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Jun 17, 2012 10:53:46 GMT
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Jan,
I've just read all 14 pages of this blog. You are a skilled (and brave) man to tackle all those repairs. Why is your W123 so rusty? My W123 has its fair share of rust but compared with your 200 it's solid in all the right places.
My wheelarches should be done and finished this week. I can't wait to have my car back!
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1985 Mercedes W123 230E - 5 speed manual & 2011 BMW F11 520d Touring - 8 speed automatic.  |
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Jun 17, 2012 12:06:06 GMT
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Jan, I've just read all 14 pages of this blog. You are a skilled (and brave) man to tackle all those repairs. Why is your W123 so rusty? My W123 has its fair share of rust but compared with your 200 it's solid in all the right places. My wheelarches should be done and finished this week. I can't wait to have my car back! Thanks a lot for your comment!!  I think it's all down to how it's been used, maintained (washed regularily etc.), stood (garaged/outside) - I too am surprised often. I earn my money with W123s, and the state of them can differ enormeously! In the end it's maintainance & preservation I think. It can make a huge difference in 20-30 years Mine has 205k miles on the clock and was probably (ab)used for a long time as a daily tat hauler, there's a lot of dirt & sand everywhere so it probably wasn't cleaned all too often... Which took it's toll as the years went by. Rear arches. Seen the red primered sideall on mine? Someone's welded in the wheel arches - I just found out they didn't restore the inner wheel arches, nor weld the outer to the inner. I'll probably have to re-do that one. Grr! I'm watching your thread - looks good so far! Cheers, Jan |
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Jun 18, 2012 16:35:05 GMT
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Hi! I actually found a hydraulic line for the clutch in my Treasure Cove  Rustfree, so I've used that one ;D  The clutch is fed bythe brake fluid reservoir ontop the brake booster. Since the booster was a bit rusty and shabby, I gave it a coat of new satin black. The spray can was a bit erratic, so not that good a result...   And whilst the paint cured, I turned my attention to the driver's side wing. See pictures on p.14.  And atthis stage I made a misstake... More on that later. Rot cut out:  New section tacked in:  Brake booster installed:  And here's the misstake I made. I didn't repeat the process of bolting the wing down and was too lazy to look from underneath and made a wrong cut. Bolöted up again, it looked like this...  I'll weld a strip in next and it'll all be good. Still a bit annoying...  But not realy bad. Also welds are not realy good, was too windy for a good weld. But hey, still better than a large hole of nothing. Still clueless aboutthe ride height, though... I've jackedthe car up, unboltet anything, let it on the ground, bumped it a few times and re-tightened everything. Bit it's still too high. Maybe it settles once driven again... If not... Hmmm. Don't know. Cheers, Jan |
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mrj
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,662
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Jun 18, 2012 19:10:13 GMT
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well, i am sure you will get a lot of advice regarding the ride height ;D I have heard that the Black&Decker suspension kits work fine on most cars  |
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- 1971 VW 1600 TL Fastback
- 1978 Passat GLS Variant
- 1980 Audi 100 5E
- 1981 VW aircooled panel van (sold)
- 1983 VW Jetta Mk.I
- 1984 VW Polo Coupé
- 1984 VW Passat hatchback
- 1987 VW Passat Variant
- 1987 VW Passat hatchback
- 1988 VW T25
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Jun 18, 2012 19:42:59 GMT
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well, I am sure you will get a lot of advice regarding the ride height ;D I have heard that the Black&Decker suspension kits work fine on most cars Hehe - thought this would be the right place ;D Na, it was fine when I first got her... But I've just flicked through pictures, it was high after the first time I've jacked her up - so it's not related to the wheel arch repair. Phew. I prefere the BOSCH lowering kit, though ;D Cheers, Jan |
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Jun 19, 2012 19:25:41 GMT
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Mishap from yesterday rectified Welds turned out better today. Welds from yesterday are shocking.......   And primered and first coat of filler applied. I wanted to lead load, but in a slight absence of mind I had allready sprayed the primer before I realised that for lead loading I'd need blank metal. So filler it is...   And I accepted two other jobs which will gain me some funds. The first is the mighty V8 eep that towed my Tea from Bremen to my home. It rear ended three cars and will need a bit of TLC The other is a totaly awesome home-brew hippie-style caravan based on a Merc 407D flatbed ;D |
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Jun 20, 2012 16:16:54 GMT
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hi jan got a question for you mate is there any way to tell buy looking at 123 steel wheel trims what size they are been told they did them in15 as well as 14 been offered a set but not sure if there 15s is there any markings on them to tell them apart cheers stretch
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Jun 20, 2012 16:49:59 GMT
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Hi! Not thatI know of.... AFAIK only the diameter gives a hint; 14" ones are about 15.35" / 39cm, 15" ones are about 16.2" / 42cm. Or if you see a 14" and 15" side by side, the smal difference is evident.
Wait a few days, and I can take a photo side by side ;D (and that's the second hint of what I bought ;D)
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Jun 20, 2012 16:51:53 GMT
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ok no worries not got any at all but that will help me thanks very much fella
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Jun 22, 2012 15:49:15 GMT
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Jun 24, 2012 13:42:06 GMT
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And I accepted two other jobs which will gain me some funds. The first is the mighty V8 eep that towed my Tea from Bremen to my home. It rear ended three cars and will need a bit of TLC Done most of that yesterday. Final adjustemnts to the panel section tomorrow. No pictures of how we re-adjusted the frame rail. But it involved revers driving, a tree, a big chain (which is now 30% longer - no kidding!  ) and a big fooking hammer. Or perhaps I'm just making this up 'cause it's to no standard other than a Redneck's ;D  Acci-dented panels cut & drilled off and dressed up:  And the section I cut off of another Jeep at the wrecker's yard:  Which needed a bit trimming and removal from the frame rail. Which took most time, as there's a multitude (5 in places ) of overlapping panels and humongeous reinforment (8mm steel) for the steering box. But got what I needed in the end:  The frame head & crossmember still need a bit trimming & bending, but the only roughly cut to size replacement part slotted in surprisingly well allready:  Welding & replacing the frame rail head comes to tomorrow. I was a bit scared of tackling this car, but it was all a lot easyer than I thought. Or maybe I'm just getting better at this, who knows. That's what came off the car...  |
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Jun 25, 2012 18:26:36 GMT
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Spotted this on the way to the Cheap... Made a detour just to watch it drive for a bit longer Such beautifull cars.   But back to work; replaced the awefully bent frame rail head. There was no way to hammer it back into form, to thick material and no accesabillity with a BHF. So cut & weld was the awnser.   Then I fully prepared the donor metal and spent some hours bringing it all to shape, as it was so bent it took quite some persuation to make it fit.  But eventually all lined up and I tacked it into place. But it started to get very windy - so I'll finish welding another day.  Cheers, Jan |
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Jun 26, 2012 19:22:32 GMT
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As per new title... Early this morning at work I was greated by this sight:  Before:  After:  It's not a big difference. In fact, the difference is very smal. But boy does it work!     Of course the caps get painted like the old ones. I'm totaly out of money and will get my loan only early next month - but I couldn't be happier ;D The time was right (some money in pocket), the offer was right - so I bought what I lusted after for a year or so. And it's exactely like I expected it to be. Subtle. |
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Jun 29, 2012 13:22:39 GMT
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Just two more shots.... Initially i was going to apply another coat of stone chip - bit my compressor literaly exploded! I noticed an air leak - as soon as I touched the hissing hose connector - it blew off and shot across the carport The cast part of the compressor was fractured. So instead I put on the new hubcaps again and admired them   Then I went to re-install the front brakes, change the brake hoses - but couldn't find the damn little bracket that goes between hard line, hose & tab. TheoreticallyI'm in possesion of at least 4 of these - I didn't find any. Grr! So instead... I admired the new wheels again ;D Cheers, Jan |
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Jun 29, 2012 14:49:59 GMT
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good work soon be clocking up the miles again
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Jun 29, 2012 15:57:46 GMT
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Yes, they do exist. They were fitted to special bodied cars (whith 5.5x15 ET35 wheels), like hearses, ambulances and I think the Lang limos too. They'r a bit rare, though. I put mine on a set of W126 steels (7x15), though. Tyres are 205/65s.   As I said - it took me a bit to find a set that was affordable. Here's a set on the german 'bay: www.ebay.de/itm/170866265926Cheers, Jan |
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Yes, they do exist. They were fitted to special bodied cars (whith 5.5x15 ET35 wheels), like hearses, ambulances and I think the Lang limos too. Some "normal" bodied W123 estates also had 15" steel wheels; specified as with reinforced suspension (hoherer Zuladung) and thus 100 kg higher rear wheel loading capacity. But why are the 15" wheels / hub caps so expensive - only because of rarity? |
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Motorised transport: two on 4, three on 2, and one on 0 wheels
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Some "normal" bodied W123 estates also had 15" steel wheels; specified as with reinforced suspension (hoherer Zuladung) and thus 100 kg higher rear wheel loading capacity. But why are the 15" wheels / hub caps so expensive - only because of rarity? Correct, yes. Also North Korean traffic police uses them ;D  Everything that's rare and sought after by many people seems to demand a certain price (high demand, low supply - high price can be asked and will be payed). Those that are marketed on eBay etc. turn out to be very expensive. I got mine in the offline-world, though. I payed about 31€ for each cap, and 31€ for each wheel. Resp. 250€ for the set with S-Class steels and usable tyres. I think that's not overly expensive. The 15" alloys demand much higher prices... The advantge is; much better tyre choice and cheaper tyres in the end. And the 'beefyer' look of fifteens. Cheers, Jan |
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Endz
Part of things
Posts: 14
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I've a massive soft spot for the W123 T's. I think, if I can get bigger digs with some storage space, I'd like a T to go with my saloon. But maybe a 300 with a supercharger tacked on (I'd guess that video has already done the rounds on these boards). I should just say I prefer the black hubcaps but I'll hold on a final verdict till you've got her closer to the end result. Lovely motor! |
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Get one whilst they'r still obtainable. Prices are shooting up (sadly... Would like another one ;D). The hub caps are getting painted in body colour, dark blue. |
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Rustfree, so I've used that one ;D
But not realy bad. Also welds are not realy good, was too windy for a good weld. But hey, still better than a large hole of nothing.
