Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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found the engine number today- 616.916-20-XXXXXX. which means ive got a WHOLE TWO POINT FOUR LETRES of OM616 powaz.
65hp and 101ft/lbs, better than the 50hp i was expecting. basically, i have a unimog engine.
no joy on the m/c though, ive got it off and other than '51' cast in on one side and 's5000' on the other, theres nothing to go on. its 19mm bore though, is if a solution isnt found soon, i can see it ending up wearing a girling one!
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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well, ive found out it IS a stock M-B master cylinder. its a late one, only came in after a certain chassis number, but this is by no means a 'late' car, my other one was nearly 3 years newer than this one, so youd think theyd be more available. I'm guessing that maybe as it was converted later on in life, they just bought a m/c from mercedes when it was converted, and thats what they were given, along with the appropriate bits of pedal assembly for the third pedal. to compound matters, it also seems to be RHD specific. the exit to the slave is on the side, so in a LHD car it would exit straight into the servo. indeed the LHD ones i can find are shorter and exit on the end, plus the bolt pattern looks different. i can get one, but it will be around £120. not a price i want to pay for a bloody clutch master cylinder! i can buy a girling series land rover one for £10, its the same bore, and all i will have to do is make an adapter plate to go between m/c and bulkhead to make the clocked MB master cyl bolt pattern accept the upright land rover bolt pattern. only other thing is swap the metric union to an imperial one. think its a bit of a no-brainer for a saving of over £100. there will be a last-ditch attempt tomorrow to see if this one is rebuildable, but they don't even list a rebuild kit for it, id be taking a punt on it being the same as for the earlier, more common version. have a couple of pics of the offending item-
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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so to keep things moving, i thought id do something about those front shocks. id been doing my interwebz based research, and knew from others build threads i would be needing some considerably shorter front shocks given the intended ride height, so i figured id buy and fit those now rather than doing the job twice. its already dropped a bit, but not tons, couple of coils i think. it was me that did it but its so long ago i cant remember! the stock merc ones are rather long, so there's plenty of other options out there. i think i had mazda b2000 ones on my other merc, balljoint beetle can also be made to fit but its only really worthwhile using uprated/adjustable ones as stock ones are too soft, and 68-70 camaro are pretty popular in the states. problem is, most of these options are quite expensive, especially over here. i was looking at £130+ for camaro ones. until, i stumbled upon someone using suzuki samurai 4X4 ones. they're quite stiff as standard so no need for uprated jobbies, they're actually a fraction short than camaro ones, and the end fittings are usable sizes. whats more, i found some VERY cheap on ebay. how cheap? this cheap- they look like this. just some shocks really- not a brand ive ever heard of, but they gotta be better than whats on! they're designed to fit a stepped stud i think, so don't have crush tubes in. that was easily sorted as i quite handily had some 5/8" tube with a 1/16" wall, given it a 1/2" bore, which is exactly the sizes i needed. a quick bez on the lathe and i have these- the old bracketry was pretty shagged, as you'd imagine, this happened- and whoever had fitted the previous airshock thingys had used a m12 bolt in a 14mm hole- resulting in the mounts taking a pounding, and the holes ending up oval- so, i elected to remake them a bit beefier. in the big pile of useful tat, i found these that were for a panhard bar i chopped up for something else, and they happen to have 1/2" holes- they're not wide enough though, and are too tall. (you can see above where id marked for cutting). still, much quicker than fabbing 4 D-tabs from scratch. cut down and bolted up- and then i got as far as cutting out some new baseplates and marking them up for the mounting studs(I'm going to do them one piece, cos I'm working to a higher accuracy than mass produced suspension bushings). and thats as far as i got today. tomorrow i'll add the mounting studs, and get em welded together before fitting.
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Last Edit: Dec 2, 2014 21:39:04 GMT by Dez
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bstardchild
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,937
Club RR Member Number: 71
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Vauxhall Omega elites had airshocks Carlton (Saloon and Estate) had airshocks The Estate ones were much shorter than the saloon
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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finished up the shock mounts. bottom plates are 6mm thick, dtilled and tapped for m8 studs- like so- weld it all together and chuck some primer on it to keep the surface rust off- realise youve curse word up 'cos youre rushing and youve wleded the plate on 90 degrees out, so cut the studs off and retap them in the right place. unpainted one is right, painted one is 90 degrees wrong- rinse and repeat, then fit them up and marvel in the fact you have front shocks that actually work!
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Love the way you solve problems, instead of just throwing money at them.
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1994 Mercedes e220 petrol estate, daily driver. 1998 Peugeot 406 Coupe 3.0 v6, shopping car.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Love the way you solve problems, instead of just throwing money at them. you'll like the next update then
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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which is all about sorting out my clutch without spending a small fortune. £120+ for a new master cylinder wasnt going to happen, so heres what i did. i started with this offcut of 6mm plate- as you can see i marked it out for the centrebore of 35-ish mm to accept a girling master cylinder, and two PCDs, the girling 2-1/4" pcd, and the merc 60mm pcd. the girling holes are straight up an down, the merc ones are canted over 30 degrees. i cut the holes out and cleaned it up, then drilled and tapped the stud holes to M8. i screwed the studs in so they were a mil or so short of the surface, then welded into the remaining hole to hole em in. obviously one set point one way, the other set point the other. i rounded off and shaped the corners so it was the same shape as the flange on the original m/c, so it matches the hole in the firewall sound deadening. i put some paint on it, then cut down a girling m/c pushrod to the right length and threaded it for a metric M8 rose joint i had laying round- i'd used an old knackered m/c for the fabbing, so i didnt fill a good one with grinding dust and swarf. so this morning i went and picked up a new one/ it cost a huge $6.77 +vat. heres the finished setup ready to go on. i was going to use a series 3 landy adapter to go up to the 1/4" line size i needed, but it sat it too close to the throttle linkage, so i ended up using a brass banjo union from the box o' useful hydraulic stuff instead. you can also see i fitted the feed pipe salvaged off the old girling m/c, but cut down and bent round to point at the outlet on the merc brake reservoir.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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the hardline that was fitted wasnt original, as it was copper, and rubbed on EVERYTHING. the throttle linkage, the gearbox, the heater pipes, and the steering box. plus itself. twice. it was worn to the point of bursting in places. here it is, its hard to make out, but its basically a huge loop that goes back on itself. this is because there is no flexi in the system. I'm my head there should be, but i cant see where it could possibly go, so ive redone it without one for the mo, just with two good coils in the pipe to take up any movement. ill take a pic of those tomorrow as i forgot. heres the m/c fitted. theres no denying it was a tight fit, but then so was the original. fitting the new rubber feed pipe was harder than fitting the master cyl itself though. you can see the banjo union i used here, to point the line out of one of the few available gaps past the power steering pipes, throttle linkage, and heater pipes. i'll take some more pics of the new line and stuff from underneath tomorrow. it now has fluid in it and is partially bled, i have about half a pedal but needed someone to assist me with the bleeding, and i was there on my own. hopefully a second bleed though tomorrow to get the last of the air out and itll all be sorted. total cost under a tenner in parts, and about 4 hours total spread over a week here and there between other jobs. the money ive saved there has bought me a brand new varta battery (£60), a new front valance (ebay bargain at £25), plus a pair of new engine mounts (£23). so its not about not spending any money at all, its about knowing where to spend it. i need to do a patch on one sill as its very thin and pinholed and would go through with a prod i think, fit the new front wing, and refit the bumpers, then i think its actually testable. brentacre have quoted me £185 to insure it, with all current and imminent mods declared so it should be on the road by next week, if cashflow allows.
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Last Edit: Dec 8, 2014 22:45:54 GMT by Dez
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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rebled the clutch today with some assistance, got a bit more air out but couldn't get the pedal much further up, so contorted myself and my hands into ridiculous shapes in the footwell to adjust up the pushrod a bit, and it now seems much better. new battery should arrive tomorrow, so i'll know for sure then. in the meantime, i decided to start on the bit of welding, and swap that front wing. they're both on the drivers side front, so its not like I'm tearing the whole car apart. this is the crusty looking bit of sill- theres a hole starting underneath around the jacking point- and this is what its like close up- so, i pulled the wing off. any other stacklight owners will know what a ballsy move that is, considering the rot that likes to hide behind them. this was still the original factory wing, still sealed on!- of course, i found holes. bit, I'm very pleased with how small they are, all things considered. remember, this was a £750 car- total field-find basket caes sell for more than that these days. bit of a hole here, nothing major- that hole underneath got bigger with some prodding, and the recess the wing bolts to needs replacing too. think I'm going to lose the jacking points as well, id never use them so they're just a rust trap- wing mounting rail needs some work- but not loads. i think two good patches will see this sorted. with sealer/underbody coating- and stripped back- then, i had a poke at the sill closing panel. amazingly, this is original!(albeit holed/patched) ive never seen an original one, so didnt know what they looked like. i just used to make them up ranomly to fill the hole after fitting a sill- and that was the best part of 10 years ago. will be taking a thorough template of this methinks! i think i'll redo all this. its solid, if a bit scruffy, but not up to my standardd- and lastly, these have turned up too, so thats another job to be on with- overall, I'm very pleased though. i was opening a right can of worms pulling that wing off to fit the new one, and i knew it. to have got away with it so lightly is quite an achievement in my eyes!
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Dec 10, 2014 20:49:14 GMT
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all TeH PROGRESSES! fitted the engine mounts today. plus the new battery. let it be said, that the engine mounts on one of these is a bit of ©unt of a job. even with a 4 poster so i could work from above and below, with jacking beam to support/lift the engine, it took AGES to do them. this was the 'easy' side- i only had to remove the inlet and exhaust manifolds, plus the ENTIRE exhaust system to be able to get this one off. this is because, with the RHD, forward facing manifold on, you cant get the bolt out of the mount, as it hits the exhaust flange. but you also cant get the exhaust manfold off, as it hits the chassis rail before it comes off the studs. so you have to slacken the engine mount bolt but leave it in, remove all the exhaust nuts and the inlet manifold, remove the downpipe (easier to drop the entire system) so you can remove the exhaust manifold by pushing the engine over in the bay to give you enough room. but eventually, you end up here, with the how mount on- this was the old one. not terrible really- the easy side over with, you're presented with this down the other side. spot where ive removed the mount bolt- from below isnt much better either. you can only get to one of the bolts here, shown with the allen key in it- then, spend an hour or two contorting your hands into very tight spaces, to get to the two allen bolts holding the mount to the crossmember. the issue is, where the mount has collapsed, the rubber section of it is partially obscuring the allen bolt heads, making them a right pain to get to. this was the easier of the two- the other side, i resorted to hacking chunks of the rubber away with a stanley knife and hacksaw blade (in an impossibly tight space i might add) just to be able to get to the bolt head. after a long while, this is what i removed, next to the new one. lovely. it was so deteriorated, it had punched through the 'saver' plate underneath the mount thats supposed to catch the motor if the mount does fail. its obviously been sat on this a while! i welded that up and put it back in, seeing as its already served its purpose once. quite a bit of reassembly later, and were done. i twatted the exhaust a bit with a big hammer to try to get it sitting tight to the bottom of the car, without much success. its gunna scrape. oh well! heres where the sump sat before- and heres where it sits now- quite an improvement, about 1.5" higher. and crucially, its tucked up above the crossmember now. runs so much smoother too, but it was basically metal on metal before, so there was no wonder it rattled and shook. new battery starts it a treat, but it is a 700-odd CCA varta one, so it bloody should! to finish todays bulletin, a pic of the finished shock install- and of the new clutch pipework- still not happy with it, still think it should have a flexi, but it'll do for now.
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Last Edit: Dec 10, 2014 21:09:31 GMT by Dez
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Dec 10, 2014 21:23:04 GMT
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Love the work on the clutch, Dez! Great bit of adaptation going on. If you do end up making a template for the sill end caps, I'd love a copy! Bet you took a deep breath before taking the wing off too (after hacking through the inch-thick underseal no doubt?!). Doesn't look all that bad under there really! I can't believe you bought that car for so little, considering how good it is.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Dec 10, 2014 22:16:22 GMT
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most definately will be templating it, might even get a batch lazercut as they're only small. i removed it today, drilled all the spotwelds out, just need to dissect it from the end of the sill as i removed it as one unit as i couldnt see where the join was. I'm still amazed to see a UK car that hasnt been plated up there.
tbh, this car would have been good at £1500 (if it wasnt painted with tar and had an interior anyway!) let alone £750. don't get me wrong, this car has issues, but they're mostly down to shoddy previous repair that needs redoing to be to my standard rather than the usual galloping rot. i started to remove the floor/sill repair on the drivers side today, itll get totally redone as i sort out this sill end. there is bulkhead issues too judging by the sealer visible on the inside of the firewall, but I'm going to skilfully ignore those till ive got the rest sorted, as its pointless trying to do anything about them with the engine and dash in.
oh,a nd you know that box of random stacklight bits and bobs i gave you with the lights? don't suppose i could blag back that centre console carpet bit out of it could i? would hide some fag burns on mine rather nicely!
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,303
Club RR Member Number: 160
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1975 mercedes w115. 240d. FIN.Rich
@foxmcintyre
Club Retro Rides Member 160
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Dec 10, 2014 23:07:43 GMT
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Nice work so far dude. This is gonna turn out pretty cool. Which is obvious. I wouldn't worry about the clutch pipe. To put it in perspective, the Citroen BX didn't have flexi-hoses where the high pressure LHM lines came off the engine to the subframe, that was looped. It also didn't have rear brake flexis either, just coiled hard line. Little more scary than the clutch I'll admit, but yea
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Mark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,097
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Sign me up for a sill end too, I never quite got the drivers side right on my one and want to redo it
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Dec 11, 2014 19:59:07 GMT
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oh,a nd you know that box of random stacklight bits and bobs i gave you with the lights? don't suppose i could blag back that centre console carpet bit out of it could i? would hide some fag burns on mine rather nicely! Sure thing Dez! I'll dig it out at the weekend and stick it in a jiffy bag.
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Dec 11, 2014 20:23:47 GMT
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Great words and pics as usual !!
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1994 Mercedes e220 petrol estate, daily driver. 1998 Peugeot 406 Coupe 3.0 v6, shopping car.
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Dec 12, 2014 15:24:51 GMT
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2001 HONDA CT110 (NOT RCV)
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Dec 13, 2014 13:00:23 GMT
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Nice work so far dude. This is gonna turn out pretty cool. Which is obvious. I wouldn't worry about the clutch pipe. To put it in perspective, the Citroen BX didn't have flexi-hoses where the high pressure LHM lines came off the engine to the subframe, that was looped. It also didn't have rear brake flexis either, just coiled hard line. Little more scary than the clutch I'll admit, but yea ah yes, but they're french, so its understandable it just all seems very un-mercedes to me, if you know what i mean. i'll see how it goes, can always use some cheap L-R bits to add one in if neccessary.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,784
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Dec 13, 2014 13:03:30 GMT
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Mark will do,theres a few people interested in them no, as afaik nowhere makes them. BenzBoy- thanks! thanks to everyone else too. another update you say? oh go on then... back in a mo.
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