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Posts posted by HMC
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-this post is brought to you by photos upladed to photobucket and now ruined-
This w126 420SE that looks a bit like @Volksy ‘s
I Took to Germany one year in about 2010. As you can see i used to like driving it spiritedly
It was freezing!
On the way back and with the weather somewhat better I held it at an indicated 130mph (so 120?) for about 10 mins on a quiet stretch of autobahn. It wasnt quite flat out as i was conscious not to blow the engine on a 20 year old merc with no service history on the German/Dutch border with a lot of driving still to do. I do have a photo taken from the passenger seat of the speedo at our Vmax but i cant find it. Think its on my ex wifes hard drive. It did start to make some poorly noises as we made our way around the m25 but it turned out it was the exhaust system breaking up. IIRC It averaged 23mpg over the whole trip, but given my driving i thought that was pretty decent.
Whilst we were over there my wife at the time crashed it into a gate post on a farm track. That we are no longer married has no connection to this 😂
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So presently, im looking to deliver on the ambition of a former owner of having a red interior on the wagon. Great idea, but in parts fell down on the execution. E bay de is proving a fairly fertile ground for looking for oem red bits (at least ones not RHD specific)
But also i thought ive nothing to loose in dyeing the current carpets in the passenger cabin, which to my eyes clash horribly with the rest of it.
Plus those fur flex door seals which should be a match for the seat colour also. My girlfriend thinks its all fine, but as I have a deep seated mental disorder i cannot leave this as is. I acknowledge this is not normal, but also it will be satisfying to max out the factory spec look for the change.
Handily the front carpets just pull out- so I could have a go at dyeing it whilst i try to play fur elise on the piano…
factory example:
Verdict- better than i expected, although my piano skills are terrible.
Even ludwig Van himself was a fan, of “mittelrot” as this colour was known on the home market
Mittlerot: BEETHOVEN approved for fashion accessories
The images of dyeing a vehicle carpet on the dining table are brought to you, clearly, by an uninhibited batchelor living the dream*
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Looks decent. At the end of the day its an old ford so some rust, and decreasing VFM as they become old school is the norm.
Looking fwd to seeing the progresss
- Rightnider and Peter C
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Looking forward to the pics, it looks period perfect.
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Well done on the kidney grilles! I wanted to peel off the half peeled stuff but never got very far- looks way better.
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I Love the enthusiasm and passion on the thread and the progress forwards happening.
My own take FWIW separate from the people who have one/ are enthusiasts- We have come a long way and driving one about to “celibrate” them sits uneasily with me. I dont get it.
Maybe its because like lots of historical social, medical and health paraphernalia, they were a stepping stone to better things. Maybe more fitting of a museum.
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3 minutes ago, Cookiesouwest said:
Well thats a result.
I wouldn't say nutter. You just like looking after your motors. He was the same. Kindred spirits.
Like you with the rover 75. One of the very few cars I regret selling AP51CFO- i usually never remember the reg once they are gone.
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2 minutes ago, Cookiesouwest said:
Thats a beautiful motor. Well swapped.
Thanks! The spare is the same style alloy and also has a new conti tyre fitted. This guy was more of a nutter than me! (surely not!)
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Actually having had more of a look, i think its got later w124 alloys ( series 3 in my home made terminology (1993-1997)) My teeth itch slightly less.
Add that to the near new continental tyres and i think they should stay. I had in mind selling the alloys and getting some period steel wheels and trims. Yeah lets not get so anal; fiscally lets keep those non original but nice wheels and tyres perhaps? Money over aesthetics- this would be a HMC first.
Trouble is, steels on a T (“tourisme und transport) model are reinforced and model specific. Probably irrelevant these days? Dunno.
TL:DR im keeping the alloys but ditching the ugly later gopping steering wheel.
(side note- my teeth are itching again at the clash of S1 bumper corner and S2/3 glitzier tailgate trim) MUST RESOLVE
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16 minutes ago, egg said:
Sorry to lower the mood, that's a horrible Cancer. My grandmother had it from possible war time exposure maybe, or more likely being the wife of a plumber for years.
IIRC also Steve Mcqueen’s cause of death- supposedly from being around boilers in ships in his navy days.
- lesapandre, egg and Back_For_More
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5 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:
Wow, that looks ridiculously clean. When you say deepest Darzet, that's not Dorch high street is it? I started my teaching career in mid Dorset and also met Mrs L there. Still miss the place.
Edit: Looking again, I'd say there's a 97.318% chance that it's not.
We met at dorchester mcdonalds, as the young guy (bit of a hero with wife and dog and kid in tow) was en route to a classic tractor auction to add to his collection. It sounds quite risky but we had that instant rapport where we both saw we were enthusiasts and have a level of trust in each other.
Certainly from their side anyone who acquires a ropey 20 yo w220 s class in a dimly lit services has the trust 2.0 in the other party.
And so did i. This w124 is perhaps unoriginal, but is very nice to drive, doesnt feel like its been hammered and very nice structurally- better than some later 124s i had at half the age of this one. Admittedly that was a very late (hence lower quality) 320 coupe (which i think had been crashed at some point)
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3 minutes ago, loserone said:
I know it doesn't always work like that, but . Please, please give me a nudge when you're ready to move this on.
Or, you know, if you fancy a w211 e220 cdi
Will do, @grogee. technically would be the first go to, but i think he was joking (?)
Does the w211 have 7 seats btw?
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3 hours ago, Rusty Pelican said:
Fab looking car , love the interior - looks like Bridport town centre ?
Yes got it in one, basically the closest post office that also dealt with VED
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24 minutes ago, grogee said:
That is very German dominatrix, I approve.
Must be why i like it (and have a German ex wife 😂)
Actually it certainly didnt leave sindelfingen like this. Its my first “series 1” which tended to major in dour fabrics and plain interiors that even lots of options struggled to lift. Good thing about the “s1” is that there is less bodycladding so its easier to inspect the sills (and i think they might be less rot prone as well )
So i think this left the factory with some sort of light grey wishy washy upholstery. At some point a previous owner has gone dominatrix on it. The seats are replacements- mb tex pattern rears and boot seats (its a 7 seater) and recoloured leather fronts. The interior plastics are a mix of replacement factory red and recoloured grey. They stopped short of recolouring or replacing the fur flex door seals and the front carpets, (which want dyeing or replacing with factory red stuff) but did recover the boot carpets. The front door cards have mb tex inlays, and the rear door cards have recoloured fabric inlays.
Its also got w202 alloys and a later non leather airbag wheel (although no airbag is fitted)
So its a bit of a bitsa but one that will be easy to finish off- and the shell is good which is far harder to sort.
- DSdriver, grogee, lesapandre and 3 others
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HMC- AUTOSHITE 2.0
in AutoShite
Posted
I got hold of a proper red centre console
to replace the originally grey, now painted up, scuffed and damaged original…
And started pulling it to pieces…
Factoid- MB didnt believe in blanking panels for unspecified options- they simply had every variation pre cut into the trim cover panel stock- or maybe they were cut for each car “just in time” Either way top work lads!
Revealling the original sober 80s grey beneath
And before long we had a load of spagetti…
But before long it was all back together…
And although it looks not a lot different to most people, im happy with the result!