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  #316  
Old 10-07-2017, 06:50 PM
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I noticed the notches and have no idea why it is different.

We are at Watkins Glen in our motorhome. For $25 I drove four laps on the track this evening in my Fiat Abarth that we tow with the motorhome.

Earlier today we drove the original 1948 course through the village and surrounding country roads. We also visited the Watkins Glen race resource library. I bought a Mercedes book. After finding out that my wife was an artist, the administrator gave us a package with 39 Walter Goethe prints of vintage Mercedes-Benz racing cars. It was a good day!!!

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  #317  
Old 10-07-2017, 08:00 PM
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Very nice! I go thru there several times a year, a little up the road so to speak is the garlic festival @ Fox Run (Penn Yan). Wagner Vineyards, our favorite of the Finger Lakes wineries, is also close by.
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  #318  
Old 10-07-2017, 09:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Tomguy View Post
Very nice! I go thru there several times a year, a little up the road so to speak is the garlic festival @ Fox Run (Penn Yan). Wagner Vineyards, our favorite of the Finger Lakes wineries, is also close by.
We had lunch at Wagner Vineyards yesterday. Great food and wonderful view of Seneca Lake!
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  #319  
Old 10-08-2017, 07:11 AM
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I loved their flatbread/pizza. Great to hear you already found out about them! Hope you enjoy your trip. If it's on your route, stop by to see Taughannock Falls. It's a wonderful place (walking distance from my In-Laws too).
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  #320  
Old 10-08-2017, 03:11 PM
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I have a couple corrections to make on my post about Watkins Glen. The name of the artist is Walter Gotschke. He is one of the best automotive artists dealing in vintage racing scenes. I first became familiar with his work back in the eighties when the large format Porsche factory calendar featured 13 of his Porsche racing scenes. I had each of those prints framed and have had them hanging somewhere in whatever house we lived in for the past 30 years.

The prints that we were given to us by the International Motor Racing Research Center (My second correction) are smaller in size but equally breathtaking. Google him and you will see why my wife and I both love his work.

In 1988 I bought a 1962 Porsche 356 E-Production race car. We hauled it to Watkins Glen the following year for both my wife and I to drive at a Porsche Club track day event. During my second session I was entering the toe of the boot at 90+ mph. When I hit the brakes, the car immediately turned left. I spun out and ended up in the run-off area. How I stayed off of the ever present blue guard rail is still a mystery to me to this day.

The corner worked ran over and asked if I was OK. After telling him I was fine, he asked what happened. I told him I didn't know as all hell broke loose as soon as I hit the brakes. After getting the car towed back to the pits, we discovered the problem. The right rear trailing arm had broken causing that wheel to be pushed back as I braked. I now had rear wheel steering that was aiming me at the guard rail.

I was ready to load up the car and head for Indiana when friends talked me into removing the trailing arm with the hopes of finding someone to weld it. We removed it and did find a guy to weld it in Watkins Glen. Took it back, re-installed it, ran less than a lap and it broke at the weld. Now we were done. Fortunately no other damage to the car or me. My wife never got a chance to drive it there.

So my track time yesterday was my first time there in nearly thirty years. The track has changed a bunch. In the eighties the track was having financial problems and was pretty run down. It was only kept open during the eighties because of volunteer efforts by the local SCCA club. Around the time I was there, the track was purchased by the same company that owns the Daytona track. That's when NASCAR began running the track. Today there are a number of new buildings and grandstands and the track was meticulously maintained.

By the way, NASCAR is the only racing series that does not run the entire track. They cut out the "Boot" portion, the most interesting part to me.
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  #321  
Old 10-10-2017, 06:34 PM
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When I attended the Mercedes event at Shelton Winery a month or so ago, one of the fellows I met there gave me the name of a guy knew how to work on our vintage cars. I have had a rear end leak that I wanted to address. Also, I was concerned about the wedges in the rear springs. And I had a power steering leak I could not locate.

His name is Bobby Grimes and he is located in High Point, NC, about 50 miles from my house. I contacted him and took the car to him a couple weeks before we left on our trip. I had typed up a list of things I wanted him to look at.

Back in May I had taken the car to a shop near Charlotte that I had heard about. The guy had the car for three weeks and never had it on a lift to look at the issues, although he did store the car inside. I picked up the car just prior to our two month RV trip as I did not want the car there for that long of a period. Plus I had lost confidence in the shop.

I had been told by the guy I met at the Mercedes show that Bobby's shop was not the cleanest place but that he knew what he was doing. When I arrived at his shop, it was literally surrounded by Mercedes's of numerous vintages. It appeared that some of the cars were parts cars.

Bobby called me the next day to ask a question and he already had the car on a lift and had determined some of the parts he needed to order. He wanted me to come up and see what he was talking about but i was leaving the next day to go to Indiana for a funeral. I told him I wanted everything fixed and that I understood that he would not be doing it for free!! I think he was concerned that I might not understand how many hours the repairs required and thus how expensive the work might be.

Since I was pretty sure the rear end leak was at the pinion seal, I had decided I did not want to attempt that repair. Also, there was a part that I did not know its function that had a seal that was not in good shape. Turns out is was for the bushing for the swing axle. When Bobby took it apart, the bushing fell out because it was broken on one end. I did not see the new part so I am not sure exactly what was broken but it needed to be replaced.










I had previously purchased new rear springs and a compensating spring and bracket to replace the pneumatic compensator. I had also bought the trailing arm bushings. All of those items were replaced and he replaced the pinion seal. The car also received an alignment.











As for the power steering leak, he determined that it was leaking at where the casings joined on the power steering pump. He rebuilt the pump. I called him the day before we were leaving on our Watkins Glen trip and he was waiting for the rebuild kit to arrive. He also installed all new belts when he re-installed the power steering pump.

I had an exhaust leak that I wasn't able to pinpoint. While repairing that, he also noticed that there was no center support for the exhaust system. I wasn't aware that there was such a support as there was none on the system when I took it apart. He ordered the parts and did that repair as well.



I mentioned that upon start up the car would not idle properly for a few minutes. If you started it and just let it sit there for a bit, all would be well. He richened up the fuel injection a bit and it now is ready to go as soon as you start it.

We picked up the car today and it ran very well on the trip back. My only concern is that I now have positive camber on the rear wheels. I understand that is one of the negatives of installing the compensating spring in place of the pneumatic compensator. I an not wild about that situation and would like to get the compensator rebuilt. Does anyone know of a place that rebuilds them?
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  #322  
Old 10-11-2017, 01:29 AM
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Originally Posted by jerhofer View Post
My only concern is that I now have positive camber on the rear wheels. I understand that is one of the negatives of installing the compensating spring in place of the pneumatic compensator. I an not wild about that situation and would like to get the compensator rebuilt. Does anyone know of a place that rebuilds them?
Niemoller in Germany has rebuilt ones that are for sale. You have to send in a core as they do not accept a core charge. https://www.niemoeller.de/en I just checked and they are out of stock. I would reach out to them via email and ask about when they will have some more.
I just replaced a spring with a hydro compensator. There are instructions for the installation of a hydo compensator so that the rear ride height is correct and it is measured by that camber. I am very pleased with the way the car sits and rides in the rear. Now on to the front where I know my W108 is a little low.
Brad
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  #323  
Old 10-11-2017, 09:17 AM
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According to Jay Leno's w111 video, MB themselves rebuilds them. You might give the classic center a call.

https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/enthusiast/classic_center#module-6
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  #324  
Old 10-11-2017, 09:26 AM
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Originally Posted by Tomguy View Post
According to Jay Leno's w111 video, MB themselves rebuilds them. You might give the classic center a call.

https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/enthusiast/classic_center#module-6
FYI I called the Classic Center last summer when I was looking for my hydro compensator and the price was in excess of $2,000 with a required core exchange.
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  #325  
Old 10-11-2017, 09:31 AM
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Originally Posted by jerhofer View Post
I had previously purchased new rear springs ...
I don't remember your mentioning why you replaced the rear springs, but before you installed a compensator spring what changes, if any, did you notice in the car with the new springs?
BTW your photos are fantastic. I have used them as reference on my W108 and they have been invaluable. Thanks! Brad
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  #326  
Old 10-11-2017, 09:32 AM
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I've never had problems uneven rear tire wear in my W 110 caused by improper camber on the rear wheels. That car uses the same type of rear-end as your W 108 with a compensating spring rather than the hydropneumatic unit. I will say, though, that I don't do a lot of driving with the car 'fully loaded' with heavy cargo in the back. It's good, by the way, that you were able to get to that pinion seal quickly. Those are often neglected and the rear-ends run low on fluid, resulting in damage that causes them to 'whine'.
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  #327  
Old 10-11-2017, 09:46 PM
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Originally Posted by bracurrie View Post
I don't remember your mentioning why you replaced the rear springs, but before you installed a compensator spring what changes, if any, did you notice in the car with the new springs?
BTW your photos are fantastic. I have used them as reference on my W108 and they have been invaluable. Thanks! Brad
Thanks for the compliment on the photos. It's one thing to describe how to do something but much easier to understand the procedure if you can see photos to go along with that description.

Because the rear spring had the wedge adjusters inserted in the springs, I wasn't sure whether there was a spring problem or a compensator issue. Since the springs are relatively inexpensive, I decided to replace the springs and the compensator spring as well as all of the bushings. I did notice that the rear end seemed tighter and responded to uneven road surfaces better than before. I am sure the new bushings also helped.

According to the mechanic, the compensator needs to be rebuilt. He said most people don't bother with doing that because of the expense and the fact that the compensator will fail again. He also stated that he has seen the rear end come down some as more miles are put on the springs. My background is in sports cars where there is typically negative camber in the rear wheels so seeing positive camber is really different for me.
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  #328  
Old 10-12-2017, 05:11 PM
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Of course the compensator will fail again - most parts do, sooner or later. Mine still works, perhaps since 1971, as I don't know if it was ever replaced. However, I am quite certain that, just like my self, it will die some day.
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  #329  
Old 10-12-2017, 06:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Larry Delor View Post
Of course the compensator will fail again - most parts do, sooner or later. Mine still works, perhaps since 1971, as I don't know if it was ever replaced. However, I am quite certain that, just like my self, it will die some day.
So true!

I e-mailed Tom at the Classic Center. The cost for a rebuilt compensator would be $1,419.50. I would have to ship mine to California, Mercedes would ship it to Germany and I would get a rebuilt one back. The timeline is about eight weeks for all of this to happen. I may do this as I would like the rear suspension to work as designed and be original.
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  #330  
Old 10-14-2017, 09:43 AM
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When I removed the switches from the console tray, I discovered one switch that was not hooked up to anything. The other four window switches work as they should. Any idea of what the fifth switch is supposed to operate?

Your restoration posts have been a fantastic resourse as I have a W108 as well. You probably have figured your above question from your 4/4/17 post out by now, but I thought I would record an answer as I didn't see one in the thread. That fifth switch is a rear electric windows lockout. A child safety feature I suppose.
Brad

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