HMC the unwashed Maserati

[Bren]

  On 10/10/2019 at 07:44, SRi05 said:

One hundred and fifty pounds for an operational MOT'd motor car. What a time to be alive

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Its a renault. It's only operational for now.

[HMC]

Sold locally! Thanks.

[sierraman]

Those facelifted Meganes were actually a very good car, the body held up well and they were fairly simple to work on. The standard sound system was a very good Phillips unit. Only thing that used to piss me off with them was the very soft seating under your knees.   The 16 valve units in the facelift shape were really what the car needed, the old Renault 19 units were a bit crap but the newer units have really good economy, performance and reliability bar the odd coil pack or crank sensor. Also probably about the easiest oil change known to man, so long as you’ve the correct socket for the sump that is. 

[HMC]

I doubled my money on the megane when I sold it locally for £250. Hardly big money but overall it was a painless ownership experience and a nice little car.

 

 

The Alfa had a few weeks mot and needed at least 2 tyres and some welding for the mot, plus a few suspension bushes and an exhaust repair; plus whatever else my kerbside assessment missed. Rather than spend out, put a ticket on it and get bored/sell on at a loss after a few months, I decided to move it on whilst it still owed me pennies. I swapped it in a part ex plus a little bit of cash and the megane money for a Merc CLK. Decent mot, and overall not in bad shape with lots of options and a roof in working order.

Yeah I’d forgotten what a rev happy, sweet unit the short stroke 3.2 v6 in these is....... main minus points are superficial AMG-isation which is daft given this is the more softly sprung “elegance”model.  Nothing says dubious merc banger more than a barrel full of erroneous AMG badges chucked here and there....... (picture credits- HMC and HMC_jr)

 

[Jim Bell]

That looks pretty saucey man. 

[xtriple]

I'm not happy about this chap, not at all. You have a CLK 320 and I have no CLK320. This is not my ideal situation, not in the slightest!

 

Looks like a really nice car, I am well jell   

[Six-cylinder]

If Bucketeer had been about I would have had the Magane in a flash, but with a full diary stretching into November there was no chance.

I love the Merc, you have some great cars.

[gadgetgricey]

That looks lovely.....

Heated seats for the win..

What's up with the roof\boot seal. Easy fix or just park it uphill?

[HMC]

Who says convertibles are not practical ? (let’s hope the rain holds off)

[gadgetgricey]

Autoshite way to add air conditioning to a Merc.

That's an AS calendar shot if ever I saw one.

 

 

[HMC]

  On 12/10/2019 at 17:18, gadgetgricey said:

That looks lovely.....

Heated seats for the win..

What's up with the roof\boot seal. Easy fix or just park it uphill?

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With the roof untensioned I pushed it back and with the root tensioned it puts pressure on it to hold it in place- not sure why it had worked it’s way out

[HMC]

Dailying the clk cabrio has reminded me what a great autumn/ winter car they are. Counter intuitive I know. A compact cabin, efficient warm up ( thankyou 3.2 v6) and heated seats see to that. 

The autobox (Mb 722.6) has been having a few “ moments”. When cold it can occasionally occasionally hold onto gears and not shift up at all. Manual selection sometimes seems to help but not always. Other times it’s perfect. I’m hoping that a “megaflush” and transmission service with oft used local specialist Cornwall and Devon transmissions will help. It’s something that is usually overlooked. Previous research when I last had a clk a208 showed that they are not affected by the valeo radiator problem of the time where the rad helpfully* allows atf and coolant to mix. I’m hoping that this 98% fluid change will help. I’ll keep you posted. I know it seems a bit frivolous but by virtue of design it will never need a cambelt or clutch/dmf and is due for a bit of TLC.

[HMC]

Took the CLK to a transmission place where a flush, fluid and filter change has made the gearchanges smoother and sorted out the odd behaviour of the gearbox (not kicking down sometimes, but also not changing up sometimes) 

The waiting area hadn’t been recently updated and hence was worth of a few pics...

[gadgetgricey]

Jesus, thought that was Paul Young putting the gearbox in the back of the C15.

[320touring]

  On 25/10/2019 at 21:18, gadgetgricey said:

Jesus, thought that was Paul Young putting the gearbox in the back of the C15.

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"Wherever I lay my shaft, that's my home"

[Matty]

  On 25/10/2019 at 21:33, 320touring said:

"Wherever I lay my shaft, that's my home"

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Awesome 

[HMC]

Hi all, I fancy buying a car but nothing local has whetted my appetite; have you got anything you were thinking of moving on? Let me know. The cheaper the better! I would collect next saturday. Hit me up. 

[HMC]

I’m not fussy, as long as it gets me home, I’m your man. Save me from a Kia shuma locally that has had Alfa Romeo front seats fitted hamfistedly (why?)

[HMC]

On a separate note I spent a very wet hour under the clk changing the pilot bush to the gearbox. It had failed and spewed ATF into the loom from the box, buggering up the circuit. All sorted. Terrible weather for it though.

[Six-cylinder]

  On 02/11/2019 at 18:45, HMC said:

I’m not fussy, as long as it gets me home, I’m your man. Save me from a Kia shuma locally that has had Alfa Romeo front seats fitted hamfistedly (why?)

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Have you seen @RobT has just put his Volvo S60 is up for sale.

[Tomtation]

  On 02/11/2019 at 18:45, HMC said:

I’m not fussy, as long as it gets me home, I’m your man. Save me from a Kia shuma locally that has had Alfa Romeo front seats fitted hamfistedly (why?)

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2002 Micra 1.0 CVT? In Yeovil, Somerset. £800 smackers for a shiter if you're interested (it's not the one pictured in the link btw!). Photos at the bottom of the 1st page.

 

[castros_bro]

There's a *nice Pug 205 CJ (1.6i cabriolet) which goes but has a loud big bore exhaust and no tow bar  so may have to depart due to no tow bar. If interested I can go find tomorrow and get some pics and make up some details?

 

[loserone]

It's a 1.4 if it was mine, cheap to tax and fast enough.  I have some pictures handy if you want @castros_bro

[HMC]

  On 03/11/2019 at 11:27, Tomtation said:

2002 Micra 1.0 CVT? In Yeovil, Somerset. £800 smackers for a shiter if you're interested (it's not the one pictured in the link btw!). Photos at the bottom of the 1st page.

 

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Thanks but as much as I’m a fan of these not for me at the money Thanks.

[HMC]

Took the clk out for a Dartmoor autumnal welly walk. Heated seats and roof activated.

 

 

[HMC]

Took the clk up to The NEC show with the gearbox still misbehaving. No shifting up when cold; unless you manually went through the box. Random starting in what felt like third with no kickdown. Not always going into 5th. Starting to sound expensive!

I Had already changed a seal on the box that had allowed ATF to leak through the wiring loom. A new seal and lots of electrical contact cleaner later and it was still looking expensive.

A fluid and filter change also was hopefully done but still it continued.

I stripped down the selector and it was very worn between D and 4 where you go to then manually shift the gears. Pressure on the shift handle would make the illuminated light behind the gear display flicker and go out. Cause or effect? (Was the selector knackered from the need to shift manually across the gait every cold start I thought; or was this the cause of it all) More being out of ideas than inspiration I got a second hand selector off e bay for £30. Handily it was near where I’m staying so I collected it and changed it in the car park. So far it’s driving perfectly so I’m hopeful that I can call that a fix. Will keep you posted on my extended test drive back home!

[HMC]

150 miles back and it’s shifting gears perfectly and hasn’t misbehaved. Relief here as something internally wrong with the gearbox would be beyond my knowledge and budget.

Celibrating with a bottle of bishops finger.

[dave j]

Happy with that result, fixing it for 30 quid! Makes you think, many would have got rid thinking major expense needed for a new gearbox or something 

[HMC]

One merc sold (clk to a well known forum member) 

One repurchased (from marm)

402k on the clock and not out

[The Moog]

thats certainly quite a change!