weekend Wrenching - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

alabbasi · #16 05-12-2008, 12:01 AM

Last week I attended a car show on Sunday morning but I had to leave early because of an issue at work. I did manage to shoot some pictures of some cars while I was there. I really want to get myself a Jensen Interceptor. 6.9 is not enough, a 7.2 is the way forward :-).

This week has been quite product. A friend has taken some serious interest in my 59 Ford truck. He's currently helping me restore it at knock down price and I'm hoping that he will buy it off me for what I paid him in the work plus a little extra when it's done.

The work is coming along nicely. He has had to do some serious bodywork. The truck also needed a radiator and a new ford truck truck radiator costs around $400 so we thought we would go to the pick and pull and see if we can find something that could fit.

Well believe it or not, the best fitting radiator was from a 1983 Euro Mercedes Benz 280E that was in the yard. I hate it when a nice car like this is found at the yard.

We pulled the radiator and also snagged a set of perfect black leather front seats which I may install in my W116 as they look exactly the same with the exception of the headrests. I also grabbed the washer bottle and a complete first aid kit from this car.

Other then this, work has been done on the MGB, the steering and the suspension felt super loose so we went around with a wrench and tightened everything up. The tank was also very rusty so I sent it to a radiator shop for cleaning. I'm waiting for it to come back.

I think I may have also finally fixed my 6.9 chain tensioner oil leak. As some may know, the chain was replaced some time ago and since, I've had to put 2-3 quarts of oil into the engine as there was a massive leak at the tensioner.

I replaced the tensioner but that did not fix the problem. Finally we replaced the screw ring and the threaded ring and I ordered 5 more gaskets. Yesterday we replaced the old gasket which was leaking and fitted a new one. I coated it very lightly on both sides with perminex gray gasket sealer and then installed it. Per the members advise, I torqued the bolts to 25nm and the the threaded ring to 40nm and the cap to 50mn then I left the car for 24 hours in order for the gasket sealer to fully cure. It seemed to have worked and I do not have a leak!

I was so happy that I took the 6.9 for a nice long drive. It's good to be able to drive my 6.9 again. I haven't done so in ages.

Finally, in my effort to sell some of my cars, I think I may have scored a 72 350SL. It needs floors but runs really well. I need to work it out with the seller so that I don't collect the car for a while as I need to finish the truck before anything else goes into the shop.

alabbasi · #17 05-16-2008, 08:02 PM

This weekend starts and ends early as I have a friend coming into town that I need to dedicate my time to.
Some may remember that I took my car to the trim shop to get new seat covers installed.

Well I got the car back on Wednesday and it doesn't look bad. They made these covers from scratch and did not use a kit. You can tell in certain areas where they went off the beaten path but the cost was considerably cheaper then any kit that you can buy and it came installed.

I decided to go with black as I prefer that color and this is what the car had originally. The blue interior came from a 300SEL 4.5.

Today I spent time working on the door panels which I painted black to match the seat covers. I used a duplicolor fabric and vinyl paint to do the job and it came out reasonably well.

All in all, it took me about 3 hours to take the doors apart, clean them, mask, paint and re-install.

For the first time, I am loving the way this car looks.

Enjoy the pretty pictures:

Before

After

New rear seat covers

New front seat covers

alabbasi · #18 09-21-2008, 09:00 PM

Saturday I stopped by the Maaco bright and early and started putting the car back together. I got a decent way there with all being left being the molding.

Which I thought I would do when I get home. Foolishly, I left the molding clips at the Maaco which means I have to order new ones or stop by.

Driving the car home was a little stressful, I foolishly filled it with regular unleaded and it was pinging like crazy on start up and anything over 2000 RPM. I got some octane booster and added it which seemed to help. The rest of the molding will go on in a few days followed by a good cleaning.

I also replaced the battery because the old one was venting like crazy and causing me to choke every time I got near the car.

The electricals are a little funky with the windows wanting wind down, the radio is wired but the speakers are missing and the fuel sender has a mind of it's own.

The car is pretty dirty inside and out so I wiped it down I fitted one speaker into to make sure that the aftermarket kenwood radio was working.

I finally got rid of my 59 F-100 pickup truck. I didn't sell it but instead traded it for some work from a custom body shop in Wylie. The owner agreed to weld the sunroof back on the car that I cut off another 300SEL 4.5 that I parted out (the PO owner welded it up because it was leaking) and paint it. So I now have to get it running, get the suspension to rise and get it out of reverse.

Today, I took the SLC 5.0 to the shop and drained about 5 gallons of gas from it. I thought it would be wise to do so because of the pinging I needed the gas for my continued testing on the 280CE which is getting more and more baffling.

I took the pump apart and cleaned it out, the impeller was seized and needed a good dousing with brake clean to free up. the crap that came out was nasty and black.

I bought new hoses as the old hoses were perforated and the pump picked up air instead of fuel and then tested it off the car using a tray of gas that I set up.

The pump worked and pushed fuel at good volume so we fitted it back. The connectors in the car could only go on one way (big connector for positive, small connector for negative).

After putting everything back together, we got no fuel.
I pulled the fuel lines on the engine side by the fuel pressure regulator and I had no fuel.
Next step was to pull of the line to the fuel pump from fuel tank.

Even though I did drain the tank and replaced the strainer, it was dribbling whch I suspect to be dirty that had just settled at the lowest point of the tank so I blew and air line through it now got a nice volume of gas.

Plummed everything together and ...... nothing.

Next I removed the fuel line on the other side of the fuel filter (to the engine) and it's bone dry.

I could hear and feel the pump moving so I know it was working.

Next step was to connect the pump to to my jumper box so that I can run it without running the engine.

I could hear the pump run but I got no fuel going through. So (this where it gets interesting). I reversed the polarity and the pump started pumping fuel (all over the place).

Does this car have positve earth? I only know a few British cars that did and the last one I saw was from the early 60's.

Anyway, I bored out the connector on the car so that I could reverse the connections and put everything back. I then cranked the car and it still did nto come to life.

I again pulled the fuel line at the engine side to the pressure regulator and I got sprayed with fuel so now I know that fuel is getting to the front of the engine.

Next step was to check if the plugs were getting an electrical connection so I pulled the connector off one of the fuel injectors and put a test light to it and got no power.

I then check the power at the connector to the trigger point and got nothing... I did last week when I tested the trigger points.

I checked if the computer was getting power and I got nothing..

All the fueses looked good but power was coming to only 6 of the 12 fuses on that fuse block. The others had no power going into them..

This is probably why I am not getting any power to the computer.... what happened? Is there an inline fuse that goes to one half of the fuze box or a relay that I damaged?

Any advise is gratefully appreciated.

I decided to stop before my head exploded and I went home and charge the a/c on my 450SLC with R12. The We pulled a vac on the system when I went to David's shop more then a month ago. When I connected the gauges, I could still get a vac (slight hissing when I connected the hoses).

I charged the system according the pressures specked in my Haynes A/C Manual (it's an old manual and had the 450SLC listed)

Items on my list over the next couple of weeks are:

Fuel tank sender
Re-wire stereo and buy new speakers
Fix electrical gremlins
Buy new tires
Repair seat leather.

This has to fit in with getting the 300SEL 6.3 running and movable while this deal is still fresh.

Here are some more pictures of the SLC once I got it home.

cth350 · #19 09-21-2008, 09:11 PM

I like the continued use of Georgia plates. Any issues getting them w/o an inspection (having the car physically present in the state)? -CTH

Dee8go · #20 09-21-2008, 09:14 PM

Stop it! You're hurting my eyes.

That looks great.

tonkovich · #21 09-21-2008, 09:49 PM

slc is gorgeous

what do you mean by "computer"? (in reference to 280ce)

alabbasi · #22 09-21-2008, 09:59 PM

The 280CE uses a Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection system that is a very primitive EFI injection system and relies on a computer to open the injectors and adjust the mixture.

MB later went to a more basic mechanical injection system (from 1976 onwards) that wad called K-jetronic or CIS.

Wodnek · #23 09-21-2008, 11:10 PM

since we are on weekend wrenching...

I worked on my 6.9 restoration.

I got the 2 right hand doors ready to paint the insides, the jams on the right side, and behind and under the rear seat. I am changing the color and want it to look like it was always Anthracite gray.

jams and seat backs. floor is rust sealed. (black stuff)

i didnt forget the bolts and hinges.

the trim piece is for my 300sd.

alabbasi · #24 09-21-2008, 11:13 PM

I really like the way this car i coming together.

tonkovich · #25 09-22-2008, 12:26 AM

thanks for the info, al. am familiar with the bosch, but did not know what the various letters actually designated.

(be honest - did you yearn for a pair of zeniths ever so briefly this weekend? anyway, good luck with those injectors)

alabbasi · #26 09-22-2008, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonkovich

did you yearn for a pair of zeniths ever so briefly this weekend?

Nope, I've had a running injected w114's in the past. They are very fast and very reliable once they are sorted. It's just a matter of getting it there.

I have driven a carbed 250C and it's a nice (very nice) car but this is a completely different animal.

alabbasi · #27 09-30-2008, 12:04 AM

This weekend, I drove around in the 450SLC 5.0. That car has some serious electrical bugs that need to be worked out. It also creaks like an old boat. I think the grease points need to be greased and all of the bushings need to be replaced. The back also squats like crazy.

I bought new rubber for it. Good year ultra LS. The old Michilens were dry rotted like crazy.

I need to sort out the dash lights which are out and the speakers which are missing.

Sunday was spent messing with the 280CE which is discussed in it's own thread. Today I scored a seriously old 4 post lift. It's cable operated as opposed to hydraulic and lifts a car on it's frame rather then a drive on. It was built in 1962 but functions well. The PO used it to lift his 3/4 ton diesel suburban.

Disassembly took some effort but we had it all apart in about 2 hours.

The PO was kind enough to offer to stop by and help me install it.

Here's a picture:

wbain5280 · #28 09-30-2008, 12:49 AM

You're braver than I am and it doesn't look like the lifting parts will line up with any Mercedes.

alabbasi · #29 09-30-2008, 08:12 AM

It should work by lifting the car on either the frame rails, axles or cross member

alabbasi · #30 10-05-2008, 10:42 PM

This weekend was quite busy but not so much work was done. I spent a lot of time trying to clear the garage to fit the four post lift.

I ended up cutting up the W108 rear end and saving the pumpkin and throwing away the 450SLC pumpkin and a rear quarter. I hated doing that because I know that I will someday need one and it will cost me thousands. I just did not have space for it at the shop anymore.

I moved a bunch of Mercedes and MG wheels to the other storage unit (I pay and obscene amount of money on storage) which is where they will keep for now until I decide what to do with them.

Anyway, I made some space for the lift and Saturday was spent put it in. Unfortunately it appears that the motor is no longer spinning. I am now thinking that the motor is a 3 phase motor and I only have 220v single phase at the shop. I need to figure out what to do here. I can either go with a phase converter or get another motor. This lift is really retro so I would hate to spoil the look of it.

Anyway, I need to do some research on the lift before I decide. Sunday was spent working on the cars at the house.

I topped up the shocks on the MGB with motorcycle fork oil and installed the flasher relay which was installed in my trucked for testing. The brakes are still rubbish and the front end seems loose. Another good reason to have a lift.

I then re-wired the for lights on the Canada spec 6.9. I cut them when I had to remove the bumper prior to painting. This is the first time I drove the car in more then 8 months. I took it to the local car wash and got it washed and hoovered the interior. This car drives great, even better then my other 6.9. I have been thinking about selling it but not anymore. The Suspension light keeps blinking on and off though which I need to figure out. I also hear a buzzing from the rear shock. I think there may be air in the system.

The rest of the day was spent tinkering with the GMC pickup truck. I needed to do a couple of small things such as install window winders. I had nothing on the passenger side and a vice grip on the drivers side.

A quick trip to autozone and $12 later, I had working window winders.

Finally, of to the flying saucer for a cool beverage after a long weekend's work.

Once the lift is in, and working, I'm going to part out the silver blue 500slc. I hate to part out a complete and running car that is so rare but I have not had a lot of interest and I could use the parts to rebuild the Inca red car which has more potential.

I'm sure that in 10 years or so when people begin to appreciate these cars, I'm going to regret parting this car out.