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Nov 15, 2015 17:02:54 GMT
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Doing Edinburgh to the Northumberland coast tomorrow AM in what looks like foul weather to pick up some black steels for my winter tyres. So, yes, I'm doing a long drive in wintery conditions on non-Winter tyres. Oddly, I live on the Northumberland coast and am going up to edinburgh tomorrow to...er...debase myself. Disclaimer: I am not a black steel wheel. *n I hope your errr...debasement goes as well as my steel wheel trip. Four genuine Benz wheels, no evidence of use but they'bviously been sat for a while, for twenty quid each.
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Nov 13, 2015 18:30:19 GMT
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Praying for dry weather so I can start the clean up on my newly purchased E32 I'll light a candle for you but I think the baw's burst for the weekend.
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Nov 13, 2015 16:23:23 GMT
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I think it would be the balancing machine that would break the bank to buy and that seems to me to be the key to doing a professional job. As above, there are well known ways of swapping tyres with hand tools.
They look to be about six hundred quid for a cheapy, brand new one tyre balancing rig. If it's eighty quid a time for you to get the tyres swapped and balanced it's easy to work out how many times you'd need to use it before it's paid for.
Maybe when you've got one you could do other people's to get the cost down?
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Nov 13, 2015 16:16:01 GMT
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Doing Edinburgh to the Northumberland coast tomorrow AM in what looks like foul weather to pick up some black steels for my winter tyres. So, yes, I'm doing a long drive in wintery conditions on non-Winter tyres.
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Nov 13, 2015 15:21:58 GMT
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Never really thought about it until you mentioned it but I do have the number of a really good auto alarm/locksmith guy. Can't hurt to call him and ask...
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Nov 13, 2015 15:18:25 GMT
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I bought a set of 3000F ultracapacitors. Put 'em in a box, add a heavy Anderson connector via some 50mm welding cable, and a little momentary push switch to a volt meter, and a nice long pair of leads (Anderson, welding cable, and a pair of honking gurt Russian crocodile clips) and there you have it. Starts our 4l telehandler 8 or 10 times, recharges in about 4 mins from any running vehicle, and weighs maybe 6kg. Will put up a couple of photos at some stage if you want. I would definitely like to see a couple of photos of this built. Am I right in saying that you don't need to keep this charged, you just keep it handy and then charge (in a few minutes) it when you need it?
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Nov 12, 2015 15:56:59 GMT
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I got some Bolle one from amazon for less than a tenner, seem OK for light to medium duty Bolle Goggles - amazonGot these, they're brilliant. They do an insert that you get an optician to make prescription lenses for and you have prescription goggles. I use them for light work, dusty stuff or working under the car where rust and dust might fall on you, but for any mechanical cutting or grinding I always use a full face mask. It's not even an expensive one I've got. The guy I share my workshop with has done the "hold still, I don't want to blind you" thing at A&E and I got my self protected after that.
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Nov 12, 2015 15:48:17 GMT
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My experience with them, whether expensive or cheap, is that they need to be used regularly or need to have a charger that can do battery maintenance.
A boy I know has two cheapy ones (poor quality plastic, rubbish switches and clips) that he uses for recoveries, a couple a week, and they get charged by a simple 12v cigarette adapter after each outing and he's had them for years.
I noticed in Halfrauds' the other week that their own brand model has a charging station/dock you can buy separately and they're selling them off cheap. The guy in the store said that the newer model has a battery conditioner built in to extend the life. He said they get a lot of the booster packs brought back for warranty claims then remembered he was talking to a punter and stopped talking about them...
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Nov 12, 2015 11:33:26 GMT
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A bit modern ('97 car) but does anyone have a viable alternative to me paying £230 for a new key from the main dealer? I only have one key, it works fine and the car is in good shape (bought from another member on here) so it might be worth spending the money on it. It's this type: Seems to be used on other models, too. I've seen used keys for sale on eBay and the sellers seem to get positive feedback after they sell, suggesting that the buyers were able to get the keys reprogrammed.
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Nov 11, 2015 14:57:49 GMT
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That beigey-yellow E30... I think I'm in luuurve...
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Last Edit: Nov 11, 2015 14:58:10 GMT by Battles
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Nov 10, 2015 22:51:20 GMT
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I used to have a recurring daydream of a dirty white Nissan Bluebird saloon with rear wheel drive chevy v8 Sorta like this with / without hubcaps I dig that now you mention it. The boxiness would be an excellent disguise.
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Nov 10, 2015 21:34:56 GMT
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And now for somehting usefull: Volvo 744 headlight wiper blades seem to be the same as the MB ones. Only the "carrier" is different, but swapping the rubbers over should be easy. They cost me 11€ the pair - whilst MB wants 40€ - per side! Blöödy hell... Nice! Mine all have working wipers but either no rubbers or broken rubbers. I'll investigate Volvo rubber.
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Nov 10, 2015 14:56:42 GMT
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As for why I'm involved , before her Datsun also went missing, she was a customer of mine. She has been through a lot in life and I felt sorry for her to offered to do all i could to make her feel better and hopefully even if the Datsun never surfaces , the van is very get backable. I can relate to this, I've been involved in a couple of fools errands for customers and in the end up I didn't bill for the time, I just accepted that I'd done a nice thing to make someone feel a bit better about a bad situation. Some people don't really want it fixed but they need a hand getting things moving and then maybe they can just move on from it. Hope this hasn't taken up too much of your time datman and hope it's not got you too wound up.
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Nov 10, 2015 14:32:26 GMT
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I'm hoping, in some small way, that anyone reading this thread (and well done if you've got this far!,) who might previously have seen distance as a mitigating factor, might now reconsider their comments and maybe turn them into a positive action. "I like that car, OK, it's 100 miles away but I really like it! Let's see how I can move it 100 miles back home so I can buy it". Even easier if the car runs and drives. Even more so if the car is MOT'd!! (yet this doesn't seem to stop some people from posting that immortal line?) Great thread, though it's more like a travel journal. I think I've been inspired a bit because I've just agreed to go on a 200 mile round trip at the weekend to pick up a set of Benz wheels. I've done the mad road trips for stuff in the past but this is the first since my little boy was born and things got complicated. He's five now, so he's coming with me. It's important to 'normalise' bonker road trips for him for all the times I hope we'll spend in the future doing mad car stuff.
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Last Edit: Nov 10, 2015 14:33:40 GMT by Battles
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Nov 10, 2015 10:46:30 GMT
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That Mk2 vito up there came in a model, think it might be the 220CDI or something, cant remember, but it maps to 250bhp. The badging on Vitos is mad, seems very difficult to understand, but I think any of the 3.2 diesels will get well close to 200 horse with a remap but some have the "right" fueling and radiator and intercooler to get what I was told was huge power, way more than 200 horse, that might be the one you've heard about?
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Last Edit: Nov 10, 2015 10:47:16 GMT by Battles
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Nov 10, 2015 10:23:09 GMT
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That's very useful to know. Just up the road from me! I don't suppose it's you who has the Edinburgh area W124 with one odd 8 hole alloy and three 15 hole alloys?
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Last Edit: Nov 10, 2015 10:24:20 GMT by Battles
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I think I spoke to the seller about this car but didn't manage to get through for a look, it sounded like a great opportunity. Health to enjoy it.
Don't worry about the diff at this mileage unless there's any evidence it's been run dry (whining or clunking). They're very easy to access to refill. The handbrakes on auto W124s don't tend to get used much so it's quite common for the cable/ratchet/pedal/handle to be sticking. I've had the cable off a few of them and just squirted gear oil down with a tiny syringe.
For W124 parts, it's always worth checking the dealer. If the part is in stock they can usually do you a discount to get it moved off their shelf and some of them will phone around other Benz dealers in the same group to get parts for you. There are two guys at Newbridge in Edinburgh who seem knowledgeable and interested in the older models, they've been very good to me over the years.
Pull and clean the fuses and the terminals if your mechanic hasn't already done it. I've done that a few times to clear errors (ABS and other sensors). If the fuses and terminals are as clean as the rest of the car looks it won't be critical but will be an excellent bit of preventative maintenance.
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^^^ aren't they the same chassis as the W202?? You could fit the v8 from the AMG in it No one would know hah I guess you could fit anything in if you really wanted to but I know my limits so I'd be looking to tune one of the ultra-rare 123 models (3.6 version of the M112 petrol V6) or a three litre diesel version and do a bit of weight reduction. There have been threads on the Benz forums about the 123 models being intended for emergency services use, a bit like the old LDV V8 vans and minibuses, but the standard diesel option was almost as good with loads more torque and fuel consumption halved so even the emergency services went for the diesels. M-B's own records suggests less than ten 123s were registered in the UK each year for the four years they were available. Demon Tweeks list quite a lot of aftermarket suspension parts for them so weight loss, better handling and more boost might get you most of the way but I'm not sure that would be enough to complete with some of the killer sleepers (genuinely quick by any standard) already posted here. Maybe an engine swap is the best option?
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Not exactly retro but I had a shot of a W639 Mercedes Vito recently. It's probably a better drive than a van should be and it must have good sleeper potential. Either an engine swap or a re-map and something to keep it a bit more predictable under spirited driving conditions. A Transit must be similar in that you can really dress it down. It's unlikely to be any good at corners without looking suspiciously low though.
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That seems like a positive thing, right? At least now there's a guide on the .Gov website with a nice DVSA badge in the corner to settle any arguments at the side of the road.
Unless that's not "enough" stretch for the guys who like stretch? Sorry, I'm a bit ignorant of the style.
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