The ups and downs of owning a W123.130 (non turbo 300D) - Conversion to petrol / gas! - Page 9 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jsp300D · #**121** 12-02-2018, 10:14 PM

Are you going to put a turbodiesel engine in it after it is 40 years old? Nice work I have to do a lot of these but, not as much as this.

Stretch · #**122** 12-03-2018, 02:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsp300D

Are you going to put a turbodiesel engine in it after it is 40 years old? Nice work I have to do a lot of these but, not as much as this.

In about three years time the vehicle will be 40 years old and could in principle be eligible for the full on oldtimer ruling - by that time, however, I expect the goal posts will have been moved by the government again.

If it takes me that long to get the welding and the painting done (I hope not!) and on the off chance diesel engines are still allowed then I'd just put the rebuilt OM617 non turbo and the rebuilt 722.118 automatic back in there.

I'd much rather be using the car before then however which is why I've got the M115 and the 722.119 lined up for the job.

Ultimately when the price of batteries get to be cheap enough I'd like to be doing a conversion to electric - I'd do an electric conversion now if it wasn't for the price of those pesky batteries.

Stretch · #**123** 12-03-2018, 11:48 AM

The plan is to make the repair patches for each of the panels that make up the structure and where possible spot weld the parts back together as per the factory design.

I'm hoping it will all look like solid parts once I'm done - rather than patch here - patch there.

I've shown this approach before - hammer form to get the approximate shape - then use gucci new mushroom stakes to smooth it all out.

Much like the designer dent made for the headlight housing assembly => hash tag free wood rules!

Note I'm not using hard wood - this soft wood junk they make buildings from these days is perfectly OK for my purposes. I've seen beautiful thick steel hammer forms on forums like MetalMeet - for Metalshaping Enthusiasts & Professional Metalshapers and I could also spend weeks making them too if I was going to go into production - but I'm not - wood is good - it'll end up in the wood burning stove once I'm done and that'll be one bit of crap that won't be cluttering up my workshop.

#######

Introduction to "Project Binky" - brilliant series on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hCPODjJO7s

If you have the time it is well worth the watch if you've not seen it already

#######

Project Binky advocate CAD - cardboard aided design

I do something similar with masking tape given half the chance (cos I too like to keep up with the times)

Because it is already sticky the tape is easily peeled away...

...and then stuck on the surface you want to cut to shape

So as before clamping between two bits of wood and then hammering around the sides forming the designer dent =>

{More in a bit in the next post cos I'm limited to 5 attached photos per post)

Stretch · #**124** 12-03-2018, 12:29 PM

Although these chisels are not meant to be used on steel (roofing ones for lead flashing) they are quite useful - especially as they tend not to leave marks

Another handy tool to have is a set of these hand folding pliers

As before the reason for making the dent from the flat sheet first and then folding helps to make sure I'm not as likely to have to hammer so hard - easier on the old joints and also less likely to end up ripping the steel (if I get too enthusiastic)

Flipped round for some unknown reason - I should have adjusted that picture - doh =>

Quick comparison - need to make a curved corner on the lower right hand side...

...and then smooth out the lower parts.

Not all of this panel will be used - in fact most of it will be cut away as I want to preserve as much of the original structure as possible

(To be continued)

Stretch · #**125** 12-04-2018, 11:37 AM

...rather than you! I had a crap day today with lots of other stuff that got in the way of twatting metal for the floor pan.

Still persistence and pig headed-ness is the only way this'll get done

So today - despite the crap - I made sure I got to the workshop to start this =>

I can't fail to stress the importance of a sturdy workbench - a decent vice - and some decent G-clamps that don't bend like the cheap ones (also shown in the picture above!)

Simple decent stuff like vices and decent G-clamps are seriously expensive these days - so be warned if you fancy a bit of shopping...

...the vice I got second hand - great deal despite the play in the screw - one day I plan to restore the vice but the problem is: It is so damn useful there never seems a moment when I'm not using it.

jsp300D · #**126** 12-04-2018, 08:48 PM

nice work. I don't think they will move it up 40 years caps it.

Stretch · #**127** 12-05-2018, 03:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsp300D

nice work. I don't think they will move it up 40 years caps it.

I don't expect this 40 year rolling arrangement will last forever. I just hope I get to enjoy the benefits for some of my remaining years (!)

Stretch · #**128** 12-06-2018, 10:22 AM

It doesn't matter how long you say it to yourself but measure measure measure - check check check is the only way you'll save time!

I enthusiastically estimated the position of the bend on on the corner of the patch I'm making for the rear left hand corner of the floor pan and got it totally wrong.

In order to turn this negative into a positive I thought I'd share the cock up and say it'll all come good with a bit of heat treatment and then bashing into the shape I should have made in the first place.

What I should have done before I started the corner was make another guide out of masking tape and a bit of tracing=>

Then it is easy to see how far out of position you are (or hopefully not!)

Oh well - cock ups do happen - as I said at the start measure measure measure...

jsp300D · #**129** 12-06-2018, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stretch

I don't expect this 40 year rolling arrangement will last forever. I just hope I get to enjoy the benefits for some of my remaining years (!)

Must be stupid if they made it 50 years. All the rest of Europe caps at 30 and only Holland at 40.

Stretch · #**130** 12-07-2018, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsp300D

Must be stupid if they made it 50 years. All the rest of Europe caps at 30 and only Holland at 40.

I think they'll stop the whole arrangement.

Stretch · #**131** 12-09-2018, 09:12 AM

I've been away from this project for such a long time I forgot I'd bought a replacement part for the front seat support.

(I was about to jump for joy)

Unfortunately I haven't bought the correct part - well may be I was taking a gamble on a slightly cheaper bit?

As you can see in the picture I've got 123 610 04 20 instead of 123 610 01 20

The differences are quite large =>

1) Big curve for the outer part of the floor pan on both sides of the support

2) Seat bolts slightly more outboard than they should be for this car

Back to the drawing board eh? I thought I was about to save myself some time - it appears not

vwnate1 · #**132** 12-09-2018, 07:29 PM

Maybe you can research it via the P/N and then sell it once you know the correct appliction ? .

Stretch · #**133** 12-12-2018, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwnate1

Maybe you can research it via the P/N and then sell it once you know the correct appliction ? .

I'm hopeless at selling stuff - may be I can trade - it is probably W126

Stretch · #**134** 12-12-2018, 11:39 AM

Starting with a sheet cut to slightly larger than I need =>

(Because I don't have a nice guillotine to cut straight edges I have to cut out from larger sheets with a cutting disc and an angle grinder and then trim with a hand shear - wastes a bit of material but uses up less workshop space than said {super expensive} guillotine)

There are two parts of the support that have designer bulges that need to be replicated - on the leading edge there's an oblong affair...

...as usual masking tape and pencil lines used to trace out what I'm making.

Then I used a scrap bit of wood as before to make a simple hammer form (similar method as shown before). To help with the hammering the lower part was roughly cut away - not to the correct size just yet - just enough material removal to help with the forming process

Then clamping and hammering

(Again I can't stress the importance enough of using a top piece to hold the rest of the sheet flat)

^^^^The rough shape was quickly made^^^^

Stretch · #**135** 12-12-2018, 12:40 PM

After getting the rough shape of this leading edge designer bulge I decided to re-mark the edges and run the shape through the bead roller...

...I could have gone commando and gone straight for the bead roller but as it is just a hand wound machine I struggle to control it - one of these days I'll modify it with a motor but for now I prefer to have a decent guide to help me position the rollers

(Ignore the round hole for now - I'll explain later - that's considered to be a problem bit at the moment!)

Next I decided to use the vice mounted bending jaws to set the first bend

These jaws are really handy and can be used rather effectively if you are careful. Way way cheaper than a sheet metal folder (!)

The downside to these jaws is that they are limited by the depth of the vice. As you can see in the next picture the jaws just don't reach the next fold I want to make because the bottom of the sheet is resting on the vice's screw thread

#########

More to come later on in the week when hopefully I've got a solution to the pesky circle bit...