Quote:
Originally Posted by armand4
I'm definitely going to look very carefully at the current engine before throwing it away-- I'd love for the "tiredness" of the engine to just be a symptom of a few poor adjustments. I still want to do a four-speed swap, though. When I was 16, I considered buying a '69 250 with four on the floor, but a little bit of rust in the floor scared me away... of course, since I was young and stupid then, I probably would have ruined the car anyway!
While I'm bench racing-- that is, before the cold reality of buying parts to freshen up a car hits me-- does anyone here have any experience at sharpening up the W114's handling? New shocks and rubber bits would probably be at the top of the list for firming up the handling, but has anyone gone farther than that?
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Look for broken stabilizer links front and rear. Rears are notorious for just coming apart as they age.
The second biggest enemy of handling on these cars (aside from loose/ worn components, any of which you find should be replaced) are tire shops, the vast majority of who automatically pump the pressure up to the max on the sidewall.
The CORRECT way is using your OEM inflation specs for front and rear (in owner's manual or in gas flap) and add 2 PSI for P-Metric (post 1980) radial tires. Don't worry about what size your tires are- they're probably not the exact original anyways- as
pounds per square inch is a constant value.
My philosophy is to always do the simple stuff first. You could rebuild or replace every component in the steering and suspension, but, for example, if the tire pressure is 40 PSI all around, it'll ride like a skateboard.