Restoring an AMG Hammer Wagon, my story Part 2

[Hammer Wagon]

continued...

I don’t regret it one bit. I still communicate with the seller. I’ve since purchased an Audi A6 wagon (with a factory warranty, thank you) for my wife, seven seats and all and I still want his S8 wagon when he’s done with it. (I’ll probably get it checked out this time). After all, I paid him a pittance compared to what he put into the car repair-wise plus his original purchase price. I could have inspected the car, and I probably would have bought it anyway. In truth many of the components in the car are new, and he saved me the trouble of having the car painted and the wheels changed. (end rationalization paragraph)

I do regret not finding this forum six months ago. I did find Dean’s “need to speed” page a few months back, while searching for info about the car. I found the Car & Driver test of the car on his site, and have located the back issue. Based on the photos and the records from a local Mercedes dealer I am almost certain it is the same car tested back in 1990. The car lived its entire early life in Illinois. Heritage Mortgage Corp. was listed as the owner and the Mercedes dealer says they financed all of AMGs cars back then.

Aside from the engine and trans I still have much work to do restoring the car back to original condition. I don’t know if anyone made it this far into my post, but rather than posting a bunch of times I’ll share some issues and would very much appreciate any responses, ideas, opinions or otherwise.

1. The front wheels rub under full lock turns. This has damaged the fender wells somewhat. I don’t know if it’s the wheels, alignment, front springs or other and I won’t be able to sort it out until the engine is back in. We suspected the weight of the V8 engine giving the tired springs a hard time, remains to be seen. The wheels are AMG Mono 16s with Dunlop 205/55/16; I can’t imagine these are radical enough to do the damage.
2. While on the subject of wheels I will want to get 17 inch Monoblocks as on the original Hammer. I believe they were 17x8, 215/45 front and 235/45 rear. The front fenders are slightly flared on this car- I know 17x8s aren’t supposed to fit the front of a W124- would the slight flaring be enough to compensate?
3. The car was resprayed, but the paint on the spoilers has cracked in some spots. I need to get them repainted, and the unpainted side skirts done. Any tips on what paints or paint methods adhere best to spoilers?
4. I want to have the grill redone body color “Hammer” style. While I like the look of the later 94/95 W124 I would like to keep the car as original as possible to the true AMG Hammer. How best to paint the grill?
5. I think the US lights look awful, I’d like to do European lights. The forum has my head spinning; Bosch vs. Hella vs. old 500E lights vs. new E500 lights. I’d also like to do Euro taillights, I’ve seen these from Tyco for the wagon, but I’ve read that they make a less than quality product. ???
6. The interior has a custom light birds eye maple interior. Most of it is ok, but there are a few scratches and the wood does not adhere well in a few spots.
7. The rear self leveling has been disconnected- I don’t know if AMG bypassed it. Do I want it? Are there other, more sporting alternatives?
8. Again, athough wanting to keep the car original I would like to swap out the steering wheel for daily driving. I’ve seen late 80’s period AMG steering wheels that look nice but none that retain the airbag. I like the later E500 wheel- how difficult is the swap, and can I retain the original airbag, or do I need to purchase a new one?
9. Same goes for the seats, I’d keep the originals, but many Hammers had black Recaros or sportier seats. I’d love to see what others have done in their W124s. My seats have the typical sag, and I’d rather spring for new seats than get them re-sprung.
10. Ok, just for the sake of being a junior member on an automotive forum, here comes the synthetic vs. regular oil question. Yes, it’s a matter of opinion, and I’ve used Castrol Syntec 5-50 in my Alfa. That engine had a different characteristic than the Mercedes motor. I was told that the M117 has the characteristic of a “loose” bottom end and synthetic would cause less flow to other parts of the motor. Is this an old wives tale? As the engine and trans have both been rebuilt now would be the time to go with synthetic, if it’s the correct thing to do with this motor. I do many very short trips, motor on, motor off, so I never go more than 3 months without dumping the oil, regardless of miles.
11. Lastly, because my fingers are numb. I have been told that to ease some of the cooling issues with the 6.0 motor I would want to use an Auxiliary trans cooler. Is this necessary if I’m not racing the car and will it really help ease the strain on the motor itself? Any pointers to an application in a W124 or an M117 engine appreciated.

Thanks, if you made it this far, you deserve a 100,000km grill badge. I might repost some of this on the tech forum if I hit any dead ends.

Glad to be on the forum and I appreciate any advice put forth.

Dave

1990 AMG Hammer, Mallet, 300TE 6.0, whatever Wagon

[mark cummins]

Welcome DAVE,

It looks like you have a Sweet ride...
I Have Driven a 6.0 A.M.G Hammer wagon and All I Can Say Is WOW! Yours is the Second AMG Hammer Wagon I Have Seen In the States..VERY RARE!
I Found one For Sale in N California that was a 88 AMG Built
124 Wagon It HAULED A$$ WHAT A SLEEPER!
But the motor Was Tired and I Priced out the 6.0 motor REBUILD and WOW the Parts are made of UNOBTAINIUM$$$$$$$$$
So I Passed on the Wagon..
I Also Looked into Importing a E55 wagon 4mattic But it was way over 100,000.00 without any warranty.And Insurance was the clincher ...Quote if its NOT In the Blue book WE WONT INSURE IT
So I Bought a W210 Wagon And Im Building A E55 Clone Without the Motor...Will Be Adding the KLEEMAN Blower For the Extra 100 HP

You Have a Great Wagon!
Good Luck on the RESTORE!

[Hammer Wagon]

Thanks Mark,

A few months back there was a black E55 non 4-matic wagon for sale on Auto Trader. It was down in Florida, supposedly US legal, and the price was close to 80k for a 1998 with 40-50k miles, if memory serves.

The insurance really is a problem, unless you can do classic insurance, which limits you to 2500-5000 miles a year. For now my car is insured as a 300TE wagon, when all is done I will probably need to get specialized insurance.

Dave

[omegabenz]

Welcome Hammer Wagon. I have this quest in my life to know everything about the older amg cars. When I first came to this forum, I searched everything on hammers, and I read for 24 hours straight...so I know what thats like. My dad had a mercedes when I was a kid, but we didnt get another until two years ago. I found out about hammers, and thats all I look for all day long every day.

Wheels: AMG Hammers came with 17x8 ET28 wheels called AMG AERO I. Tires Pirelli P700 215/45/ZR17 front and Pirelli P700 235/45/ZR17 rear, you can actually still buy these tires. They are rare though. They make them in these sizes and a few more. Your car came with 16s stock. The wheels in the picture are stock for your car. You are missing the side skirts like you said though. I think that your car was in the car and driver. I heard that there was a wagon in conneticut owned by an old lady.

Engine: Your car is called the 300TE 6.0 AMG. THe hammer is only distinguished as the W124 car. They both have the same engine M117. See for money saving purposes to make the Wagon affordable (yeah right) they used the SOHCs, but they are high lift long durration cams. They did this instead of using the 65k dollars DOHC heads for the reason listed. Althought the block of the hammer and the 6.0 L wagon is the same. Its the M117 aluminum block bored out to 100mm with the 560 crankshaft 94.8 mm stroke. Since it is an aluminum block with some type of other metals, boring it out is really hard and I think that they didnt do it right so that is why they scar, etc. The DOHC heads are cast and they have air pockets in them and then they leak oil and coolant into the spark plug holes and other locations. Oil leaks out of the heads on that black hammer that was on the forum a while back, thats probably why they haven't sold it.

History: There were a 170 DOHC 6.0 L engines and some 5.6L with the same heads on them. There were 13 AMG hammers made. Some of the DOHC engines were also put in W123 and W126 cars. The baby hammer, the 190E had the same engine as your wagon has 6.0L SOHC, there was only one ever made.

Suspension: Put on 500E front shocks for the weight, put on 500E front and rear sway bars. How big is the front sway bar? I have no idea about the self leveling suspension, but I bet that maybe you could find info out if you looked for a w126 car with self leving suspension because I think the pump is on the block directly. Is this correct? For the springs, maybe you could put on an Eibach set for a 500E, I am not sure if they would fit because I think a 500E has SL suspension. Maybe 400E springs would fit.

Lights: I think that 500E euro lights look really nice. This is Aldemon's car. He is a member of a forum that just got a red 500E, and he has the black one for a daily driver.

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/aldedmon/...c=ph%26.view=t

I have hella lights on one side of my car and bosch on the other. The bosch is vacuum adjusted to get it to the right level I had to do some modifications because the car vacuum sucks the lights up.

Fenders: Look up SUBMAN or DTM FAN, they are the masters of fender rolling.

http://web.tampabay.rr.com/actionfit/fenderolling.html

Make sure that your paint is in good shape and that there isnt any rust behind the lips of the fenders before you do this.

I would call your car 1990 Mercedes Benz 300TE 6.0 AMG, unless you want to call it something different.

Have fun on your new journey,

Austin

What an outstanding wagon. It is crying out for clear corners, euro lights, and the updated 124 hood though. For your self levelling, check that the pump is at the front of the engine, and see if all the lines etc are still in place. Some people just loop the line at the rear to disconnect the self levelling so that fluid still flows as the pump is self lubricating. It could be that the self levelling was disconnected due to faulty shocks or accumulators. The accumulators are not difficult or expensive to replace, however if the pump or the shocks are dead it will get a lot more expensive to get sorted. Good luck and keep us all posted.


Matt.

[el presidente]

Congratulations on your new "grocery getter"

Welcome!

congratulations- should be a great sleeper car when you are done. reminds me of my 95 Audi S-6 wagon (modified of course)
If you dont mind telling- how much was it? Good luck!

[Hammer Wagon]

I don't mind telling at all, it was on eBay after all.

I paid $14,600. The original buy it now price on the second auction was $17,500 and it was no reserve with only two bidders. I was ready (and expecting) to pay much more. The seller had paid $22,500 18 months prior and had invested close to $14,000. You know the saying about buying a car someone else restored.

As I'm sure you know the 6.0 engine option alone on RennTech's menu is $14k plus.

I'm not as irresponsible as I've made it sound and I figured another $20k+ investment over time would still land me an extremely rare and unique car.

The S6 wagon was a great car. The new S6 wagon is outstanding and I'd give my right kidney for an RS6 Wagon. I always loved Euro wagons- My wife has the 1999 A6 Quattro Wagon (17in S4 Avus wheels) but it's quite the dog off the line.

I jokingly asked the counter girl at the Audi dealer service if they could perform a 4.2 V8 transplant. She said, "whats a transplant?"

[tom woolner]

Just my humble opinion,

I think you should keep this very rare car as stock as possible. There is something to be said for retaining heritage in exotic cars. I am going to keep my 500E as stock as possible, with th exception of the 17" AMG monoblock wheels. There was a lot of very sophisticated engineering that went into the design of our cars, and I want to respect that.
What a great find! Good luck!
Tom
92 500E
92 300E
90 BMW K75S (for sale)

[Michael]

Nice TE!!

As to the wheel scraping, try replacing your lower ball joints (and be SURE to use directional OE ones)

Good luck getting it sorted!

[need2speed]

Welcome to the forum Dave

Keep us updated as you sort the car out...with lots of pics!

"Lead, follow, or better yet, get out of the way"E500 owners motto

[ke6dcj]

Dave- congrats on you journey of wagon-mania!

500E springs front & rear will fit fine. I also recommend the 500E front struts, and 500E front & rear sway bar as previously recommended.

IMHO, that setup with the weight of the M117 engine, and your possibility of 17-inch wheels, will keep a "firm" Mercedes ride.

SportLine setup up front might be too harsh for everyday driving with 17-inch wheels.

Find out what type of lights you have in the spoiler. If they are "fogs" then go with 500E headlights. If they are "driving lights" then go with regular Euro W124 headlights (I have a set for sale- email me offline). New headlight lenses can be installed if you ever go to the later-bodystyle W124 hood (94-95).

I'd install a 16-inch SPAL puller fan instead of the v-belt driven fan. I doubt you need a tranny oil cooler. An engine oil-cooler might be your better bet, but get one with a built-in fan as well.

Find a set of 500E or W124 SportLine seats in black, forget the Recaros. Otherwise, rebuild your seats.

Your car should not interfere with 205/55R16 tires (I had this tire size on 16x8 ET34 wheels with SportLine suspension). In short- rebuild the front-end.

Hope this helps and good luck with such a rare car.

:-) neil
1988 360TE AMG
1993 500E

[omegabenz]

The lights in the Air dam of an AMG HAMMER are the same ones used in BMWs, they are Bosch lights that are accessory high beams. Your car may be different, but I bet that it is the same.

The M119 and M117 Engine are about the same weight, so I would definately go with 500E front shocks, springs, sway bars. I called my local shop that works on my cars if I dont know how to do stuff, and he said that the prices for the mercedes 500E sway bars just went up a lot.

I think if you get 17x8 ET 28 wheels like you talked about and put on Michelin Pilot Sports, I think that it would ride great. My coupe rides pretty good with the Michelins.

I would follow Neil's advise on rebuilding the whole front end. Its better to just do it all at once instead of piecing it together. Your rear subframe bushings and link bushings are probably torn up from all the power.

Austin

[Hammer Wagon]

Thanks everyone for all the advice.

I spent some time at the shop over the weekend and the sight of the completed engine with the gleaming black valve covers was a very uplifting experience. The engine bay has been completely cleaned up and resprayed (12 tears worth of grime gone). The old engine mounts were a sight to behold, although you’d have to squint to see what’s left of them. The tranny is being completed and the whole setup will be going in very shortly. I am going to document the whole process in pictures as best I can.

I agree with Dean, Tom Woolner and others about keeping the car as original as possible while still updating the important stuff. To that end I won’t do a 94/95 hood upgrade. As nice as it is, as someone pointed out on the 500E thread, I’ll probably regret it a few years down the road. I do want to have the grill done in black, as this car and many hammers (body color) originally had done.

Once the engine is in we’ll be able to get a better idea of how bad the front end is. I’m interested in doing the 500E springs and struts unless AMG still has some pieces for the car. The Bilstien Sports have been highly recommended, I’m guessing that they’re different than stock 500E struts? I’ve also read that H&R has a setup for the 500E springs, how do these compare to stock 500E springs? I seem to recall some talk about the mounting of 500E springs being different than that of a standard W124 due to the extra width of the engine. Perhaps similar to the SL front end, is this a misconception? The Hammer brochure on Dean’s site also indicates that the Hammer had stock sway bars, so updating them may be a good idea.

I will be upgrading to the 17x8 inch ET28 Monoblocks as on the Hammer (thanks E320) and I was going to do the same staggered tires 215/45 front, 235/45 rear. My car has slightly flared fenders. Assuming all is sorted in the front end, will 17x8 with 215/45 still cause me grief? I noticed the Tire Rack does not list the 17x8 as a fitment on the W124. I have seen some AMG conversions with 235/45 front as well, but these may have been widebody conversions.

As good as the Michelin Pilot sports are (getting a lot of recommendations) I’ve really like the Pirelli P7000 Supersports on my Alfa (same 215/45/17) and they are close to the original Hammers P700’s without suffering 15 year old tire technology.

Neil, I believe the lights in the airdam are driving lights they are very clear lenses with what looks like a reflector backing. I’ll have a better look, although in truth I could never figure out how to put them on. Now’s a good time to check them out since I can hang out in my engine bay. I definitely want to do the European headlights once I figure things out. I think the amber side lenses keep the look original, and while clears may be more menacing I prefer to menace with a view of the tail.

The Sportline/500E seats look great, but I believe many Hammers had black Recaro fronts, as did the car in Car & Driver Dec, 1996. The shop can rebuild the existing seats- how good are theses seats when rebuilt and do they remotely compare to the Sportline seats?

More questions than answers but I’ll be going through this process slowly and deliberately to get it all right.

Dave

I have some older photos, any ideas on how to compress them to be under 66560b?

[ke6dcj]

I'd be VERY careful with 16x8 ET28 on any W124 car, except the 500E.

If 16x8 ET34 wheels just barely stuck out on my wagon, unless you have 500E front fenders, I don't think even a flared W124 fender will clear, even with 205/55R16 or 212/55R17 tires.

When I had 16x8 ET34 wheels in the rear of the wagon, with 225 rubber, it still rubbed on big dips.

I'm now running 16x7.5 ET41 and 17x7.5 ET41 wheels on wagon with 215's in the front and 225's in the rear, and no rubbing with a lowered suspension.

If you're existing setup is using Bilstein Sport V036 struts up front, I have a set used 6-months for sale.

However, I still think you would like the 500E front struts better since it is softer to a point, then it firms up quickly esp. since it has an additional built-in extension/compression limiting spring that the Bilstein don't have. Makes for a nice smooth ride that "firms" up as you push the car harder.

The 500E rear struts are the same setup with limiting springs, but alas, it won't hookup to the rear control arm without some major modifications.

I'd get the rear self-levelling working again if possible and use 500E rear springs and a 500E rear sway-bar. The results are wonderful.

:-) neil
1988 360TE AMG
1993 500E