This was one of the best GTGs yet! I think we can all agree that the mid May date is a winner, so I'll stick to mid May from here on out. It was great seeing everyone. I have a few pics that I'm uploading. I don't have much because I think I got too distracted looking at everyone's cars. I know Mel (guy in the gray 107) took a load of pics. I'll ask him to share them with me and I'll post them here.

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

Sorry I could not make it. I was waiting on parts for my AC system. Unfortunately, I have very limited free time these days and I have been piecing together this project for a few weeks, so I needed to get it done. Luckily, I have extremely positive results! I had the AC system buttoned up and roaring by noon today and I am getting 28F at the vents according to my infrared temp gauge. Granted, it was not very hot today but I think the job went well and the results will speak for themselves. Since I finished early, I scored a pair of euro headlights at PNP for one of my W126es. My fiance left her Mazda 6 here since she is out of state right now, so I am thinking of comparing the vent temps with my car and hers. She complained on the ride to last year's GTG that the AC was too cold and that was with an R4 and R12 with an 84-85 condenser in my grey car.

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1991 F250 super-cab 7.3 IDI. (rebuilt by me) Banks Sidewinder turbo, hydroboost brakes, new IP and injectors.
2003 S430 - 107K
1983 300SD - Tanoshii - mostly restored ~400K+.
1983 300SD - Good interior. Engine finally tamed ~250K.
Monark Nozzle Install Video - http://tinyurl.com/ptd2tge

You missed a good one, but i'm glad you got the A/C sorted.

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With best regards

Al

It was great to meet everyone! I carried my camera around, but forgot to take pics...
My car was running warm on the way down (~200F) and got nearly hot on the way home (~220F), so I stopped, filled up, had an ice cream, and then when I got back on the road I kept it a 70mph, which kept the temp at ~210F. Once I got onto city streets the temp came down, so I'm pretty sure the radiator is semi-clogged and was on the edge of it's cooling capacity.
Got ~13 mpg, about what I expected :-)

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Csaba
1972 280SEL 4.5, silver

Csaba, I had a similar problem back in the day in my 71 250CE. It ran great at traffic speeds, but at about 115mph on the M4, it would start to cook. You need to keep the speed down

If you don't have a radiator shop (which I'm sure you do), there's a good one here in N Dallas called Flores. I suspect that I have a dirty fuel tank in the SL. The car does not have M117 power that I expect and a high speed right turn today onto the tollway today caused it to stumble, fuel level was low but not that low.

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With best regards

Al

i have found that those IR temp guns have crazy readings for vent temp. pointing mine at my garage floor indicated within 2 degrees of the ambient temperature but when pointed at the a/c vent in our Yukon, it managed to defeat the laws of physics try using a meat type thermometer and make sure the probe is deep in the vent. today it was about 88 degrees and with the blower on "hi" at idle i was getting high 30's to 40 degrees out of the vents. once moving the temp stayed the same but the clutch cycled. anything below about 34 degrees is actually bad. water will freeze on the evap, block air flow and then the oil becomes thick and cannot circulate as well.

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83 300CD- sanden, dual p/f condensers, 160a alternator, ect
91 300TD- 722.6, #22 head, 3.5L IP, w140 manifolds, ect

i also recommend Allied Radiator. it is off i45 right at overton rd... i managed to find 2, yes TWO ok quality pictures. of course i remembered to take pics once almost everyone left! HAHA anyways here they are

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83 300CD- sanden, dual p/f condensers, 160a alternator, ect
91 300TD- 722.6, #22 head, 3.5L IP, w140 manifolds, ect

I agree that the temps from the IR guns are strange. My "meat thermometer" style gauge is wildly inaccurate, though. It is about 15-20 degrees too high. I guess I should spend a little more on one of those. The IR gun read a low of 15F on my fiance's Mazda 6 tonight. I don't think so... My 300SD even feels cooler coming from the vents. It went down to 19F on my 300SD. I think anything that cold would be frozen up with any moderate humidity. We'll see when it really gets hot and muggy out. I still agree that the IR guns are not as accurate as we give them credit for.

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1991 F250 super-cab 7.3 IDI. (rebuilt by me) Banks Sidewinder turbo, hydroboost brakes, new IP and injectors.
2003 S430 - 107K
1983 300SD - Tanoshii - mostly restored ~400K+.
1983 300SD - Good interior. Engine finally tamed ~250K.
Monark Nozzle Install Video - http://tinyurl.com/ptd2tge

Taken through a polarized lens I see:

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With best regards

Al

Exactly!

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83 300CD- sanden, dual p/f condensers, 160a alternator, ect
91 300TD- 722.6, #22 head, 3.5L IP, w140 manifolds, ect

i have a hard time finding a thermometer worth a damn too. i got one with some robinair gauges that seems quite accurate. i have not had a very hot texas day to put it to the test yet, only about 90 so far and it was 38F on freeway with clutch cycling so it had more in it! if it will stay under 45F when moving and 50 idling or in traffic i will be very happy. my head pressures are looking very promising after adding the 2nd condenser. it very slowly climbed to 175psi before my aux fan kicked it which brought it down to 135psi very quickly. that was on a 90F day in my garage. suction is around 14-20 psi. all these numbers look more like a kick ass r12 setup so far but we will see when it starts becoming over 100 every day

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83 300CD- sanden, dual p/f condensers, 160a alternator, ect
91 300TD- 722.6, #22 head, 3.5L IP, w140 manifolds, ect

I don't believe my windshield is polarized. the glass shop said that my windshield has some type of UV protection that my original did not. it definitely looks a bit darker too so maybe a type of very, very light tint laminated in it just to block some UV rays. i do like the dark blue eyebrow though

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83 300CD- sanden, dual p/f condensers, 160a alternator, ect
91 300TD- 722.6, #22 head, 3.5L IP, w140 manifolds, ect

Thanks for a great gathering this time around. Actually I spent a lot of time at Fort Boggy State Park hanging with the BMW guys talking M5 stuff with them.

One BMW guy is on the cusp of buying his first Merc (looking at 124 wagons) and I walked him through the basics of what to look for between the 61X, 60X, 103 and 104 motored versions as well as the bugaboos (particularly with the gas engines, which I'm by far most familiar with).

One thing is that when I looked at their E28 and E39 M5s, the better materials and build quality of the Mercs was very apparent. I know this has changed in recent years.

Look forward to next year. Good idea to do this in May rather than June.

Cheers,
Gerry / Unhinged Troll
1994 E500

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Lot's of good people on the BMW side. No question, build quality and fit and finish on the interior is better by miles on the MB's when compared to anything else built in that era.

I also enjoyed meeting with the BMW guys and hope that we can coordinate with them again. I wonder if the Porsche 928 guys would be willing to join? The cars already seem to be mostly Mercedes.

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With best regards

Al

Here's some photos from yesterday.
2014 MB GTG Photos by joe_larry05 | Photobucket

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.