Had this car for years. I bought it when I worked in Berlin.
It was a 280TE and it came from a scrapyard, in a city centre basement, without an engine, gearbox or bonnet.
I converted it to diesel and broke a 300D saloon for the parts. We used the car from April 1993, through an 18 month period in Wales and took it back to Germany in 1997.
It was getting a bit threadbare by then so I decided to 'do it up'. Engine and box out and the engine rebored, crank ground, new pump...oil and fuel, new cam, followers, rad, everything. It needed a small amount of welding to the rh rear quarter, the rest of the body was bolt-on..... new doors, wings, hatch, bonnet etc.
I bought a coupe because it had 15" alloys instead of the standard 14s, put my alloys on it and punted it on.
Colour choice was easy. It had to be red. In this case, VW/Audi Flash Red, same as my Colt.
We came back to the UK late in 1999 and in early 2000, after 5000 miles trouble-free, the timing chain tensioner let go and I had bent valves, broken cam turrets, twisted rockers, you name it.
I rebuilt the head, again with new timimg everything, cam, you name it. It was fine for a few months until it developed starting difficulties. It would go on 2 or 3 cylinders and gradually build up to all 5. Loads of smoke too. I had the injectors, pump and timing checked, all was as it should be. We badly needed a 7 seater so I parked this up and bought another with 2.3 petrol.
That was in 2000. Since then, it has been parked up and trailered around whenever we've moved , until a couple of months ago when one of my customers brought in a similar, but terminal, Merc.
I put a battery on Red and it fired up like it was new. I replaced the front calipers and it went straight through an MoT and Charlie took it away. He was very happy with the car until the auto gearbox went. I offered to replace it with a manual but he was taken by an old Datsun I have so the Merc is coming home for good.
Anyone got an auto box for a 123 model diesel or a pedal box for a manual car?
It was a 280TE and it came from a scrapyard, in a city centre basement, without an engine, gearbox or bonnet.
I converted it to diesel and broke a 300D saloon for the parts. We used the car from April 1993, through an 18 month period in Wales and took it back to Germany in 1997.
It was getting a bit threadbare by then so I decided to 'do it up'. Engine and box out and the engine rebored, crank ground, new pump...oil and fuel, new cam, followers, rad, everything. It needed a small amount of welding to the rh rear quarter, the rest of the body was bolt-on..... new doors, wings, hatch, bonnet etc.
I bought a coupe because it had 15" alloys instead of the standard 14s, put my alloys on it and punted it on.
Colour choice was easy. It had to be red. In this case, VW/Audi Flash Red, same as my Colt.
We came back to the UK late in 1999 and in early 2000, after 5000 miles trouble-free, the timing chain tensioner let go and I had bent valves, broken cam turrets, twisted rockers, you name it.
I rebuilt the head, again with new timimg everything, cam, you name it. It was fine for a few months until it developed starting difficulties. It would go on 2 or 3 cylinders and gradually build up to all 5. Loads of smoke too. I had the injectors, pump and timing checked, all was as it should be. We badly needed a 7 seater so I parked this up and bought another with 2.3 petrol.
That was in 2000. Since then, it has been parked up and trailered around whenever we've moved , until a couple of months ago when one of my customers brought in a similar, but terminal, Merc.
I put a battery on Red and it fired up like it was new. I replaced the front calipers and it went straight through an MoT and Charlie took it away. He was very happy with the car until the auto gearbox went. I offered to replace it with a manual but he was taken by an old Datsun I have so the Merc is coming home for good.
Anyone got an auto box for a 123 model diesel or a pedal box for a manual car?
