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#1
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A few little things
Yesterday we finally had enough of a break in the weather for me to get around to doing a few little things to the CD.
First, a new steering wheel. I had this 13" leather covered wheel. I liked it, but it was just a bit too small - blocked too many things on the instrument panel. So I sold it to another MB owner who had admired it and replaced it with this 14" wood and leather one The wood is a shade lighter and a shade redder than the rest of the wood trim, but its still a reasonably good match - I like it! Next I put in a new thermostat. Running temps around town went from 50*-60* C up to 80*-90* C. That alone should add a couple of mpg in improved efficiency. Runs smooother with no warm idle shake too. While I was under the hood I took the EGR blockoff plate from my old engine and put it onto the new one. After that I rebuilt the monovalve. Nice to have temp control again. Then I installed a replacement climate control head. REALLY nice to have control of where the hot and cold air blows! Lastly, I installed a new main fuel filter. The one that was on there came with my replacement engine and who knows how old it was. So I took the one off my blown engine, which only had a couple of thousand miles on it, and installed it instead. Made a noticeable difference in dead-stopped acceleration - confirming that the old one was starting to plug up. Of course its back to raining again today, but at least I got a few things done yesterday...
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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel Silver blue paint over navy blue interior 2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise 99% original unmolested car ~210k miles on the clock 1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion 152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown Last edited by rcounts; 01-11-2009 at 09:33 PM. |
#2
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that first wheel is wack, Bob.
when you swapped the stat did you drain ALL the coolant, or just enough? How did you refill the beast? And did you find that the temps acted strange at first, but straightened out after a trip or two? |
#3
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Whack? What does that mean? Whacky? Whacked? Or is it more like "phat" or "bad"? Not sure what you're trying to say...
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When I pulled the t-stat housing about a quart or two spilled out and onto the ground. When I was done and had everything buttoned back up, I started the engine and poured the drained coolant out of the bucket back into the reservoir with a funnel. After it got fully warmed up, I added another couple of quarts of 50/50 premix. Temps never acted weird, just got higher than they had been - more up into the normal range.
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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel Silver blue paint over navy blue interior 2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise 99% original unmolested car ~210k miles on the clock 1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion 152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown Last edited by rcounts; 01-12-2009 at 12:39 AM. |
#4
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I need to replace the stat on my 85. It runs a little or at 80c, which bugs the crap out of me.
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1981 300SD 512k OM603 |
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My 20 year old son dropped by yesterday evening just as I was finishing up with the front calipers on Smash. I asked him if he would do the "inside the car" part of the brake bleeding and of course he said yes.
He laughed when he got in, reminded of how big our steering wheels are. Seems like he said "you think this steering wheel is big enough"! I don't care much for either of those steering wheels, and believe me, I'm putting that nicely! I hope in time you will come to your senses...... They appear to be of good quality, not cheap or anything, just awkward. All the other work you did was good stuff. Your car will be much happier running warmer than it had been.
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Jimmy L. '05 Acura TL 6MT 2001 ML430 My Spare Gone: '95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black '85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White '80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed '81 300TD 240K "Smash" '80 240D 230K "The Squash" '81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John |
#6
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Actually I even liked the 13" better than the stock wheel. My only complaint with it was that the rim blocked my view of the oil pressure and temp gauges and the lower portion of the speedo. I could see the fuel and upper center part of the speedo and tach though. With the 14" wheel I can see everything except the top of the speedo and tach - and I already know where the markings are on those - so it's all good. So you don't like the wood wheel with the rest of the wood trim, eh? I thought it looked pretty good...
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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel Silver blue paint over navy blue interior 2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise 99% original unmolested car ~210k miles on the clock 1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion 152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown |
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I think it LOOKS great, I'd just miss the bus-sized wheel. I actually see mine as a feature. |
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All I can say is you guys who like the BUS wheel must have skinnier legs than mine. My right thigh is about 33" in diameter at the mid point (I used to be a swimmer) where it needs to slide under the steering wheel. A 3" smaller diameter wheel means 1-1/2" more space between the bottom of the wheel and the top of the seat - which makes a BIG difference...
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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel Silver blue paint over navy blue interior 2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise 99% original unmolested car ~210k miles on the clock 1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion 152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown |
#9
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#10
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I wonder if it would be possible to raise the wheel - even a little - by modifying the bracket where the steering shaft bolts up under the dash. I know that the coupes have a lower roofline than the sedans, which makes me wonder if the steering column might be angled differently to make the wheel sit lower too. Hmmmn, gonna' have to take a look at that...
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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel Silver blue paint over navy blue interior 2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise 99% original unmolested car ~210k miles on the clock 1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion 152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown |
#11
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I'm average also - 6'. The legs just don't fit under the steering wheel. A smaller steering wheel really is a necessity in order to drive the car comfortably for a long length of time.
Even tiny Japanese sub-compacts are more comfortable on the legs. |
#12
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Yeah, I'm less purist and more pragmatist. If its hard to get in and out of, and not comfortable to drive, then something has to change. In this case it was simple - change the steering wheel.
I'm keeping the stock wheel, just in case I were ever to sell the car to someone who IS a purist and just HAS to have that feeling of "driving the bus", but as long as I'm the pilot, the smaller wheel stays...
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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel Silver blue paint over navy blue interior 2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise 99% original unmolested car ~210k miles on the clock 1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion 152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown |
#13
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i like the new one...
wanna sell it???
roberto
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1985 300SD 1998 Jetta TDI Previous: lots of diesel VW's, MB's, KW's, Pete, Freightliner Walking isn't a lost art: one must, by some means, get to the garage. |
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