1988 Mercedes W124 250TD - SOLD GONE & OVER

Next plan of action was to renew the hatch lifters... Got some 2nd hand ones on eBay for 1€.

But - WTF?? Why would you put them THERE??



But oh well - I managed to sort that after lots of swearing (swearing always helps to solve problems! ;D).

Loading bay:



Stuff replaced so far...



Sticker to warn people of lethallity of old diesels:



And of course old Mercs can rust too. Furtunately, these are the only realy bad rusty bits: everythin else can still be conserved without having to dig out the welder...




The rear quarter is dented and the wheel arch has a big hole in it...



The sills need sorting - but appart from that there's no major rust. The odd spot of surface rust, some random rust bubbles - but regarding the price I bought it for - it couldn't be any better! ;D

So, after that smal aount of work, she was ready to hit the streets again.



Am ate of me broke a limo for spares last year. And he had a LH wing left I got off him for free So the first patch of rust is fixed ;D



Time for some comfy bits... The PO left me this:



...which I used to put on this:



...which transformed the car into a real armchair on wheels (not that it is any faster than an armchair with it's 90BHP @ 1.5 tonnes ;D).

What I discovered three days ago: the PO left me with two 6.5x15" ET49 wheels, a 6.5x15" ET37 wheel and a 6x15" ET31 wheel... Tyres from the 80's to 2006 in two sizes (195/65 and 185/55). Luckily I got a set of tyres from a Taxi Co. which was sorting out tyres - for free (gave him a crate of beer though!). Two new steels for 30€ wasn't bad either.

That's it for now... Oh, wait, one more:

Above mentioned mate had an original radio too! 80's 'tank track' switch porn:



Cheers,
Jan

German TüV (MOT) testers really have no sense of humour about chopped springs. I'm hoping that they won't notice the wife's Kadett is missing a coil or two...they will notice I'm sure!

Yeah, german TÜV's a bit anal in certain regards ;D

I'm waiting for a 'Sportsline' model that's being broken for (cheap) spares, they were lowered from the factory. It's a bit difficult, as the rear is self-adjusting and has all sorts of complicated hydraulic stuff (-> Citroen hydro suspension). But basically yes: I agree Also hunting for cheap 7x15" sportsline steels...

panelbeaterpeter: Ah, a familiar face

Cheers,
Jan

Cheers! We had a trip to Spain thi summer in a mate's 230TE - we sat for 26h non-stop in the car - no trouble; it's that comfy. 1100km behind the wheel? No problem, your' just not that not exhausted. With the Mini - I'm done for after 300km ;D

That must've flicked some switch and I bought one myself. Btw: I got this one for 530€ - they have not started becoming expensive yet Mine has even got a cat allready which saves me about 50% taxes

The new farmer-hook-protector:



I think I call her Lucy ;D

Cheers,
Jan

Hi!

Since I thought about painting the Merc in satin RAL 7016, I bought a rattle can of it and painted one hubcap.



Looks sweet, I realy like that colour. But... It looks wrong on the car, I think... The fenders have a slightly different colour which makes it look odd. Though I could put on the '89 on side trims in a mathcing colour. But di I want to do this? Mmmmh - nope.



I think I paint them satin black. Can't go wrong with satin black...

And since I was on the car anyway, I thought I investigate what might cause the loud grinding noise the Merc makes once on speed. I suspected the wheel bearing. had a bit too much play. After adjusting, the noise was a bit quieter, but still present.



What I found is a truely shagged wheel bearing - no wonder it was a bit loud ;D



Probably hard to see on the picture - the outer race is very rough, rollers are pitted and everything shows signs of excessive heat (which was probably the oil/grease oddour which appeared every now and then). The hub's now at the local garage for pressing in the new races, I hope they can finish it this evening (I don't have a hydraulic press yet - only plans to build one...)

Cheers,
Jan

Benn installing a FM modulator today. Great stuff!

Antenna IN/OUT
Cinch IN
On/Off switch



Plugs into the antenna cable and modulates a FM frequency (88.5 or 88.9) from the cinch IN source. This way you can listen to MP3, iPods etc. with an old radio without additional AUX IN - free of any interference. Unlike with those wireless FM transmitters which plug into the lighter.

Installation is a bit more complicated, though...



But - it works very well! Quality is on level with radio - if not a tad better. All radio frequencys still work, if you want to listen to a radio station broadcasting on 88.5 or 88.9 you simply switch the modulator off. Easy-peasy.



Very nice! I would hate having to put another radio in there for listening to MP3s etc...

Cheers,
Jan

*D'oh!*

A mate of me bough a reasonably cheap 260E on eBay. But: the engine was dead... As was the battery. We tried to jump-start it into live - but all we got was some missfire and smoke out the intake. curse word...

The PO told him it was the crank sensor... So we replaced that - still no joy. At this time, the battery of the first car was almost flat...



So we changed over to jump it with my diesel with high capacity battery...



Next suspect was the separate ignition ECU. We had no spare ECU for a six cylinder, only one from a 4 cylinder. We thought ''fook it, what can go wrong??'' - hooked it up - and the engine eventually cought into live after a minute of cranking. Waheey! Steady idle, all cylinders firing - time for a test drive.

The engine did pull very strong, no jerking, no nothing - yet it was too early to celebrate...

The engine died. Just as we were in the middle of a field... With a dead battery and no signal for the mobile... I had the key to my car with me, and my car was blocking the other car. *D'oh!* Eventually we got a phone connection, and my mates brother was able to get the other car out (how he did it is beyond me...). By pure chance he found us, we jump started the 260 into live (again after several minutes of cranking over). We had about 5km to go - after 200m the engine dies again. Second time cranking for a few minutes - 300m - engine dies again. "FFFFUUU!!!!". Cranking - engine cought into live - and FULL throttle flat-out we went home, through the wineyards on slippery, leaf covered field paths... Scaring, to say the least... We arived safe & sound - and as the throttle was released - the engine was dead once more.

That was on thursday.

Today we went to the breaker's and bought a new crank sensor. Tried it - nothing. Back to breaker's, bought and bought a proper 2nd hand 6 cylinder ignition ECU. That was 100kms driving...

The ignition ECU is still availabke from the Mercedes dealer's.

But: it cost's an increddible 2023€. Two-thousand-and-twenty-three bucks...! Eff me sideways... I bet the seller knew this VERRY well...! We got the 2nd hand ECU for 150€ (I guess that's a über-bargain compared to a new one)

We cranked it over again, for 10 minutes - nothing...

The my mate rest's his head in deep thought - unpluggs the ECU (the other ECU for the fueling).

Turns the key - and the engine jumps into live on the second turn.

Lesson of the day:

Before you buy parts, spend hours and days swearing and ripping the engine into pieces - try the easy stuff first...

Cheers,
Jan

To continue my little monologue:

I won a pair of orange indicators on eBay; 1€ + 7€ shipping

Anyway; I think it looks much much & much better with orange indicators...



Latest MPG monitoring: 40 MPG, mostly short distance city traffic - I'm very happy with that, espcially since I didn't drive with economy in my mind

Cheers,
Jan

Cheers! If my car passes it's TÜV test, I'm going to paint it satin grey But first things first... I've just placed an order for some repair panels, and I'm positive body work can start soon

Anyhow; my mates 260 runs again. FINALY! New cap (80€! Eighty euro...! For a dizzy cap!), rotor & coil did the trick. It could still do with a set of new leads and a good tune - but it idles, it runs, it pulls hard and it doesn't die, neither does it run backwards after starting. All that's needed now is a fresh TÜV (MOT) and it's ready to go.

The suspect:



80€ for that piece of orange plastic... I still can't believe it! I've never payed more than 15€ for my Mini's cap AND rotor. Makes you realise how stupidly cheap Minis are to run... Oh, btw. run:



Too sad those W124s are fully stuffed with sound deadening... That straight six doesn't sound bad! ;D well - I guess that's the difference between Mercedes and BMW / between an armchair and a sporty car ;D

Cheers,
Jan