I was just given a 79 6.9

[rumb]

melted - apology if I stepped on your toe. I was trying to be more specific about the spring which is not obvious to many. Even with the spring removed the track can become very difficult to move.

BTW I have 5800 posts between 3 forums.

[meltedpanda]

no problem, sometimes intent is hard to tell with posts.

[rosenfe]

Thanks for all the good info. Yes spring must be culprit. I ll try to get pics soon

[cth350]

Originally Posted by rosenfe

Thanks. I already belong to 116. Org. I have a 79 450sel and a 80 300sd.

So you now need to upgrade to the International M100 club, aka https://www.m-100.co, it's an actual club, so it comes with annual dues. You don't have to join the club to use the forum there, but joining gets you our nifty magazine, a good discount from the MB classic center for things you can't buy here and an invite to our annual club meet.

There is a nifty thread from a fellow in Tx who completely stripped a 6.9 to bare metal and has replaced all the rust with new or home made panels.

-CTH
PS. That tank & cooler holds like 2 gallons of oil; be prepared.

[Benz Dr.]

Originally Posted by rumb

Front seat, slide forward take 2 rear track bolts out, under seat remove large spring. slide seat back and remove 2 front bolts.

Dr. Benz I would take a gift 6.9 any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Please send all you can find to me.

I know 6.9's and if they're not a perfect car they'll dollar you to death. Like just about every other car built in the mid to late 70's, they leave much to be desired. The fact that some people like them means nothing in the larger world of cars that people like. If you like them, good for you. I'm not saying they're junk but they're not that great either. Next time I see one, if I ever see one again, I'll be sure to let you know.

Just like how people go on about a Gullwing. Great looking car but a real POS to drive. The Roadster was a vast improvement.

[daantjie]

Join w116 dot org, it is by far the spot for all things 116 and 6.9. The m100 board is dead as disco.

[rumb]

Originally Posted by cth350

So you now need to upgrade to the International M100 club, aka https://www.m-100.co, it's an actual club, so it comes with annual dues. You don't have to join the club to use the forum there, but joining gets you our nifty magazine, a good discount from the MB classic center for things you can't buy here and an invite to our annual club meet.

There is a nifty thread from a fellow in Tx who completely stripped a 6.9 to bare metal and has replaced all the rust with new or home made panels.

-CTH
PS. That tank & cooler holds like 2 gallons of oil; be prepared.

Normally that would be good advice but the forum is completely nonfunctional and has been for MANY month. There are zero threads showing on the new site and all posts have been removed from the old.

ErrorInvalid forum requested - id not matched

CTH, because you are a member can you please explain why the forum portion is dead and what the club is planning to do the fix it?

[Idle]

If all the old post are gone that is a tragic thing for M-100 owners. I used to lurk on there twenty-five years ago and it was full of good information then.

But as a new 6.9 owner..... GET A SERVICE MANUAL. It will pay for itself the first time you use it. Be advised the air con is so complicated there is a service manual just for it alone.

If you don't have a Catalog of Illustrations look for one of those. They are helpful when trying to figure out just a part is supposed to look like and where it is generally located.

And make sure you put the correct oil in the differential. As a limited slip it takes a limited slip oil.

If yours has the gas fired engine heater then this is a blessing and a plus. The blessing is they are great for pre-heating your engine on a cold night. The curse is they sometimes catch fire and burn down your house.

With an M-100 car there is a lot to learn.

[ejboyd5]

Originally Posted by Benz Dr.

Just like how people go on about a Gullwing. Great looking car but a real POS to drive.

You have expressed this opinion previously as well. I am curious about your actual experience with the 300 SL Coupe.

[Benz Dr.]

Originally Posted by ejboyd5

You have expressed this opinion previously as well. I am curious about your actual experience with the 300 SL Coupe.

Gullwing? Limited although I had a ride in one. Roadsters are a different deal. I did a mechanical restoration on one in 2002 and serviced one for about 15 years until it was sold a couple of years ago. Far more comfortable but still drive like trucks - fast trucks.

[ejboyd5]

Sorry you have not yet been able to drive a Gull Wing so as to form a real basis for your opinion. I have about 150K miles behind the wheel between my '55 and '56, and another 70K miles on my '61 Roadster. I can't agree they drive like "trucks," since I drive a fire truck several times a week and know the difference. If you ever get in my area, give me a call and I'll give you a chance with a Gull Wing, no lights or siren though.

[Benz Dr.]

Originally Posted by ejboyd5

Sorry you have not yet been able to drive a Gull Wing so as to form a real basis for your opinion. I have about 150K miles behind the wheel between my '55 and '56, and another 70K miles on my '61 Roadster. I can't agree they drive like "trucks," since I drive a fire truck several times a week and know the difference. If you ever get in my area, give me a call and I'll give you a chance with a Gull Wing, no lights or siren though.

Maybe I should explain:

I went to Willow Springs race track in the spring of 2001 and had a ride in a Gullwing. Back then I was about 220 lbs and 6'3'' so I don't exactly fit into a coupe all that well and now I'm closer to 300 lbs . This car was a little bit worn so it howled and wasn't a great ride. Fun but uncomfortable. And it rode like a truck. I was used to 190SL's which I've had since I started working on MB cars back in 1977. They're considerably smoother riding cars but can have heavy steering as well when going around corners at speed.

In 2002 I had a '61 Roadster in that just barely ran. Turned out that it had a blown head gasket and a bad fuel injector. I rebuilt the cylinder head and found a new injector ( about 1K back then ) and went through all of the other systems on the car. This was a disc brake car and it was from Italy when new. Hardtop only car. 75,000 original miles, painted once but otherwise very solid.

After I had it finished the owner sold the car for 125K at the time - it went to California. I spent a year working on it and did a lot of test driving so I know the feel of those cars. Very heavy steering going around curves at speed, kind of bumpy, even though I had put new shocks on it, and kind of noisy although it had a nice sound to it. Seats were comfortable and even with the hard top I had enough head room.

Other car I worked on was a '57 roadster. Fully restored car but they drove the same or close to the same. It sold a couple of years back for 1.3 million at an RM auction. We helped him prep the car for sale. Maybe one of best cars ever built when it comes to lines. Just like a beautiful woman, not a bad view from any direction.

[Benz Dr.]

Originally Posted by ejboyd5

Sorry you have not yet been able to drive a Gull Wing so as to form a real basis for your opinion. I have about 150K miles behind the wheel between my '55 and '56, and another 70K miles on my '61 Roadster. I can't agree they drive like "trucks," since I drive a fire truck several times a week and know the difference. If you ever get in my area, give me a call and I'll give you a chance with a Gull Wing, no lights or siren though.

How far are you from Buffalo? Did you happen to go to the Gullwing Group convention at Niagara on the Lake? Quite a while ago but I was there with the '61 hard top car.

[cth350]

I lost track of this thread back in April, so I didn't see the question to me regarding the M100 club.

What happened last year was pretty sad and very annoying. The club needed to do a website upgrade and they got snookered into joining up with a company that hosts clubs for a small fee based on membership. The board decided to go with it due to ongoing issues with the old forum software.

Within a few weeks, they discovered that only paid members of the club could post. At that point, it was too late. Somewhere early this year, they figured out how to fix that problem. But the damage was done, the traffic to the site is down to about zero. The M100 facebook page gets far more hits and updates.

Having said that, hows your car?

-CTH

[cth350]

Originally Posted by rosenfe

What is involved in taking tank out.

The tank is held in with like 3 or 4 little nuts. But you'll tax your dexterity reaching them. A 10mm socket with an integral universal along with a few different size extensions will be helpful.

However, there are three hefty hydraulic hoses that connect the tank to the car. Those will have to come off first. A range of open end wrenches will be necessary. Use flare wrenches if you can find them the right size.

Be sure to use 2 wrenches at each fitting. One holds the counter nut steady.

BTW, that car takes like 8 quarts of oil, be prepared for a significant mess (bigger than the one you've described so far).

-CTH