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That's Lovely! Great, great cars - one of the most comfortable cars I owned. Take a strong magnet and a cloth and go around all the edges. You will find filler somewhere. They were built out of metal that loved to rust. If the central locking doesn't work, LEAVE IT - It's based on air pressure, and it will break your sanity. Mileometers break and are a pig to fix, get hold of a spare dash if possible. 2.0 slow, diesel's slower, 2.3 is perfect. Auto boxes are excellent and more reliable than the manual. Would love another but now out of my price range... Regarding lowering - definitely, but make sure you experience the superb ride quality first, just to be sure. most spring compressors are not strong enough for these beefy springs - take it to a place that has lowered these before. It is a very quiet ride. You will become obsessed with getting rid of any squeaks/noises inside whilst driving. Easily have the coolest hubcaps ever made - don't lose them as they can be expensive. Check the clips and zip-ties are sometimes handy. I'm thinking the jacking points and A pillars will be the biggest issue looking at some restorations etc online but I have been bitten by bad repairs in the past! I hadn't realised the central locking was air pressure so fingers crossed it works.. I have been told it's a 2.3 with a manual gearbox which is good but would have also been happy with an auto as Mrs. Jim prefers an auto so we'd both use it. You're right regarding altering springs etc, my intention is to make the 123 safe to use and drive before making changes but in all honesty I think I'll enjoy it and all things being well use it as a daily driver for a while.
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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60six
Posted a lot
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Posts: 1,658
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The central locking system is one of mercedes strangest ideas. there's miles of small solid plastic air hoses everywhere, all connected to an air 'bank' charged up by the engine. Mercedes didn't like the sound of electric solenoids and thought air pressure worked better. The rubber always breaks, the lines get blocked, the switches leak, and sometimes you can use half a tennis ball over the lock - quick whack and the doorlock opens. The doors will still lock pushing down the button though so if the system don't work it's not too bad to put up with.
Practice hill starts too! The column handbrake and floor release switch really take some getting used to - especially in a manual. You will drive off with handbrake on more than once.....
Fantastic car though - you will be happy.
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Some 9000's, a 900, an RX8 & a beetle
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Neither of my 123's had a floor apply/ release. Nor did either of my 126's. All were pull to apply, and pull and twist to release. Both of the 124's I had had a floor pedal to apply and a pull handle to release.
😀
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,197
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Mercedes W123 - talk to meChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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300D is 6-cylinder - OM603 engine These were a 5 pot in these, with an engine which gave Merc their reputation for solid diesels, the OM617. I think over here, we only ever got the non-turbo. Great, great cars - one of the most comfortable cars I owned. Take a strong magnet and a cloth and go around all the edges. You will find filler somewhere. They were built out of metal that loved to rust. If the central locking doesn't work, LEAVE IT - It's based on air pressure, and it will break your sanity. Mileometers break and are a pig to fix, get hold of a spare dash if possible. 2.0 slow, diesel's slower, 2.3 is perfect. Auto boxes are excellent and more reliable than the manual. Pretty good summary. They do like to rust, but which 70s/80s car doesn't? These were also driven to the brink by many folks. The Central locking is based on vacuum. They're not too bad to fix but you do need to be patient and ideally have a vacuum testing kit ; the handheld vacuum pumps do the job just fine. 80% of the time, it will be a dried out connector or a broken vacuum pod actuator. If these are like the W124, turning off the engine and the headlamp adjustment (if they have it) will also be based off engine vacuum as well. I do like a W123, but they do drive a little old fashioned, with the suspension setup on these not being alot different to the precursor ; the Stroke 8s. The W124 makes more sense as a daily runaround, and they are more attainable for the money. Yes, they do rust, but not as badly in most cases as a W123, mainly an age and galvanising thing there. There are also more spares available for these more easily, although Mercedes are stopping certain things on these as well (wings are one example). The OM602 and 3 engines also have more grunt than the 5 pot diesels
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Last Edit: Aug 9, 2022 6:26:14 GMT by ChasR
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60six
Posted a lot
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Posts: 1,658
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Neither of my 123's had a floor apply/ release. Nor did either of my 126's. All were pull to apply, and pull and twist to release. Both of the 124's I had had a floor pedal to apply and a pull handle to release. 😀 Hey, I was close though! still took me ages to hill start
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Some 9000's, a 900, an RX8 & a beetle
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Neither of my 123's had a floor apply/ release. Nor did either of my 126's. All were pull to apply, and pull and twist to release. Both of the 124's I had had a floor pedal to apply and a pull handle to release. 😀 Hey, I was close though! still took me ages to hill start Lmao. Never had a problem, all mine were autos. 😁
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Aug 10, 2022 12:24:48 GMT
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One more thing, besides the rust and mad vacuum door locks, is the steering. These cars use a steering box rather than a rack. When I bought my first 123 it had about five inches of play in the steering. Some play can be adjusted out by a nut on the top of the box, but on the 2.0 petrol engine I had you need to undo the engine mount on that side and jack the engine up a bit to access it. Good luck, I hope you get one.
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Aug 15, 2022 13:21:20 GMT
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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