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Soooo - good news on the wheels-front: I can most probably get them legal  The heavyest S-Class that was alowed the steels had a max. rear axle weight of 1120kg. My Tea has 1195. Too much. But: I've asked the manufactuer of the wheels - and yes - they have a survey. The wheels can support 700kg up to 130km/h / 80MPH. And 595kg at any speed. My Tea does 161km/h / 100MPH according to the papers. So 2x 595kg equals 1190kg that two wheels can support. Which means - I'm only over by 5kg. A simple change of the maximum allowed rear axle weight to 1190kg or 1189kg should sort that out. Means I lose 5-6kg loading capacity, but I think that's negligible. Next: tyres.The tyres are 1.9cm bigger in diameter than the stock tyres. Which means, I'd have to get the speedo tested (€€€). But: I got a paper from Mercedes' stating that the previously mentioned factory 15" wheels are a) legal for my car and b) are fitted with 195/70 R15 tyres. Which are 0.6cm bigger than the S-Class' 205/65 tyres. Should be a OK here too. All good then. And I'm prepared for Mr. TÜV. See, that's the problems one has to encounter living in BrezelSauerkrautBierAutobahnLand ;D |
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And done a little bit today, working in smal steps and slowly as ever  Started to finish the wings. Sanded the first coat of filler, primered again and gave them another lick of filler where needed. This time I've used cardboard to apply the filler - which worked much better and gave a much better and smoother distribution of the filler. I've used a metal rake before which was obviously a bad choice (lot's of high spotswhich take ages to sand down etc.). Learned something there   Steadily improving on the filler thing Cheers, Jan |
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Well - at least one wing is finished. The other... ARGH! Again the filler had a reaktion with the red primer and the primer went liquid again and as soon as I sanded it down, the filler flaked off, leaving a mess behind - I can do it all over again. FFS! I'll never usethat Coroless primer again. And there's my hatred for anything oxyde red confirmed. It's the devil's stuff! Well - one is finished, I've ordered some smal parts to re-install the brakes - one corner of the car is not far from being finished.   And painted the lower lip ofthe wing matt black. Just as it left the factory (good indicator for a re-paint, as many painters don't do it). And it looks just like that from the factory; as if someone quickly sprayed over with a can ;D  Cheers, Jan |
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Done the last bit of welding on the driver's side wing.    (Cam messed that one up...) Then started to paint the firewall - colour is good, empty can is bad ;D But It think the colour is good. Not too dark, not too bright. And I can always go for blackif I want  And I finaly got round to order two smal clips from Mercedes'.  Which go here:  To mount the skid pan:  Not that the cars needs one right now, but it was taking space so I mounted it to the car. That's it for now. More probably next week. Cheers, Jan |
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And what I've been working on yesterday. I've posted the car in the General board, but feel the bodywork part is better situated here,as it's not stricktly relevant. Well - how to put it? Most of the cabin's underside is long gone. But: the car is like an onion. Or better a lizard. Put peeling the other way... What I'm trying to say; the basic structure consists of up to four layers of patches. The outer patches are mostly still OK, whilst the original bodywork underneath is long gone. Which is no wonder, as it spend most of it's time - from 1975 on - as a working horse. It's first incarnation is unknown, going by the first layer of paint (orange) probably a communal vehicle. Then it was converted to a flower market stand, then a chippy and then someone added the alcoven and made it a camper. So - I've mostly been biting through several layers of rotten metal, trying to figure out how it all went together originally. Which was - impossible to tell ;D So I did my best to hide the rot and make it look a bit better and add some strenght. 4 layers here. Not yet taken apart, 'cause I'm still waiting for replacement panels (2,5 weeks now!). But I'm actually a bit scared to attack this spot with the Wheel of Death & Truth  And now the story in pictures without much words.       That bucket was 1/2 full with debriss at the end of the day!   I couldn't take an aweull lot of pictures, as the batery was almost flat... Though I'll have work on this car for at least another full day ;D |
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Just spent entire evening reading your most entertaining thread. Huge hailstones. Chinese insect invasion. Rust repair. Highs and lows. Thank you. ;D8-)
And can we have a bigger photo of the Flower stall/Chippie van please?
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Jul 10, 2012 19:02:22 GMT
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Thanks you I'll get some up. But not today... I'm knackered. So not much words, just pictures. Ok, maybe a little words. Actually, was only half a day of work, as we started late. And had to end early, due to unforseen rainstorm happening. And I have not documented the work on some chassis parts - due to... Well. Bit traveller realy ;D     And this hole was actually filled with - wait for it - and I kid you not - play dough!! ;D *WTF!?*   More tomorrow, it weather permitting... And I feel like adding a few words to the standard of my work; it's a low budget repair. I'm doing lots of overlapping stuff - restoring(!) this shell is impossible. I'll try my best, but after almost 40 years of botch repairs it's impossible without spending a LOT of time, effort - and money. If the caravan bodywasn't welded to the cabin (it was a flat bed originally), I would've advised to just swap it out for a better one (which wouldn't be all too expensive or impossible to find). But since it is - there's no other way. I'll be sound for some years, maybe a decade with good preservation. And then it's either scrap or fix again. Like it was the last couple of decades... It's too far gone to make it perfect or give it a proper restoration. |
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Jul 11, 2012 20:48:49 GMT
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Jul 20, 2012 20:13:14 GMT
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Jul 23, 2012 22:57:03 GMT
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Not a big update, but a real milestone towards getting it on the road; new front brake calipers. Felt like spending a fortune on them. But since the old ones were seized and I didn't feel like rebuilding them myself, I thought... Why not spend some money on shiney calipers  Got new hoses aswell. I like shiney parts Cheers, Jan |
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Jul 24, 2012 17:03:02 GMT
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How big is that chippy camper!! Christ on a bike!
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Remember the days when sex was safe and motorsport was dangerous. Vintage bling always attracts pussy. |
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Jul 25, 2012 19:01:04 GMT
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How big is that chippy camper!! Christ on a bike! Yeah, it's not one of the smal ones ;D Aaaand, bargain of the month: new reinforced Bilstein shocks; 59€ instead of 170€. Needles to say I ordered a pair ;D That's the front suspension (almost) sorted. |
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Jul 27, 2012 11:21:09 GMT
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Aaaand, bargain of the month: new reinforced Bilstein shocks; 59€ instead of 170€. Needles to say I ordered a pair ;D That's the front suspension (almost) sorted. Arrived today:  Also dug out the front suspension with the new balljoints from the spares car. Will de-rust the uprights, paint them and install them whilst I'm at it. It's necessary anyway, as all the dust caps a cracked. Not yet split, but cracked. And I'm going to order some thinner spring seating rubbers for a slight lowering. |
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Jul 29, 2012 22:11:39 GMT
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So, i've actually done something. Stripped the front suspension and gave it a thick coat of paint. The spaindles are luckily in a state in which I can use them. Not perfect, but perfectely usable. Which is good, as the uprights have brand new balljoints in them.   Then I painted the inside of the wheel arch dark grey...  ...painted the battery tray...  ...gave the front panel a lick of blue...  ...painted a part of the driver's side wing and ran out of paint...  ...and realised it doesn't matter as I have to repain the other wing anyway. I didn't think the paint was that soft that storin the wing on a very(!) soft seat cushion would effectively destroy it.  That's some hours preparation wasted. F***...  And now I have to sort the W124 first, as it's in dire need of a fresh TÜV...  Cheers, Jan |
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Jul 31, 2012 21:14:10 GMT
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That problem with the paint should surprise me, but it doesn't. Modern paint mixes seem to be ridiculously soft, even when cured.
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That problem with the paint should surprise me, but it doesn't. Modern paint mixes seem to be ridiculously soft, even when cured. Yes - I always start to sweat when I have to re-assemble a freshly painted car... But I didn't think spraycan1 component paint would be the same... Back to start. That's a real downer... On the bright side - she moves under her own steam again :)I bled the clutch, put in a battery - and she moves But I nearly crashed into an Alfa reversing out of the carport, as I forgott I HAVE NO BRAKES  Had to park her outside, as there's a deliery of fire wood coming which needs to be stored dry. Cheers, Jan |
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Painted the other headlight yesterday. At least some little something.  And took a quick snap of the two Mercs side by side.  |
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Hi! Sooo... I ordered a factory lowering kit ;D Only... Mercedes' don't know they sell them. It's not as effective as a grinder or lowering springs, though. So let's call it a 'soft lowering kit'.  ^These are the rubber pads in which the springs rest. They'r avalable in different heights. Ranging from 23mm to 8mm on the front, and 19 to 9.5mm on the rear. Now guess which ones I ordered... ;D They'r idendified by smal 'nipples', from 1 to 4. My car has 3 on the front springs, indicating 18mm. The new ones have 8mm - giving 10mm less ground clearance at least; I don't know the real ratio. Not much, but for 20€ and without affecting anything like spring rate etc. - I think that's not bad! And I'll have to replace these anyway... So here it is - a simple, cheap way to lower these cars without messing with the springs. A little bit at least. Well, enough for me. That's it. Cheers, Jan |
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Love the headlight treatment!
How hard are the lights to remove? Do you have to take off the thin strip under the light?
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Remember the days when sex was safe and motorsport was dangerous. Vintage bling always attracts pussy. |
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Love the headlight treatment! How hard are the lights to remove? Do you have to take off the thin strip under the light? Hi! It's integral part of the wing, that strip  No. Remove the indicator, remove some screws left & right, unplugg and take the headlight out in a twist-sort-of-motion to the front ... And take care that the metal clips holding the glas don't scratch the paint on that strip! The headlights can be a real PITA to remove & install. And then it's just a case of prying off the metal clips securing the glas to the plastic case. Carefull; pry from the plastic side, not on the glas (it may break)! I use two smal, flat screw drivers to wiggle them off. reinstallation in reverse; put on the glas first and push over the plastic. Then remove the three crossed slot screws on the rear (when reinstalling, don't overtighten them or the frame may break - it's rather brittle) and wiggle the frame past the reflector bowls.  Paint and put back in reverse order. I used normal rttle can paint (RAL7016, antracite grey), I'll see how long it lasts... I've painted the grill insert the same colour to make it look uniform. Cheers, Jan |
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The heavyest S-Class that was alowed the steels had a max. rear axle weight of 1120kg. My Tea has 1195. Too much. But: I've asked the manufactuer of the wheels - and yes - they have a survey. 
Started to finish the wings. Sanded the first coat of filler, primered again and gave them another lick of filler where needed. This time I've used cardboard to apply the filler - which worked much better and gave a much better and smoother distribution of the filler. I've used a metal rake before which was obviously a bad choice (lot's of high spotswhich take ages to sand down etc.). Learned something there 
No. Remove the indicator, remove some screws left & right, unplugg and take the headlight out in a twist-sort-of-motion to the front ... And take care that the metal clips holding the glas don't scratch the paint on that strip! The headlights can be a real PITA to remove & install.