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Sept 29, 2011 14:15:54 GMT
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Hi! Collected this the day before. It was only a 120km drive, yet it took as incredibly four and a half hours...  God I hate Stuttgart traffic... At least the first 1/2 of the journey was very pleasant, as we took a Smart convertible and went through the wisty backroads of the Black Forrest. But as soon as we hit the last 40km of autobahn... Well - 3,5h for the last 40km. Anyway. Money was quickly exchanged for the car. First start it ran very bad and on 3 cylinders only... But - it didn't look bad. So I put on the temporary number plates and off we headed to the very next petrol station to take a coffee... After that short recreation we headed home. Merc wasn't runing well below 2000RPM and the brakes were shuddering badly. But whitch the engine warming up and the km counting, the engine ran better and better and the brakes cleared up too. Probably had been stood for a while. And now it runs & idles as sweet as a nut. For a full risk blind buy - I'm verry happy how solid it is ;D      And only 276.000km on the clock. Arm rest, loading bay cover, rear speakers, stereo, outside temp. gauge - for 650€ (£565) I'm not going to complain ;D Only flaws I found so far is a flashing ABS light... ABS works, though (found out the hard way ;D *Whoops! Concentrate!*). And the driver's side door lock is jammed. central locking works, though. We arrived at midnight, drove it to work and back yesterday. Didn't miss a beat  Today I examined it a bit closer. First thing I did was swapping the door locks over from the driver's to the passenger's side, as the driver's side is jammed. I'll fix that at a later date... Promise!  Had to remove the locking mechnismn to get the lock out... Grr. Then Itook care of the worst visible rust...  And whilst looking for more rust I discovered a broken exhaust pipe   It's hardly loud - might leave that as it is. Sounds a bit stronger ;D Funnily enough, it's the same engine & colour as my W123 estate, only with injection and 9 BHP more.  I think it was a bargain, considering how bad many others are that cost a lot more...  Cheers, Jan |
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rr69h
Part of things
Posts: 313
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Sept 29, 2011 16:36:34 GMT
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Another 904 Midnight Blue Benz, well congrats on that very wisely chosen color! Have a highly scientific chart for your amusement by Mercedes themselves about ze conspicousness of zeir own colours:  According to that your car should be almost invisible then. Better fit a louder horn then. ;D |
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"Racing drivers never carry cash"
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Sept 29, 2011 16:46:17 GMT
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Stealth almost ;D Speaking of the horn... It's broken. Sort of. Sounds funny, though ;D *Mee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-eep!*
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Mark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,097
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Sept 30, 2011 12:23:15 GMT
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I absolutely love the w124 Mercedes T shape. Good purchase
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I absolutely love the w124 Mercedes T shape. Good purchase Thanks Yes, it's the best looking shape of the range, IMO. But then I'm a estate-fanatik ;D Because... You can carry big stuff around. Like... A big welding machine. To resurect a damaged Polo coupe.  Before:   During, using an improvised slide hammer (that's what I love a welder for! Building usefull stuff in a few minutes ;D ):  After:   Next day will see welding in a part of the donor coupe:  Only need to buy 0.6mm wire - I had big troubles welding the thin tin with a 0.8mm wire...  Soleft it for another day. Didn't think 0.2mm would make such a difference (I usually weld Mercs made of 1mm STEEL ;D). Anyway - that's it.  Back to the Merc: I had a loud whir coming from the passenger side, under the dashboard. Turned out it was the little blower that pumps air to the temp. sensor of the heater that's in the headlining. It's purpose is to make this sensor read correctly on cars with a sunroof. So it can sense the temperature in the passemger compartment, and not of the (open) roof. They certainly wouldn't build stuff like this anymore today... ;D  Going to surce a new one. Easy to change, it's just held by a metal clip. But you have to remove the glove box. Cheers, Jan |
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mrj
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,662
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next time you come to Stuttgart, let me know; i'll have a coffee for the driver and some water for the horse, too ;D If you don't repair that exhaust , could you keep the old one for me ? I need a T-model backbox as a template for the VR6 transporter ...  |
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- 1971 VW 1600 TL Fastback
- 1978 Passat GLS Variant
- 1980 Audi 100 5E
- 1981 VW aircooled panel van (sold)
- 1983 VW Jetta Mk.I
- 1984 VW Polo Coupé
- 1984 VW Passat hatchback
- 1987 VW Passat Variant
- 1987 VW Passat hatchback
- 1988 VW T25
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next time you come to Stuttgart, let me know; i'll have a coffee for the driver and some water for the horse, too ;D If you don't repair that exhaust , could you keep the old one for me ? I need a T-model backbox as a template for the VR6 transporter ... That's a offer I will not reject ;D If I don't, I can keep it for you, no problem. I think a mate of mine has a broken back box too |
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Hi!  Initial goal for today was to finish the Polo. But rain & wind made it impossible... So instead I was allowed to gut my mate's W124 230TE for it's rear silencer & ignition leads and some smal stuff... The silencer has a history; it's from a breaker's in Spain, near Velez Malaga. It was put on the 230TE, when the original exhaust fell off (almost) on the rough spanish dirt roads we had to take. It's off a hearse ;D And a bit bigger in diameter...   After that was done (plus some other unrelated non-retro stuff) I went on home, with a guiet and well runing car. Heavy rain fell, for like the first time in 3 weeks! As i was approaching a red light, I had to stop. Lights turned green, I put in 1st gear, took off - but the car wasn't moving. Just a loud *BANG!* - and I had no more drive... rear wheels jammed, blocking a main road for over an hour untill the ADAC (RAC) finally arrived... I had to stand in the rain, as this red light is frequently crossed by 40t trucks - which hardly slow down - too risky to wait in a car that'S in the middle of the road... Don't know what it is yet, I hope it's nothing major or expensive... I can only hope it's just a jammed prop shaft & broken hardy joint  Feck - what a bad night....... ADAC is transfering the car to work tomorrow - I'll see what it is soon. Argh! Again I'm without a car. The Mini runs, but smokes realy badly and burns a ton of oil after it lost all water on a autobahn run home... I realy don't want to use it for commuting as I expect the engine to blow up any time soon. Oh well... Cheers, Jan |
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Ouch, it's never fun to have a breakdown, and even worse I think it sounds more like a broken diff than something simple..
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Last Edit: Oct 6, 2011 23:05:50 GMT by dude
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Mark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,097
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Bummer dude  Hope it's something simple! |
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mrj
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,662
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Ouch, it's never fun to have a breakdown, and even worse I think it sounds more like a broken diff than something simple.. well, if the diff is broken, you have to weld it up I hope it is something simple, you'll get it sorted.... |
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- 1971 VW 1600 TL Fastback
- 1978 Passat GLS Variant
- 1980 Audi 100 5E
- 1981 VW aircooled panel van (sold)
- 1983 VW Jetta Mk.I
- 1984 VW Polo Coupé
- 1984 VW Passat hatchback
- 1987 VW Passat Variant
- 1987 VW Passat hatchback
- 1988 VW T25
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Nov 10, 2011 17:10:26 GMT
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 Finaly! |
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Nov 14, 2011 15:23:29 GMT
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Argh - and still not fitted... I'm going crazy! There are three basic sizes of diffs (0.7l, 1.1l and 1.3l oil) which come in at least 4 variations (ABS/non ABS, LSD, traction controll etc.), various ratios - and to make matters even more complicated; differently sized prop shaft flanges, which were "randomly" changed during the years... That makes about a quadzillion different diffs  At first I had a 3.67 1.1l ABS diff with a larger PCD flange. Turned out the input shaft is a bigger dia, so we couldn't swap the flange over. Luckily, I got a correct 0,7l diff - which spend 14 days on the road, as the seller messed up the postal code... Once it arrived, turns out it had a large PCD flange... But: this time the input shaft had the same diameter so it is possible to swap the flnages over. Unfortunately, we don't have the correct size long double-hex 27mm socket at work... So I bought one today and swapped the flanges over and at the same time investigated the old diff.  And the flanges:  My car has the smaler dia flange (68mm PCD) hat'S left o the old diff:      Looks like the CROWN wheel & pinion survived. Since it didn't make any noises/whining, I'll sell them on eBay, maybe in end with no money spent ;D (but I doubt it, TBH ;D) Cheers, Jan |
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Nov 16, 2011 22:35:39 GMT
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And she runs again Very satisfiing. But it's sooo quiet inside, it's scary... Differential is a good one, doesn't whine at all. And the radio died...  Ah how good to have the 'barge' back. Now the Mini can go to it's deserved winter reservation. Cheers, Jan |
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Nov 19, 2011 19:48:52 GMT
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Hi! Short update: I broke the belt tensioner... Stupid me! RTFM... In other news: they build only 3990 pre-facelift 200TEs Oh what a raaare beast I own ;D (in case anyone gives a fook ;D) First long-distance run today, to collect a W123 dashboard. Nothing to report... ~29-31MPG average. That's OK by me But I was gentle with the throttle. If I keep it, a 5 speed gearbox could be a plan. Cheers, Jan |
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Nov 24, 2011 10:29:10 GMT
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Hi! Snapped up a set of original 'man hole cover' alloys with winter tyres with a good amount of thread left. And bets of all, they were just 15km from work And - cost me 10€. As I just sold a set of Mini alloys I got for free a few years ago ;D Har!   They are a bit narrower - I found out the previously fitted alloys are 7x15" with ET40  But I think I prefere them over the 8-hole alloys. The look a bit more classy, I think. Oh, and this is a Polo Coupé spoiler I grabbed for free... HMMM... ;D  |
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Dec 10, 2011 17:28:15 GMT
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God damn it! I hate that car right now!  After the clutch release bearing was chnaged, there'S still a squealing. Not as loud, but it'S still there. F***!!  And as if that isn't enough, the front suspension developed a loud knocking noise I can't locate... I thought anti-roll bar bushes. But no. It's still there, even without the ARB fitted...  Video of banging noise: I can't locate it. Springs LOOKs unbroken, camber bearing looks and feels good, shock looks good - probably the ball joint. Or the shock. Or the camber bearing. Or a broken spring. I'll have to buy a sprinf compressor before I dismantle the suspension any further, I don't want to be killed by the spring. Checking the rear end, at least the differential is dry and doesn't whine.  But... Oh - of course! The rear suspension attachment point is rotten through.  Two choices: 1 - bodge it up. 2 - do it proper and remove the rear axle for welding... F***²! Also the steering link bar has play and the steering support lever bushes are worn out (PITA to replace without lift)... And as you can see, there'S a hell of a lot of surface rust everywhere. I said it before and I'll repeat it now: I genuinely hate that car right now! Eats all the money I wanted to safe for the W123. Gaah! My totaly rotten and abused 250TD last year was better than this car! I realy should've kept it, as it would be a properly good car right now. But no, I had to buy that wreck. Ok, rant over. It's just... I expected better. Or HOPED for better, going by the look. And I need the car right now to commute to work - but whith a possible ball joint failure I'm not going to risk driving it (down right dangerous on those cars!)... Gaaaaah. Mini are so much easyer to work on. Also W123s. |
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Jan 10, 2012 15:24:11 GMT
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Sooo - I finaly went to fix the ball joint. But all I got was this lousy T-Shirt... Erm - I mean... W124 / tools: 1:0.......  I couldn't get a single bolt undone... Not even a bit! Instead, my good Gedore socket split with a loud *KNOCK*... FFS! And I was actually looking forward to try out my homebuild bearing press...  So... Since the noise is gone anyway, I changed my mind, put the wheel back on and left the W124 alone. And went to do this... Which was rather dissapointing too ;D |
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rr69h
Part of things
Posts: 313
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Jan 10, 2012 20:15:32 GMT
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Hm. The balljoints tend to squeak rather than knock from my experience with a 190D I was rocking about in for several years (same suspension as the W124). Did you check if your shocks are actually tightened up?
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"Racing drivers never carry cash"
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God I hate Stuttgart traffic...
Soleft it for another day. Didn't think 0.2mm would make such a difference (I usually weld Mercs made of 1mm STEEL ;D). 
Back to the Merc:
Hope it's something simple!
But I think I prefere them over the 8-hole alloys. The look a bit more classy, I think.