Introducing Red: 1982 W123 240D
 

I picked this up on 13 November 2015, sort of ominous being Friday the 13th. Had a set back with the Sleeper Part Deux -- tow truck guy smashed the front end of it on 30 OCT 15 ... and he has no insurance, so that will be another story chasing him around for the damages.

This is a 1982 W123 240D, Signal Red. What caught my eye was the following:

1. NO RUST. A few dings of course, but no rot. So, pretty happy with that

2. NO Sunroof -- that is a major plus for me.

3. All manual, except tranny which is OK since I have a Getrag 717.400

4. Documented 131K on the clock

So, after driving it home the next morning, there was an oil spot about the size of a softball by the pan. So, second day home consisted of changing the oil and replacing the pan gasket.

Oil Change is out of the way, which included all the little parts, e.g., both "O" rings on the oil filter housing stem, (plus the big one which comes with the filter), and the "O" ring which goes on the dip stick tube. All toll, 6.5 qts of oil, new filter, 4 "O" rings, and the copper crush washer on the drain plug, plus a light coat of "The Right Stuff" which I think was a success since from my limited experience, the pan will either show some weeping after a few highway trips or not ... but, I got the dreaded front crank seal now showing an additional source of leakage. All the fasteners came out minty after a full cycle in the ultrasonic cleaner, which is a nice bonus.

Next operation will be all the fuel system components ... Still have enough rain or other odd jobs to keep me too busy from knocking this out. Plus, I need to run a quickie test on a customer's injectors which means a swap in and out of his ... Maybe next weekend ...

Cool car Greaz. You will be looking good on the streets of Columbia. Was it a local car?

The car is actually a South Carolina car originally. It started off near Conway, SC. Still has the MB Dealer sticker on the rear. I purchased it from a guy in Waxhaw, NC, (I think that's spelled correctly), which is about 60 miles from Cola.

Tomorrow I will be installing my manual steering. Found new grommets and newer steering joint. Need to drain fluid, center it, et cet.

Looks good - could do with some hub caps though!

Car looks great! Reminds me of my old 280E with the same signal red..

No hubcaps !

We just had two weekends in a row with no rain, so last weekend was packed with non-car errands. Did have enough time Sunday night to swap over the AMG rims 15" (pre-merger) ATS and install front & back mud flaps. Worth the hour or so investment.

This weekend just a busy doing non-car errands. Nice and sunny. Invested a few hours this AM, and swapped in the manual steering. Did a quick spin and spinning one less pump was a little bit nicer and the less 200+ pounds up front, the manual steering is "incredibly" responsive as compared to the 617. Only odd ball thing is making your own tool to center the box and finding the correct grommet. Grommet and lower steering shaft are different.

Manual Steering is now done.

Good paint really adds to a car - nice find.

What kind of ultrasonic cleaner do you use and what do you fill it with? I've been looking into getting one. Cleaning bolts one at a time with a toothbrush while squatting on the garage floor is starting to lose its lustre.

I have a Chinese clone. I don't even think they are selling that brand any longer. I bought it about 2 years ago. The key IMO is 50 watts of cleaning power for every liter, 40,000 Hz I think is the norm for parts' cleaners. Do not confuse cleaning power with heating power. So, if it says 500 watts, make sure it's not 400 watts of heating power and only 100 watts of cleaning power. You can always pour your own hot water in the tank plus it gets hot on its own. I have a 2+ liter model. I was working on making my own cleaner since you can buy the transducers and generator for a decent price. Finding the "right" sized SS tank is the killer. Buying the super sized ones are really pricey, e.g., $3-5K, but I would not count on the Chinese products lasting more than 2-3 years. I already had to take the back off of mine a number of times to fix wiring, et cet. You can buy a Chinese clone in the ballpark of around $150 bucks shipped which has 50 watts of cleaning power per liter. Mine does a pretty decent job cleaning parts and I have been happy with it so far, but it's on borrowed time.

A very pretty car you found!

Very nice indeed. I've always like them in red. But why the heck would you put manual steering in it?

- Peter.

Manual windows
Manual sun roof
Manual gear box
Manual steering

...

It is the greazzer way!

I'm waiting for him to remove the timing device so that he can have manual advance / retard too!

It makes things a lot easier, at least for me. It spins one less pump, so a little bit more HP / better fuel economy. No pump repairs / maintenance. Cleans up engine bay a little also. Plus, once the car is rolling a little, the steering is actually a lot better IMO than power.

Great looking car! Nice find, it always amazes me how many gems are still left out there, even after 35 years

Manual steering is an excellent 240 mod, i loved it on mine

Nice score greazzer

Re-did the "oil system" a while ago as pictured. Here's a list of parts, and obviously each person will have a list of what they consider part of the "oil system" and this is for the OM616 engine.

Fuel system will be wrapped up shortly, with a list of parts. I see where folks ask for part #'s for this or that, so I figured I would start listing those parts (although not a definitive list) so folks could download that as a checklist.

My personal experience is that it is always easier and quicker in the long run to attempt to replace as many parts as possible in a particular system as once you replace one thing, the next in line goes ... Plus, the parts are not horribly priced and the repairs are overall pretty easy.

Did the AMG front spoiler survive the tow truck?

Yes. The only things which are unique / rare which were damaged are the headlight mesh grills. Perhaps the most rare part I have discovered over the years. Fortunately, I am about 99% certain they can be fixed. The other stuff can be found at the yards -- eventually, on the forums, et cet.

Drove the car this AM, en route to the body shop for re-painting of the AMG front chin and install. After that, plan on doing the same for the side skirts.

Will post a few snappies with parts' list as I installed new exhaust system, and re-did most of the fuel system, although I plan on swapping out the injectors again in a few weeks and re-doing the filters again ...

Even though it's brutally hot in sunny Columbia, S.C., each AM, around 6, I would compound a body panel or two.

The tried and true body shop let me down. Car sat for around six weeks and no work, so I brought the old girl home.

Here's the front end and rear. Not shabby for paint from 1982. If I can stay motivated, the exterior should be done by the end of August.

Keeping the original paint. A few dings and a few chips, but overall pretty nice and waiting for a coat of wax.

Forgot a distance shot of rear end.

To the left is my old MB, damaged by the tow truck guy. Need to strip off a few parts, and off she goes ...

Time flies ...

Done a bunch to Red.

However, to my horror ... found some rust and it was under the battery tray. So, cannot claim the ol' girl is truly rust free. It appears to be an older, but professionally done glass repair job.

A little sanding and Signal Red. You can see how the engine bay "would" pop if re-sprayed ...:D

Installed re-furbished battery tray. Looks almost as good as a new one. Every time I can score a rot free tray at the JY, I grab them. My original one in Red was missing the back part where acid ate it up ...

Custom red interior as in the 2 AMG specimens is getting closer to an end.

Red seat belts, front and back are done.

New, white head liner is in.

Need to install back glass this week.

Not sure why the camera makes the AMG steering wheel look not red, but it's spot on matched with interior. The folks at Craft Customs do amazing work re-wrapping the wheel in red leather ...

And the entire carpet is re-done in red German feintuf velour as well. Hope I spelled that correctly.

Looking good Mark. I installed an AGM battery in my car to prevent that rust nonsense after spending much time in that typical area.

Thanks. Now, the Palamino / bamboo interior parts which remain really stand out ... as the "red" is finally overcoming the stock interior.

A little depressed over the rust. I thought I had a truly rust free survivor and my heart sank when I saw that battery tray. I will scout out a donor and chop out that small section and have it professional repaired by a local shop which does incredibly superb work on small jobs such as that. It will be worth the piece of mind even though I will be blowing $300 or $400 bucks on such a picky item. However, I really thought I found the rust free survivor ...

I could probably guarantee that any w123 that uses a lead acid battery will have rust there. Maybe one of the least checked out areas when looking for a rust free car.


.

That's odd as I have seen rust buckets BUT no rust under the battery tray in the junk yard ... lol So, excluding under the tray, a rust free / wreck free survivor ...:D

Indeed odd, I don't remember a time when I didn't see any rust. And I pulled a lot of solid trays for the taking.

I braved the heat today, but only lasted maybe 1 1/2 to 2 hours max. Soaking wet, even in the AM in my garage.

Decided to install the Electric Water Pump as this engine is most likely going into my fuel sipper project.

Pretty straight forward swap over.

Many thanks to a S T D dot com forum member who did another fantastic job welding for me. He takes on my looney projects, never complains, does excellent work and for cheaps. This was NOT an easy weld job with weirdo angles, et cet all done to mimic the original set up. And, about perfect. I am thinking the housing 2.0 will have that plate welded on since that will get rid of another gasket and possible fail point.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be motivated to hit the garage around 6 AM to install the electric water pump and then figure out an elegant manner to run the wires, et cet.

Here is the modified goosneck

Here's the modified water pump housing.

Cleaned up block area and parts going back on ...

Finished the mechanical parts install. EWP tomorrow I hope.

When the mechanical water pump is removed as well as the mechanical vacuum pump, there's tons of room up front for other goodies, e.g., all aluminum radiator with electric fans and shroud, inter-cooler, et cet. The same goes for the turbo 5 cylinder engine, OM617.9XX.

Thank you for the accolades, Mark! Glad to see that everything fits properly and as intended.:D Yes, there were a few challenges..lol. But, I like the challenges.
Im on BW and the 500e Board as well...7 delta.:cool:

Here's the actual EWP from Davies-Craig.

It's mounted (temporarily). The passenger side trans line will need to be replaced. Too tight quarters plus its about dry-rotten so cannot move it much. Other wise, its in place and all is well so far. And, installing my Getrag 717.400 five speed manual shortly so those lines will be gone anyway ...

Next step is wiring it up. Before doing that, plan is a 2-3 day coolant flush. After that, it's maiden voyage .... plus finding a much smaller alternator belt ...

Seems to me you're going backward in terms of efficiency. Converting mechanical energy to electricity and then back to mechanical energy to run a water pump? If the electric pump runs all the time like the mechanical pump, especially when driving around, then you are going to use a little more fuel, not less, because of the inefficiencies and losses going from mechanical to electric and then back. In addition, now you've got more wiring (more weight) and more complications? What am I missing?

Looking at max of around 170 watts however, once you're driving over 35 MPH, probably down to around 60 watts as compared against spinning a fan and spinning a mechanical water pump. There really isn't any comparision, not even close. Plus, you're spinning a fan and mechanical water pump and it increases as you increase the RPM whereas the EWP actually works less hard the faster you go. So, I think you have it backwards. Plus, talking about weight, again not even close when weighing just the mechanical water pump against perhaps maybe a pound. The mechanical force to spin that fan I understand is around 5 HP and I am guessing that pump has to be a few HP as well. I am already spinning an alternator so I cannot see how the extra wattage is conceivably close. And, the "conversion" of mechanical spinning to stored electricity and its usage is what again?

Below is a very general rule of thumb although I doubt it is directly on point. I know the idle was high post conversion which tells me there is less parasitic drain on the engine.

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+horse+power+is+100+watts&oq=how+many+horse+power+is+100+watts&aqs=chrome..69i57j0. 7060j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Don't get me wrong, I think the EWP is an innovative way to look at heat transfer but I don't understand why you went that route.

I removed the clutch fans on both my 280C and my 250C and am using electrical fans for cooling. Any additional "draw" by the increased power need is limited to the actual time the fans are engaged.

I don't think the original water pump has as much of a parasitic drain as you are calculating but I've been wrong before.

Keep us in the loop. Nice to see innovations.

A typical alternator is about 55% efficient at converting the mechanical energy of the motor to electrical power. A typical DC electric motor is less than 90% efficient, and that is only when it is operating at 75% load (motor efficiency goes down as the load is reduced).

It has been a while since I posted, but clearing out stuff (again), getting organized (again), and focused (again).

Got this engine from NGARover back in February I believe.

Last Saturday was our first day below 90F and below 90% humidity, so I pressure washed it, painted it, and now doing just the R&R / Maintenance.

Found around 1" or slightly more heavy tar / goo in the sump of the oil pan but everything else looks really clean. So, you got me. NGARover said this was a great running engine and he had a video on YouTube.

Sending off the turbo today or tomorrow for a rebuild and some tweeking. Otherwise, I found everything stashed in my garage to finish the engine and all R&R. This engine is being mated to a 5 speed manual Getrag 717.400 I have under my bench.

Some of the delicious black gooey goodness ... My hopes are to re-use the oil pan. It didn't seem banged up or distorted.

And, the rubber pickup was totally shot. Did not form any seal around the aluminum housing as it just barely caught the lip but would fall off it you touched it. So, fortunately I had a few spares ...

Pan operations are in play tonight if it goes below 90F by 10pm

Mmmmmmm.......sludge. My SDL did the same thing from sitting 10 years. It was nasty. Before I got the car going, I took the side pan off and cleaned all that goop out. I'll never forget the smell! Yuck!

It is funky indeed. I got it all cleaned out now and the pan is ready for a re-install.

So humid now ... even with the garage door open and the engine a few feet away from the door, I am sweating bullets within 15 minutes. Hope to get the pan back on this evening. My routine is to work around 3 AM til 9-ish. Then, it's oven time. First thing I do if the engine starts and runs OK is some engine flush. The top half of the engine looks very clean. So, as I said, you got me.

Decided to get moving on this before the real heat sets in as Columbia, S.C., is entering spring with a few days in the 80s a few weeks ago already.

Engine is headed to the machine shop this week I hope -- weather permitting. Spring showers virtually every day ...

AMG Rims (the 'real' ones) are done with new center caps and new chrome lug bolts and I couldn't be happier. It's odd how the camera captures different colors of "red" when they look identical in person. You got me.

And, many thanks to Rollguy -- his best engine degreaser ever from Sam's Club really cleaned up the engien bay. I have decided to keep the patina and the 'rugged' look. I was going to media blast the engine bay and make it look new. However, I have taken a shine to the patina and the used look.

I'd love to be in a position to able to do that. You're most fortunate.

- Peter.

I am very blessed indeed.

Red leather interior is going to be done by the end of March I hope and from there, it is just odds and ends ...

Not a very elegant solution but I did avoid removing the hood. We got close enough to 70F today so the spray adhesive would 'stick' ...:D

I wish I took pictures of the really funky crap the PO or someone prior to me used to glue the hood pad. Looked like the stuff they use on flooring, a whitish-yellow heavy plastic-like junk. Took 2 cans of the 3-M adhesive remover and literally around 5 hours. What a mess ...

Now, new hood pad and washer fluid defuser installed.

That looks fantastic. I've been wanting to do that to mine for some time. One day I hope I'll be able to. My hood looks way worse than yours was. Not just because of the adhesive gunk but from oil etc...

- Peter.

Looking good! I've got a W126 sitting in my shop I need to replace the hood pad I've been putting off. Seeing yours might just be the impetus I need.