Latest mods
 

Well the hooptie has been pretty solid. I have about 20,000 miles on the rebuilt engine.

I'm now in the process of replacing the entire AC system except for the evaporator and the hose from the dryer to the expansion valve. New Sanden compressor, new bracket from Rollguy, new hoses from Rollguy, new 16x21 condenser, used aux fan, new dryer, new expansion valve. I'll do the R134a pressure test, vac, and fill myself.

The drivers seat is pretty badly cracked, might get some sort of quality seat cover.

Replaced the Climate Control Unit with a used one because it wouldn't turn off any longer.

The ass of the the car drops way down over night so I suppose I need to rebuild the level control valve. Not losing any fluid so it's not catastrophic at this point.

Mounting a home-built media player where the radio used to be. Still need to decide on amps and speakers.

Getting the rear springs replaced and taller (19mm) spacers installed soon. I drove awhile with the SLS disabled and I may have ruined the springs.

Getting the cruise control hooked up. :-)

After I get the AC and cruise control working, if I replace the missing exterior chrome this *might* not be a hooptie any longer! :-O

Progress !
 

Before taking the SLS to bits, drain the resivoir , clean it well and refill with new fluid and filter ~ the system is often full of old burned up fluid you don't want in it after you've taken the leveling valve apart and rebuilt it .

M-B still sold the kit last thing I knew .

Depending on where you're located a matching good used seat cover *might* be a junkyard item.....

We took three W126 seats apart to mix 'n match and get one really nice one for my brother's W126, he's still raving about the improved support and comfort, no pool noodles needed although I plan to install them on my W123 driver's seat in addition to the non broekn spring box .

The SLS fluid and filter were replaced fairly recently when I blew the high pressure hose. Had both hoses replaced and the pump rebuilt. But I have a lot of the SLS fluid here so I'll drain and discard it when I rebuild the valve. I've been focused on the AC so I haven't put any time into sourcing the repair kit yet. It works fine when I'm driving but does "sit down" at night.


Alas, I'm very far from any pick and pulls. One of the few drawbacks to living in a forest.

SLS Valve Overhaul
 

O.K., sounds like you're on the right path .

I'm always amazed at how many "Mechanics" will rebuild a system leaving it full of gunk, SWARF and so on then blame the design or the rebuilt part when it naturally fails again soon .

Keep after the A/C ! my buddy has a freon leak detector tool and is going to poke around my gray market '84 wagon this week, I hope he finds it was I've dropped bundle$ of loot into it and still no cold air :mad: .

The kits are NLA from M-B, though old stock is still on ebay, it seems.
But I did better and just ordered enough o-rings for ten rebuilds, and it was only $13 including the shipping! Probably a lifetime supply; not bad at all.

Since when are the sls valve kits NLA? I just bought one a few months ago.

I guess sometime in the last few months then. All I know is that they are NLA from Pelican and from the hand full of MB parts suppliers I checked. Mercedes Source has genuine MB kits including the piston, but that's probably overkill for me and much more expensive then just buying bulk o-rings. I'm pretty happy with getting 10 kits for $1.30 each (including 2-day shipping!), and if it turns out I need to replace the piston then I'll do that too.

The o rings are most of it. There are at least two sizes iirc; dont forget the one inside the piston

Four sizes, five o-rings total!
one 2x58
two 2x7
one 1.6x7.1
one 1.6x10.1

SLS Valve O-Rings
 

? Are Viton O-Rings O.K. to use in this ? .

I've heard that they are. They're mentioned in the big write up on rebuilding the valve here on the forum. I believe the M-B o-rings are Buna N, and that's what I bought.

Good O-Rings
 

Thanx ~ I'd forgotten about the Buena-N ones .

As an air cooled Mechanic Viton has been my go -to since before the internet .

I considered Viton but it does, on occasion, get very cold here and Viton loses its elasticity <5F. Buna N stays elastic down to -22F.

As Always.....
 

Yet more priceless advice from those who have the larger world view .

I've been in the Desert so long I'd forgotten about the cold issues .

I rebuilt the AC with a new compressor, Sanden compressor, 16"x21" parallel flow condenser, expansion valve, and all new hoses (except the high pressure line from the dryer to the expansion valve). I mounted the compressor with forum member RollGuy's custom bracket and got the hoses from him too. The system uses R134a and PAG100.


I installed new headlight doors. They're URO who I generally avoid, but the old ones were comically trashed so I have little to lose.


I ordered a purple sheepskin seat cover, maroon carpet dash cover, and clear plastic cargo liner. None of those will be here anytime soon.


I finished prototyping an embedded media server with floppy drive actuated playlists. Mounting it where the radio was is a trickier than the coding and I haven't started it yet. I did buy two new front speakers and an amp.


I bought o-rings to overhaul the SLS control valve and now that the AC is done I'll have time to do that, hopefully soon.