Spartan Mercedes 190 (w201)

[r129sl]

It's definitely a sticking near side front caliper. I have disassembled and re-fitted the pads, checking the sliders as I went, they move freely. Not sure what next, really. I am guessing it is the piston sticking. I may just have to spring for a new one. I think first I will try popping the piston half out then pushing it back in. Also, I realised I pushed the piston back without taking the cap off the fluid reservoir but this shouldn't make any difference. I will watch Eric for tips.

[r129sl]

Michael, I should be OK.

I had one of those "I am an idiot, why do I even try?" moments just now. I went out and refitted the pads for the third time. I realised that when I did them the second time, I put the inner pad in back to front. What a cretin. I've driven about two miles on it. Oops. It seems OK but I'm going to order new ones so I can do the brake job a fourth time.

Anyway, I took the cap off the reservoir this time, pushed the piston back, pressed the brake pedal and drove the piston out (not completely), had a good look at the seals, then pushed it back and re-assembled everything. I took it for another drive. It drives straight and pulls up straight. No knocking. No bad smell when I got home. The temperature was even side to side. I'll give it another go tomorrow but I've lost confidence in it, so I am going to replace the calipers, discs and pads on both sides. The discs are not lipped but they do look ancient. And I have to remember, it looks like the nearside caliper was knackered before because the pads were so much more worn than on the offside.


Two photos. As I say, the discs are not lipped at all but they look well rusted.


And the new tyres. I love the coloured stripes on new tyres. What are they for?

[r129sl]

To replace everything is about £250 in parts including £40 or so of core charges. This includes:

• left and right calipers (TRW, not my preference but the best available)
• left and right flexi hoses (Brembo)
• pads (Brembo)
• discs (Brembo)
• new sliders and boots (Bosch)
• wear indicators (Febi)

This seems quite reasonable but I just can't be arsed to fit it all. I'll have to get the local man to do it.

[r129sl]

Thanks for that Michael, but putting a brake pad in back to front is bit spaz even for me. I must say, I find it difficult working on the back of the brakes/hubs/suspension, it always foxes me when trying to figure out which way to turn the spanner. Anyway, it seem to be driving fine this morning with nothing untoward from the brakes at all.

[r129sl]

Well I am not sure what I have done but it is driving fine. However, I ordered everything from Autodoc last night, £231 including the core charges for two new calipers (don't suppose I'll bother). But everything from the hardline end will be brand new. I'm also going to do the rear suspension links, I figure they are overdue at 30 years and 180k miles.

Much as I like my SL, I would really enjoy something a bit more hardcore. The SL always feels a bit asthmatic. And of course it is heavy. I toy with the idea of a transplant from an E55 but maybe a 190 as the basis for a sports saloon would be more fun: 3.0litre six, fast cams, sportline suspension, big deep dish split rim Euro wheels, that sort of thing. I just need to find one in a cool colour. Reupholstery in something very Germanic and plaid, too.

Edit: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-Mercedes-190-2-6-M...

Interesting project...

Edited by r129sl on Sunday 24th May 14:47

[r129sl]

New parts have arrived for the 190, all new front brakes. I am very happy with all of them. The Brembo stuff seems to be very high quality but I can'f fault the TRW refurbished calipers, either. These should be going on next week some time, I'm getting the local man to do it. He did the exhaust last week and made a great job of it for £30.

[r129sl]

83HP said:

r129sl said:

Edit: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-Mercedes-190-2-6-M...

Interesting project...

Edited by r129sl on Sunday 24th May 14:47

Were you the winner for this 2.6 Manual?

No, thank goodness. I'm quite surprised it fetched so much. I suspect that is a car at the end of its days.

[r129sl]

^^^Post pics. I've got my hands full at the moment as I am about to spring for a 300 CE-24 (because we need a fifth ancient Mercedes) but my long term fantasy project is a 190 E 3.0 with extras and I'd need a 2.6 as a base. Ideally I'd find a sound car with a shagged engine.

[r129sl]

LukeyP_ said:

Just read through your whole thread and I love it! Your attention to detail is great and how I love to read these kind of threads.

I have crossed your threads before, the estate Merc? So which others have you got - apart from this, convertible and the estate?

The three core threads (what a ponce) are the 124 estate, the 129 SL and this one. I also currently run a w463 G-wagen which has a thread of its own. In the past I have run a w140 S420, a r230 SL500 and a w210 E430, all of which I copped out of due to a lack of moral courage in the face of minor teething trouble. Although the r230 was wrecked. I miss the E430 a bit. I can't really remember why I sold it.

124: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
129: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
463: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
210: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
230: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
140: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

The r230 thread is a real lesson to internet car buyers: photos can be very deceptive.

[r129sl]

New front brakes are on. Labour: £40. It's no wonder my man is broke. He did the exhaust for £30. I felt bound to beat him up to £100 but it took quite a lot of doing. I haven't driven it yet.

Wife noticed it smelled a bit of fuel. I took it out. Within five yards, it was reeking of fuel. Popped the bonnet and it was gushing out at the fuel pump end of the pipe between pump and carb. Fortunately I had a spare fuel pipe in stock. These pipes don't seem to last long. I wonder whether it is the ethanol in the fuel.

[r129sl]

I am pretty sure the old pipe was genuine Merc, replaced a few years ago. The new pipe I am almost sure is Febi, although it looked high quality and indistinguishable from the Merc product. Time will tell! I have had quite a few problems with fuel leaks on this car, all from this pipe, though usually at the carb end.

[r129sl]

I don't think there is much to do right or wrong on a 3.0litre transplant: one out, one in. However, I would take the opportunity to mint up the engine bay, change the mounts, fit a sporty camshaft, all that sort of stuff. Kind of like what the SL Shop did with the motor on their 300 SL sportsline. They took it from 188bhp to 240bhp (i.e. from 300 SL to 500 SL power output) with a cam, porting and gas flowing the head (I have heard this is unnecessary as the Mere head is as good as it gets) and modern electronic ignition.

Back to the Spartan. Mrs r129 complained that her driver's side wing mirror was all rusty. I sourced a new one from Euro for £75. It is not as good as the old one. The casing does not fit quite right; the mirror glass is not seated in the same place; and the adjuster is not in the right place, either. I have kept the old mirror, will strip it, clean it up and repaint it. One day.

[r129sl]

A little bit of Spartan action this weekend and the usual one step forwards two steps back. Boy one and I serviced it the other day, oil, oil filter, very easy. Then this weekend. we finished the job, air filter and spark plugs. Unfortunately I struggled to get the lead off plug 2 and stretched it at the plug end, just above the metal collar. Does this mean I have wrecked it? The car now misses occasionally, so I am guessing I did. Advice please! I have some spare leads in the garage, I will have to check it out.

Anyway, plugs looked OK:



My helper at work:



And the air filters, not too bad but probably worth the £15 to change it:

[r129sl]

Here is the Bosch lead that I broke when changing the plugs. This is very disappointing. The quality of the Bosch item is far inferior to the original Mercedes item, which was made by Beru:






I was concerned that when I changed the lead, I may have dislodged the distributor cap with resultant damage to cap and rotor. Careful inspection of the cap showed some damage, as if the rotor had struck the cap. So I ordered a new Beru cap and Bosch rotor from Euro. Unfortunately, they delivered some unknown brand which lacked the fixings necessary to hold it in place. Just st, really. Anyway, it was interesting comparing old and new caps. There does appear to be damage but not fatally so:





Here is the old rotor:



I used the old cap and new rotor, carefully seating each. I went over the leads to make sure they are all OK and they are. A brief test drive suggests it runs better if not perfectly. I may order Beru leads and cap.

Then I had a run out to visit a friend (shhh!) who is restoring a 190 E 2.5-16. His car has been painted and looks ace, even under the rain drops:









His engine bay needs detailing. His mechanic is an interesting chap, there was much exotic metal in his garage including a Mk1 Nissan Skyline being fitted with a much, much newer motor. But what caught my eye was this Ascot Grey 190 E. I think we saw this car for sale a while back. Anyway, the stance piqued my attention. It is sitting on 16 x 7 steelies wrapped in 205/55 rubber and it has had a drop.









But what really got me going was this. It is running a M111k engine and 6speed manual box from a CLK230 kompressor with a big pulley. About 230bhp. It is a really, really nice installation, almost factory looking (apart from the air filter: I have suggested a diesel box). The transmission feels fabulous. He is looking to shift it...



All in all an interesting day. The Ascot Grey colour is just beautiful. Solid colours are the way forward!

[r129sl]

ferrisbueller said:

The grey one looks great. Did he mention a price?

Less than you'd think. He said it owed him £7k.

The interior was mint. The exterior, so far as I could tell, looked perfect, too. 106k miles on the body and chassis, not sure about the engine and transmission. The conversion was very neatly done. Personally, I would fit a period gear knob, not the CLK item, but even so, a really nice job.

Edited by r129sl on Saturday 21st November 20:11

[r129sl]

Shiny new parts arrived from Herr Autodoc this week. All new rear suspension links plus four sub-frame mounting bushes. This lot came in at less than £150 delivered. The Lemförder links and bushes are, of course, genuine Merc with the stars burred off at approximately 20% of the price of genuine Merc. The Febi Bilstein rear bushes were the best I could find, Lemförder being unavailable.

Why fit these? Well, the originals are 30 years and 184,000 miles old. But more to the point there is a pretty hard thunk every time you come hard on or off the throttle consistent with the from pair of rear sub-frame mounting bushes having collapsed. It is a cheap (-ish) job so might as well.

Re-fitting the ignition components seems to have alleviated but not eliminated the misfire. I wonder what I have done wrong.

[r129sl]

Misfire cured. Incorrectly gapped spark plug. Grrr!

[r129sl]

That coupé looks pure. A real exemplar of the type.

Thanks for all the nice comments at new year. I missed them while away. I think we must have had this car for six years now, which somewhat boggles my mind. It had a lot of use until a week ago, Mrs r129sl using it as her daily for the first three weeks of January. The all season Contis handled the snow and ice just fine and it seems to be running perfectly. A couple of bubbles have come up on the front wings which I need to have attended to.

[r129sl]

The car caught my eye as I went though the yard to collect some more logs this afternoon:

[r129sl]

Think it was the G-wagen because I have to wash it all the time. I use about 1:5, tonnes more than you're supposed to but it requires zero effort, just blast it off after a minute's soaking.