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Nov 24, 2013 17:39:24 GMT
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Makes sense if you think about it... They run with too much air anyway. Hmm... And - christ almighty those wide tyres make a mess of the car! There's dirt splattered everywhere. Maybe I reconsider this...  Or add mudguards  |
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Nov 29, 2013 15:52:41 GMT
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There's nothin to report, apart from... I've put 10.000km on the clock since TÜV - time for the first oil change. Since this is the only event that needed spannering or generally opening the bonnet in a while - you'll get a picture of this fantastic, mind blowing and very special moment  And look what mess the tyres make!  Need to reconsider the 8x16 steels, not good if the sacco boards get drenched with salt water, they'r a rust trap (the rub through the paint) even without salty water. Hmmm. That's all. No, wait - it's not. The ABS lamp went on on some occasions - i think one of the sensors is a dud or has contect issues. But since it stood off the last couple of days - I'm in no hurry to investigate. Cheers, Jan |
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Nov 30, 2013 16:47:57 GMT
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Stop whinging and get a couple of liters of Mike Sanders in behind the side panels. Do like the wide look though mate  |
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I'm allready cooking my own grease, Dave Some Vaseline and a dab of bees wax - works very well! I also recycle old wheel bearing etc. grease to smear it everywhere. Hydraulic & brake lines, suspension, wheel arches... Only thing I'd forget are indeed the Sacco boards  and I had them all off, but wanted the car ready for it's big TÜV appointment. Sigh. But they need to come off again anyway when I install the electric windows, I'm thinking about doing this now, sooner than later. And I'm not looking forward to the window adjustment...  I sort of have a master-plan, but need to collect some smal parts before I can execute it. Thanks a lot for the nomination, Dave! Cheers, Jan |
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It's been 11 years since I started working on cars. And almost everything I've done to my own cars, I did in one place. It had a roof, but nothing more. 3 sides open, exposed to wind & weather. But no more. I have a new habitat, a new place. Where I can work on my cars, a bit more shielded from the elements and with a chance to install at least some rudimentary form of heating or "lessen cooling". And it's about exactely - 1.5m to the left  And come a bit more time - it will have 4 walls. Closed ones at that! Whey!! and best of all; the doors of the Rocher do open fully! Though it's a bit tighter, space wise. But it'll work. The ground is 100% flat, there will be lots of storage room - certainly an improvement! And I will be able to lock up one car. Though it wil probably be occupoied by the Mini which I plan to resurrect next year And maybe get to drive it more, it's been over 2 years without seeing my precious... *sniff* Cheers, Jan |
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Dec 10, 2013 13:48:26 GMT
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New radio. Since I had to buy something... It's the first of the "modern" Becker radios and still eats tapes. Though I'm not sure if I like it, it looked better in the pictures, as a single radio. In it's new home... Hmm. I think it's too modern looking. However the reception is better, sound is better and it has a CD changer connection I can use to adapt a MP3 player... That said I don't own a MP3 player  And that's that The very first car radio I bought. In like - 11 years of owning cars If I decide I don't like it, I can sell it for double the price i payed. Bought it off eBay in austria without picture of the actual radio - so it was cheap enough to justify a full-risk buy. |
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Dec 10, 2013 14:36:27 GMT
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Oh and yu basically need to have a degree or two in rocket science to operate this thing properly... But I got it to play my 3 fave stations - that's a start At least... |
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,556
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A tribute to your work this!
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Dec 11, 2013 18:36:17 GMT
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Thank you! ----- At night; the radio blends in very nicely, though. I like that! Colour is 100% spot-on!  And speaking of night; this was early this morning when the sun came out and the night ended. Driving through deep fog up the mountains - and just when I was at this scenic spot - the sun crawled over the mountain top. Breath taking! The picture doesn't do it justice.  |
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Dec 11, 2013 18:41:58 GMT
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I don't have an MP3 player, as such, I have a smartphone with a 16 Gb memory card full of music and pictures  |
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Last Edit: Dec 11, 2013 18:42:23 GMT by welshpug
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Dec 11, 2013 19:32:30 GMT
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I'm also one of those who don't own smart phones and don't want to I'll keep on repairing my trusty old Nokia |
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Dec 11, 2013 19:57:52 GMT
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I'm also one of those who don't own smart phones and don't want to I'll keep on repairing my trusty old Nokia Me too! I do own an MP3 player though. And I have a car stereo that will play music from a USB stick which is pretty handy, and it does Bluetooth hands-free with my Nokia. Nick |
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend)
1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing)
1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Dec 14, 2013 20:52:32 GMT
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I do own a MP3 player now. I'm also the owner of a CD-changer adapter cable for this MP3 player. But things would be too easy if they were this easy. The radio needs a signal from the CD-changer to activate the CD-chnager AUX input. Or in other words: I can't play MP3s with this radio, unless I buy one o those electronic gizmos that simulate a CD-changer. Gah. Not gonna happen. Anyway; I survived 11 years without MP3s. So what. No MP3s then, fine by me In other news; unshedduled repairs!!!!!11eleven!! I had a ticking noise on the rear, which increased with speed. First assumption: broken drive shaft or wheel bearing. Bu things turned out to be much simpler:  A real classic! So I learned how to operate a tire changer and how to use these rubber mushrooms to repair a tyre:  And if I woudn't have put on the tyre in the wrong direction, whis would have been a 15 minute job Sadly it turned out to be a 25 minute job, 'cause I had to turn the tyre and rebalance (marks already wiped off) it. Sigh. But - I wasn't the only one. If there's a W124 in danger, the herd quickly gathers to comfort the W124 in pain and to protect it against enemy Ford Kas..  ^E's '85 300D needed new brake hoses for TÜV - a quick & easy job. Er - nope. There's that evil stuff named corrosion, making brake lines kaputt since 1985 And whilst E was figureing out how to flare brake pipes, the flaring tool (probably older than the car) broke. It got welded and a thread had to be re-cut - which took a while. Since - of courese! - it was satiurday afternoon. But the tool got repaired eventually and E's car was off the ramp at 18:30. Only a 6 hour job then Inbetween a 250TD got new brakes, a tukish family got new winter wheels installed and I smeared some more petroljelly-bees wax mix everywhere and enjoyed being in a garage without doing anything - which is quite a enjoyable venture if you normaly work in a garage And in the evening, both six cylinder diesels were back on theyr own feet  Oh and btw. - this Ka, this red abomination needed 8h of welding....... WTF! I'm all in for repairing cars. But it would have been cheaper to buy a new Ka car with TÜV. Anyway - not my problem. But I didn't enjoy welding one bit this time. |
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Dec 17, 2013 15:17:28 GMT
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Many of our customers have low-ilage W124s. One thing that I always noted was how much better the seats feel. And how wooden and uncushioned the seat in the Coupé feels. So I jumped to the conclusion that I have a seatuation (sorry, I had to...) going on Remember when I bought a second interior? Yesterday I finaly had enough of the worn out seat - so I started striping the spare passenger seat And a bit later removed the seat from the Coupé and diamntled it as well. What I started with:  ^Note the flat and squashed ribs on the seat. I have bought these a while ago; reinforced foam cushions (the grey ones) from a later model (post-'89) and a brand new plastic trim on the side of the seat.  Next up, some pictures of the old and new seat paddings. I let you guess which is which    I removed the old padding from the ribs and installed the hardly squashed pads from the spare seat. i feared this would be the hardest part - was dead easy actually. The seat heater has pockets to push it in, and the pads pulled through with ease with a piece of string...  ^note the little plastic hooks - I'll talk about them in a bit Next up, reinforcing the seat base. The grey foam cushions didn't fit the coupè seat, due to the pull cables & vacuume line for unlocking the backrest. So I cut them down (no, actually I tore them apart with my freezing fingers ) and improvised.  Et voilá - er - nope. The plastic hooks. They were real barstewards to put back in. The hold the coconut cushion to the seat cover (or vice versa). But worst of all was to put the seat cover back on the seat frame to tension the cover. Bl00dy hell... But I got it on in the end. And the result is a seat that feels much stiffer and actually cushioned. And then it got too cold to re-install the back rest - tomorrow. But I'm confident it was worth it! And even if it's just for not looking so flat & worn out anymore...  Cheers, Jan |
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Dec 18, 2013 12:40:02 GMT
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So I've put the seat back together and in the car - and took it for a quick drive. And what can I say...  Heaven! Heaven I say! Best thing I did to the car since the dieselisation Cheers, Jan |
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Dec 19, 2013 10:28:26 GMT
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More vital maintainance... Today: lift pump rebuild. Actually it turned out to be quite kindergeburtstag Very simple. Two non-return valves, couple of o-rings and done. Those Bosch fuel pumps are really simple things.  ^two return valves, a spring loaded plunger and that's about it. Took less than half an hour to rebuild, including making a new gasket. Sigh. Where's the challenge??  Pump back where it belongs, engine runing smooth - well, success.  I think I have to buy the 1.6 million kilometer taxi to keep me occupied  Cheers, Jan |
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s123
Part of things
Posts: 45
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I've been following this and your previously threads with great interest. I am impressed with what initiative and the knowledge you possess. You make everything look easy. Keep up the good work! And of course, your car is looking and getting better the whole time!
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_______________________________________
Life's more painless for the brainless.
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Dec 21, 2013 11:52:21 GMT
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I've been following this and your previously threads with great interest. I am impressed with what initiative and the knowledge you possess. You make everything look easy. Keep up the good work! And of course, your car is looking and getting better the whole time! Hi! Thank you very much! It's all in the preparation... I've spent lots of time to read up on stuff, looked at other cars and asked stupid questions to everyone So I had a relatively good picture of the whole process even before I touched the first bolt on the donor car And of course - in hindsight it appears all a lot easyer But in all honesty: this was the biggest conversion I've done so far and at times it was a challenge. Though I always had my towel with me, so that helped lots  Thanks again for the kind words! Cheers, Jan |
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Dec 21, 2013 12:09:02 GMT
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Now it´s finished mate you´ve got time to go out and get yourself a W123  |
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Dec 21, 2013 13:51:02 GMT
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Nah Dave, I think I've had it with W123s... And those which fit my budget are - well, gone... Not that I mind welding, but my neighbours do  Anyway. Here's one way for a very cheap boost gauge. all you need is a football gauge, a piece of hose and a t-piece. The ball gauge ranges from 0 to 1.4 bar - which is the perfectr range for a boost gauge (if you'r not runing crazy levels of boost that is ) The T is from Gardena - yes, the well known garden hose company  The T-piece goes inbetween the boost feed for the ALDA on the injection pump. The ALDA needs a boost signal an adds more fuel when boost rises. To kill the black smoke. Which is just fine by me  The connection to the gauge has room for mprovements, but for a quick boost test it does the job. I'm thinking JB Weld & shrink wrap. Of buy an adaptor that fits the thread in the gauge. anyway - it works very well!  Turbo makes 0.8 Bar boost (FOOTBALL!! ) under full load - not the max. but not bad either for a 550.000km old turbine And who knows ho precise this gauge reads and how much I'm loosing through the bad connection - my conclusion is: engine is healthy and has adequate levels of boost. Under normal driving conditions boost levels are between volley- and handball *PMSL* Total cost: just shy of 15€ Cheers, Jan |
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Or add mudguards 
and I had them all off, but wanted the car ready for it's big TÜV appointment. Sigh.
