weekend Wrenching

[Skid Row Joe]

Originally Posted by mercmad6.3

Rust in a pagoda after resto ?
The only parts to use are Genny merc parts. in fact i don't think you can get pattern parts for Pagodas because the merc ones are not too badly priced. Don't forget pagodas are a sought after car.
My neighbor is doing a resto on a 280SL at the moment which the owner bought for $80,000 (BEFORE RESTO>..) and is looking at spending close to $100,000 before it's done.
The cheapest pagoda project car I have seen here lately was a $40,000 non running 230SL.
heres the neighbor taking his latest toy for a blast. It's one of the very first excaliburs built,on a studebaker Daytona chassis with a supercharged 289 V8.
Designed by Brook Stephens who was a merc fanatic,they almost look like Mercedes SSK .This one was owned by Phyllis Diller..

Been there, done that. Learned the hard way about "Genny merc parts." A left front fender on a 240D to be exact.

It's easily an "$80,000 to $100,000 car?" That is easy to say - just try to get it in this economy.....not gonna happen. $40,000? maybe, if perfect -perfect is what it will actually SELL for.

[mercmad6.3]

Welcome to the real world.
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/view-classic-cars-for-sale.php?makenav=Mercedes&keywords=pagoda&country=&searchtype=basicand&justsearched=1&submit=Search

http://www.shannons.com.au/pages/auctions/lot.jsp?id=E6A1JDB2ZT2RR74E

A 240 D aint in the same class as these.

[Skid Row Joe]

So much for "Genny merc parts......"

Real life makes spending "$80.000 to $100,000" look pretty smart?? Asking, and getting, are two different things.....

[mercmad6.3]

I forgot to add a link to the $80,000 pagoda,that is what the owner paid for it last year . And you can see what it needs doing to it in this link to my neighbors site.. If you can restore a pagoda for less ,go into business because there are at least 10 forms worldwide doing it and that is the average cost.
http://www.sleepingbeauties.com.au/merc280sl.html

[mercmad6.3]

Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe

So much for "Genny merc parts......"

Real life makes spending "$80.000 to $100,000" look pretty smart?? Asking, and getting, are two different things.....

I don't know anything about you but the person who spends money on this type of car would buy and sell you before breakfast. $100,000 is nothing to these people. Their spouses golf car cost that much . Their boat probably cost close to a million and they use it once or twice a year. $100,000 restoration costs are what it costs to join the club. Your 240D is a mere taxi base model and to compare the chinese fender you bought on line with mercedes parts is unfair.
Smart? of course it is,the sheer enjoyment they get from driving their car is worth more than that and as you can see on the site I posted,there are plenty of unrestored ones going for that sort of money.

[Mike D]

Finishing the Megasquirt installation on the '85 500SEL. Injectors, rails, plumbing, regulator and wiring all done. Megasquirt II built, connected and working. Relay board, injectors, TPS, tach, and fuel pump all wired, loomed and routed. The IAT and CTS are sorta half-arsed wired. The IAT is going in the air cleaner so I can't install it yet. Gotta get a different CTS so I don't have to bugger up the threads in the manifold.

Used a standard Ford TPS which I adapted to fit the existing throttle body. Works good and is completely hidden by the air cleaner.

Things yet to do:
Install and wire the O2 sensor.
Touch up the fuel rails and connectors with paint.
Pipe the vacuum line to the aftermarket FP regulator.
Plumb and wire an idle control valve.
Take pictures.

Probably won't finish any of the "to do" list weekend. The match between Brazil and Cote' du Ivoire begins here in just a few and my youngest is bringing over some Pilsner Urquell to treat his old dad.

I foresee some nappie-poo time later this afternoon.

[alabbasi]

Yesterday, I helped a guy work on his 76 450SL. Very clean car but those manifolds are horrible. They melt anything that comes close to them including the pickup lead to my very expensive timing light!

In the end, we pulled a vac on his a/c and let it hold for an hour which showed that there was no leak so I charged it up. He's happy.

I also drove (yes drove) my 280CE home from my buddy's house. That was fun, I think I can drive it now and iron out all of the issues slowly.

Today (after the game), I'm going to try to tackle the 6.3, or at least tackle getting it on the lift so that I can get some work done on it.

[alabbasi]

Today Erich stopped by the shop and we maneuvered the 6.3 out of the corner where it's been sitting since 2007 to where the lift is located.

With the suspension collapsed, it was no fun what so ever but we managed to get it maneuvered to where we could raise it. First thing that I did was remove the line to my brand new Bosch fuel pump and drain the old gas from it.

The gas was a chocolate brown color and there was just over a gallon in there. I used compressed air to push all of the gold oil out and the refilled with fresh gas. Next thing was to reconnect the shifter linkage which must have come off during the transport. I need to buy the clip that holds it in place. I ran the engine for a short while but the motor developed a leak right at the fuel filter fitting. I'm assuming that the hose (exit from the fuel filter) is damaged which will need replacement.

This car is a huge pain in the rear to work on but i'm looking forward to getting it back together.

[mercmad6.3]

You can move the car if you remove the steel braided line from the compressor and fit an adaptor to it. Use the adapator to pump it up with the shop air. 120-150PSI will get a 6.3 off the ground.
I'd advise you to drop the tank and get it cleaned properly and replace the fuel lines at both ends of the steel hard lines. Pull the radiator out and get ity cleaned and while it's out,replace the hoses and belts. The oil line to compressor is the worst of any on all mercedes to be changed so do it before you go driving. Blowing that one on the road is ZERO fun. A lot of those hoses have the screw together type fittings so don't hacksaw them apart,just stick the hose in the vice and unscrew the fittings.
Good luck!

[alabbasi]

Hi Ron, thanks, I tried that before and it raised the front end but not the rear. The rear has air in the air bags because they are stiff. But I think the problem is that I don't have enough pressure. My compressor cuts out at 120psi.

I dropped the tank about a year ago and acid washed it so it should be fairly clean.

[mercmad6.3]

you may a problem with the rear valve because it gets full air pressure( the fronts get a reduced pressure via the height valve ). i am guessing but it may be stuck or set in the wrong position . The bags will go flat whether they are stiff or not . To get the car up ,Chris Johnsons idea of screwing in some hoses with tire valves in the end to each bag (two front,one rear) will keep the car raised indefinitely as long as the bags hold air. You can then road test etc while getting the valves sorted.

[alabbasi]

So I've been going on and off to the shop all week and doing some tinkering. Whiile I did run the engine briefly on the 6.3, I really shouldn't have because the oil was so diluted with gas.

When I changed the oil it was very thin and only about 1.5 gallons was actual oil.

When I removed the filter, I was breaking apart and there was about 3 inches of sludge at the base of the filter house. I used some old gas to clean off the filter house and then put a new filter and replaced the oil pan drain plug which looked to be pretty badly beaten up.

I also picked up a transmission filter but the pan gasket which is a cork type and looks to be leaking badly also needs replacing and that's on order.

The fuel hose that I got from the dealer was not the correct one so I'm ordering another.

The goal is still be able to drive it around the block in a couple of weeks.

[GGR]

Hum! How did the fuel get into the oil?

[alabbasi]

No idea
but I assume it was either ran rich or the injectors leaked down.

[mercmad6.3]

The Fuel contamination is caused by the oil seal in the injection pump failing . The Pump uses engine oil pressure to seal the injector elements and lube the pump. if the oil isn't changed regularly the nylon seals in the pump cannot cope with the dirt and fail ( factory oil change interval is every 5000 miles) the fuel at 10-14 PSI is able to mix with the oil easier and dilutes it very quickly . A check of the oil every drive is good idea because if it rises ,you are not using oil but are adding to it. A small consumption of oil is normal with a M100 as it was all engines in those days.
If you run a mercedes , porsche etc with mechanical injection it's essential to run ATF in the fuel to prevent the seals breaking down.
Injector leak down is rare as the injectors will keep going properly for years (mine are 41 years and 319,000 miles old) as long as the fuel /ATF rule is followed.
Also injectors are Now...$7000 EACH, Thats Seven thousand dollars EACH! .
A new pump is $48,000 ,not that anyone should ever need to buy one.
Even though the leaking sounds bad it's no big deal as long as you're prepared to change the oil more often and drain the governor housing oil every so often.
250mls of ATF before an oil change gets rid of any dirt and fuel in the engine and let a cold engine drain completely overnight . Don't forget the Oil cooler drain and with the filter you should add 9 liters of oil . On long trip i use the cheapest 20W50 oil and change it often.
These are Strong engines and will handle a lot of abuse including running on fuel for lubrication so as long as it's not thumping in the bearings,all will be OK.