Those damned filters & fungus...............

Some how my beloved '82 240D got a fungus infestation I've been working with, every time I fill the tank I replace the clear plastic intake screen with a clean one I keep in the glove box, then as I wash my hands I clean the screen out, I got tired of buying so many filters and they don't wear, they just get filled up with debris .

To -day as I pulled into the filling station @ 477 miles it began to gasp and miss as I rolled up to the pump, I was pleased to find very little crud in the filter, I changed it anyways.....

It went 96 miles with the low fuel lamp on .

Anyway, nice car, please keep us posted on how it goes .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

SO went ahead and drained the tank completely again.

Fuel looked ok but noticed some dark dirt/gunk in the drain tank.
And as expected the pre filter for my electric fuel pump took the brunt of the punishment basically making the electric fuel pump a shut off for fuel. The container is the contents of the filter in front of the fuel pump, at least all that would blow out. This explains why the front filter was pretty clean.

Also is a little bit of relief that this is the root cause of the issue and once solved maybe I can look past tank issues.

I snatched the tank and dropped it off with Radiator shop to have it cleaned out in hopes of not worrying about it, When I dropped the tank completely I noticed it still had some sludge film on the bottom, so I decided to take the radiator shop.

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Snapped the alternator belt this afternoon while doing some spirited driving trying to see if it would stall out again.

Moved back to cosmetic stuff while I wait on new belts to arrive.
Car had an extra headlight assembly so grabbed both and cleaned and polished them.
Also got the Becker Europa working, may try and update it to handle an aux input.
Few pics,The picture under the tent is the first time I saw it. My phone died and I didn't back it so a lot of the before pics are gone but it has came a long ways since being under that tent.
Ordered a lot of parts like pencil glow plugs, just going to get it back to supplying clean fuel first.

On a side note I did go look at a W114 coupe this weekend and was about to get it hauled home but backed off with this one acting up, One non runner in the driveway is about all I can get away with, I do like the looks of the w114 coupes though.

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My radiator guy does quick work, tank is back already, just have to wait for it to stop raining so I can paint it and put it back in. Think I can rule out tank issues going forward.

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Wow! Tell your radiator guy I'm impressed and that isn't also easy to do.

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Ha for sure, he has done some pretty high end restorations of Radiators for me in the past, old school dungeon style shop, which the EPA probably rides him constantly on. Very fast work always and 5 minutes from the house.

Mounted back up, cleanest thing on the underside now.
Car fired right up in 33 degree weather and was pretty responsive on jack stands, actually felt the best it has when revving it up, so that may have been the issue, I know the electric pump was barely allowing fuel up front so I removed it completely for now.
Will road test when the alternator belts get here, but the tank may have been the issue with it dying and not responding to the accelerator.
Was good to see no rust in the trunk pan while the tank was out as well.

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Car looks solid underneath. The L/R brake hose looks twisted? The R/R looks good.

Glad to hear it sounds better.

__________________
"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

It is pretty solid, I think it is twisted from my big head hooking tank lines back up, but good eye I will check them again.

Looking good there .

The white stripe on the L/R brake hose indicates it is not twisted....

Good deal on the trunk floor, better get some rust encapsulator on the spare tire well as RUST NEVER SLEEPS .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

The spare tire well is actually not rusted, that is the undercoating popping loose. I do plan on painting the trunk pan and tire well etc when I patch the drivers qtr.

Took it for a real test drive today, seems to be running better than it has since I got it, so looks like the tank was the source as it is much more responsive, shifting pretty good so hopefully I am not Jinxing it.

I have not liked the bumpers from the minute I got it so been looking for either Euro's or an older one to rob from. A Craigslist ad popped up for a 1971 Benz in poor shape, I can't store it, nor did I want the entire car but asked if he would sell some parts off of it, Picture did not have a good shot of the front bumper but back bumper looked good. Got there and of course the front bumper was banged up pretty good but I decided to grab a few parts to make it worth the trip. I was able to straighten the front bumper out pretty good, could probably get it closer with a hammer and dolly now but figured a bumper sticker would cover it fine. I did grab the hood (which I remembered wouldn't work on mine) about half way home. All in all it was cheap and no shipping. Not sure if I use the chrome rear bumper or grab a coupe rear. I want to hide my paint blending after I fix the rust and a coupe bumper would be perfect.
Did get a hub and steering wheel along with all the side stainless which was in better shape that a couple of mine. Factory tool kit was there too, so grabbed it.

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Good job on the bumper ~ eventually you'll find a better center section .

Looks great now .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Steering wheel and hub swapped. I now have two so will be restoring the worse one, the other one has more cracks but has a very nice horn pad. Like this wheel much more than the padded one.

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Getting the wheel proper restored is easy, I highly recommend white or off white because it's cooler in Summer and lasts far longer .

I have a steering wheel like this in a bit better shape , I paid $75 for it .

I'd be happy to sell it on.....

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Thanks I may be interested, I am going to restore one of them the other is actually nicer but I might can use a third one.
I also was thinking about painting it body color since I will be buying a quart for blending.