Introducing Red: 1982 W123 240D

[greazzer]

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.

[greazzer]

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 ...

[PARSHOOT1]

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

[greazzer]

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.

[Stretch]

Looks good - could do with some hub caps though!

[euroamg]

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

[greazzer]

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.

[greazzer]

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.

[maboyce]

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.

[greazzer]

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.

[Skid Row Joe]

A very pretty car you found!

[pj67coll]

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

- Peter.

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by pj67coll

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!

[greazzer]

Originally Posted by pj67coll

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

- Peter.

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.

[JB3]

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