1985 Mercedes-Benz 230E, US taillamps 150426

[Knugcab]

Grew tired of the 164 that had a whole lot of small faults all the time... Got a new daily yesterday, a Mercedes-Benz 230E. Original condition, never wrenched more than service and repairs that have been needed, few previous owners.


Quite low mileage...notice that it is kilometers (don't know if you maybe are using miles in the UK?).



A lot of wood in the interior, which I like. It's what should be in an exclusive automobile, no fake carbon fiber or aluminium panels. Wood is a natural material that is very beautiful, nature haven't created two trees that are the same, and because of that, all pieces of wood are different...


Car dealer decal from 1985 in the rear window. Nice!


Can you explain why ONE of the extra lamps got stolen?




Some pictures of the car.



Yeah, there is a bit of tinworm unfortunately. But it is 24 years old so what should one expect?


The most boring thing is that there's a coat of filler on the roof, that has cracked. I need to fix that more seriously than it's done.

But now I have a car that I really love as a daily, and I think that it has great potential to become a project too! ;D

[UtterPiffle]

Always a good buy. Interesting that it has heated seats, but manual windows.

[Knugcab]

There was heated seats in most W123s sold in Sweden though. Wonder why it was such a popular option here? ;D


I don't have the right wheelstuds yet but... Do you think that this can be good or would it be better to keep the steelies on? I mean, it is only wheels aftar all and wouldn't really destroy the car...

[LAndy]

May 22, 2009 7:46:08 GMT Knugcab said:

Can you explain why ONE of the extra lamps got stolen?

Dubbers wanting one as a fog light probably.

nice looking Merc

[Knugcab]

I started sandblasting some of the spots and that seems to work well. Notice that I have the alloys on it now. Maybe not 100% correct, but on the other hand, they had better tyres... The front tyres were from 1992 and both dry and worn, so I didn't feel safe driving with them anymore. Unfortunately there's cheap Chinese rubber on the alloys. Way more sound and a bit more nervous ride than on Michelins... A MB needs to roll on Michelins or Continentals...


I have a tendence to make my cars interiors a mess. I didn't want that on this one so I did install a wastepaper basket. The screws doesn't destroy too much since if I remove the very tiny screws from the carpeting, nobody will see the holes. Also, both me and the co-pilot can reach it. Think that it is a compromise that works.

BTW, I was on a longer trip. Fuel consumption 0,79 litres per 10 kilometers. I think that is OK for an old leadsled with K-jet and bad aerodynamics.

[stwat]

Very nice and original W123

The alloys are are perfect and period for the car.

[grizz]

You are going to LOVE this car.

They are just soooo right.

Personally I would keep the hubcaps, but then I am strange like that.

[Knugcab]

I already DO love it...

I will continue to use the caps in the wintertime (when I change to studded snowtyres), and drive with the alloys in the summertime, I think. Because I LIKE it with the alloys,,,

[Knugcab]

Things are moving forward...


First, this may not be correct, but I have always had those in my cars, it doesn't feel like MY car without them... :/



More sandblasting and some epoxy primer...


I changed the side trim too for some strange reason (you have to rotate your head since f*ing photobucket rotated the picture, AAARGH!)



Blasted the other side too. That front wing aren't in any great shape as you can see, but repairable. I did expect that however since there was a lot of bubbles in the paint...


Starts to look like this...I hope that it doesn't look too much like an "18 year old gearhead"-car?


Bought a CD-player since I didn't want a crappy tape player from 1991... I think that it matches the Zebrano wood very well, elegant and discrete.


Started to fix the front end...


Not very funny stone chipping in the headlight...


I thought that I had one on the spares car but I didn't It was in very bad shape. Since the car is a beauty I show you that anyway. Maybe I'll buy a new headlamp glass, they aren't too expensive...


Or... Since everyone is going in the opposite direction...why not?

(not a chance. Once an 85, always an 85)


The plates that are holding the rubber covers over the bumper are just scrap metal, but they are quite cheap.


The turn signal cracked into pieces when removed. But once again, it is cheap parts...


Started doing some filler work...

[mino]

Cool car! I like the older style headlights...

[Knugcab]

Me too. Sometimes. But in the long run I like the newer style better. I think like this, I would never change the headlamps on a facelifted 123. On the other hand, I would probably not bother with changing them on a pre-facelift car either.

[Knugcab]

Changed the flexdisc (correct name?) on the rear axle... The old one looked like this. Wonder where all the noise and vibrations came from.

This was all of the rust that was at the doors! No welding required. Guess if I was lucky?

Some paint on the headlamp wipers, maybe hard to see...but when the car gets fresh paint, the details is what makes it pop...

Cut away some rusty sheetmetal in the front wings

As i already said...

Sandblasted the inside too, but it was quite fresh, I think that the late examples plastic inner wings have been very helpful in protecting it.

Started fixing the corner where the rear arches meets the floor in the boot... This car seriously needs mudflaps.

Some new sheetmetal there

A view from the inside.


More sheetmetal got cut away. Just needs new now...

[BenzBoy]

Nice work, looking good! What's the blue paint you're using on the cut away parts?
Strange that the roof has filler - maybe it got dented at some point in its life?

Glad you're liking owning the Mercedes, they are fantastic cars (OK I'm biased! ;D)

[Knugcab]

The blue paint is "welding primer" that is used to get rust protection between parts that are going to be welded together. You actually are able to weld in that paint!

Hehe, I am biased too. Nothing beats an old Benz, I'm not a newbie to them, my grandfather bought his first Strich Acht in 1972, and then we've had lots of them, and even some W123s... I remember being a bit ashamed of my fathers rusty old strich acht when I was a kid, I wanted him to buy a newer, better automobile (in my eyes a W123 ;D ), that may sound humorous today when thinking about the small differences, but they felt greater back in the early 90s... However, today I like the strich acht better than the W123, but I have to admit that the W123 have its points when it comes to use it as a daily.

[Knugcab]

Started stripping the roof from paint with a heatgun... Pure rat-look. ;D

Tried the heatgun on the grille, and it works! The right dark grey color got back, it's like the almost white coat of oxide just boiled away. One only has to be careful since the plastic easily can melt... I removed the extra lamp, don't need any as long as we have midnight sun... But I want a pair of old, or old looking, chrome ones in good condition.

A little comparision of how the plastic looks before and after heating. It works but one has to be careful.

Both arches are done now. Just needs some sandblasting already because of the rain.

[Knugcab]

Now the roof are completely sanded down, and there was no filler on it, just awfully many coats of paint... The rest of the paint are being sanded down now... No pics unfortunately.

One fun thing though:


New! Directly from the 80s but never mounted. Yum yum...

[Knugcab]

Polished radiator grille. Just ain't feeling as fun as if it had been a pre 72 example with the metal mesh... The first step of downgrading the merc grille was when it got the plastic mesh in 72, and then it almost disappeared in 93. I doubt that Janis Joplin would have been satisfied with a plastic mesh

It is not 100% perfect in the chrome either, but I guess it's good enough...


Am I as tough as the big boys now? ;D


Appearantly, the chrome trim on the boot collects a lot of dirt and it was quite rusted under there. But sandblasting was enough...


Wonder if one should buy new taillamps if they aren't too expensive? :/ I know how to freshen up old ones but I guess that new lamps would maybe be what makes it 100% instead of 99%... :/


looking' a bit sad...


Or at least toothless...

One fun thing:
Met the former owner some days ago, and her 4 year old daughter... And she stared for the car a long while then she pointed at the wheels...
"Shouldn't have those wheels, should be MOMMYS wheels!"
"But I have swapped to those wheels because I thought that they do look nice."
Then she looked at them for a while and said
"That's not what I think!".

A while later:
"This is MOMMYS car!"
"No, it is my car now."
"NO! You have just borrowed it!"

Kids are fun sometimes! ;D

[Knugcab]

Nobody that likes MB here? Starting to feel like a monologue? :/


Anyway, I sprayed the filler on the car, just waiting for it to sink some days before sanding it down...


Installed air conditioning too... Just a bit hard to turn it off. ;D


I bought some rattlecans at my Ford dealer (very cheap since it was cans that had passed its last date of guaranteed function) last year. And I used them as a kind of marking paint to see where to sand and not. Funny enough, I noticed that this Ford "Blue ambition" paint probably would look terrific on a W123, right? A tip if someone don't know which color to paint one...


Another pic (hard to take good ones of course). However, this one will keep its original "Astralsilber" shade.


I'm also waiting for those...


...and those, to arrive.

The first one are chrome trim for under the taillamps and the second are chrome air inlets. Can't have black plastic on a luxury car like a Benz!

[Ray Singh]

Looking forward to an update on this. I used to have a 1986 280CE that i got for free, before the 'filth' came round and took it away.......

[s123]

Great work on a great car - keep up the good work