1972 Mercedes W108 280SE 4.5
Discussion
On demand from helix402 and a very good point, I've made a separate thread for this. It will mean a few of you who didn't know about the car will know now 
.
Apologies for repeating some info from the 250D thread, but it'll be up to speed soon! Anyway, where was I?
Some people will know I like an old Merc. I've had 3 W124s over my time, including a 1991 300D, then a '91 250D manual, followed by an E320 5 speed. All were great in their own way, but the E320 was my favourite, with the 250D coming a close second surprisingly. The E320 was like a rocketship, but the 250D just had that feeling of going on and on. That can be detailed in This thread. But sometimes, a car becomes available which you never thought would be obtainable. Enter the W108 below....
So it seems a few people may know that I had this motor. So, naturally, I figured I'd say more here. I bought this car over a year ago, and these posts are dated from back then. But here it is for you folks.
It seemed my car collection was so cosy! So right! What did it compile of?
-A Citroen 2CV6 Special
-Mercedes S124 E320 SportLine 5 Speed
-The BMW E46 M3.
So, did that satisfy me? Sort of. If I could pick two of those to keep, it would be the Germans. The Citroen is lovely, but a little testing in daily traffic, which doesn't happen at times. However, at the right time, I really, really liked it!
Buying the Citroen made me realise a few things however. Not all cars are the same. OK, I knew that. But also, even the 'cheapest' cars can soon become expensive to run. I'm surprised at the parts prices of some of the parts of mine. Yes, I could have gone cheaper, but I've hit that stage in life where it is nice where things work, and you don't keep going wrong and then around in circles, circles and yet more circles. Does this sound familiar to us? It certainly does to me!
Clearly, I should have sold two of those and kept one. Except, there comes in the issue.
-The S124 is the imperfect daily, yet perfect! Yes it drinks like George Best doing 24MPG around town, but it's sooooo nice!
-The M3 as my thread makes clear is far from a cheap car to own. But; it's a lovely drive! I drove some moderns as a temptation to replace it, and I couldn't bond with them. Yes, for the right or wrong reasons, the moneypit of the E46 M3 is here to stay. I've had some bitter times with it, but some of the best times too! You cannot put a price on that really.
Anyway, I'm waffling. Where does the W108 come in?
A while ago, a mate of mine Rich bought a W114 250S. I jokingly said I'd buy the 280SE the chap had for sale. It seems I couldn't; it sold within the week. Was I bitter? Yes, very!
In short, I really fancied it, but of course, it couldn't be mine!
Let's go forward 2 weeks.
The same seller had a 280SE 4.5 coming in, apparently better than the other car. So, how did this look? Pretty similar if I am being honest!
So, it looked good! Damn, I was almost over buying a W108! Yes, I remember seeing the odd one in the '90s, and loving them at the various car shows I've since been to! Damn, I got over getting one of these too! I guess I wouldn't get over so soon!
There was only one thing for it. See the car. Seeing it, it was rust free! Sure, the horn didn't work, and I couldn't figure out half of the controls. But the deal was done! I agreed to buy it, and despite my collection of cars, made movements to ensure I could fit it in the stable! Yes, the 2CV would go to a new home, but I can move onto bigger, and better things right?
Well, we shall see.
.Apologies for repeating some info from the 250D thread, but it'll be up to speed soon! Anyway, where was I?
Some people will know I like an old Merc. I've had 3 W124s over my time, including a 1991 300D, then a '91 250D manual, followed by an E320 5 speed. All were great in their own way, but the E320 was my favourite, with the 250D coming a close second surprisingly. The E320 was like a rocketship, but the 250D just had that feeling of going on and on. That can be detailed in This thread. But sometimes, a car becomes available which you never thought would be obtainable. Enter the W108 below....
So it seems a few people may know that I had this motor. So, naturally, I figured I'd say more here. I bought this car over a year ago, and these posts are dated from back then. But here it is for you folks
.It seemed my car collection was so cosy! So right! What did it compile of?
-A Citroen 2CV6 Special
-Mercedes S124 E320 SportLine 5 Speed
-The BMW E46 M3.
So, did that satisfy me? Sort of. If I could pick two of those to keep, it would be the Germans. The Citroen is lovely, but a little testing in daily traffic, which doesn't happen at times. However, at the right time, I really, really liked it!
Buying the Citroen made me realise a few things however. Not all cars are the same. OK, I knew that. But also, even the 'cheapest' cars can soon become expensive to run. I'm surprised at the parts prices of some of the parts of mine. Yes, I could have gone cheaper, but I've hit that stage in life where it is nice where things work, and you don't keep going wrong and then around in circles, circles and yet more circles. Does this sound familiar to us? It certainly does to me!
Clearly, I should have sold two of those and kept one. Except, there comes in the issue.
-The S124 is the imperfect daily, yet perfect! Yes it drinks like George Best doing 24MPG around town, but it's sooooo nice!
-The M3 as my thread makes clear is far from a cheap car to own. But; it's a lovely drive! I drove some moderns as a temptation to replace it, and I couldn't bond with them. Yes, for the right or wrong reasons, the moneypit of the E46 M3 is here to stay. I've had some bitter times with it, but some of the best times too! You cannot put a price on that really
.Anyway, I'm waffling. Where does the W108 come in?
A while ago, a mate of mine Rich bought a W114 250S. I jokingly said I'd buy the 280SE the chap had for sale. It seems I couldn't; it sold within the week. Was I bitter? Yes, very!
In short, I really fancied it, but of course, it couldn't be mine!
Let's go forward 2 weeks.
The same seller had a 280SE 4.5 coming in, apparently better than the other car. So, how did this look? Pretty similar if I am being honest!
So, it looked good! Damn, I was almost over buying a W108! Yes, I remember seeing the odd one in the '90s, and loving them at the various car shows I've since been to! Damn, I got over getting one of these too! I guess I wouldn't get over so soon!
There was only one thing for it. See the car. Seeing it, it was rust free! Sure, the horn didn't work, and I couldn't figure out half of the controls. But the deal was done! I agreed to buy it, and despite my collection of cars, made movements to ensure I could fit it in the stable! Yes, the 2CV would go to a new home, but I can move onto bigger, and better things right?
Well, we shall see.
It was a bit of a struggle, and my back going right after I paid the seller really threw a spanner in the works for a delivery time! After all, I couldn't really move things about at the unit with me being a cripple!
Fast forward on, and my local garage came to the rescue. He agreed for the car to be delivered to him and that he would also MOT it.
MOT it I hear you ask? It doesn't need one of those? Indeed it doesn't, but that does come with a few issues despite some success of people here doing it.
-Restorer friends of mine have noticed that almost every 40+ year old car imported has been inspected quite recently, with them generally being registered off the V112 MOT Exemption form.
-Chatting to the DVLA yesterday, a gent on the phone told me that cars arriving with a V112 are more likely to get inspected than those without one, despite the evidence put into the envelope when it's sent over. After all, an individual has less to lose over mis-supplying information over an MOT tester, which is their liveliehood.
-While I know my way around a car, it's nice to have a second look over.
So, how would the old girl fare on the test? Honestly, not terribly! It could always be better mind you!
So, it failed on:
-No numberplates ; No, I don't really get that either, and my tester is normally pretty fair. I'm not sure if he is familiar with the process of registering cars...
-[s]Headlamp aim is to the right; wrong lights[/s]
-Horn doesn't work
-Battery is loose in the tray
-Wipers are shot as is the washer pump
-[s]A marker light wasn't working[/s]
-One track rod end is terrible
-Two exhaust mounts have broken off.
A few of those failures I expected as you know, but some were a little embarresing. The battery is terribly loose in the engine bay! I, at the time didn't realise how to operate the washer jets, and my tester and I were listening out for a pump. The track rod end I didn't notice on the test drive at the farm when I viewed the car, but on the ramp, it was clear it was in a terrible way. There is a good few mm of movement in each direction! Strange, as the steering 'box isn't that loose for a car of this age!
To top things off, the engine started sounding a little rattly at the station when it was intially dropepd off and the engine was at 225 degrees Fahrenheit. The oil pressure was 30PSi idling hot, and my heart just sank at that point. what had I bought? But once cold, it was quiet! Except the battery was now flatter than a flat thing! Thankfully, my Noco Genius Boost (my garage has also since bought one) saved the day. firing it up seemingly as if it wasn't struggling.
The garage has agreed to pass the car once I've fixed the above. Then, it was a case of delivering the car to the unit, with me agreeing a time of 5:30 with my garage, saying the 2CV was being picked up that day as well.. That day was not a pleasant day by any means! In short:
-The 2CV went away that day. The buyer however hadn't told the towing company that the car would have spares included as well. What should have been a 15 minute transaction soon became almost an hour, as I was rumaging around to repack the spares into the car.
-My old man's recently bought an Audi A3 8P, of the 2.0 PD TDI 140 format with a DSG 'box and in SE trim. I offered to service it. All was going well until I did the fuel filter ; it was the wrong one. To make matters worse, the seal got nicked on the old one, meaning the filter had a dribble. Pretty crap really as it was now 4pm, and the nearest motor factors were 10 miles away, in Coventry. Not what you want. I would have to take the Audi, with half of the diesel going into a leakproof bag I enclosed the leaking fuel filter in. At ECP, they still couldn't narrow it down, so I did it off images only. I then went back to the unit, somehow not spilling any diesel out of the leaking filter, threw the filter in, and proceeded to clean up the diesel.
The car looked a mess initially, but the unit looked more like a disaster zone and I stank of diesel and was minging. The time I hear you ask? 6pm. Great, I'm late! I ended up getting to the garage at 6:30pm, with the owner being fairly calm about it. The 280SE was already on the ramp, so there was nothing for it, but to take the car to the unit!
At least the traffic was calmer at 6:30, much calmer than if we set out at 5:30.
Once we got to the unit, it was great to see the car on some of my turf:
With this done, I ended up parking it into the unit, awaiting some parts to arrive. Sure, I looked like a greasy coalminer or a homeless person at this point, but at least things had got done.
The next day, I'd set to work with knocking out the failure items.
Fast forward on, and my local garage came to the rescue. He agreed for the car to be delivered to him and that he would also MOT it.
MOT it I hear you ask? It doesn't need one of those? Indeed it doesn't, but that does come with a few issues despite some success of people here doing it.
-Restorer friends of mine have noticed that almost every 40+ year old car imported has been inspected quite recently, with them generally being registered off the V112 MOT Exemption form.
-Chatting to the DVLA yesterday, a gent on the phone told me that cars arriving with a V112 are more likely to get inspected than those without one, despite the evidence put into the envelope when it's sent over. After all, an individual has less to lose over mis-supplying information over an MOT tester, which is their liveliehood.
-While I know my way around a car, it's nice to have a second look over.
So, how would the old girl fare on the test? Honestly, not terribly! It could always be better mind you!
So, it failed on:
-No numberplates ; No, I don't really get that either, and my tester is normally pretty fair. I'm not sure if he is familiar with the process of registering cars...
-[s]Headlamp aim is to the right; wrong lights[/s]
-Horn doesn't work
-Battery is loose in the tray
-Wipers are shot as is the washer pump
-[s]A marker light wasn't working[/s]
-One track rod end is terrible
-Two exhaust mounts have broken off.
A few of those failures I expected as you know, but some were a little embarresing. The battery is terribly loose in the engine bay! I, at the time didn't realise how to operate the washer jets, and my tester and I were listening out for a pump. The track rod end I didn't notice on the test drive at the farm when I viewed the car, but on the ramp, it was clear it was in a terrible way. There is a good few mm of movement in each direction! Strange, as the steering 'box isn't that loose for a car of this age!
To top things off, the engine started sounding a little rattly at the station when it was intially dropepd off and the engine was at 225 degrees Fahrenheit. The oil pressure was 30PSi idling hot, and my heart just sank at that point. what had I bought? But once cold, it was quiet! Except the battery was now flatter than a flat thing! Thankfully, my Noco Genius Boost (my garage has also since bought one) saved the day. firing it up seemingly as if it wasn't struggling.
The garage has agreed to pass the car once I've fixed the above. Then, it was a case of delivering the car to the unit, with me agreeing a time of 5:30 with my garage, saying the 2CV was being picked up that day as well.. That day was not a pleasant day by any means! In short:
-The 2CV went away that day. The buyer however hadn't told the towing company that the car would have spares included as well. What should have been a 15 minute transaction soon became almost an hour, as I was rumaging around to repack the spares into the car.
-My old man's recently bought an Audi A3 8P, of the 2.0 PD TDI 140 format with a DSG 'box and in SE trim. I offered to service it. All was going well until I did the fuel filter ; it was the wrong one. To make matters worse, the seal got nicked on the old one, meaning the filter had a dribble. Pretty crap really as it was now 4pm, and the nearest motor factors were 10 miles away, in Coventry. Not what you want. I would have to take the Audi, with half of the diesel going into a leakproof bag I enclosed the leaking fuel filter in. At ECP, they still couldn't narrow it down, so I did it off images only. I then went back to the unit, somehow not spilling any diesel out of the leaking filter, threw the filter in, and proceeded to clean up the diesel.
The car looked a mess initially, but the unit looked more like a disaster zone and I stank of diesel and was minging. The time I hear you ask? 6pm. Great, I'm late! I ended up getting to the garage at 6:30pm, with the owner being fairly calm about it. The 280SE was already on the ramp, so there was nothing for it, but to take the car to the unit!
At least the traffic was calmer at 6:30, much calmer than if we set out at 5:30.
Once we got to the unit, it was great to see the car on some of my turf
:With this done, I ended up parking it into the unit, awaiting some parts to arrive. Sure, I looked like a greasy coalminer or a homeless person at this point, but at least things had got done
.The next day, I'd set to work with knocking out the failure items.
So, I made a start on working on it. The first thing to do was to have this car keep a charge. My faithful BMW 990Ah battery actually had a use for a change! Normally, it's too big for any of the cars! The 550Ah battery that was old and most likely shot from the US came out. It seems according to my tester that the CTEK really did its thing on that BMW battery. It came back with 995Ah on the tester, a pretty decent result!
Upon throwing it in, I fired it up. Immediately the engine fired into life. No coughing, spluttering or almost catching. Just a clean fire up. It's never turned over this fast before! Whilst I was here, I checked the alternator output. All was fine there too! Excellent! Believe it not, this battery came from a dealer friend of mine, where BMW threw batteries away which they suspected of being iffy. This one was fine by the looks of it.
However, the battery terminals on the battery were mangled due to the battery being used as a jumper battery. Not a good thing really. But after some caressing with some sandpaper, the car terminals slipped on fine.
With that in mind, I figured I'd show it off against my other Merc. 23 years separate these cars, and it's fair to say that it really shows! Now, the S124 against a new Merc would be an interesting comparison, albeit I've sort of done that
.
I even thought I'd register it. Naturally I couldn't, but one can pretend eh? I'm sure Raul would approve!
Ah, let's have a few more shots eh?
I even took it for a spin in the yard. After all, it's private land. The rattle once hot would stop and not come back as soon as it was driven! Strange eh! You can't make this stuff up!
Either way, I had to crack on with the car. Enter Stage Left:
What was interesting is that the Mann filter seemed to have more pleats and finer holes on the very inside of the filter? Will this make a difference? We will see.
Out came the surprisingly thin oil from the engine, and also the cheapo filter. However, the filter housing was very clean inside ; a nice sign to be fair.
With this done, it was time to fire it up! Thankfully the oil pressure doesn't now drop below 45 when hot, and the engine is very quiet now. A result indeed!
Naturally, I still have tons to do, but that can wait until next time.
Upon throwing it in, I fired it up. Immediately the engine fired into life. No coughing, spluttering or almost catching. Just a clean fire up. It's never turned over this fast before! Whilst I was here, I checked the alternator output. All was fine there too! Excellent! Believe it not, this battery came from a dealer friend of mine, where BMW threw batteries away which they suspected of being iffy. This one was fine by the looks of it.
However, the battery terminals on the battery were mangled due to the battery being used as a jumper battery. Not a good thing really. But after some caressing with some sandpaper, the car terminals slipped on fine
.With that in mind, I figured I'd show it off against my other Merc. 23 years separate these cars, and it's fair to say that it really shows! Now, the S124 against a new Merc would be an interesting comparison, albeit I've sort of done that
.I even thought I'd register it. Naturally I couldn't, but one can pretend eh? I'm sure Raul would approve!
Ah, let's have a few more shots eh?
I even took it for a spin in the yard. After all, it's private land
. The rattle once hot would stop and not come back as soon as it was driven! Strange eh! You can't make this stuff up!Either way, I had to crack on with the car. Enter Stage Left:
What was interesting is that the Mann filter seemed to have more pleats and finer holes on the very inside of the filter? Will this make a difference? We will see.
Out came the surprisingly thin oil from the engine, and also the cheapo filter. However, the filter housing was very clean inside ; a nice sign to be fair.
With this done, it was time to fire it up! Thankfully the oil pressure doesn't now drop below 45 when hot, and the engine is very quiet now
. A result indeed!Naturally, I still have tons to do, but that can wait until next time
.I know what you folks are thinking! I should be doing the fun stuff! But let's be honest, what point is there if I can't even drive the car? But slowly and surely I'll get there!
The good news is that most of the parts have now arrived! But I still had to diagnose a few things!
Firstly the horn. The switch is working, but there is nothing happening at the horn. I have a spare brand new horn, so that will be getting fitted shortly.
Then there is the sidelight. I almost forgot how to deal with old lightbulbs! I've not really had to deal with them for a while. The Carina and the W124s both had internally changeable bulbs for the best part despite the headlights being more traditional on the Carina.
The marker light required investigation. After taking the bulb out, removing it, and cleaning it up, I put it back in again. Halleluyah! I now had a working set of bulbs all round!
Sure, it now looked good, as a Stateside Merc should, but having candles for headlights up front was never going to be of any help!. It is said that the Windproof Zippos give out more light than 4 of them put together! But what the Americans want, the Americans get. Isn't that what Trump is saying these days?
For those of you wondering why this Merc came equipped sealed beams for a '72 car, it's a pretty simple reason. No, it wasn't what Mercedes had lying around on the shop floor. It was a regulation set by the US. The idea was that if you blew a headlight, you could go to any drug/convenience store, and pick up a light that would go into any US car. Yup, back then, the US only had one size of light to fit every US homologated car. Soon, that became 3 sizes of lights towards the 80s.
Here is some info for those who fancy some bedtime reading on the subject, shamelessly stolen from a mate of mine.
But how would I solve this issue! After all, the beam pattern was wrong for UK roads anyway! Get some Halogens of course! Sure, they're not LEDs or HIDs but at least they would look right. However, what would I choose? I had some experience of Halogens previously too. In a condensed format:
-MGB Carellos: Not bad at all. Fairly standard light
-Triumph Stag Autopals : Honestly? Pretty crap. I'll be honest, they weren't much of an improvement over the sealed beams I removed! It seems the new owner thought so too, which is why he threw them in the bin
-Dolly Sprint Autopals: See above for the Stag
-Triumph Spitfire on Wiper QuadOptics and Osram Nightbreakers : VERY Good! I was surprised by the output! They were that good! I always wanted a little more light at nighttime but they were a big improvement from above.
-'76 Carina on Autopal lights and GE Bulbs: They were very good! The lights themselves seemed like a much better quality than the ones I got for the Stag (and the ones in the Sprint) The reflectors were actually reflective! It wasn't a bad car to drive at nighttime that one
So, I've had a mixed bag. What would I do on the Merc? Go cheap like I did on the Stag or go middle of the road, but risk an iffy batch of headlamps? Nope. I lost the plot and decided to splash the cash:
Yup, I went with the Cibies! One light cost more than a pair of Autopals, but I've not heard a bad word about them ; it's what the owner of my Stag fitted into that car with good results too.
Firslty, I wanted to do a comparison however. So I tested the sealed beams on the dip setting, but with a CTEK charger on in the supply mode. That way, I could keep the test fair. In an enclosed unit, that would also make it more fair .
I think you'll agree. They're not too bad, but they could be better. Soon I cracked on with stripping down the light assemblies:
Compared to the new lights, there is not alot of difference visually. Yes, I also decided to throw in the Osram Nightbreakers I had originally had destined for the W124 ; but that car has surprisingly good headlights compared to my previous W124s. Maybe that's on brighter bulbs already.
All I had to do was put the boot on as a finishing touch:
Sure, the Cibies don't look much different to the sealed beams, but at least the car will actually illuminate the road without blinding oncoming traffic! Note how one of the Sealed beams is milking at the top of the unit. It seems that was due to burn out anyway, so maybe this upgrade was done at the right time. OK, I'm making excuses for splashing the car. I know! With the lights ready, I clearned up the Chrome surrounds, copper greased up the fixings in Classic Oils high copper quantity Copper grease (great stuff that is, especially being free!), and threw the entire lot back together:
I know, it doesn't look massively different!
With that in mind, it was time to perform the acid test! Was there actually going to be a difference?
YES! The photo doesn't really show it, but there is a stark difference in brightness and focus! Damn me leaving my camera card at home! If you think that is good, wait until you see the full beam shot! Oh, wait, I have one coming up!
Yup, that is quite a difference. The lower yellower light is still an H1 sealed beam. It's fair to say that the newer Cibie has trounced it, well and truly! Fancy another shot? Yeah, why not?
Yes, that really is quite a difference!
So, that's enough about the light geekery! At least I've sorted the lights out and I'll be able to see where I am going at night. But i still have a few things to fix One of which is the washer pump. For a Mercedes, it's quite an antiquated setup, with electrics being present, but now how you expect them to be!
The idea is that you push the bellow, and a switch will then turn on the wipers as you squirt the washers. See what I mean now? The issue with mine is it doesn't squire the washers at all. The bellow has split and I am missing a one way valve. That' sounds fine, until you realise that a rebuilt washer pump assembly is £400 and the tank assembly is the same again! Ouch! Who said Merc ownership was cheap! Naturally, this leaves me in a dilemna. Do I replace the pump bellow with a switch to activate a pump, but put that into a tight engine bay, and modify the wiring etc. or do I source the broken bits for around £120?
Choices choices!
The good news is that most of the parts have now arrived! But I still had to diagnose a few things!
Firstly the horn. The switch is working, but there is nothing happening at the horn. I have a spare brand new horn, so that will be getting fitted shortly
.Then there is the sidelight. I almost forgot how to deal with old lightbulbs! I've not really had to deal with them for a while. The Carina and the W124s both had internally changeable bulbs for the best part despite the headlights being more traditional on the Carina.
The marker light required investigation. After taking the bulb out, removing it, and cleaning it up, I put it back in again. Halleluyah! I now had a working set of bulbs all round!
Sure, it now looked good, as a Stateside Merc should, but having candles for headlights up front was never going to be of any help!. It is said that the Windproof Zippos give out more light than 4 of them put together! But what the Americans want, the Americans get. Isn't that what Trump is saying these days?
For those of you wondering why this Merc came equipped sealed beams for a '72 car, it's a pretty simple reason. No, it wasn't what Mercedes had lying around on the shop floor. It was a regulation set by the US. The idea was that if you blew a headlight, you could go to any drug/convenience store, and pick up a light that would go into any US car. Yup, back then, the US only had one size of light to fit every US homologated car. Soon, that became 3 sizes of lights towards the 80s.
Here is some info for those who fancy some bedtime reading on the subject, shamelessly stolen from a mate of mine
.But how would I solve this issue! After all, the beam pattern was wrong for UK roads anyway! Get some Halogens of course! Sure, they're not LEDs or HIDs but at least they would look right. However, what would I choose? I had some experience of Halogens previously too. In a condensed format:
-MGB Carellos: Not bad at all. Fairly standard light
-Triumph Stag Autopals : Honestly? Pretty crap. I'll be honest, they weren't much of an improvement over the sealed beams I removed! It seems the new owner thought so too, which is why he threw them in the bin
-Dolly Sprint Autopals: See above for the Stag
-Triumph Spitfire on Wiper QuadOptics and Osram Nightbreakers : VERY Good! I was surprised by the output! They were that good! I always wanted a little more light at nighttime but they were a big improvement from above.
-'76 Carina on Autopal lights and GE Bulbs: They were very good! The lights themselves seemed like a much better quality than the ones I got for the Stag (and the ones in the Sprint) The reflectors were actually reflective! It wasn't a bad car to drive at nighttime that one
So, I've had a mixed bag. What would I do on the Merc? Go cheap like I did on the Stag or go middle of the road, but risk an iffy batch of headlamps? Nope. I lost the plot and decided to splash the cash:
Yup, I went with the Cibies! One light cost more than a pair of Autopals, but I've not heard a bad word about them ; it's what the owner of my Stag fitted into that car with good results too.
Firslty, I wanted to do a comparison however. So I tested the sealed beams on the dip setting, but with a CTEK charger on in the supply mode. That way, I could keep the test fair
. In an enclosed unit, that would also make it more fair .I think you'll agree. They're not too bad, but they could be better. Soon I cracked on with stripping down the light assemblies:
Compared to the new lights, there is not alot of difference visually. Yes, I also decided to throw in the Osram Nightbreakers I had originally had destined for the W124 ; but that car has surprisingly good headlights compared to my previous W124s. Maybe that's on brighter bulbs already.
All I had to do was put the boot on as a finishing touch:
Sure, the Cibies don't look much different to the sealed beams, but at least the car will actually illuminate the road without blinding oncoming traffic! Note how one of the Sealed beams is milking at the top of the unit. It seems that was due to burn out anyway, so maybe this upgrade was done at the right time. OK, I'm making excuses for splashing the car. I know! With the lights ready, I clearned up the Chrome surrounds, copper greased up the fixings in Classic Oils high copper quantity Copper grease (great stuff that is, especially being free!), and threw the entire lot back together
:I know, it doesn't look massively different!
With that in mind, it was time to perform the acid test! Was there actually going to be a difference?
YES! The photo doesn't really show it, but there is a stark difference in brightness and focus! Damn me leaving my camera card at home! If you think that is good, wait until you see the full beam shot! Oh, wait, I have one coming up!
Yup, that is quite a difference. The lower yellower light is still an H1 sealed beam. It's fair to say that the newer Cibie has trounced it, well and truly! Fancy another shot? Yeah, why not?
Yes, that really is quite a difference!
So, that's enough about the light geekery! At least I've sorted the lights out and I'll be able to see where I am going at night. But i still have a few things to fix One of which is the washer pump. For a Mercedes, it's quite an antiquated setup, with electrics being present, but now how you expect them to be!
The idea is that you push the bellow, and a switch will then turn on the wipers as you squirt the washers. See what I mean now? The issue with mine is it doesn't squire the washers at all. The bellow has split and I am missing a one way valve. That' sounds fine, until you realise that a rebuilt washer pump assembly is £400 and the tank assembly is the same again! Ouch! Who said Merc ownership was cheap! Naturally, this leaves me in a dilemna. Do I replace the pump bellow with a switch to activate a pump, but put that into a tight engine bay, and modify the wiring etc. or do I source the broken bits for around £120?
Choices choices!
So, I left the car at the washer pump scenario. I decided to order the bits stupidly! It's a nice setup to have, but it's not arrived yet! So while, I have a backup solution in place, I'll say more closer to the time. After all, it had a fair few things to do before it would see the road!
Tyres are one area I am sketchy about these days. I did some pretty silly things in the past but I guess, as you get older, you get more sensible. Sure, the car came with Michelins, that were nearly fully treaded, but they were not free of issues.
-They were flat spotted badly
-They were cracking horrendously.
I know many Retro folk would have driven on them, but I couldn't do. When others are saying your tyres are bad, you soon wonder if they have a point! So, with a bit of searching I hit a few snags, which brought back some memories from My old Stag, with this being a 185R14 tyre from the factory or a 7.35 x 14 Crossply, which mine looks to have come supplied with going from the spare.
-Get a budget or van tyre fitted? Sure, it would be cheap, but it wouldn't be right for me, and I've previously got rid of cars becuase the tyres were crap and I didn't realise their impact back then,and I've transformed a few cars with new tyres.
-Go to Longstone tyres and get a set of Michelins. The right way to go, but it pains me getting tyres for the M3, let alone two cars having cars having cars with a near £1k tyre bill! That and I wasn't sure if the wheels looked right. Sure, they look good, but with the now 205/70R14s on, they are getting a little old!
-Change the wheels. Tricky, but doable.
-Go for a smaller tyre, which makes choices easier and cheaper for better products. I'll be honest, the tyres look lost on this anyway, so that was out of the question.
What would I do? Enter Stage Left:
Yup, I got myself a set of Mexican Hats! But I needed some tyres, What would I go with? A set of Falken ZE914s in a 205/65R15 size. Out of the mid-range stuff, I've always found Falken to be a decent step up from Kumho. I question if the grip is quite as good as the big boys but it certainly is close going by the FK453. However, tyre life is appalling. But on a car that will barely do 15MPG, I doubt tyre life will be a massive issue either.
Despite looking like an easy combi, it wasn't quite so straightforward to fit them on.
They wouldn't pop onto the bead, despite moving the tyre about on the rim. My tyre fitter wondered if it was down to it being a 7J rim and a 205 section tyre, but I've had 195s on those in the past as an OE fitment. In the end, a device called a Cheetah inflator was deployed and the bead was seated in no time. It's these things I do like about Ross at BT Tyres in Rugby. If you have tyre needs or issues with balancing/tracking, he is your man.
After they were fitted, I couldn't stop admiring them! But it was pointless! They weren't on a car!
That said, I still had plenty to do on the car. It had brakes were it seemed the handbrake was always on, and I still had no washer pump or the track rod end issue resolved. They would come to be a little trickier than I thought.
Tyres are one area I am sketchy about these days. I did some pretty silly things in the past but I guess, as you get older, you get more sensible. Sure, the car came with Michelins, that were nearly fully treaded, but they were not free of issues.
-They were flat spotted badly
-They were cracking horrendously.
I know many Retro folk would have driven on them, but I couldn't do. When others are saying your tyres are bad, you soon wonder if they have a point! So, with a bit of searching I hit a few snags, which brought back some memories from My old Stag, with this being a 185R14 tyre from the factory or a 7.35 x 14 Crossply, which mine looks to have come supplied with going from the spare.
-Get a budget or van tyre fitted? Sure, it would be cheap, but it wouldn't be right for me, and I've previously got rid of cars becuase the tyres were crap and I didn't realise their impact back then,and I've transformed a few cars with new tyres.
-Go to Longstone tyres and get a set of Michelins. The right way to go, but it pains me getting tyres for the M3, let alone two cars having cars having cars with a near £1k tyre bill! That and I wasn't sure if the wheels looked right. Sure, they look good, but with the now 205/70R14s on, they are getting a little old!
-Change the wheels. Tricky, but doable.
-Go for a smaller tyre, which makes choices easier and cheaper for better products. I'll be honest, the tyres look lost on this anyway, so that was out of the question.
What would I do? Enter Stage Left:
Yup, I got myself a set of Mexican Hats! But I needed some tyres, What would I go with? A set of Falken ZE914s in a 205/65R15 size. Out of the mid-range stuff, I've always found Falken to be a decent step up from Kumho. I question if the grip is quite as good as the big boys but it certainly is close going by the FK453. However, tyre life is appalling. But on a car that will barely do 15MPG, I doubt tyre life will be a massive issue either
.Despite looking like an easy combi, it wasn't quite so straightforward to fit them on.
They wouldn't pop onto the bead, despite moving the tyre about on the rim. My tyre fitter wondered if it was down to it being a 7J rim and a 205 section tyre, but I've had 195s on those in the past as an OE fitment. In the end, a device called a Cheetah inflator was deployed and the bead was seated in no time
. It's these things I do like about Ross at BT Tyres in Rugby. If you have tyre needs or issues with balancing/tracking, he is your man.After they were fitted, I couldn't stop admiring them! But it was pointless! They weren't on a car!
That said, I still had plenty to do on the car. It had brakes were it seemed the handbrake was always on, and I still had no washer pump or the track rod end issue resolved. They would come to be a little trickier than I thought.
With a new set of wheels fitted to the car, it would take time for them to settle down! But at least the nut saga was over.
After attending to the issues of the exhaust hanger, and zip tieing the battery in for security, until I found a W108 battery holder, it was ready for its MOT. This would be the first time I drove the car for any real distance on the road. Was I full of trepidition? You bet!
I came to drive it away. The first thing I noticed was that the car now didn't seem to drag, it just rolled; before it felt like the handbrake was always on! Compared to when I drove the car at the bloke's farm on private roads, it seemed alot quieter and nicer on the new wheels; to all of our surprise, the ATS Bundts are significantly lighter than the steels, with both having tyres on! Take the Merc up to 60 or 70? It just wafted up there and held it lovely! Driving a car on the wrong side of the road is interesting to say for sure! I've driven a couple of wrong hand sided cars previously, but never owned one! Sure enough, I was slowly getting used to it and lapping up the experience and then some!
Finally, the car was home. But how would it fare on the MOT?
After attending to the issues of the exhaust hanger, and zip tieing the battery in for security, until I found a W108 battery holder, it was ready for its MOT. This would be the first time I drove the car for any real distance on the road. Was I full of trepidition? You bet!
I came to drive it away. The first thing I noticed was that the car now didn't seem to drag, it just rolled; before it felt like the handbrake was always on! Compared to when I drove the car at the bloke's farm on private roads, it seemed alot quieter and nicer on the new wheels; to all of our surprise, the ATS Bundts are significantly lighter than the steels, with both having tyres on! Take the Merc up to 60 or 70? It just wafted up there and held it lovely! Driving a car on the wrong side of the road is interesting to say for sure! I've driven a couple of wrong hand sided cars previously, but never owned one! Sure enough, I was slowly getting used to it and lapping up the experience and then some!
Finally, the car was home. But how would it fare on the MOT?
CQ8 said:
Great thread OP! Well done for going all in on this. I've been tempted by a few of these US spec w108 4.5's over the years but never been brave enough.
They are such an elegant looking car, a beautiful design. I like the colour combo of yours and think it looks great on the Mexican hat alloys.
Please keep the updates coming.
IMHO, I'd do it! What do you consider to be brave? They are such an elegant looking car, a beautiful design. I like the colour combo of yours and think it looks great on the Mexican hat alloys.
Please keep the updates coming.
.As long as you choose wisely, most will be far less rustier than their UK counterparts. Parts aren't too bad to get hold of as long as you have access to an EPC catalogue. This way, you can order the parts from the dealer
. Otherwise, Mercedes Poole will set you straight.RockAuto as you'll come to to see in my tale also comes in very handy too
.There are a couple of things that can go wrong but most of them have solutions that can almost drop in, as long as you are slightly flexible with originality. For example, if the D-Jetronic ECU goes (and I think tha'ts a pretty rare failure as well), you can drop in a standalone ECU to make it all work. If it was a 6 pot, and the fuel injection pump went, you'd be looking at a bill for £3k. Smokey engines most of the time tend to be worn valve stem seals, which can be changed in situ with a couple of adapted tools and a leakdown tester
. The biggest issue the M117 engine has is the timing chains going bad from a lack of oil changes but the engines generally give you quite a bit or warning. Oh, and and their thirst for fuel!What was the outcome? It passed! Was I pleased? You bet!
With that, I didn't hesitate with sending away the paperwork to register it!
However, I still have one issue that would rear its head again.
The washer pump. Sure, it was electric and the car passed the MOT with but, it seemed quite temporary, even with the installation of it! It even stopped working. The motor was working but the jets weren't really squirting anything!
But, at the least engine looked a little beasty right? With a parcel arriving, I went to the back of the car, and opened up the boot. Oh, and figured I'd grab a shot:
So, despite the electric option showing promise, I ordered the correct kit. What does a pricey washer pump repair kit look like I hear you ask. No? Alright, well, this is what it looks like:
As said, I did still have alot the bits that I could savage from my setup, including the reservoir, the pickup pipe, the crap, and the pedal assembly as well. It's just as well as my bill would have been much much higher otherwise:
Ooooh! Shiny! The bellow on mine could have been repaired, but that check valve assembly will not work unless it is intact. It has a combination of a check valve and a ball bearing that acts as a shuttle in the second chamber to pump the system up. But let's spare me boring you folks to death with the archaic operation of the W108 washer pump system. So what better thing was there to do? Assemble it!
Y'no how you see certain peeps advising that you get certain tools? Well, I do! I debated about getting an impact spanner for a while. To me, with their low torque rating they seemed like a waste of money, no matter how much Marty & Moog pimped them on Mighty Car Mods! But some things they stated did make sense! So when this Draper item came up for sale at the right price at the NEC Restoration Show, I had to buy it. At sub £100, I had to question if it was worth it. I'd soon find out just how worth it the wrench was! Even my local garage loves these!
With that in mind, I assembled up the washer system! After tackling a couple of blockages with an airline, the manual pump system works very well! It's also nice to not have a car which is permanently broken in key areas! All I had to do was to take a few shots of the car on the new wheels with the fancy camera! Better shors will arrive, but of course, I am now waiting on a final roadblock; the registration of the car! It's been over a week and the DVLA haven't touched my application. We shall see how that goes
Still, at least it looks alright eh?
With that, I didn't hesitate with sending away the paperwork to register it!
However, I still have one issue that would rear its head again.
The washer pump. Sure, it was electric and the car passed the MOT with but, it seemed quite temporary, even with the installation of it! It even stopped working. The motor was working but the jets weren't really squirting anything!
But, at the least engine looked a little beasty right? With a parcel arriving, I went to the back of the car, and opened up the boot. Oh, and figured I'd grab a shot:
So, despite the electric option showing promise, I ordered the correct kit. What does a pricey washer pump repair kit look like I hear you ask. No? Alright, well, this is what it looks like:
As said, I did still have alot the bits that I could savage from my setup, including the reservoir, the pickup pipe, the crap, and the pedal assembly as well. It's just as well as my bill would have been much much higher otherwise:
Ooooh! Shiny! The bellow on mine could have been repaired, but that check valve assembly will not work unless it is intact. It has a combination of a check valve and a ball bearing that acts as a shuttle in the second chamber to pump the system up. But let's spare me boring you folks to death with the archaic operation of the W108 washer pump system. So what better thing was there to do? Assemble it!
Y'no how you see certain peeps advising that you get certain tools? Well, I do! I debated about getting an impact spanner for a while. To me, with their low torque rating they seemed like a waste of money, no matter how much Marty & Moog pimped them on Mighty Car Mods! But some things they stated did make sense! So when this Draper item came up for sale at the right price at the NEC Restoration Show, I had to buy it. At sub £100, I had to question if it was worth it. I'd soon find out just how worth it the wrench was! Even my local garage loves these!
With that in mind, I assembled up the washer system! After tackling a couple of blockages with an airline, the manual pump system works very well! It's also nice to not have a car which is permanently broken in key areas! All I had to do was to take a few shots of the car on the new wheels with the fancy camera! Better shors will arrive, but of course, I am now waiting on a final roadblock; the registration of the car! It's been over a week and the DVLA haven't touched my application. We shall see how that goes
Still, at least it looks alright eh?
Mr Tidy said:
Brilliant thread OP - thanks for posting it. 
When I was at secondary school back in the mid-70s my Headmaster had a 280SE 3.5 with a personal plate - I remember the coolness of that car as his only redeeming feature!
Not a problem! I have a couple of previous car updates I could put here. Most already are here now, but there is always one which escapes.When I was at secondary school back in the mid-70s my Headmaster had a 280SE 3.5 with a personal plate - I remember the coolness of that car as his only redeeming feature!
harrycovert said:
Thank you SebringMan You have lightened my lockdown great stuff.
You mentioned the EPC catalogue is that the Daimler-Benz one or a generic version?
I'm glad the thread has done that. It's great see such threads can ease the times, both for us and others.You mentioned the EPC catalogue is that the Daimler-Benz one or a generic version?
Good Q. The one I use only has Mercs on it, broken down by model nos. (108, 109, 169 etc.).
74merc said:
Lovely car, I've always wanted a W108. If it is any consolation, my W115 220 auto only does 23 MPG, so 15 MPG out of a bigger car with twice the engine is positively Prius like!
Cheers! It's been on my list for some time. I never got one previously as:-They were out of reach to buy for me
-I almost forgot about them with the other cars I wanted and that list naturally gets less and less with time.
-I also assumed these cost an arm and a leg to run.
Your MPG isn't too unsurprising. A friend of mine had a W114 250 2.8, which was fitted on Weber Downdraughts. His fuel economy wasn't as good as yours, but the diff was much taller than mine. It's something Kent Bergasma (or Orgasmo as my friends and I call him!) has touched on in the past. The 6 pot Mercs tended to have a diff that was around 4.1:1 ratio. Great for people who do trackdays. Not so great for people who do country drives and motorway runs. Being a V8, mine had a 3.29:1 ratio axle, with IIRC only the 300SEL coming with a lower ratio rear end (2.89:1 Maybe?).
There wasn't much difference in them getting up and going IMHO. At 70 however, mine is a pretty comfortable car. It will happily do 80mph without a care.
One upgrade Kent Bergasma suggests to the W108/9 owners is to fit a V8 diff in. He feels the acelleration loss is worth it for the drive improving overall. That's the opposite to what a few PHers do here on track cars, but I do see Kent's point
.Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, the car and the MOT.
So, firstly, the car got an MOT! In Late March, I sent off the application to get it registered! After calling them once a week my response was getting nowhere. However, that week, I got a response from a lady who seemed a little more switched on! From previous operatives telling me that the application had not been started, I was greeted with being told that the car was now registered! Result!
However, they wouldn't give me the plate details. Not that it mattered, as they arrived shortly after! Great! I could now drive the car! But I needed some number plates making up. Black and silver items, especially with an import space on the back would take time to make up. I didn't want to wait weeks for plates, I wanted to drive it then, in the sunshine! Thankfully, a friend of mine came to the rescue, with a kit he had. The downside? Well, it's an upside to some on here is all I shall say.
So, the plate up front was a Nigel Farage edition, and the rear was the right shape. For super cheap/free plates, beggars cannot be choosers! And at least I could drive the car about eh?
Even with it doing a guestimated 15MPG it still didn't stop me clocking up 100 miles without thinking about it! Surprising I know! Besides going for a waft around town I ended up taking it to Caffeine & the Machine!
If that wasn't enough, I also did the Butty Run in Long Itchington. It's fair to say the car got a warmer reception than I anticipated!
Was there still a way to go with this car? Yes, but I'll get there slowly but surely! At least the slumbered beast had been awoken again for the first time in a while
It's funny. Once you acheive a big hurdle, you think it will be smooth sailing, that's it! From an outsider looking in, it can seem that way! On the face of it the Merc came across as follows:
-A solid car with no real blemishes
-Evidence of good work done on it over the years including B4 shocks fitted and new brake lines etc.
-A fancy hi-fi system fitted
But, not all that glittered was quite what it seemed. It wasn't bad, but ultimately, it was a 47 year old unrestored car, so while that was a huge advantage, things won't go smoothly either!
One of the few things I noticed after getting it MOT'd was that the rear seemed to have a very slow wallow about it, which on corners with bumps on would become unsettling. Many told me 'the cars are like that', which I wasn't convinced on, but maybe they had a point! After all, I was now used to the W124 and the E46 M3, both with advanced rear suspension setups, not a Merc with swing axle suspension! I had my reason for why the rear wasn't as I expected too!
[ul type="disc"]
[li]I've never been fully convinced by Bilstein B4 dampers being a great OE damper, and these were a little soft[/li]
[li]This car was meant to have a hydropneumatic compensator in place ; mine had long gone and now had a spring in lieu ; a common change to make. In my mind, that would affect the spring rates and thus the effective working of stock dampers anyway[/li]
[/ul]
I suspected the rear compensator being missing wasn't helping things. The rear would almost follow on from doing a bounce test on the car when stationary, but the front was as solid as a rock when doing the same test, which seemed to support my theory. So, what would I do? Some suggested that I should air-ride it. A nice idea, but it can get quite expensive! Others suggested
I heard alot about these KYB Gas-A-Just and the reviews can seem mixed, but I knew when I drove a Triumph 2.5PI on them, I was sold on them. So I figured I'd give them a go on the Merc. Not one for the purists, but you never know. At least I'd get rid of spiders webs and eggs!
Compared to the old dampers, at least they looked nicer anyway! But having something looking nicer doesn't mean that it will work as we all know! Since the job was fairly simple, both were fitted on swiftly.
I do plan to post a video on this, but we shall see.
What I can say is that the body control improved all round. It's surprising since I only did the rears! It still had a very faint wallow, but it was now acceptable. Furthermore, it was much more planted in the corners. What was surprising for a car of this age is how the car was quite composed for its age! Driving it at night was a true joy, especially as Blinkin' said, " I can see!" Sorry, I meant Jimmy Cliff. I mean, "I really can see clearly now!"
There is more to come, but that can wait.
-A solid car with no real blemishes
-Evidence of good work done on it over the years including B4 shocks fitted and new brake lines etc.
-A fancy hi-fi system fitted
But, not all that glittered was quite what it seemed. It wasn't bad, but ultimately, it was a 47 year old unrestored car, so while that was a huge advantage, things won't go smoothly either!
One of the few things I noticed after getting it MOT'd was that the rear seemed to have a very slow wallow about it, which on corners with bumps on would become unsettling. Many told me 'the cars are like that', which I wasn't convinced on, but maybe they had a point! After all, I was now used to the W124 and the E46 M3, both with advanced rear suspension setups, not a Merc with swing axle suspension! I had my reason for why the rear wasn't as I expected too!
[ul type="disc"]
[li]I've never been fully convinced by Bilstein B4 dampers being a great OE damper, and these were a little soft[/li]
[li]This car was meant to have a hydropneumatic compensator in place ; mine had long gone and now had a spring in lieu ; a common change to make. In my mind, that would affect the spring rates and thus the effective working of stock dampers anyway[/li]
[/ul]
I suspected the rear compensator being missing wasn't helping things. The rear would almost follow on from doing a bounce test on the car when stationary, but the front was as solid as a rock when doing the same test, which seemed to support my theory. So, what would I do? Some suggested that I should air-ride it. A nice idea, but it can get quite expensive! Others suggested
I heard alot about these KYB Gas-A-Just and the reviews can seem mixed, but I knew when I drove a Triumph 2.5PI on them, I was sold on them. So I figured I'd give them a go on the Merc. Not one for the purists, but you never know. At least I'd get rid of spiders webs and eggs!
Compared to the old dampers, at least they looked nicer anyway! But having something looking nicer doesn't mean that it will work as we all know! Since the job was fairly simple, both were fitted on swiftly.
I do plan to post a video on this, but we shall see.
What I can say is that the body control improved all round. It's surprising since I only did the rears! It still had a very faint wallow, but it was now acceptable. Furthermore, it was much more planted in the corners. What was surprising for a car of this age is how the car was quite composed for its age! Driving it at night was a true joy, especially as Blinkin' said, " I can see!" Sorry, I meant Jimmy Cliff. I mean, "I really can see clearly now!"
There is more to come, but that can wait
.I'm a little surprised the rear is not sagging. But maybe the others are sagging due to still having a shot compensator. I did debate putting an airbag in there as a 'compensator'.
So, besides making it more usable, what else have I done?
Well, I gave this car its eyeliner back! It didn't quite look right without the trim! I ended up removing it as the piece had gone missing that attaches it to the wing. I was getting prepared to make a part up if needs be!
Saying that, this gentleman seemed to really enjoy my car not having an eyelash! So, how would I fix it? Simple! I'd check I could get the parts in, fit it and then stand back. No, really, that was it!
For those wondering, that ring is the power steering filter! That's another job on the 'to do' list.
It's fair to say that it looks alot better now!
Has there been more going on? Yes. For now, here's a teaser of what is to come:
Why am I showing you pics of all of this? This would happen all because the car would not start one day.
So, besides making it more usable, what else have I done?
Well, I gave this car its eyeliner back! It didn't quite look right without the trim! I ended up removing it as the piece had gone missing that attaches it to the wing. I was getting prepared to make a part up if needs be!
Saying that, this gentleman seemed to really enjoy my car not having an eyelash! So, how would I fix it? Simple! I'd check I could get the parts in, fit it and then stand back. No, really, that was it!
For those wondering, that ring is the power steering filter! That's another job on the 'to do' list.
It's fair to say that it looks alot better now!
Has there been more going on? Yes. For now, here's a teaser of what is to come:
Why am I showing you pics of all of this? This would happen all because the car would not start one day.
alabbasi said:
That distributor green wire looks shot and new ones are quite expensive. If you're going to to get rid of the points and go with Petronix, save the ICU and sell it on ebay. It should more than pay for a Petronix setup.
Well, I still have the CDI setup .It's time I updated this once
.I got a little sick of the Farage plates. And so I got a quality set of new ones! Not cheap, but not a bad looking set either.
I almost went with ones like on my Stag, but I think I made the right choice in the end.
But, let's get back on track. After all, there are always flies in the ointment. Like most stories, I had great intentions, but it wasn't to be.
It all started with me changing the air filter. From RockAuto, I ordered a 'Standard Motor Products' Filter. Over here, a Mann filter was £50+. Sure, I know it's a Mercedes, but even a CSL filter isn't much pricier than that, and I know which filter is rarer out of the two, and it isn't the Merc item! So, I took a gamble. Would the new filter be much worse?
No! And I would be in for a surprise!
Yup, the new filter was also a Mann filter, of the same type too! When compared to the old filter, it was clear that the old one had seen better days! So it was a case of being out with the old and in with the new:
With that done, it was time to move onto the HT leads! While my car ran fine, the HT leads were in a bit of a state! It was clear that with half of them having insulation tape on them, they were well past their best.
It all started with me changing the air filter. From RockAuto, I ordered a 'Standard Motor Products' Filter. Over here, a Mann filter was £50+. Sure, I know it's a Mercedes, but even a CSL filter isn't much pricier than that, and I know which filter is rarer out of the two, and it isn't the Merc item! So, I took a gamble. Would the new filter be much worse?
No! And I would be in for a surprise!
Yup, the new filter was also a Mann filter, of the same type too! When compared to the old filter, it was clear that the old one had seen better days! So it was a case of being out with the old and in with the new:
With that done, it was time to move onto the HT leads! While my car ran fine, the HT leads were in a bit of a state! It was clear that with half of them having insulation tape on them, they were well past their best.
This wasn't really a surprise to me! When I searched online, decent HT leads from Bosch were £120+ and specific to the V8 only. Not a great price, but not the worst I've seen for HT leads! Obviously, I wasn't too keen on splashing out for them! However, when a set of Denso HT leads popped up from RockAuto, I decided to give them a go at £60, and I must say that the quality of the them is very impressive! Certainly better than the Magnecors I've purchased for other cars
But would the car drive differently? It certainly would! From starting on the button, it now started even more positively and seemed a little more responsive! Almost as if the car had got rid of a hangover! Was it a success? You bet it was!
While the car seemed to be running well, it gave me a bit of a scare on the bank holiday weekend! After getting a new dizzy cap, I fitted it onto the car. It was in a better state compared to what I removed. At this point, it can only go swimmingly, surely?
Well, that's what we were all expecting! But our survey said EH ERRRHHHH
Yup! I went from a running car to one that wouldn't start. I mean, it wouldn't even attempt to start up, after very briefly running for 1 second. When I came to check for a spark from the coil, I could see that it had 12V at the coil, but no spark coming from it! How was this possible? What kind of witchcraft was this? I then put the old dizzy cap on in blind faith, hoping for the best. Was it a futile exercise? Probably. But it still wouldn't spark!
Eventually, it fired up when it randomly got a spark back. But, it wasn't perfect! The car decided that it wanted a flirtation of iffy running with me. In town, it cut out cleaning for 1 second, before catching and firing up again! This is not what you want when you are wishing to take a car to France or Goodwood! I was tempted to treat it as a one off, but it seemed Googling a non-starting 4.5 would make me question a few things!
Basically, these cars run a strange ignition sytem as follows:
-Ignition (Transistor) Box to take the load off the points
-Points and condensor, albeit the latter is put in as a redundancy measure and isn't needed with the above box. Mercedes even say this now.
-From the Ignition box, 2 ballast resistors (1 is a 0.6Ohm, the other a 0.4 Ohm) run in series to the coil, with a starter feed bypassing one of the ballast resistors
It seems the transistor box after time can form poor connections internally and cause iffy running! The way I saw it, I had a few choices:
-Keep the system as it is : I didn't really trust the igntion side after that scare. Am I overreacting? Maybe? But I also don't want to break down on a motorway to Goodwood or France either!
-Fit a secondhand item ; I may still have the same issue
-Go electronic : Naturally, i can switch the points out for a hall-effect system or go all out with a Nodiz setup
What would I end up doing? Well, we'll see. What would you folks have done in the above?
I didn't crank it as the issue seemed to fix itself, but I no longer trusted the car. So, back to the dilemma.
A few people were saying I'd devalue the car and lose the orginilaity! I make no secret about being a tinkerer, but I do also know one thing! To enjoy a car, first you have to trust the car! Not having it moving will naturally compromise that [img]//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png" alt=";)" class="smile[/img].
So, how would I resolve this? Simple.
Get a means of removing that complexity for something a little more reliable! Sure, people say points are easier and can get you back home, but when you have a system with a fancy box in that's knocking on 50 years old, I think I can be excused [img alt=";)" class="smile" src="//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png[/img].
I tried to look for less fancier options but it seems Pertronix are about the only people who make a conversion kit for my Mercedes. I had two choices on how I wired up the Pertronix system:
[ul type="disc[/img]
[li]Ditch the points but keep the ignition box and ballast resistors. Seeing as I didn't trust the ignition box and they seem to go wrong, I wasn't keen to do that![/li]
[li]Lose the ignition box, ballast resistors and coil and go with a coil compatible with the Pertronix setup[/li]
[/ul]
Well, you can guess what I did! I originally planned on going with a normal looking, but higher energy/lower impedance Ignitior II coil, but then choices can be the bane of our lives. Upon playing with the Pertronix configurator, I spotted that I could get a Pertronix Ingitor HV coil. It offered more volts, a lower impedance and I noticed that it was an epoxy coil ; the other 'normal' looking epoxy Ignitor II coil seemed tricky to find anyway! Naturally, this left me with a dilemna, and like anyone in this situation, logic soon went out of the window!
As it turned out, not a walk in the park. Not terrible, but I was creating more work for myself, which I seem to enjoy doing!
By buying the larger coil, I'd have to make a mounting plate to secure it to the original fixing holes. So, not a real biggy in the grand scheme of things [img]//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png" class="smile" alt=";)[/img]. There was another issue with going electronic, that I've created for myself, but I'll come to that later [img]//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png" alt=";)" class="smile[/img].
First, I'd remove the old system. Upon removing the parts, more and more issues seemed to arise.
Looking at stuff on the car, all seemed to be OK. A bit dirty but OK. I didn't look that carefully mind you, and in a relatively cramped engine bay, it's hard to see alot anyway! Some will see an issue here, and it's not the fact the ballast resistor is away from the bodywork. It was very hot to the touch too, but I understand that is normal.
It was then time to liberate the entire Ignition system from the car, but not without loosening off the power steering pump. Yes, I did just say that, but why would I loosen it?
The reason is that the points wire at some point had been pinched by the pump, probably during a belt change I'd have said, given that the pump's movements are adjustable. This may well have been a factor for why the car was losing spark:
The second thing I noticed was the ballast resistor, and initially I thought I was responsible, until I saw the above photos off my camera. I guess taking photos can be handy at times
Yup, the resistor had cracked. It seems to have been cracked for quite some time, and yes, my Merc had two of them! It looks to have been cracked for quite some time going by the look of it. So, maybe it was the right call to be changing all of the parts! Maybe the points were bad!
Looking at the points, they're by far the worst set I've seen. They had some very minor marks, but I've seen cars run fine with much worse points present. Just as well as Bosch points alone are around £30 for this. You can go cheaper, but I've also been bitten by cheap points in the past, so it was another plus point for the Pertronix system!
Finally, I changed the spark plugs. In all honesty, the old ones didn't look too bad, but it seems that like the plugs in my W124, the Bosch items were resistored, which is what the aftermarket catalogues say is true. It's funny, as Mercedes sell the non-resistored plugs to Joe Public. As a result, the non-resistored NGK BP6EYs went into the Merc.
So, with all of these changes, would it start? Well, I'll leave that for another time.
A few people were saying I'd devalue the car and lose the orginilaity! I make no secret about being a tinkerer, but I do also know one thing! To enjoy a car, first you have to trust the car! Not having it moving will naturally compromise that [img]//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png" alt=";)" class="smile[/img].
So, how would I resolve this? Simple.
Get a means of removing that complexity for something a little more reliable! Sure, people say points are easier and can get you back home, but when you have a system with a fancy box in that's knocking on 50 years old, I think I can be excused [img alt=";)" class="smile" src="//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png[/img].
I tried to look for less fancier options but it seems Pertronix are about the only people who make a conversion kit for my Mercedes. I had two choices on how I wired up the Pertronix system:
[ul type="disc[/img]
[li]Ditch the points but keep the ignition box and ballast resistors. Seeing as I didn't trust the ignition box and they seem to go wrong, I wasn't keen to do that![/li]
[li]Lose the ignition box, ballast resistors and coil and go with a coil compatible with the Pertronix setup[/li]
[/ul]
Well, you can guess what I did! I originally planned on going with a normal looking, but higher energy/lower impedance Ignitior II coil, but then choices can be the bane of our lives. Upon playing with the Pertronix configurator, I spotted that I could get a Pertronix Ingitor HV coil. It offered more volts, a lower impedance and I noticed that it was an epoxy coil ; the other 'normal' looking epoxy Ignitor II coil seemed tricky to find anyway! Naturally, this left me with a dilemna, and like anyone in this situation, logic soon went out of the window!
As it turned out, not a walk in the park. Not terrible, but I was creating more work for myself, which I seem to enjoy doing!
By buying the larger coil, I'd have to make a mounting plate to secure it to the original fixing holes. So, not a real biggy in the grand scheme of things [img]//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png" class="smile" alt=";)[/img]. There was another issue with going electronic, that I've created for myself, but I'll come to that later [img]//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png" alt=";)" class="smile[/img].
First, I'd remove the old system. Upon removing the parts, more and more issues seemed to arise.
Looking at stuff on the car, all seemed to be OK. A bit dirty but OK. I didn't look that carefully mind you, and in a relatively cramped engine bay, it's hard to see alot anyway! Some will see an issue here, and it's not the fact the ballast resistor is away from the bodywork. It was very hot to the touch too, but I understand that is normal.
It was then time to liberate the entire Ignition system from the car, but not without loosening off the power steering pump. Yes, I did just say that, but why would I loosen it?
The reason is that the points wire at some point had been pinched by the pump, probably during a belt change I'd have said, given that the pump's movements are adjustable. This may well have been a factor for why the car was losing spark:
The second thing I noticed was the ballast resistor, and initially I thought I was responsible, until I saw the above photos off my camera. I guess taking photos can be handy at times
Yup, the resistor had cracked. It seems to have been cracked for quite some time, and yes, my Merc had two of them! It looks to have been cracked for quite some time going by the look of it. So, maybe it was the right call to be changing all of the parts! Maybe the points were bad!
Looking at the points, they're by far the worst set I've seen. They had some very minor marks, but I've seen cars run fine with much worse points present. Just as well as Bosch points alone are around £30 for this. You can go cheaper, but I've also been bitten by cheap points in the past, so it was another plus point for the Pertronix system!
Finally, I changed the spark plugs. In all honesty, the old ones didn't look too bad, but it seems that like the plugs in my W124, the Bosch items were resistored, which is what the aftermarket catalogues say is true. It's funny, as Mercedes sell the non-resistored plugs to Joe Public. As a result, the non-resistored NGK BP6EYs went into the Merc.
So, with all of these changes, would it start? Well, I'll leave that for another time
.It's good to see you think that Electronix Ignition is the way forward, especially with the Pertronix setup, as you mentioned earlier
But before I could tackle the Pertronix Setup, I changed the power steering filter. For some reason, Mercedes seem to like their filters ; most other cars have them, but they are built into the reservoir, meaning the reservoir either has to be cleaned or replaced.
Since this was a replaceable one, I changed it. However, I could not find an aftermarket supplier for one of these, so Mercedes it was in this case.
So, let's get back to the ignition system. When I initially tested the setup to see if it would work, I literally threw the setup into the car, twisting wires together where I thought it would take more than 1 minute to do a decent job.
Yes, it really did have an element of RoadKill about it! Once I determined that it would work, I got to work on tidying it up. The issues I had were
-Ignitor II ignition power wires were way too short
-Ignition 12V feed was miles away from the coil ; it fed the box before, not the coil power
-Mounting the coil itself
They needed to be made longer.
So, how would I start resolving this simple issue? Well, I went out and got more stuff, and ended spending a good hour on doing the job in the end! I didn't even solder the wires together! While I know some others here don't like soldering due to the wire being unable to flex, thus the wire can fatigure and break, I went with crimping this time, albeit with a difference.
First off I crimped the wire. I was going to solder the wire to the very end of the terminal, but in the end I ended up running some Super glue over the connection, thus help in waterproofing it going forwards. On top of this, I ended up using the crimps provided by Pertronix for the ignition coil ; I may change these to a similar style to the above, but I must say their crimps seem to be a level above the crappy generic Red, Yellow and Blue items, with the wire being secure. Again, I ran over the bare bit of the connection with glue.
Eventually, it looked something like this:
So, not bad! It could be better, but at least it looks vaguely tidy, and near enough unoticeable. But there is one more thing to add to this story.
Yup, I put a connector in place, thus allowing for the distributor to be removed easily if it needs to be.
As a result, I was rewarded with better hot starting, and possibly even a perkier engine,and the surge issues became a thing of the past. At least I thought for a long time.
But before I could tackle the Pertronix Setup, I changed the power steering filter. For some reason, Mercedes seem to like their filters ; most other cars have them, but they are built into the reservoir, meaning the reservoir either has to be cleaned or replaced.
Since this was a replaceable one, I changed it. However, I could not find an aftermarket supplier for one of these, so Mercedes it was in this case
.So, let's get back to the ignition system. When I initially tested the setup to see if it would work, I literally threw the setup into the car, twisting wires together where I thought it would take more than 1 minute to do a decent job.
Yes, it really did have an element of RoadKill about it! Once I determined that it would work, I got to work on tidying it up. The issues I had were
-Ignitor II ignition power wires were way too short
-Ignition 12V feed was miles away from the coil ; it fed the box before, not the coil power
-Mounting the coil itself
They needed to be made longer.
So, how would I start resolving this simple issue? Well, I went out and got more stuff, and ended spending a good hour on doing the job in the end! I didn't even solder the wires together! While I know some others here don't like soldering due to the wire being unable to flex, thus the wire can fatigure and break, I went with crimping this time, albeit with a difference
.First off I crimped the wire. I was going to solder the wire to the very end of the terminal, but in the end I ended up running some Super glue over the connection, thus help in waterproofing it going forwards. On top of this, I ended up using the crimps provided by Pertronix for the ignition coil ; I may change these to a similar style to the above, but I must say their crimps seem to be a level above the crappy generic Red, Yellow and Blue items, with the wire being secure. Again, I ran over the bare bit of the connection with glue
.Eventually, it looked something like this:
So, not bad! It could be better, but at least it looks vaguely tidy, and near enough unoticeable. But there is one more thing to add to this story.
Yup, I put a connector in place, thus allowing for the distributor to be removed easily if it needs to be.
As a result, I was rewarded with better hot starting, and possibly even a perkier engine,and the surge issues became a thing of the past. At least I thought for a long time
.With this done, the car was ready for me to go to the Retro Rides Weekender at Goodwood. In truth, the car did not dissapoint! It cruised down happliy! The only downside was me using £100 in fuel from Warwickshire to Goodwood and back! But who when you look that cool eh?
It was not a quick thing to drive. A 3.28 Final Drive ratio (one of the tallest rear ends fitted to a Swing Axle Merc), combined with a 3 speed auto, and 200BHP propelling along a 1600kg brick through the air , it was never going to be. But it had a way about it. That tall rear end gave it it superb high speed cruisability. It just wafted and romped along at 80!
But Goodwood for me was mainly a test run. I have a bit more of a test planned for the car. A test run which went rather well. However, even from that test run, I could tell a few things would need doing:
-Sound system tweaking a little more
-No heater controls ; mine have broken off
-Steering had over 1" of free play ; It's passable for an MOT but it's not right, especially going down country lanes, in addition to always correcting it.
-Passenger window was not fully closing ; it seemed to be jumping off the end of the regulator, well kind of.
While it seems I have prioritised the sound system. I hadn't. If anything, this was very much a reverse list. The heater I knew could come in handy, but I was aware that they were meant to be a nightmare to change in the W108s ; the dashboard is effectively part of the bulkhead, meaning everything has to be removed, and then removed from the back of the dashboard. And people thought moderns were bad.
By comparison, the M3's heater controls were relocated within about an hour when I converted that to a double-DIN Headunit, and that included me taking photos, going for loo breaks, and tea breaks. So I sacked that idea off, especially with a 2 week window to do the above, with me also working all of that time.
This meant I went to the passenger window. Not only was it annoying, it also meant that water could also enter. Not good on a car that would be outside for an entire weekend, and doing many more miles than I did to Goodwood! But there was nothing for it; I had to stop procrastanating and get stuck in!
Ooohhh, look a door! But, let's get closer eh?
It looks like I have found the smoking gun eh? A broken quadrant in the regulator! Great as I now have some spare regulator assemblies!
Now, hold that thought! The observant amongst you will have noticed a few things:
-The teeth on my original regulator are OK ; it's the grease that makes them look bad
-The older regulators are made of sturdier stuff, but they came with problems of their own ; The mounting was snapped on the passenger side door, despite the regulator working like a dream, and it was missing key stops which my original one had ; it had come off a different kind of W108 ; I was told these were off a W108 3.5
So, it seemed I was back to the drawing board. Not quite. I saw that I could salvage the regulator that was on the car. The issue was that the quadrant had become warped. I managed to straighten the quadrant enough, and sure enough, I had a window that fully closed again.
So, that was one issue done. But what about the steering? The truth is the steering coupler was absolutely shot. There was no rubber left in it at all. As a result, I had miles of free play at the wheel. I'd have taken photos of the job, but something happened:
I ended up making an impromptu trip to the Nurburgring with a mate. I did say that I might not go as I knew timings would be tight anyway with me going to Laon. But I had a counteroffer made for that.
So, whilst it's not Merc related, let's have a few 'Ring shots eh?
Ooooh look, an R107
Was I wishing I bought the M3 along? You bet! This trip is the first time I've been to the 'ring and not driven around it. Sometimes, it's good to just sit back and relax and honestly, I needed it!
But, R&R wasn't going to sort my Mercedes out! However, I did have a plan for my return. It's just as well, as I was going to need that plan!
It was not a quick thing to drive. A 3.28 Final Drive ratio (one of the tallest rear ends fitted to a Swing Axle Merc), combined with a 3 speed auto, and 200BHP propelling along a 1600kg brick through the air , it was never going to be
. But it had a way about it. That tall rear end gave it it superb high speed cruisability. It just wafted and romped along at 80!But Goodwood for me was mainly a test run. I have a bit more of a test planned for the car. A test run which went rather well. However, even from that test run, I could tell a few things would need doing:
-Sound system tweaking a little more
-No heater controls ; mine have broken off
-Steering had over 1" of free play ; It's passable for an MOT but it's not right, especially going down country lanes, in addition to always correcting it.
-Passenger window was not fully closing ; it seemed to be jumping off the end of the regulator, well kind of.
While it seems I have prioritised the sound system. I hadn't. If anything, this was very much a reverse list. The heater I knew could come in handy, but I was aware that they were meant to be a nightmare to change in the W108s ; the dashboard is effectively part of the bulkhead, meaning everything has to be removed, and then removed from the back of the dashboard. And people thought moderns were bad.
By comparison, the M3's heater controls were relocated within about an hour when I converted that to a double-DIN Headunit, and that included me taking photos, going for loo breaks, and tea breaks
. So I sacked that idea off, especially with a 2 week window to do the above, with me also working all of that time.This meant I went to the passenger window. Not only was it annoying, it also meant that water could also enter. Not good on a car that would be outside for an entire weekend, and doing many more miles than I did to Goodwood! But there was nothing for it; I had to stop procrastanating and get stuck in!
Ooohhh, look a door! But, let's get closer eh?
It looks like I have found the smoking gun eh? A broken quadrant in the regulator! Great as I now have some spare regulator assemblies!
Now, hold that thought! The observant amongst you will have noticed a few things:
-The teeth on my original regulator are OK ; it's the grease that makes them look bad
-The older regulators are made of sturdier stuff, but they came with problems of their own ; The mounting was snapped on the passenger side door, despite the regulator working like a dream, and it was missing key stops which my original one had ; it had come off a different kind of W108 ; I was told these were off a W108 3.5
So, it seemed I was back to the drawing board. Not quite. I saw that I could salvage the regulator that was on the car. The issue was that the quadrant had become warped. I managed to straighten the quadrant enough, and sure enough, I had a window that fully closed again.
So, that was one issue done. But what about the steering? The truth is the steering coupler was absolutely shot. There was no rubber left in it at all. As a result, I had miles of free play at the wheel. I'd have taken photos of the job, but something happened:
I ended up making an impromptu trip to the Nurburgring with a mate. I did say that I might not go as I knew timings would be tight anyway with me going to Laon. But I had a counteroffer made for that
.So, whilst it's not Merc related, let's have a few 'Ring shots eh?
Ooooh look, an R107
Was I wishing I bought the M3 along? You bet! This trip is the first time I've been to the 'ring and not driven around it. Sometimes, it's good to just sit back and relax and honestly, I needed it!
But, R&R wasn't going to sort my Mercedes out! However, I did have a plan for my return
. It's just as well, as I was going to need that plan!Which ignition setup are you referring to?
The stock system is a points-assisted system. It had a CDI box to regulate the spark, which the points acting as a 'switch', thus not taking any real load. For this reason, the points last quite some time in an M117 engine.
The system the car now has is a simple replacement which is available for all manner of classic cars. Most classic cars just have points going to the coil, which controls the spark and the charging time of the ignition coil. With the Petronix setup, there is a Hall effect sensor in the dizzy (fitted by yourself) which gives the signal as to when to fire the coil.
With this being an Ignitor II setup, it can do variable Dwell depending on RPM, compared to the constant dwell angle of points (charging time of the ignition coil or even turn it off if you leave the keys in the ignition too, which can often kill an ignition coil.
The E-Core coil is basically an uprated coil. I like Epoxy coils as they don't tend to run as hot as an oil cooled coil. But in this case, the Bosch coils are wax filled. With the electromagnets being outside, it also helps them to become more efficient; imagine it as a larger version of a modern with a coil on plug coil. With this coil, the coil has never got hot, which the old one used to. For me, that's an improvement, which helps coil life and longevity.
The stock system is a points-assisted system. It had a CDI box to regulate the spark, which the points acting as a 'switch', thus not taking any real load. For this reason, the points last quite some time in an M117 engine.
The system the car now has is a simple replacement which is available for all manner of classic cars. Most classic cars just have points going to the coil, which controls the spark and the charging time of the ignition coil. With the Petronix setup, there is a Hall effect sensor in the dizzy (fitted by yourself) which gives the signal as to when to fire the coil.
With this being an Ignitor II setup, it can do variable Dwell depending on RPM, compared to the constant dwell angle of points (charging time of the ignition coil or even turn it off if you leave the keys in the ignition too, which can often kill an ignition coil.
The E-Core coil is basically an uprated coil. I like Epoxy coils as they don't tend to run as hot as an oil cooled coil. But in this case, the Bosch coils are wax filled. With the electromagnets being outside, it also helps them to become more efficient; imagine it as a larger version of a modern with a coil on plug coil. With this coil, the coil has never got hot, which the old one used to. For me, that's an improvement, which helps coil life and longevity.
The one area I didn't like of the car was the steering. It was vague! I've driven Land Rovers that are worse, but that's not really the point here [img]//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png" alt=";)" class="smile[/img]. With me driving it, that was one thing. But for my friends to drive it, that's another. It had to be right. I may be used to driving old crap, but it doesn't mean others should suffer my burden!
I'd have loved to have taken photos of this, and I will include some photos later, but a few things prevented me:
-I was pretty sleep deprived ; I got back at 4:30am in the morning, and had enough kip to ensure I didn't do anything stupod[/li]
-I was lacking time ; 4 days away from driving day![/li]
-Remember that favour I mentioned because I went to Germany? It was to borrow the
Naturally, I got on with the job, with some helpful muscle to hand.
One thing I was told was that this job was a pain in the proverbial. Alot of this stemmed from people's reluctance to drop the steering box. What the guides didn't mention was how the coupler shield within the car would be a royal pain in the proverbial to remove! Most manufacturers would have put the coupling inside the car, as they do these days. They'd also have made the shield stay in with a few bolt. If it was an overengineered car, maybe double. Mercedes? Try 10! They were all a pain to get to and while I got them out I knew I'd struggle to get them back in again. But that could wait eh?
But back to the coupling! We had to tackle it Under the guidance of one of the guys, we decided to try to remove it without removing the 'box. After trying to remove the coupling that way, it became clear it wasn't going to happen. As a result, I went with my gut feeling and dropping the steering box.
This improved things much more. As soon as the coupling came off, it became clear that it really had seen better days. However, I've kept the old coupling. Strange I know! My coupling oddly enough allows the bushes to be replaced ; something quite a few of them aren't. If the new coupling goes, I'll chuck some poly bushes into this and reuse it.
Then I put the new coupling in. Many go for the cheaper URO coupling, but some peeps have safety concerns over them due to the clamping bolt positions. Given that I got a reasonable price for a new coupling from Mercedes I fitted one of those, in addition to new screws:
Yup, the access was tight. Didn't someone make a thread about how old cars were easy to work on? I wonder if they worked on a W108 or W109 before...
It was then a case of reassembling the steering system again. As I predicted, the coupler shield inside the car was a realy pig to fit on. However, it was all good. With that in mind, there was nothing else left to do, but to test drive it!
Immediately the steering felt much better! Going by the look of the steering 'box, it seems to be a recon item fitted, which is a big plus!Finally, one big problem was solved! However, the gearshifter was still shifting all of the gears right, but it seemed ever so slightly misaligned from before. If there was an Angel and a Devil on my shoulder, I really should have listened to the devil!. But this is RR, and well, we don't work that way
I went to go and adjust the linkage. As soon as I tried to, the bushing at the gearbox end simply fell apart. Was I annoyed? You bet! I now have an almost unusable gear linkage. It couldn't get Park, or hold 1st (L) or 2nd (S) manually. That left me with Drive, Neutral and Reverse. Not terrible but not great. I sometimes use 2nd to get this car to go a little quicker, so I wanted it fixed quickly!
Fortunately, Mercedes had two bushes in stock for not alot of cash. The same couldn't be said for another certain Swing-Axle Mercedes specialist or the pricing either!
With this bush done on the next day after work, the gear change still wasn't perfect, but I had 2nd gear again. There was another bushing which looked old and ropey but I didn't want to chance changing that and being left with no gears whatsoever. That bushing/rod linkage was also goin to take 2 days to get to me. Not an ideal situation.
But it did mean that I could finish off a few touches on the car. Firstly, I threw a bucket of water over it. I also then attended to something many people have noticed was missing from the car. The centre caps.
I was given a set by the guy who lent me the ramp, albeit the fitment was questionable. I was tempted to paint them up, but I knew that would take time and effort that I simply didn't have, bearing in mind it was Wednesday night, and I was leaving the day after!
So, what did I get? Some of these?
[img]http://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/chasr/2fe8d9e69689.jpg" style="max-width:100%;[/img]
OK, the wheels are a little dirty! I got some centre caps. The keen-eyed will see the shabbier ones on in the shot before. These caps I bought had an interesting story.
I was told by a certain SL specialist that I couldn't buy the caps, and only they sold the 'Mexican Hat' caps for £80! Looking on eBay, it seemed the cheapest genuine set I could get were £50 in this country for something that was decent. Turkish replicas, albeit unpainted are £20. I almost bought the latter until I called Mercedes. The price was better than the eBay items by quite a way, so they got the business in the end. It pretty worked out to being the same price as the Turkish items after delivery. And don't they look good on my Replica Mexican hats?
With that did, all that was left to do was to fill the fuel tank up. At a £100 refill, it was expensive! After picking my mates up it was time to go to Dover.
After 180 miles of travelling and £60 later (no, really, the consumption is that bad!), I was at Dover. OK, I was at Ashford the night before getting some R&R. I even had a few other cars to keep the Merc company too!
So, where exactly was I heading? That's simple. The Laon Historique. And that why folks, is why there were other cars down at the dock!
Would the trip go well? Would the car drink more than Jordan out on the lash? Would we be able to afford the fuel? All of these questions would soon be answered.
I'd have loved to have taken photos of this, and I will include some photos later, but a few things prevented me:
-I was pretty sleep deprived ; I got back at 4:30am in the morning, and had enough kip to ensure I didn't do anything stupod[/li]
-I was lacking time ; 4 days away from driving day![/li]
-Remember that favour I mentioned because I went to Germany? It was to borrow the
Naturally, I got on with the job, with some helpful muscle to hand.
One thing I was told was that this job was a pain in the proverbial. Alot of this stemmed from people's reluctance to drop the steering box. What the guides didn't mention was how the coupler shield within the car would be a royal pain in the proverbial to remove! Most manufacturers would have put the coupling inside the car, as they do these days. They'd also have made the shield stay in with a few bolt. If it was an overengineered car, maybe double. Mercedes? Try 10! They were all a pain to get to and while I got them out I knew I'd struggle to get them back in again. But that could wait eh?
But back to the coupling! We had to tackle it Under the guidance of one of the guys, we decided to try to remove it without removing the 'box. After trying to remove the coupling that way, it became clear it wasn't going to happen. As a result, I went with my gut feeling and dropping the steering box.
This improved things much more. As soon as the coupling came off, it became clear that it really had seen better days. However, I've kept the old coupling. Strange I know! My coupling oddly enough allows the bushes to be replaced ; something quite a few of them aren't. If the new coupling goes, I'll chuck some poly bushes into this and reuse it.
Then I put the new coupling in. Many go for the cheaper URO coupling, but some peeps have safety concerns over them due to the clamping bolt positions. Given that I got a reasonable price for a new coupling from Mercedes I fitted one of those, in addition to new screws:
Yup, the access was tight. Didn't someone make a thread about how old cars were easy to work on? I wonder if they worked on a W108 or W109 before...
It was then a case of reassembling the steering system again. As I predicted, the coupler shield inside the car was a realy pig to fit on. However, it was all good. With that in mind, there was nothing else left to do, but to test drive it!
Immediately the steering felt much better! Going by the look of the steering 'box, it seems to be a recon item fitted, which is a big plus!Finally, one big problem was solved! However, the gearshifter was still shifting all of the gears right, but it seemed ever so slightly misaligned from before. If there was an Angel and a Devil on my shoulder, I really should have listened to the devil!. But this is RR, and well, we don't work that way
I went to go and adjust the linkage. As soon as I tried to, the bushing at the gearbox end simply fell apart. Was I annoyed? You bet! I now have an almost unusable gear linkage. It couldn't get Park, or hold 1st (L) or 2nd (S) manually. That left me with Drive, Neutral and Reverse. Not terrible but not great. I sometimes use 2nd to get this car to go a little quicker, so I wanted it fixed quickly!
Fortunately, Mercedes had two bushes in stock for not alot of cash. The same couldn't be said for another certain Swing-Axle Mercedes specialist or the pricing either!
With this bush done on the next day after work, the gear change still wasn't perfect, but I had 2nd gear again. There was another bushing which looked old and ropey but I didn't want to chance changing that and being left with no gears whatsoever. That bushing/rod linkage was also goin to take 2 days to get to me. Not an ideal situation.
But it did mean that I could finish off a few touches on the car. Firstly, I threw a bucket of water over it. I also then attended to something many people have noticed was missing from the car. The centre caps.
I was given a set by the guy who lent me the ramp, albeit the fitment was questionable. I was tempted to paint them up, but I knew that would take time and effort that I simply didn't have, bearing in mind it was Wednesday night, and I was leaving the day after!
So, what did I get? Some of these?
[img]http://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/chasr/2fe8d9e69689.jpg" style="max-width:100%;[/img]
OK, the wheels are a little dirty! I got some centre caps. The keen-eyed will see the shabbier ones on in the shot before. These caps I bought had an interesting story.
I was told by a certain SL specialist that I couldn't buy the caps, and only they sold the 'Mexican Hat' caps for £80! Looking on eBay, it seemed the cheapest genuine set I could get were £50 in this country for something that was decent. Turkish replicas, albeit unpainted are £20. I almost bought the latter until I called Mercedes. The price was better than the eBay items by quite a way, so they got the business in the end. It pretty worked out to being the same price as the Turkish items after delivery. And don't they look good on my Replica Mexican hats?
With that did, all that was left to do was to fill the fuel tank up. At a £100 refill, it was expensive! After picking my mates up it was time to go to Dover.
After 180 miles of travelling and £60 later (no, really, the consumption is that bad!), I was at Dover. OK, I was at Ashford the night before getting some R&R. I even had a few other cars to keep the Merc company too!
So, where exactly was I heading? That's simple. The Laon Historique. And that why folks, is why there were other cars down at the dock!
Would the trip go well? Would the car drink more than Jordan out on the lash? Would we be able to afford the fuel? All of these questions would soon be answered.
So, the car made it down, and what a car!
The changes I had made were apparent, including to my passengers! The Falken tyres were gripping well, the car cruised down effortlessly, and even my friends commented on how well the Merc lit the road up at night, thanks to the Cibies and the Osram Nightbreaker bulbs; surprising given I was doing 70-80mph all of the way in addition to them being used to HID equipped cars!
The car didn't however just prove itself in being a worthy companion in being a mile destroying cruiser, it also proved itself at being incredibly thirsty! Going from Warwick to Ashford took £55. And that was before I even hit the docks! Clearly, that was going to be a theme on the trip!
In light of that, I went to doing 70MPH on the autoroutes in France, seeing if that would make a difference. With the car enjoying a drink as much as we were enjoying our time in it, we stopped off at the first stop of many on the trip. Bethume, just outside of Arras. No, really, Arras is the name of a place! Don't snigger you childish lot!
Sure, the car was looking a little dirty as I ran out of time, but it still had presence!
For the Harry Metcalfe fans here, a Jaguar Project 8 made it over! It looked great! Sure, it's not everyone's cup of teat, but it's not a bad bit of engineering :
It wasn't long before we saw some usual suspects out on the prowl:
Seeing a Mk2 jag was interesting! They are probably the closest thing to my Merc, and I still like them! This one looked great with its hint towards its sportiness. Maybe one day I'll have one; well, I can hope to can't I? A lottery maybe
Both of these cars represented a milestone in Jag's history, but for very different reasons. One for its innovation, the other for its styling
Before we knew it, the time came for us to check into our hotel, and make our way down.
I would eventually get down to Saint Quentin. This marked one difference to how I did things last year, where effectively it was a 'semi-package weekend trip'. The only thing I paid for separately last time was my fuel and food. This time I did it the way I used to do things ; separately.
This would be a pain as
-the organisers of the event, not Scenic Classic Car Tours (SCCT), are lacklustre in communicating at best! That includes calling France, emailing them, you name it! But, I did eventually get a confirmation thankfully
-Places around Laon and Saint-Quentin sold out fast ; after all, SCCT buy all of the slots near neough!
-The ferry crossing would come out of my own pocket in addition to balancing time and price, and I wouldn't get the free coffee and biscuits on the boat!
So, I'd encountered more hassle doing it this way. But compared to last year, the savings were surprising and given the car's thirst, this wasn't a bad thing! It also proved to be the right way to do it, as I got a lovely appartment to stay in, far nicer than the hotels offered last year! If there was one thing missing, you were a little further away from the socialising; after all; with SCCT booking all of the slots, the pockets of where people are is concentrated! But that's hardly a dealbreaker.
However, the fun would begin on the next day.
The changes I had made were apparent, including to my passengers! The Falken tyres were gripping well, the car cruised down effortlessly, and even my friends commented on how well the Merc lit the road up at night, thanks to the Cibies and the Osram Nightbreaker bulbs; surprising given I was doing 70-80mph all of the way in addition to them being used to HID equipped cars!
The car didn't however just prove itself in being a worthy companion in being a mile destroying cruiser, it also proved itself at being incredibly thirsty! Going from Warwick to Ashford took £55. And that was before I even hit the docks! Clearly, that was going to be a theme on the trip!
In light of that, I went to doing 70MPH on the autoroutes in France, seeing if that would make a difference. With the car enjoying a drink as much as we were enjoying our time in it, we stopped off at the first stop of many on the trip. Bethume, just outside of Arras. No, really, Arras is the name of a place! Don't snigger you childish lot!
Sure, the car was looking a little dirty as I ran out of time, but it still had presence!
For the Harry Metcalfe fans here, a Jaguar Project 8 made it over! It looked great! Sure, it's not everyone's cup of teat, but it's not a bad bit of engineering :
It wasn't long before we saw some usual suspects out on the prowl:
Seeing a Mk2 jag was interesting! They are probably the closest thing to my Merc, and I still like them! This one looked great with its hint towards its sportiness. Maybe one day I'll have one; well, I can hope to can't I? A lottery maybe
Both of these cars represented a milestone in Jag's history, but for very different reasons. One for its innovation, the other for its styling
Before we knew it, the time came for us to check into our hotel, and make our way down.
I would eventually get down to Saint Quentin. This marked one difference to how I did things last year, where effectively it was a 'semi-package weekend trip'. The only thing I paid for separately last time was my fuel and food. This time I did it the way I used to do things ; separately.
This would be a pain as
-the organisers of the event, not Scenic Classic Car Tours (SCCT), are lacklustre in communicating at best! That includes calling France, emailing them, you name it! But, I did eventually get a confirmation thankfully
-Places around Laon and Saint-Quentin sold out fast ; after all, SCCT buy all of the slots near neough!
-The ferry crossing would come out of my own pocket in addition to balancing time and price, and I wouldn't get the free coffee and biscuits on the boat!
So, I'd encountered more hassle doing it this way. But compared to last year, the savings were surprising and given the car's thirst, this wasn't a bad thing! It also proved to be the right way to do it, as I got a lovely appartment to stay in, far nicer than the hotels offered last year! If there was one thing missing, you were a little further away from the socialising; after all; with SCCT booking all of the slots, the pockets of where people are is concentrated! But that's hardly a dealbreaker.
However, the fun would begin on the next day
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