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Dec 29, 2011 15:01:09 GMT
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Yikes! I knew this was going to be bad... But... Ok, it's not realy hard making panels wise, but it's very inconvenient working on that corner with the car on the ground, wedged half under the car. Short reminder from page 1:  And after the "wheel of death and truth" did it's work...   And the view from inside, looking to the fog light/bumper. On the very right of the picture is a smal buldge. This houses a rubber buffer for the exhaust and is halfways tucked under a reinforcement panel. It's going to be tricky to replace this one... On the left side is another brilliant bodge I have to fix - which is realy easy to access with power tools or welding torch. Thanks for that... I think I willhave to at least remove the tow bar to get better access from the inside...  It's that welded over patch from the outside:  And again the inside after more poking & wire wheeling...  In wise foresight, I removed the reinforcement panel that holds the spare wheel from the donor car...  Maybe I can do some welding before the year ends.  Though I'm totaly skint and almost out of welding gas... :/ Oh brilliant. Another rusty hole that needs stuffing ;D Cheers, Jan |
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Dec 30, 2011 16:33:34 GMT
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Due to general bad weather, no rust fixations today (I'm good at finding excuses ;D)... Instead I tried to paint the headlight inserts. I went for satin antracite grey (RAL7016), same as on the grille. I think, it's right. And with the headlights in the same colour, the grille starts to look right.    (other headlight unpainted) And - the dark headlight inserts give it that slightly mean look from the front that I like so much on these. Oddly, it works much much better with light paint, not so much with dark blue...  But oh well. Anyway, I like it and it certainly was the right decision to NOT go for black, like so many do.  And: I finaly came to a decision regarding wheels. I will go for 7x15" ET25 S-Class (W126) steels with 205 tyres. We had a very slightly lowered T of a customer in the workshop with that wheel/tyre combo on. And it looked realy beefy, yet understated. Exactely what I like! Though finding 15" chome hubcaps will be a PITA and probably expensive too. Wish you all a happy new year! Cheers, Jan |
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I seem to recall you wanted some 15" Mercedes wheel trims for this, but I can't find reference to it at all having skimmed back through a few pages. If it was you, I spotted these on UK eBay that might be of interest... if not... well, oops. Take a peekWjeTpw~~60_12.JPG) |
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Onne
Part of things
Posts: 822
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They're only 14" though aren't they?
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1990 Mercedes W126 300SE
1997 Mercedes W140 S320L
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If it was you, I spotted these on UK eBay that might be of interest... if not... well, oops. Yes, was me Thanks a lot for coming back! Though, funily enough, the caps for 15" wheels have a outer dia. of 16", as they extend over the shoulder where the tyre rests; measurements of wheel dia. are taken there. So 15" hubcaps for 14" wheel, 16" hubcaps for 15" wheels. That's why I always ask for a actuall measurement of the diamater in centimeter, when people sell "15" hubcaps"... But, thanks a lot! If you spot others, please do tell. I'm skint - but there's always a way ;D Cheers, Jan PS: it rains & storms like mad... Impossibel to do some work. And I SO want to drive that car! It's been almost a year now since I bought it... |
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I shall bear that in mind Weather's been all crazy here too and even though I've got a garage to work in, I don't want to venture out into it! |
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Jan 10, 2012 15:23:43 GMT
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Woohoo! Spring is here! ;D  I cut out the spare wheel well. To asses damage on the inner side of the wheel well, I removed the tow bar. Which took me forever, as the three huge bolts holding the bar & bumper brackets together were a 'bit' tight and a jolly pain in the backside to get to... Anyway, I disovered a lot more than I wished for. Looks like it once got a slight knock on the rear bumper, which dented the rear valance a bit, cracked the paint and caused rust, which spread...  That's a bit of a ball ache, as this panel was good on the donor car - but I didn't cut it out. So I'll see if I can fabricate it myself. But that'll cost me some time. Oh cock... On the other hand, it will not be visible so it doesn have to be perfect. It's all covered by the bumper & tow bar... Hmmm - perhaps the lower part of the limousine panel fits, will find out. As it's only ~40€.  Oh the joys... ;D Cheers, Jan |
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Jan 11, 2012 16:23:02 GMT
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Ok, I have to admit; the PO's welding isn't all cr@p! He managed to get some good spots with good penetration. Right in the least accesible space of the car... And... Oh c'mon!! This would probably be half as bad if it was left alone. And not wrapped in a unpainted panel. On the positive side; I could tear off 60% of the "welds" by hand... ;D   It looks like that little triangular panel is actually a part of the rear valance. If I'm going to order that anyway... Handy! But I'll have to save up a bit (resp. hope I can FINALY get my pay from december! >  )  Cheers, Jan |
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I knew there was another build thread/RR member that I had to thank for my recent enthusiasm for all things rusty. Just to let you know that my recent decision to save up for an old Jag is partly your fault because threads like yours have firmly made me of the belief that "it's only metal".
Keep up the good work, my German encourager.
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Jan 13, 2012 11:30:58 GMT
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Thank you! This means something to me! It's too encouraging to know that people take inspiration from what I'm doing - as I myself got inspired here as well; reading a lot of RR build threads encouraged me to venture out and learn welding, to be able to do somthing similar Loose my fear of rotten metal, be able to buy wrecks. Again, thank you! |
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Jan 15, 2012 22:55:09 GMT
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DieselWeasel,
many thanks for taking the time to write up your restoration project - very enjoyable to read the tale of an enthusiast with a goal in mind. I've recently been thinking about whether to stick to my '85 200T or look for something else - you've provided great encouragement :-)
If I may ask one question: the rear axle bolt that you described removal of (from your donor car) on Dec 3rd ("the culprit that caused me so much trouble and swea(r)ting"), is that the one that keeps the rubber bush in place at the front (lateral) fixation point of the rear axle? Some years ago a mechanic who did a major service job on my car mentioned that it was almost impossible to replace those bushings, since the bolt got stuck completely.
Keep up the good work!
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Motorised transport: two on 4, three on 2, and one on 0 wheels
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Jan 16, 2012 10:13:51 GMT
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DieselWeasel, many thanks for taking the time to write up your restoration project - very enjoyable to read the tale of an enthusiast with a goal in mind. I've recently been thinking about whether to stick to my '85 200T or look for something else - you've provided great encouragement :-) If I may ask one question: the rear axle bolt that you described removal of (from your donor car) on Dec 3rd ("the culprit that caused me so much trouble and swea(r)ting"), is that the one that keeps the rubber bush in place at the front (lateral) fixation point of the rear axle? Some years ago a mechanic who did a major service job on my car mentioned that it was almost impossible to replace those bushings, since the bolt got stuck completely. Keep up the good work! Hello! Thank you very much! And welcome to Retro Rides! I hope you stick to your 200T; I for once can't wait to take mine for it's first drive around the block Yes, it's that bolt that holds the large rubber bushing for the axle. Trouble is; you can't realy use a 'rattle gun'. The impacts get swallow by the rubber. Only way is to either cut the bolt head or use as much force (&lever) as you can to tear the bushing apart. Like I did. The bolts are available new for not much money (€6 or 12 each IIRC). So doesn't hurt too much to sacrifice them. There's certainly a lot of fun to be had with those bolts...  I will reinstall them (If I decide to remove the rear axle on the Tea) with a good smear of grease, to prevent future headaches Cheers, Jan |
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Jan 25, 2012 22:46:36 GMT
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Jan 25, 2012 23:14:03 GMT
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Nice colection off mercs you got there...
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Jan 25, 2012 23:21:50 GMT
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It's where I work at the moment
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The only spot of rust I can find on mine is in exactly that spot. I'm too scared to poke at it in case it ends up looking like your pic! Keep up the good work. Nice to see one of these being fixed properly, rather than bodged and run until it dies. |
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Last Edit: Jan 26, 2012 4:40:41 GMT by jader1973
1982 Mercedes 280TE
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The only spot of rust I can find on mine is in exactly that spot. I'm too scared to poke at it in case it ends up looking like your pic! Keep up the good work. Nice to see one of these being fixed properly, rather than bodged and run until it dies. Thanks! I'm positive to commence work on my own car soon. But need to fix a Polo coupé first... Got any pics of yours? Ever had the wings off and the inner wing guards removed? I hope you don't find it - but almost any 123 I've seen had rot where the wings attach to the sill / on the sill ends (see last pic in my previous post)... The only largely rust free one I saw was - most oddly - my spares car... ;D Cut it out & stored it dry.  As far as the spare wheel well goes; I don't think it's too hard to fix. But; where does the water come from to cause the rot in the first place? On mine it's a rotten window frame & leaky antenna... It's just metal. Metal can be fixed Cheers, Jan |
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Woohoo! Progress ahoy! Arr! ;D  A NOS panel diretly from the treasure chamber at Mercedes'. Who'd have thought it? And it is a - rear valance for a Tea.  Now resting in MY treasure chamber ;D Unfortunately, temperatures are constantly below -5°C at the moment (at night even down to -15°C or colder!) - which means... No work gets done. It's just too cold... But perhaps... I think I might have a gas stove somwhere stashed away... Cheers, Jan |
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Woohoo! ;D Temps are rising, only -4°C now... And, I've got me a sump guard. It's a original Mercedes part, as sold/fitted to countrys with bad roads. Apparently they still stock over 600 of them; which explains the low price - they probably want to get rid of the stock. Anyway, it'y very tough - 2mm steel. And has a hole for oil draining - very handy.   I'll probably need it when I take the Tea to Spain. And the unprotected sump has always worried me a little bit. Cheers, Jan |
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Feb 14, 2012 14:33:50 GMT
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Let me please know, if the pictures don't show... I've just spend a few hours and re-uploaded all pictures to a different URL... (93 posts and over 450 pictures in total...) I realy hope they all show up. There'S a few that 404d on Imageshack before I could save them... Cheers, Jan |
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Though I'm totaly skint and almost out of welding gas... :/ 
But oh well. Anyway, I like it and it certainly was the right decision to NOT go for black, like so many do.
)
