GagaStan

Got it back from welding today and I'm very happy with the result.
Driver's side floor rust hole.
Before

Now and one can vaguely see where new steel has been welded in.

Passenger side rust hole.
Before

Now and he cut away much more than the rust hole was. Was a plate joint here and that's probably the reason.

Same repair from the underside

Passenger Side front wing.
Could probably wish he hadn't gone up so far. And I couldn't afford to let them paint it as this became expensive enough. So I'm going to paint it myself, which won't be perfect, but neither is this car.

At the back here, the joint between the repair panel and front wing is visible and it looks nice.

The arch liner / inner wing? also needed some welding


The next thing is the fasteners for the seat belts. These have been done in a way that some people here did not recommend, but those who did this work are professionals who do this kind of work every day and also fix crash damaged cars that will then have to be approved, so they should know what they are doing. So I agreed to do it in their way. And if this should fail in a crash, I'm probably dead anyway.


And they did this by drilling/cutting a hole, so the  welded nut on the mounting plate went into the hole. In the gearbox tunnel, this is visible from the backside. And they have paint and wax coverd this too.

So then this is done and I can now start gluing in sound dampening mats followed by carpets.
And we unloaded the car from the trailer at a rest area not far from the house and there was a nice older German couple. He had owned one of these but the petrol version back in the day. Was fun chatting with him.

The BX has been running absolutely beautifully, apart from some very light clonkage from a drip link (I think??) - she even returned a best ever 36mpg on a run. Nice to know that's possible, given I've only been getting about 25mpg around town 😩 
But today, I decided to tackle something that's been annoying me - a consistent chirping from the passenger side blower fan. I had been managing* this by simply unplugging the electrical connector, but this caused the remaining operational blower to blow only half its air into the cabin, and the other half back outside through the other, stationary fan... Less than ideal for demisting purposes.
SO, the time came to start disassembly in the bulkhead area.



(^spot the terrible job someone did gluing the headlight back together...)
With the offending fan out, and the plastic clamshell unclipped, I sprayed plenty of PTFE lube and hey presto, the squeak is gone!
With the bulkhead clear, I decided to vacuum out all the built up leaves and detritus. Paging @beko1987 for some hot Kirby action...


But what I didn't do, was remember to retrieve a clip that had fallen while I was removing everything. So, with an almighty CRACK it was sucked up, somehow made it through the fan, and up into the vacuum bag. Amazingly, neither the clip nor the  vacuum fan were broken in the process! 

It was easily retrieved from the bag, so all is now ready to be put back together tomorrow. Another tinkering win - now to get someone in to see just how knackered/leaky the A/C is...

Here is some light reading for anyone interested in 20 year old pneumatic Audi suspension. 
http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_243.pdf
http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_241.pdf
 
I mean, who doesn't love a cutaway! 

The BX has been running absolutely beautifully, apart from some very light clonkage from a drip link (I think??) - she even returned a best ever 36mpg on a run. Nice to know that's possible, given I've only been getting about 25mpg around town 😩 
But today, I decided to tackle something that's been annoying me - a consistent chirping from the passenger side blower fan. I had been managing* this by simply unplugging the electrical connector, but this caused the remaining operational blower to blow only half its air into the cabin, and the other half back outside through the other, stationary fan... Less than ideal for demisting purposes.
SO, the time came to start disassembly in the bulkhead area.



(^spot the terrible job someone did gluing the headlight back together...)
With the offending fan out, and the plastic clamshell unclipped, I sprayed plenty of PTFE lube and hey presto, the squeak is gone!
With the bulkhead clear, I decided to vacuum out all the built up leaves and detritus. Paging @beko1987 for some hot Kirby action...


But what I didn't do, was remember to retrieve a clip that had fallen while I was removing everything. So, with an almighty CRACK it was sucked up, somehow made it through the fan, and up into the vacuum bag. Amazingly, neither the clip nor the  vacuum fan were broken in the process! 

It was easily retrieved from the bag, so all is now ready to be put back together tomorrow. Another tinkering win - now to get someone in to see just how knackered/leaky the A/C is...

The BX has been running absolutely beautifully, apart from some very light clonkage from a drip link (I think??) - she even returned a best ever 36mpg on a run. Nice to know that's possible, given I've only been getting about 25mpg around town 😩 
But today, I decided to tackle something that's been annoying me - a consistent chirping from the passenger side blower fan. I had been managing* this by simply unplugging the electrical connector, but this caused the remaining operational blower to blow only half its air into the cabin, and the other half back outside through the other, stationary fan... Less than ideal for demisting purposes.
SO, the time came to start disassembly in the bulkhead area.



(^spot the terrible job someone did gluing the headlight back together...)
With the offending fan out, and the plastic clamshell unclipped, I sprayed plenty of PTFE lube and hey presto, the squeak is gone!
With the bulkhead clear, I decided to vacuum out all the built up leaves and detritus. Paging @beko1987 for some hot Kirby action...


But what I didn't do, was remember to retrieve a clip that had fallen while I was removing everything. So, with an almighty CRACK it was sucked up, somehow made it through the fan, and up into the vacuum bag. Amazingly, neither the clip nor the  vacuum fan were broken in the process! 

It was easily retrieved from the bag, so all is now ready to be put back together tomorrow. Another tinkering win - now to get someone in to see just how knackered/leaky the A/C is...

The BX has been running absolutely beautifully, apart from some very light clonkage from a drip link (I think??) - she even returned a best ever 36mpg on a run. Nice to know that's possible, given I've only been getting about 25mpg around town 😩 
But today, I decided to tackle something that's been annoying me - a consistent chirping from the passenger side blower fan. I had been managing* this by simply unplugging the electrical connector, but this caused the remaining operational blower to blow only half its air into the cabin, and the other half back outside through the other, stationary fan... Less than ideal for demisting purposes.
SO, the time came to start disassembly in the bulkhead area.



(^spot the terrible job someone did gluing the headlight back together...)
With the offending fan out, and the plastic clamshell unclipped, I sprayed plenty of PTFE lube and hey presto, the squeak is gone!
With the bulkhead clear, I decided to vacuum out all the built up leaves and detritus. Paging @beko1987 for some hot Kirby action...


But what I didn't do, was remember to retrieve a clip that had fallen while I was removing everything. So, with an almighty CRACK it was sucked up, somehow made it through the fan, and up into the vacuum bag. Amazingly, neither the clip nor the  vacuum fan were broken in the process! 

It was easily retrieved from the bag, so all is now ready to be put back together tomorrow. Another tinkering win - now to get someone in to see just how knackered/leaky the A/C is...

The BX has been running absolutely beautifully, apart from some very light clonkage from a drip link (I think??) - she even returned a best ever 36mpg on a run. Nice to know that's possible, given I've only been getting about 25mpg around town 😩 
But today, I decided to tackle something that's been annoying me - a consistent chirping from the passenger side blower fan. I had been managing* this by simply unplugging the electrical connector, but this caused the remaining operational blower to blow only half its air into the cabin, and the other half back outside through the other, stationary fan... Less than ideal for demisting purposes.
SO, the time came to start disassembly in the bulkhead area.



(^spot the terrible job someone did gluing the headlight back together...)
With the offending fan out, and the plastic clamshell unclipped, I sprayed plenty of PTFE lube and hey presto, the squeak is gone!
With the bulkhead clear, I decided to vacuum out all the built up leaves and detritus. Paging @beko1987 for some hot Kirby action...


But what I didn't do, was remember to retrieve a clip that had fallen while I was removing everything. So, with an almighty CRACK it was sucked up, somehow made it through the fan, and up into the vacuum bag. Amazingly, neither the clip nor the  vacuum fan were broken in the process! 

It was easily retrieved from the bag, so all is now ready to be put back together tomorrow. Another tinkering win - now to get someone in to see just how knackered/leaky the A/C is...

The BX has been running absolutely beautifully, apart from some very light clonkage from a drip link (I think??) - she even returned a best ever 36mpg on a run. Nice to know that's possible, given I've only been getting about 25mpg around town 😩 
But today, I decided to tackle something that's been annoying me - a consistent chirping from the passenger side blower fan. I had been managing* this by simply unplugging the electrical connector, but this caused the remaining operational blower to blow only half its air into the cabin, and the other half back outside through the other, stationary fan... Less than ideal for demisting purposes.
SO, the time came to start disassembly in the bulkhead area.



(^spot the terrible job someone did gluing the headlight back together...)
With the offending fan out, and the plastic clamshell unclipped, I sprayed plenty of PTFE lube and hey presto, the squeak is gone!
With the bulkhead clear, I decided to vacuum out all the built up leaves and detritus. Paging @beko1987 for some hot Kirby action...


But what I didn't do, was remember to retrieve a clip that had fallen while I was removing everything. So, with an almighty CRACK it was sucked up, somehow made it through the fan, and up into the vacuum bag. Amazingly, neither the clip nor the  vacuum fan were broken in the process! 

It was easily retrieved from the bag, so all is now ready to be put back together tomorrow. Another tinkering win - now to get someone in to see just how knackered/leaky the A/C is...

The BX has been running absolutely beautifully, apart from some very light clonkage from a drip link (I think??) - she even returned a best ever 36mpg on a run. Nice to know that's possible, given I've only been getting about 25mpg around town 😩 
But today, I decided to tackle something that's been annoying me - a consistent chirping from the passenger side blower fan. I had been managing* this by simply unplugging the electrical connector, but this caused the remaining operational blower to blow only half its air into the cabin, and the other half back outside through the other, stationary fan... Less than ideal for demisting purposes.
SO, the time came to start disassembly in the bulkhead area.



(^spot the terrible job someone did gluing the headlight back together...)
With the offending fan out, and the plastic clamshell unclipped, I sprayed plenty of PTFE lube and hey presto, the squeak is gone!
With the bulkhead clear, I decided to vacuum out all the built up leaves and detritus. Paging @beko1987 for some hot Kirby action...


But what I didn't do, was remember to retrieve a clip that had fallen while I was removing everything. So, with an almighty CRACK it was sucked up, somehow made it through the fan, and up into the vacuum bag. Amazingly, neither the clip nor the  vacuum fan were broken in the process! 

It was easily retrieved from the bag, so all is now ready to be put back together tomorrow. Another tinkering win - now to get someone in to see just how knackered/leaky the A/C is...

Great winnage with the BX today.
I had noticed a warm breeze pretty constantly at my feet, even with the heater on cold and pointed at your face. It got worse with the window down too.
so I had a wee look around in the drivers footwell and found that the steering column grommet had been pushed all the way through past the firewall - surely this was the source of my overwarm tootsies, dear reader! 

I managed quite easily to pull the thing back through and get it properly seated on the firewall, held in place properly by the groove in the rubber.
and we have a result! No more undesirable warm breeze on my be-sandalled toes, a boon in the summer weather down here.
but best of all - an unexpected but perhaps but unsurprising difference - the cabin is now significantly and noticeably quieter, with the engine bay now fully separated from the cabin! Very pleased with that, and for the grand price of zero dollars. Now for a beer.

Carpet is by no means pristine, but it’s somewhat presentable now. It looks like some pink coolant might’ve leaked from the heater tap in the past…
Think I’ll be ordering some custom floor mats soon.
at least the outside is still quite pretty!

Spent the afternoon trying to sop up the LHM that had soaked into the drivers carpet, from the leaking doseur.
The underlay was the worst - it was completely saturated, and the LHM had done a good job dissolving some of the tarry black adhesive. Resulting in a delightful brown oil to try and remove. YUM
 

 

With a combination of a wet vac, sugar soap solution, and a handful of old bath towels, I managed to get most of it out - or at least enough that my shoes won’t get stained driving it anymore.
 

I’m actually in NZ, but parts availability seems to be okay for now - but I’ve not needed anything major. There’s a few old Cit specialists around that have stocks of consumables and seem very helpful. So if I need something obscure, I’ve got channels.
They were sold officially here, always a left field choice though. We had hefty protectionist import tariffs here until the late 90s, so a good few companies assembled cars CKD here (Toyota, Honda, ford/mazda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, and of course all the British stuff further back). So if you wanted something European, you really had to pay for it! So you had to be a bit weird and a bit cashed up to want a BX.
consequence is that we get great spec in euro cars… I’ve even got AC that works! How’s that for futuristic 😎

The BX has been running absolutely beautifully, apart from some very light clonkage from a drip link (I think??) - she even returned a best ever 36mpg on a run. Nice to know that's possible, given I've only been getting about 25mpg around town 😩 
But today, I decided to tackle something that's been annoying me - a consistent chirping from the passenger side blower fan. I had been managing* this by simply unplugging the electrical connector, but this caused the remaining operational blower to blow only half its air into the cabin, and the other half back outside through the other, stationary fan... Less than ideal for demisting purposes.
SO, the time came to start disassembly in the bulkhead area.



(^spot the terrible job someone did gluing the headlight back together...)
With the offending fan out, and the plastic clamshell unclipped, I sprayed plenty of PTFE lube and hey presto, the squeak is gone!
With the bulkhead clear, I decided to vacuum out all the built up leaves and detritus. Paging @beko1987 for some hot Kirby action...


But what I didn't do, was remember to retrieve a clip that had fallen while I was removing everything. So, with an almighty CRACK it was sucked up, somehow made it through the fan, and up into the vacuum bag. Amazingly, neither the clip nor the  vacuum fan were broken in the process! 

It was easily retrieved from the bag, so all is now ready to be put back together tomorrow. Another tinkering win - now to get someone in to see just how knackered/leaky the A/C is...

laid up the other day, waiting for it’s second doseur end seal to arrive

I asked earlier, and everyone said it would be fine.  More correctly, some people said it would be terrible but I ignored them 👍

I’ve been looking for an E39 diesel with manual gearbox for about two months now, they sold quite a lot of diesels back in the early 2000s but very few manuals.  As Junkman would point out, shifting your own gears is for the proles so why would someone pay forty grand and do it themselves?  I’m glad a few did, because the 525d auto does 44mpg extra urban while the manual does 53mpg.  Composite mpg is a similar difference of 35mpg for the auto and 42mpg for the manual.

Other key specs are 135mph and 0-60 in just under 9 seconds.  Shall we do the jokes now?
The switches inside feel nice, the indicator switch feels almost unused.
It’s got a sort of adaptive cruise control in traffic, you just set it to 90 and when you come up behind other cars you just flash your lights.
Ah, that’s better.  As well as limiting my choice with a diesel manual, I also didn’t want one like this

 
or this

 
A shame, because many of them are tastefully* modified this way.
After a few false starts - one that was the most worn out that I’d ever seen a car be, another where the seller went silent, one where the seller would only reply to messages after 3 days and another with 16 previous owners (the car, not the owner), I found a possible candidate on the south coast, only 150 miles away.  Finish work an hour early and let’s go!

My eldest very kindly gave me a lift there, and when he asked what playlist I wanted, replying “It’s your car, you choose” was, frankly, moronic of me.
Anyway, we got there and it looked good 


The test drive showed up the usual clonking bushes and non-working a/c but otherwise good.  A few tiny blemishes on the end of one sill and one wheelarch but jacking points are solid and a pretty good MoT history too.
 I bought it and stopped for fuel

And drove it back 150 miles in 2 1/2 hours, which was either motorway or roadworks, getting home at 11:30 last night.
I could do with replacing the clutch and dmf at some point but otherwise it’s good and drives nicely.  It’s ancient but inside is whisper-quiet, it’s the closest thing to a Lexus LS400 in that respect.
To sum up, it’s quite good.  To be continued…

Then it's off to welding early tomorrow.

While this has been down, I have had some other work done such as the rear wheel arches. They were full of gravel and after much scraping and cleaning, a lot of surface rust and many old welding repairs appeared. I treated the rust and painted it but since there was so much rust at the start and all the old repairs I didn't feel comfortable putting wax over everything so instead Fluid Film was applied as it has good rust properties and is very penetrating and creeps so it can penetrate the old repairs if they are not completely sealed.
I also tried on the visible parts Fluid film colored black and it turned out well. 


Fluid Film also has the advantage that it is easy to remove if you want to in the future.
And yesterday I got the clutch slave cylinder rebuild kit So then it was time to take it off and fix it.

But it turns out that I had received the wrong parts. It's not the first time I've received the wrong parts from them so I don't like to shop there but they can get some parts for these so that's why I do it.
Those parts are from Frenkit and I have discovered that they have a good website for finding parts and part numbers. So after looking there I know what parts I need for the cluth slave cylinder.   https://www.frenkit.es/en
So without being able to fix the slave cylinder, I realized that I bought a used one last year. It was found and after looking at it, it is either a NOS part or it has been overhauled as it looks very nice and has newer parts on it.
It was then fitted and after a somewhat difficult bleeding of the system, I had a functioning clutch again. And today 24 hours later, this has not leaked and after a drive the clutch works very well.

I dare not say that it is fixed yet and I will try and fix the old slave cylinder and have it as a spare.
The next thing now is that this is off for welding on Tuesday.

Various spots.

Renault 4 'Savane'.

60's Panhard.

Another unusual Renault.

DOY news.
The fuel gauge has never worked. Something else the vendor didnt say, besides it being salvaged.
Anyway its extra confusing as the lpg kicks in and so simply looking at miles  covered on the trip meter on the tank isnt an option. Plus I didnt fancy driving to shitefest like this and ending up stranded somewhere.
So. I figured the sender in the tank had power. Then to e bay. This part varies between w140 models and is not easy to get hold of; which went some way to explaining the daft prices asked. No thanks.
I rang the local MB dealer who confirmed the part number, and the fact that its no longer available. I think this is the first time ever in tinkering and fettling over 50 mercs that this has happened; and explains the silly prices. Usually MB are solid when it comes to supplying older model parts. Maybe a sign that they don't rate the w140.
In the end i bit the bullet on e bay as this is my only car and needs to be fully functional.
The next step was removing the nut that secures the unit in the tank and seals the tank. The nut is ally, and the tank steel. I presume there was some electrolytic corrosion going on as it defeated all attempts. the nut is something like 45mm. I lost my shit a bit with it half lying down in the boot, adjustable wrench on the nut and it would slide off and id bash my hand on the tank. In the end I bought something old school from screwfix which sorted it, and will be a useful tool in the future.


 
And put it back together

The bashed up edges tell a story, but in the end it was satisfying to sort.
And now i can see how much fuel the 2.8 is using as it struggles to move this big beast.

Lost in France. Only seen one other W124 in the whole trip.

My family had one from new. First car I ever driven actually. Fun fact, even ones sold in Japan were made and exported from Thailand. In Japan only old farts bought them along with Toyota Belta. Elsewhere the market demographic were more varied.