Project Mercedes Benz - W123 230E & W124 200E - Both happy and working ok

[Snake Charmer]

20 hours ago, Peter C said:

Are we still talking about two coats of paint or have we moved on to concrete slabs?

I mentioned the curing time because of personal experience with paint reactions and particularly with Hammerite. I would not like to see you having to remove or replace the screen and do the job again due to paint choice and a reaction with the screen sealant.

[Ian_Fearn]

2 hours ago, Peter C said:

A well concealed small hole in a windscreen post is nothing to worry about.

 

Agreed. If you do ever have the appallingly bad luck of an accident, a 10p hole in your windscreen pillar will be the least of your worries.

 

[Peter C]

41 minutes ago, Snake Charmer said:

I mentioned the curing time because of personal experience with paint reactions and particularly with Hammerite. I would not like to see you having to remove or replace the screen and do the job again due to paint choice and a reaction with the screen sealant.

I appreciate your comments, I was just being silly.

I understand what you are saying. I remember painting something on my W123 years ago, with Hammerite and the paint took forever to dry. It felt tacky a week after painting. The paint that I applied to the windscreen frame has gone rock solid. I'm confident that it will be ok. We'll see tomorrow!

[Peter C]

11 minutes ago, Ian_Fearn said:

Agreed. If you do ever have the appallingly bad luck of an accident, a 10p hole in your windscreen pillar will be the least of your worries.

 

 

Agreed. Unless history repeats itself.

 

 

[GingerNuttz]

Big difference in filling a few small holes in the surround to putting 7 or 8 cans of filler with some shelving and pop rivets into the c pillar of a rotten car. 

 

[Peter C]

2 minutes ago, GingerNuttz said:

Big difference in filling a few small holes in the surround to putting 7 or 8 cans of filler with some shelving and pop rivets into the c pillar of a rotten car. 

 

Just the one small hole, thank you.

[eddyramrod]

He meant mine... and the distortions in his comment dwarf any that will ever happen to the body of my Cadillac.

[Peter C]

The Autoglass man visited today, brought a lovely new windscreen with him.

He was happy with my repair and the condition of the paint, the sealer that he applied stuck to the paint just fine, a new windscreen was fitted and all is well again.

[juular]

Did you go through insurance or pay yourself? (And if the latter - can I be cheeky and ask how much?)

[Peter C]

Just now, juular said:

Did you go through insurance or pay yourself? (And if the latter - can I be cheeky and ask how much?)

I claimed on the insurance and only paid the excess.

[juular]

Fair enough!

[Peter C]

3 minutes ago, juular said:

Fair enough!

I can’t begin to imagine how much it would cost to have the job done privately, especially as it involved two site visits.

[Snake Charmer]

A whole new outlook on life with a crystal clear screen!

[Peter C]

The 200E has developed a fault with the clutch hydraulics, see here: 

 

It's currently in the workshop, up on ramps.

Turns out that the AutoGlass man did not fit the upper trim / seal properly and when I drove the car on Monday (first time since the windscreen was done), I could hear wind and whistling from the top of the windscreen, where it joins the roof. Before going out in the 200E again on Tuesday, I taped up the join and... silence. It looks like the seal has turned back on itself under the top trim, which has caused a gap to appear between the glass and trim. Someone is coming out on Saturday to fix the problem.

The 230E has developed a slow puncture. The offside from tyre loses about 20PSI per week. I've taken the wheel off and fitted the world's ugliest spare wheel.

Which I removed from this fine beast a few years ago, before it went to the giant scrapyard in the sky.

I've put my wheel in the back of my Cooper, which is the only one of my three toys that is currently in full working order (now I've done it), to have it fixed tomorrow.

[Peter C]

My 230E (and me!) is the subject of a feature in issue 4 of Classic Retro Modern magazine, out now.

[Snake Charmer]

😎

[Peter C]

The 200E’s clutch hydraulics are now all ok. I was pretty sure that the master cylinder had enough and not wishing to get involved with disassembly of the pedal box, I handed the job over to my friendly mechanic.

The new cylinder cost £50 and he charged me £80 for labour. All good but there is a but…

When I collected the 200E on Thursday evening, I noticed that the brake lights were constantly on. I managed to drive it home without Old Bill stopping me and, perhaps more importantly, without anyone driving into the back of me.

I investigated the problem this morning. I removed and checked the brake light switch and it was working ok. The problem was that the switch was not connecting with the brake pedal. Neither the pedal box nor the switch feature any means of adjustment. I can only assume that when the mechanic reinstated the pedal box, something didn’t go back in the right place. Perhaps some washers? 

I ended up fixing a cable tie to the back of the brake pedal to reduce the gap between the switch and the pad that activates it. It’s not the best solution but it works.

I recently spent £42 having the rusty front offside wheel cleaned up and the tyre re-sealed. Last week I noticed that the front nearside tyre has started dropping about 20PSI a week. 

 

The spare wheel from hell made a welcome return and I’ve spent another £42 having the wheel and tyre sorted. Ideally I should have all four wheels properly refurbished. Perhaps one day.

The 230E and my Cooper are now tucked up in the garage and whilst I await a loan car to replace my daily Kia Exceed, which is hopefully going to be fixed soon, I’m going to use the 200E for daily duties. It’s a lot more civilised than the Cooper!

 

[junkyarddog]

I'm pretty sure that the plunger part of the brake light switch is adjustable.

It probably got knocked in slightly while being refitted,just needs to be pulled out again.

Poor form from the mechanic not to spot or remedy it.

 

[Peter C]

1 minute ago, junkyarddog said:

I'm pretty sure that the plunger part of the brake light switch is adjustable.

It probably got knocked in slightly while being refitted,just needs to be pulled out again.

Poor form from the mechanic not to spot or remedy it.

 

The brake light switch comes out by turning it by 90 degrees and pulling it out. Reinstatement is the same. There’s no adjustment on the switch and the metal plate that it slots into is fixed.

Photo taken from the internet.

 

 

[junkyarddog]

The white part of the switch can be adjusted to suit,you just need to pull it out a bit,it will then self adjust to the brake pedal.

[Peter C]

18 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

The white part of the switch can be adjusted to suit,you just need to pull it out a bit,it will then self adjust to the brake pedal.

Are you sure that it’s ok to pull the white bit out? No need to twist it or anything?

You might be right as mine is more retracted than the one in the photo.

[junkyarddog]

37 minutes ago, Peter C said:

Are you sure that it’s ok to pull the white bit out?

 

Yes.

[Peter C]

2 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

Yes.

You are 100% correct, thank you for your advice.

[junkyarddog]

You're welcome. 

[Peter C]

@chadders

Looks like Hollywood has come to Aldbury again!

[chadders]

Thanks for this.

My missus once picked me up from Tring Station after I'd had a few beers so the village sign reading Farnleigh was a bit of a shock. It was an Inspector Morse episode if I remember correctly.

[Peter C]

Whilst my Kia Exceed was back in the garage having the front suspension fixed, which developed a bad knock following the incident with the skip lorry, I've been using my Mini Cooper for daily duties and on a few occasions I took the 230E out for a drive around the block.

I haven't driven the 200E much since I got it back from my mechanic (to have the clutch hydraulics fixed) but I did manage to take it out for a brief drive earlier this week. I noticed that the B-post plastic trim, specifically the seatbelt height adjustment part, was making an annoying creaking sound approx six inches from my right ear and that the unrestrained subwoofer is moving around too much in the boot.

I removed the B-post trim and applied gaffer tape to where the seatbelt adjustment part abuts the trim. I haven't been on a test drive yet (it's pouring with rain) but the trim feels more robust and a lot less creaky. Hopefully it will stay quiet.

I intended to do something about the subwoofer but as soon as I opened the boot I noticed a musty smell and an unpleasant green growth on my black leather gloves.

I removed the (aftermarket) rubber load liner, boot carpet and the nearside wing trim, which revealed that the fabric fixed to the boot floor was damp but everything else was dry.

It's too cold in the garage for the fabric to dry out by itself so I helped it out by setting up a heat gun in the boot for 20 minutes.

To get some air to the fabric, I wanted to leave the boot open for a few days but I didn't want to disconnect the battery and I couldn't figure out how to remove the boot light - I was planning on taking the bulb out so that it wouldn't drain the battery. I then discovered that the boot light can be disabled by pulling on the switch pin, which is located to the underside of the boot lid. Mercedes thought of everything.

And finally, I've suspended the boot carpet from the garage ceiling to help it dry out.

I've looked everywhere and can't find any evidence of water ingress. The damp has only occurred beneath the rubber boot liner where it sits above the fabric. I wonder whether the damp was caused by condensation or perhaps my mechanic had allowed water to enter the boot whilst he had the 200E in his yard for a couple of weeks. Time will tell.

As I'm not using the 200E as much as I did before I got my Mini Cooper and I've reached that point where I can't make any more improvements to it without spending thousands, on a full respray, for example, which isn't necessary, I briefly toyed with the idea of selling it. It's not a good idea as I would never see a return on my investment and after all the years I've had it, its become part of the family. Also, I'm not sure anyone would want to buy it anyway.

 

[Barry Cade]

Times like this I wish I had money in the bank, so I could say "old out yer aaand " 😞

[Snake Charmer]

My friends 300E had a small leak on the rear screen in heavy rain that was running down the inner arch/wing seam from the parcel shelf.

We have this in at work currently,  rare beastie built by Porsche......

[Peter C]

45 minutes ago, Snake Charmer said:

My friends 300E had a small leak on the rear screen in heavy rain that was running down the inner arch/wing seam from the parcel shelf.

A common old Merc problem area.

I’ve looked under the back shelf and all along the nearside inner wing and everything looks dusty and dry. The only damp area is off centre to the left of the spare wheel well, where the boot floor is lined with fabric.

The 200E is garaged and rarely gets dirty enough to warrant a wash. At the moment my money is on sweating caused under the rubber boot liner.