1985 Mercedes Benz W123 230E

Last winter I used the car regularly, even when the snow came. With narrow tyres and lacksture dynamics, the old Merc was great in the snow, only getting stuck twice. Once it was my fault for stopping in deep snow and the other time it failed to climb a steep hill covered with snow and ice.







During the summer I took the car to a couple of shows and used it daily as often as possible.

I spent a couple of days cleaning the underside of the car and detailing the arches and the rear panel, which were generally free from rust but were looking a little grotty. I don't have a garage so all my work gets done on the drive. However, I live in a picturesque village in the Chilterns with views across the valley, so I don't mind too much spending time outside the house.



[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/technics1974/230E/arch1.jpg/img]







Next was the engine bay's turn for a bit of TLC. I managed to clean the 'bay without disturbing anything and I re-sprayed the air filter housing. I also polished the underside of the bonnet. ;D

I've been using the car in the snow again (December 2010). On one occasion, due to traffic and other drivers' inability to drive in snowy conditions, a 5 minute journey from the local town back to the village took 1.5 hours!



Whenever I took the car out in snow, I wore my hiking boots. I didn't think that all the compacted snow within the treads would melt and turn into water. The water had seeped past the rubber mats and beneath the carpets.

Late last year I bought a 1994 W124 E200 automatic.





It has the later 2.0 16V 4 cylinder petrol engine, producing 136BHP.



The car has a good spec, with twin airbags, leather, electric windows, mirrors and sunroof, cruise control, alloys and a decent stereo.







The W124 is my daily hack. It looks happy parked next to the 230E.



Since buying the E200, I replaced the battery, thermostat (the engine wasn't getting up to temperature) and front brake pads. The car is in good condition and with only 102k miles on the clock, it should be good for another 20 years of reliable service.

Despite the cold weather overnight, the primer had dried, which allowed me to apply another coat this afternoon. I hope to have at least one layer of top-coat on it before the weekend.

A quick historical reference, on the 23rd of December 2009 I took my first born child (boy) home from hospital, who was 3 days old at the time, in the back of the 230E. Lucky kid!



Here's Charlie again a few months later.



And again with his mum (my wife Joanna).



And finally with me whilst out on a day trip in London's West End.



Perhaps one day Charlie will help me maintain (restore?) the old Merc.

Flipping smashing pair you've got there matey! I wish i'd gone for the 123 and 124 combo, instead i ended up with (increasingly frustrating) mk3 Golf and the 123. The detailing on the arches, back panel and under bonnet is amazing!! I wish i had even half the skill and confidence to get serious like that with mine I hope the water trouble doesn't turn out to be too serious.

I bet your dreading the day Charlie asks to borrow the W123?!

Ok, I think I've got some good news.

I haven't removed the front scuttle central panel as there was no need. I will need to this some time in the future to enable other improvements.

I removed the bonnet spring to gain access to the recess alongside the bulkhead.



Some flaky paint and surface corrosion aside, the metal is 100% solid.



As with the floorpan, I treated the rust with Kurust and coated the recess with primer.



I also removed one of the scuttle vents. Some mould growth aside, the metal within this part of the bulkhead is in perfect condition.



Further investigations revealed that water is getting in via the windscreen aperture, beneath the rubber seal. I removed the dash speaker and underpanel to feel where the water is getting in.



I removed the external trim to gain access to the windscreen seal.



I bought some of this stuff to seal the windscreen.



I've applied the sealant across the top of the windscreen, beneath the rubber along the side of the 'screen and across the base, where I think the water is getting in. Once I re-fitted the side trim, I sealed the joint between the trim and the seal.

I've left everything to dry. The forecast for tomorrow is heavy rain. I am hoping that next time I look inside the car, the floorpan will be dry. Tune in to find out!

I've had this water ingress problem in Mercs, check that the scuttle drains are clear.

Cheers

David

Washing the W124 the other day reminded me how grotty that patch of rust on the bootlid looked.

With the number plate removed.



A quick poke with a screwdriver and sandpaper revealed that the metal was solid, if a little rough.



Fortunately, ordinary black Hammerite paint matches the colour of the gloss black paintwork. The camera flash accentuates the relative roughness of the finish. In real life it doesn't look too bad!



Finally, I obtained some replacement badges from a scrapped C-Class and upgraded my E200 to E320 spec! I marked up the location of each digit with masking tape so the 3 and the 2 line up correctly with the E and the 0.



It only started to rain an hour ago so I can't report on the W123's water ingress. I'll know by 8am tomorrow morning.