Mercedes 129 titivation

[r129sl]

Zonergem said:

Mine is the 'Superleggera Corse' version...

Yours seems to be characterised by total inactivity. What's going on with it? Maybe you're bored of it and want to sell it to me?

[r129sl]

Does it really need all that fuel system stuff?

[r129sl]

I haven't updated this thread in a while and haven't much to say today. However, I finally got round to picking up the 129 today. It's had the rear quarter repaired, various little blebs removed and a full paint job. It also received a new genuine windscreen at no cost from Autoglass. Straight out of the Man's place in Dunston, I ran it over to Carlisle for an afternoon appointment, then left Carlisle at 5pm, destination Llanelli in South Wales. A total distance of 415 miles. I am getting too old for this st. But what a great car it is. The conditions out of Carlisle were pretty awful with much snow on the M6 in the Lune Valley, and I am running summer tyres and the soft top, but the car was a superb companion for a difficult journey. The chassis work last spring is showing its value. The car felt extremely tight and stable and the motor revealed its strength against the familiar E430. I ran down from Birmingham at about 100mph and upped the pace considerably on the M4. Here we are at Gloucester Services.




When I get a chance (which may be a while), I'll get it cleaned up and ready for spring. Current mileage is approximately 273,350.

[r129sl]

The repair was £1250, which was picked up by the other side’s insurer. The extras were a further £1250.

Bad day yesterday. First I seem to have lost an indicator lense and bent the grille. This could have been vandalism in Llanelli or a bird strike or something. Second, while making very fast progress from Llanelli I ran into a road closure and was trapped for an hour. I shut the engine off. When the traffic started moving it wouldn’t restart. Dead battery. Three months standing in the body shop and some very cold nights obviously killed it. The AA sold me a new one at 1.30am.

[r129sl]

Grille is fine. I'm not quite sure how it happened. I noticed the indicator last night when I conked out and the grille this morning. I'm not aware of having struck anything but I think I would have clocked it in the daylight when I was in Wales. I'm too tired to care this evening. I'll let you know about the lamp. Thank you for the offer.

[r129sl]

I've repaired the grille.

Bought Magnetti Marelli indicator lamps, about £57 each at Euro Car Parts. They're made by Automotive Lighting so are the same as Merc ones.

Mounted winter wheels. Towed a car with its trailer loaded with grit out of the lane after a tattooed Nissan Navara driver refused (Nissan: "It's brand new, I'm not fookin' towing that with it". R129: "That's ever so kind. You ." The Nissan driver's wife was hideously ugly.

Changed bulb in climate control unit. Extract with Becker radio keys. Look at those lovely electrical plugs. Tiny little bulb in bulb holder.

Edited by r129sl on Sunday 3rd February 17:11

[r129sl]

^^^i used TRW control arms. TRW is part of the ZF Group and the quality was fine. I’d suggest they’re what Mercedes biz up and sell at a huge margin. The part numbers and prices are listed here, around spring 2018.

[r129sl]

Lemforder don’t do the control arms anymore. If you can get old stock, then do so, but be sure they are not the “other” type with the press for ball joint. The ZF Group seem to have moved them to TRW. As I said, the quality of the TRW items was indistinguishable from genuine Merc and my guess is they are one and the same. I’ve just received some TRW shocks for my 210 and it’s the same story: Sachs (another ZF brand) are NLA and the TRW items appear fine.

I’m sorry if this wasn’t clear from my earlier post.

[r129sl]

Exactly.

[r129sl]

^^^ I don't think the bulb is readily replaceable.

In other news, I have just spunked £110 on a genuine ski holder for the 129. How could I not. It will come in so handy. Now I need to buy some skis. It also fits the 124 cabriolet if anyone wants to borrow it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-SL-Cabrio-R129...

[r129sl]

I've got those already (for use on the 124's roof rack, although "use" is an over-optimistic word in this context). According to the description, there are some included even if they are not in the pics. Who knows.

[r129sl]

I put 300+ miles on this car today with a run to Scarborough and then York. A19, A170 up Sutton Bank, A64 then A1. I think I may have been pinched by a camera van on the A64. Depends how long range they were working. I saw it and slowed from about 82 straight away but they may have got me. Tedious. Could have been worse as we had been making better progress earlier in the day. The car is fast, comfortable, compact and, these days, pretty low key. I have had it most of my adult life (bought in March 2003). I shall be keeping it a while yet, I hope.

[r129sl]

I didn't think to get in touch ZG, I apologise. I had my new pupil with me. We were in court in Scarborough at noon then cut down to the "Designer Outlet" on the south side of York for new socks. Even those main roads were delightful. I have run up from Beverley to Helmsley to Middlesborough, long time ago now (2009) in the 129 with a friend in his 140 behind me. Great country round there.

[r129sl]

mccrackenj said:

r129sl said:

I had my new pupil with me.

Did he run away screaming after the drive, or just sit motionless in the car, mumbling to himself and wimpering?

She.

I thought you lot knew me by now.

[r129sl]

The 211 is growing on me...

I used the car to travel to Workington for work earlier this week. Workington not being known for its hospitality, we (my pupil and I) holed up at the Pheasant at Bassenthwaite and I whole-heartedly recommend it to you. We did the journey there on Sunday evening in about 1hr 45mins, not bad for 90miles cross-country and in the dark. The journey back was rather more fun, taking in the Hartside Pass on the Penrith-Alston-Haydon Bridge road.




Today I noticed a hideous graunching noise from the off side front: sounds like a bad ball joint. That will be a damning verdict on the TRW control arms if so: less than 10,000miles... I am not sure what else it could be, it was too loud and horrible-sounding to be an ARB bush (could be a bracket, I suppose).

[r129sl]

The bloomin' star fell off the front. Very difficult to fit.








The suspension seems to have stopped making noises.

[r129sl]

An update: I’ve spent the afternoon working on and cussing at the car. I have changed the front shocks, shock top mounts, bump stops and dust covers. I also tracked down the suspension noise to a duff steering stop.

Lovely new parts:



New steering stop. The rubber cap had come away from the old one. The 129 part is NLA, but the 124/201 part is identical. It is also £3 as against £22, good old Merc parts pricing.




For shocks I fitted Sachs 200 047 and for top mounts I used genuine Merc parts. Dust covers and bump stops were Febi. All in about £320. This should be such an easy job but whoever fitted these up last year had a duff torque wrench. Nothing would break the near side lower mount bolt so I had to hacksaw it off. What a pig of a job. I managed to crush my hand when the air wrench drove the counterhold spanner I had in the other hand into a tight place. Thankfully my 8 year old was on hand to sort it out.

New and old top mounts:


New and old shocks:


Cut up bolt:


Its replacement affixing the new near side shock to the stub axle. Access to one side of this hex bolt is very tight and you will need a very stubby 12mm hex bit. I improvised and used a spanner on a bit.You could take the calliper off to aid access.



Happily there is a discernible improvement in ride and handling. It’s 75k miles since these were done; everything but these parts was changed last spring (I have no idea why we didn’t do these). I’m going to concentrate on this car this year. Next job is to get the rusty old tail pipe trims I’ve been hoarding shot blasted and powder coated, a little thing but finding the time to take them in is tricky. Maybe a new hood from KHM. And new leather on the driver’s seat. Aspirations...

Edited by r129sl on Saturday 27th April 20:26

[r129sl]

Zonergem said:

Is there any special method for getting the shocks torqued up correctly with weight on the wheels? Seems quite hard without a lift.

It is only the top mount that you have to worry about in this regard and you can simply torque it upon the car is back on its wheels. However, the whole operation is carried out with a jack under the control arm keeping the spring/shock under tension.

Edited by r129sl on Saturday 27th April 20:26

[r129sl]

Well there has been lack of action here. The front suspension was a bit clunky so I had all four ARB bushes replaced. That tightened things up nicely.

However a new from-end rattle developed.On rough roads it was rattling away like a bag of spanners, but not at all under braking. Baister diagnosed rattling pads on the off side front calliper. I decided to have a go at replacing the pads myself. All did not go to plan. Does it ever?

I ordered nice new Brembo pads and Pagid hardware from Euro Car Parks for £50. Brembo make the brake system on the car so I am hopeful their pads should be up to snuff.



Boy one gave me some help. He got the car top on stands and whipped the wheels off for me.



Side one all done. It is quite easy, although a bit of force is required. Drive the pins out from the face-side with a suitable strong parallel punch (see below for what happens when you use a cheap and nasty conical punch). Some pressure on the retaining springs eases the removal of the pins. Unfasten the wear sensor. Pull the pads out with a screwdriver. Push the pistons back carefully. Copper-slip the new pads and insert in reverse order.



Side two ready to be done...



Unfortunately I drove a conical ended punch a little too far into the calliper and the bloody thing snapped. I cannot get the snapped bit out of the hole. I have tried bashing from the other side with a variety of implements including the old pins and various screwdrivers. And I have tried drilling from the front. No luck. My local man is going to pop round tomorrow and take the calliper off to do it on the bench. Any ideas in the meantime?

[r129sl]

Tried that. Very little material removed before the drill bit snapped. Three times.

Man says take the calliper off and punch it out on the bench. I would do that myself but I'm not confident about bleeding brakes.

Edited by r129sl on Saturday 31st August 13:33