1984 Mercedes Benz W123 230CE

[markbognor]

Heres my ride, what do you think?



Only mods so far are the clear indicators, a set of BRM replicas with flaky chrome and theres a genuine pool ball gear lever knob in there too.

The VW boys spend so much time putting merc wheels on their busses, I thought i'd put bus wheels on my merc.



Just because I liked it so much I bought another one as well, not a bad £200 worth of parts.

Have got a set of 45-50 mm drop springs for it, which will go on sometime. I cut the front springs a while back, but dropped it far too far!!

[HoTWire]

Very nice,.. good thinking re: the wheels ....

Should be spot on when dropped.

[MiniDan]

This is well nice ;D The white, chrome and wheels just looks so right IMO.

Needs a drop though. Get them springs on ;D

[michiel]

^^^^^^ My thoughts exactly!

[Ether]

Good to see another W123 on here. Looks like a good 'un. Would love to see that on white walls squatting on its be-hind. You know that the W123's easy(ish) to convert to a 5.5 V8 from a W126 S Class...? What are your plans, dude?

[markbognor]

Found some picks with the front springs cut, looks pretty cool, especially the rear three quarter. It just about drove as well, slowly and in straight lines!

[markbognor]

Yeah, the big old lump from a 560SE/C would be fantastic. I'll keep plotting and schemeing.

[Ether]

Having a big V in a 123 is pretty awesome, goes like the clappers, even with an auto.

[grizz]

Love it.... Love it....

Nice car, well underrated

[Joncedric]

Lovely looking car. I've got a real soft spot for the 123....last proper Mercedes made methinks.

I've got a huge fleet of Japs and Lotii and wifey would go mad if I bought another Merc. Can't risk it. I envy you.

[jizzy gillespie]

thats not too low!! see tonycocacola,s thread. ;D

[grizz]

PS; Rimzzzz look just right too.

[tonycocacola]

woohoo, finally dragged your ass over here then.
great looking car.
shame you couldnt drive it when you lowered it last time, that looked fantastic.
cant wait to see it dropped again.

[markbognor]

I Think the offset of the BRMs has as much to do with it being undrivable as it was to do with the springs being too short, with standard wheels it would probably have been ok, tonycocacolas must be as low or lower, but with a little extra gap between the wheel and the arch lip.
Really must get my into gear and get those springs on.

[Kris]

thats very sweet man, reckon you just need some lower profile and slightly stretched tyres over them! yeah itll be lower..but you'll be able to steer! lol don't see many white ones and u got 2!

[markbognor]

Well here we go after a period of inactivity, we have some minor activity.

First off the exhast manifold gasket has been blowing so I ordered a set of replacement gaskets from MB, they were under a tenner! I set about replacing the gaskets sunday, expecting the job to be a complete pita, however i was pleasently surprised. 5 of the 8 manifold nuts came undone without a fight, 3 came out with their studs. No breakages no grazed fingers nothing, even the manifold came off the studs easily because of the flexible downpipes. All went back together well and now there is no Ptsh ptsh ptsh ptsh etc everywhere i go.

Unfortunately while packing up I let the bonnet get caught be the wind while it was at rest between the ordinary bonnet open stop on the hinge and the vertical service stop. The wind lifted it up and it bounced off the stops, leaving two dents from the bonnet corners on the scuttle panel. There was a lot of swearing.



There was however some progress today, the red bands are on.
They seen to have seated on the tyres rather well but I shall have to see how they are after a longer journey.



Red band inserts came from Bravado Automotive, They delivered in two days so i'm well pleased with the service.




Still got that Henry Highrise Stance, but hopefully these should help that.



I'm going to see if i can get the springs on for Wheels Day. My dad is coming too in his Mk2 Astra GTE but little bro cant bring the i200 because its off the road at the mo.

[Ether]

Dude...you should have put something in the wanted thread. I just threw away some W123 230E/CE Ventura 40mm springs

Good luck with the band flaps. They do tend to fly off on the motorway. I've been overtaken by one of mine!

Are you showing your car at wheels day?

[markbognor]

Is it a case of driving it to the same area as all the other classics/retros and parking up alongside or is there prebooking nessarsary? Never been before so was just going to play it by ear.

[Ether]

Dunno man, I've never had a car ready for wheels day!

[markbognor]

Oh and i've had the springs since before I found my way here so I could'nt have saved the springs from being recycled. Someone on the W123 msn group might have wanted them.