things slide, but pretty soon the niggling wants of repair spoil the pleasure of ownership. I have always tried to think of maintenance as part of the pleasure of ownership: taking time and expending money keeping something good is a worthwhile and enjoyable pastime.

Your 1990 car sounds good. I love the purity of line of the original, pre-facelift design. AndI should imagine orthopaedic seats make a big difference to long distance comfort.

27 Feb, 163,981 miles
'A' service
Front ARB bushes
Fuel purge pipe seal
£312.88

2 April, 171,164 miles
Front anti-roll bar
Front ARB bushes
roll-bar switch
some other unspecified console switch
steering damper
number plates
£559.13

29 May, 171,570 miles
'A' service
Front discs and pads
Rear discs and pads
£672.70

23 July
4 x Michelin PS2 tyres
£721.05

11 August
Front indicator
£67.91

24 Sept
1 x Michelin PS2 tyre
£180

30 Sept, 179,073
'A' service
Front control arms
Front strut mounts
Rear lower rose joints
Alternator
ATF pipes to radiator
o/s/f fog lamp
£2,104.42

21 Nov, 186,100 miles
Gearbox diagnostic plug
£67.47

17 Dec, 187,392 miles
'B' service
Battery
Pollen filter
Brake fluid
Spark plugs
Track rods
£777.72

[leglessAlex]

As you said earlier though, isn't a lot of that down to doing 25k miles a year? If one was only doing 5k-8k surely the figure would be half that, if not even less?

[r129sl]

Yes, a lot of the expense is down to mileage.

Anyway, more progress. I haven't had a chance to go over there today but the Man sent me these photos of the bumper mount. This was a bit rotten (though not a patch on the 124 experience) and he has repaired it.

[r129sl]

Almost finished! Bit of reassembly still outstanding then a lot of polishing.

New sill brackets, with lots of Dynax wherever there are fixings and edges.






Coming together nicely:






New badge. Fascinating.




New numberplate lamps and fixtures. These were assembled together with the plastic trim through a mess of Dynax anti-corrosion gunk.




Ready on Monday? Tomorrow I am going to reinstall the seat cushions and the new seat back before going to work.

[marky911]

Looking good!

I'm going to go and see your man soon for a couple of bits on my old BMW. Trouble is it's hard knowing where to stop. You start of sorting a rust bubble but end up getting a full dip.

Looking forward to seeing the finished article anyway. Did you not have a look up Corbridge last Sunday? Some nice things up there. Gridlocked though. The police had to come and sort it out.

[anonymous-user]

Wow! Nice work!

[r129sl]

marky911 said:

Did you not have a look up Corbridge last Sunday? Some nice things up there. Gridlocked though. The police had to come and sort it out.

I was going to take the bairns up there but what with one thing and another we ended up doing something infinitely less enjoyable. Although the thought of being trapped in a gridlocked field on the outskirts of Corbridge is not an enticing prospect. There is some kind of motoring jamboree in the Toon this weekend. The entire length of Grey Street from the Monument down to Mosley Street is given over to fancy cars and classic cars. Figured we'd have a wander round on Saturday afternoon while my wife plays tennis. We'll be parking in the spiral car park or on top of Bainbridges, though. See here: http://www.getintonewcastle.co.uk/motor-show/ It has the potential to be ste, bien sûr, like everything that receives the council's touch, but you never know.

[marky911]

Oh yes I saw that one advertised. Not sure about it but it's worth a look if the weather is nice. There's a one on at Gosforth Park soon as well. I've never been mind.

That's the only thing about being up north. It's a massive trek to the good meetings. The benefits far outweigh the negatives though eh.

[r129sl]

marky911 said:

The benefits far outweigh the negatives though eh.

What? You mean this sort of thing? Don't tell everyone!

[marky911]

Exactly.

[BrightonIMD]

This is awesome and you've now made me decide to get my SL sorted in the next 6 months.

Did you have to specify the level of work that was required? I assume you provided the anti corrosion products, as I imagine most body shops wouldn't worry about this.

Also, do most shops fill with metal as with yours in places, or just use a skim of filler? I do worry that if I took it to a shop, they would end up sanding bits down, skimming with filler, re spraying and charging me the earth.

How would I know? Maybe I should head up North!

Ian

[TonyF55]

Great resto there, but could I recommend you get a plate showing a more prominent S rather than a back to front cheap looking Z




Rather than;

[r129sl]

BrightonIMD said:

This is awesome and you've now made me decide to get my SL sorted in the next 6 months.

Did you have to specify the level of work that was required? I assume you provided the anti corrosion products, as I imagine most body shops wouldn't worry about this.

Also, do most shops fill with metal as with yours in places, or just use a skim of filler? I do worry that if I took it to a shop, they would end up sanding bits down, skimming with filler, re spraying and charging me the earth.

How would I know? Maybe I should head up North!

Ian

Thanks! The Man was recommended to me by my mechanic. He seems to do it almost for pleasure. He does it all himself: the rest of his business is concerned with other vehicle-body related activity. But this is the third car he has done for me and he knows what I'm like.

I think bits of what he does are old-school but most places will weld in and dress new steel, surely? And he does use filler. I'm not sure there is anything fundamentally wrong with filler, so long as it is used sparingly, after all corrosion has been removed and to provide a smooth surface for painting rather than to fill great big holes or dents. Filler goes wrong when great gobs of it are used or when it is put on top of corrosion. Anyway, to answer your question, I just discussed the job with him beforehand and during the work. I pop in most days if I'm not mega-busy. I specified and supplied the Bilt Hamber stuff but he's a convert to it now. He's a super nice guy, very easy to talk to, although he's been through the wringer in his time and sometimes this gets him down. And I like to think I don't take the piss when it comes to payment. He doesn't much like people who do.

There's a lot to recommend heading up north. At least one other habitué of this and the barge thread is leaving his car here from a distance. The saving on labour is massive: well worth a train ride or two. I have a friend with a r107 who used to bring it up from London on a Friday in the early spring, leave it with my mechanic, have a weekend with us, then head back on the train. He'd do the reverse operation six weeks later. The North is also an amazingly pleasant place with an amazingly pleasant people. Tack on a motoring holiday to the end and you could have a very special time.

TonyF55 said:

Great resto there, but could I recommend you get a plate showing a more prominent S rather than a back to front cheap looking Z




Rather than;

Thanks, too. I see the difference and I want some plates like that. Do you have a link to a plate maker? I hate the '5' as well.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

r129sl - does your bodywork man provide replacement wings, or does he need the customer to source and he fits? If I were to use him, I think I'd be looking for him to do all of it - sourcing, fitting painting etc. Possible?

[r129sl]

I think I'll be picking it up on Monday. It has been flatted and polished with a final polish still to go. It only awaits the installation of the door mirrors, the bonnet badge and the antenna grommet (which things get in the way when polishing). In these unposed photos sent over to me today (the Man is not a photographer), it looks great.









I also reinstalled the seat cushions and new seat backs on the passenger side (to rectify the damage caused when I impatiently used it as a furniture removal van). The seat back panels are held in place by numerous brass Torx-type screws. None of your cheap and nasty brittle one-time-only plastic clips here: what a quality job the seats are. Anyway, the head rests (which were not re-coloured) look a bit dark. Hopefully I can clean them up and the seat cushions will darken down with use.

[r129sl]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

r129sl - does your bodywork man provide replacement wings, or does he need the customer to source and he fits? If I were to use him, I think I'd be looking for him to do all of it - sourcing, fitting painting etc. Possible?

Yes, he can source bits. He has an account with Merc Newcastle. I didn't source anything on this job, he did it all. On my 124 and 201 I sourced the body panels because that worked for me.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

r129sl said:

Yes, he can source bits. He has an account with Merc Newcastle. I didn't source anything on this job, he did it all. On my 124 and 201 I sourced the body panels because that worked for me.

Good to know, thanks.

[TonyF55]

r129sl said:

Thanks, too. I see the difference and I want some plates like that. Do you have a link to a plate maker? I hate the '5' as well.

After much investigation looking at online plate makers, i came across this site www.proplates.co.uk that shows the S as i like them. I have not ordered from them yet, but will be once my new car arrives in Sept.

Plenty of other plate makers online show the back to front Z so i'm confident the site i mention will make the plate as i see it online.

Tony

[r129sl]

TonyF55 said:

r129sl said:

Thanks, too. I see the difference and I want some plates like that. Do you have a link to a plate maker? I hate the '5' as well.

After much investigation looking at online plate makers, i came across this site www.proplates.co.uk that shows the S as i like them. I have not ordered from them yet, but will be once my new car arrives in Sept.

Plenty of other plate makers online show the back to front Z so i'm confident the site i mention will make the plate as i see it online.

Tony

I have ordered some from www.gbshowplates.co.uk who show the 'S' as we want it in one font and as a back-to-front 'Z' in another, so hopefully I will get what I want. The alternative would have been to go for the pre-September 2001 style font as I did for my 190 but for some reason I decided not to.