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#1
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I Polished Gladys's Valve Cover Today
I adjusted the valves on Gladys today and thought I'd polish the valve cover while it was off.
Before: After: Before: After: Before: After: It took about an hour to polish it. I used 0000 steel wool and SimiChrome Polish I used a pad of steel wool to rub the polish in and a clean steel wool pad to buff it to a shine. It worked very well.
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Chad 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE 1998 Acura 3.0 CL OBK#44 "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) SOLD 1985 300TD - Red Dragon 1986 300SDL - Coda 1991 - 300TE 1995 - E320 1985 300CD - Gladys |
#2
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Looks good! Hey, if you go after it with a polishing pad on a buffer, it'll look like chrome. Did you spray it with clear so it keeps it's shine?
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-Evan Benz Fleet: 1968 UNIMOG 404.114 1998 E300 2008 E63 Non-Benz Fleet: 1992 Aerostar 1993 MR2 2000 F250 |
#3
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Loos good, im going to do it to mine sometime soon.
Chad, that brake fluid is looking alittle black.
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1985 300TD Turbo Euro-wagon 1979 280CE 225,200 miles 1985 300D Turbo 264,000 miles 1976 240D 190,000 miles 1979 300TD 220,000 GONE but not forgotten 1976 300D 195,300 miles 1983 300D Turbo 175,000 miles http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e485-1-2-1.jpg |
#4
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Quote:
Quote:
The coolant looks green in the pic, but I just flushed the system and replaced the thermostat last week. I used MB coolant when I refilled.
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Chad 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE 1998 Acura 3.0 CL OBK#44 "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) SOLD 1985 300TD - Red Dragon 1986 300SDL - Coda 1991 - 300TE 1995 - E320 1985 300CD - Gladys |
#5
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Time to get rid of the Cali emmisions now to make that valve cover pop!
It looks good!
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RRGrassi 70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car 13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete. 91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K 90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K |
#6
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My polish results
Looks good. I would like to hear from those who have successfully clear-coated a valve cover after polishing. My recollection of Japanese motorcycle engines in the 1970s is that the clear-coat would start to flake off after awhile and the resulting patchwork looked terrible. Perhaps coating compounds are better? A local shop recommends powder coating but the process is fairly expensive.
Now that Gladys is shiny, you will find that a touch-up every time you do a valve adjust will keep her looking good while not taking anywhere near as much time as the original polish job just took you. And it will look better if you remove EGR and all of its plumbing. And get rid of that ugly black oil cap. Jeremy
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"Buster" in the '95 Our all-Diesel family 1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car 2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022) Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762 "Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." -- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970 Last edited by Jeremy5848; 12-05-2008 at 05:56 PM. Reason: Add photo |
#7
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Sweet
And I don't care what people say about the california setup, I like that you can see the turbo
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1985 300TD-euro 352,000 mi 1974 240D (1?)52,000 mi - has a new home now |
#8
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looks good chad......
by the way, how is the cup holder project going?
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#9
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Thanks everybody.
Slowly but surely. I'm still working on the original w123 orders. I'm doing 15 of those and I'm bringing them all along together on each step. I currently have w115, w116, w126 (1st and 2nd generation), and w123 consoles to use for mockups and will be offering holders for all of them. I'm still waiting on a w124 console too.
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Chad 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE 1998 Acura 3.0 CL OBK#44 "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) SOLD 1985 300TD - Red Dragon 1986 300SDL - Coda 1991 - 300TE 1995 - E320 1985 300CD - Gladys |
#10
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Where can I find the metal oil cap? The small amount of looking I've done has only shown me more black plastic caps. I don't get to junk yards either if that's where you get them. As soon as I have some cash, I'll be buying the trap bypass tube from Jon and I'll do some of the other stuff at that time.
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Chad 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE 1998 Acura 3.0 CL OBK#44 "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) SOLD 1985 300TD - Red Dragon 1986 300SDL - Coda 1991 - 300TE 1995 - E320 1985 300CD - Gladys |
#11
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Yeah, mine came from a junkyard. I doubt that they are available new any more but I never asked my dealer. I'm sorry that I do not have a spare metal oil cap to offer you. BTW, what kind of fuel cap do you have?
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"Buster" in the '95 Our all-Diesel family 1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car 2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022) Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762 "Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." -- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970 |
#12
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BTW, the more I look at your engine compartment, the more polishing I see you've done. I have a lot of work to do to catch up.
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Chad 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE 1998 Acura 3.0 CL OBK#44 "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) SOLD 1985 300TD - Red Dragon 1986 300SDL - Coda 1991 - 300TE 1995 - E320 1985 300CD - Gladys |
#13
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chad, i'll grab you a metal oil cap and send you for free next time I go to the junkyard.
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1985 300TD Turbo Euro-wagon 1979 280CE 225,200 miles 1985 300D Turbo 264,000 miles 1976 240D 190,000 miles 1979 300TD 220,000 GONE but not forgotten 1976 300D 195,300 miles 1983 300D Turbo 175,000 miles http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e485-1-2-1.jpg Last edited by 79Mercy; 12-05-2008 at 06:27 PM. |
#14
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You rock Mercy.
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Chad 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE 1998 Acura 3.0 CL OBK#44 "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) SOLD 1985 300TD - Red Dragon 1986 300SDL - Coda 1991 - 300TE 1995 - E320 1985 300CD - Gladys |
#15
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Cap
The fuel and oil caps look very similar. Didn't I read somewhere here about someone trying to use one for the other and it leaked? The fuel cap has a Mercedes star stamped into it but the oil cap says "OEL" and also has a Mercedes star.
I found (when I first had my 123) that the clean/polish job was so big that it just got discouraging. So, I adopted the policy of doing a little bit every time I worked on the car. It has taken two years to get what you see and it's nowhere near done. There's always something else. Examples and hints: (a) when changing oil, polish the oil cap and the filter housing cap. (b) when doing a valve adjustment, polish the valve cover. (c) as a project (most 123s need this), remove the battery and clean/repaint or replace the battery tray. Clean underneath and around, remove rust and seal/paint as needed. Remove and polish the heat shield ('85 CA only, I think) between battery and turbo. (d) when replacing headlamp bulbs or otherwise working in that area, be sure to clean the sheet metal under the headlights and be sure the water drain holes aren't clogged, it's another good place for rust. (d) '85 CA trap cat replacement (for testing purposes only) is a good time to clean the right side of the block and install a block heater (if you can get the dam' plug out). Replace the turbo oil feed line gasket and the turbo drain pipe gasket and rubber grommet while you're in there. Also polish the turbo and remove/block the EGR valve and all of its plumbing, including the vacuum control valves on the left fender, making that fender easier to keep clean. While the air cleaner box is out, clean it up and make sure all of the rubber is in good shape. Jeremy
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"Buster" in the '95 Our all-Diesel family 1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car 2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022) Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762 "Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." -- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970 |
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