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Jaypee's 300td Merc - Unbearingable.. 23/07/21.


320touring

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1 hour ago, drewd said:

Ball joints are often a pain in the arse in my experience. They either pop out with a quick tap or two from a persuader or they take hours to remove using a combination of releasing fluid, bars, hammering and heat.

It's a cool car though, it'll be worth it when it's done.

Indeed man! I have just ordered a press out tool so we'll see how that goes. 

Hopefully! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Howdy, apologies for the delay in getting back to this! Didn't get a chance to get to it last weekend. 

The new press had arrived, and I purchased new nuts and bolts, this is gonna be a skoosh. 😎

*voiceover*

Dearest readers, this was not a skoosh, Jp was deluded*

*end of voiceover*

Headed through to the unit today and met Father Touring. He was laden with coffee and some nourishing snacks for lunch #legend. 

I started to think about how it was best to approach this wonderful task. Got the large jack and raised the car up a bit more to furnish us with space. 

This achieved, I got the new press out, looked pretty decent, was 7. 8kg so felt robust too. Got it all set up and started reefing on it. IMG_20200926_105313.thumb.jpg.d2d6b05d2337e6180c0ed7c07ff02514.jpg

After a fair bit of elbow grease, the bastard popped! 

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Success! Today was going to be a quick turn around......... 

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BASTARDSESES! The press, and of course my use of it (I did read the instructions, unusually) had ended up pushing the centre of the ball joint out through its own bum. A small smattering of swearing, a dash of the grinder (to cut the flange (oooh err missus) off the ball joint) and some judicious application of the Tonya Harding (Vice Grip Garage TM) lead to no further progress. Here, Father Touring is taking some STOP! HAMMERTIME! 

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A pause, and some scratching of chin, got the grey matter whirling. The top of the press, had a nice wee raised section, which, now the centre of the ball joint was away, and the flange was missing 'could' push the ball joint a bit... We set up, and got to it..... 

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MOVEMENT!! Not much, but movement nonetheless... Great* pic John... 

Bouyed with this success, we found a suitable socket and got pushing on! IMG_20200926_130617.thumb.jpg.a0ca081da0520fc83afa0d93cb739fab.jpg

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YALDI!! DANCING ENSUED.... Bollocks, that'll be the ball joint stuck in the bottom part of the press..... Thankfully, some tapping got it out. 

After all the hassle, we were left with, as Marks and Spencer would no doubt say, 'A deconstructed S124 ball joint'

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BASTARD THING, seen next to the new one for comparison. Thankfully, the bottom arm was empty (a wee scratch from the grinder, but fine) 

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At this point, it was deemed that lunch was a good plan! I consumed a Mexican Chicken sandwich, a pink jammy doughnut and a bottle of Irn Bru. Father had a cheese ploughman's, a lemonade and a toffee doughnut. 

After lunch, it was time to put it all back together. This'll be easy...... Thankfully, it was. 

SHINY NUTS (that's what they call me) AND BOLTS. 

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You can see on the lower pic, the original bolt is fuckernated, circa a mm and a bit smaller. 

New ball(joint)s please! 

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Prior to installation, we aligned the bolt rebate and the locating tab so it should line up with the bolt hole. 

Some jacking, tapping of the hammer got her all lined up and seated. I did put a little smear of antisieze on the bolt, cos I is a nice cvnt! 

Here are a couple of pics of me tightening the bolt up. 

Sensible. 

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Silly.

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All nipped up. 

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ARB bracket will be installed when on the ground, because SPRINGINGSPRONGEN! 

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Done, and dusted. 

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You may be wondering what that flex is...... It is the "Safety" cable.. 

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CONFORMITY WITH HS&E CODE GUARANTEED*

Tidied up the unit, and hoovered the car out, all it needs now is a wash, and an MOT. The jury is still put on whether or not I replace the other ball joint. 

Now, for some German engineering that I can get behind.... 

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Cheers! Jp. 

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A wee bit more done on this today, @320touringhad made the suggestion that, as I had another new ball joint, I should change them over... The ministry only failed the driver side. Today was the passenger side. Again, with the ball joint splitting, and multiple faffs! All in all, it's done, I didn't take any pics, however @320touringdid. We were also ably assisted by Father Touring and @dome

Anyone for some genuine Mercedes rust? 

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Deconstructed ball joint? 

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Or a happy* chappy? 

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Just needs a wash, then it should be reet for an MOT. 

Cheers. Jp 

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  • 320touring changed the title to Jaypee's 300td Merc - What a load of balljoints 04/10/20.
  • 6 months later...

As restrictions were lifted today, it was time to get to the unit (c.40 miles from home) 

General tidying and faffing about with @320touringand the faither.

I got the last couple of things done on the merc, a wash of the rear arches and suspension after the work done, to remove the leaking fluid.  

The battery had been disconnected in October, I reconnected it, and was met by a little bzzzzzzz, this boded well! A couple of heats of the glow plugs and she started off the key 🔑😊. The serene scene was maintained due to the full new exhaust. 

Also took the chance of free labour from @320touring

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Just need to book it in for an mot now.... 

 

P. S. Also put the hub caps back on #naephotaeasiamachoobandforgot

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

A quick update on the Merc from Saturday, 

A bit more fettling, to make this look like the cherished* vehicle that it is.... 

First off, a seamless, factory fresh repair on the wings.... 

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You'll also see the hub caps are on, as previously stated! 

A pesky, non functioning driver side repeater was troubleshot... (is that the correct past participle of troubleshoot.. 🧐🙄🤔?) no light, new bulb, no light, no power in the connector, however, power at the back of the connector..... Cleaned up contacts, still no joy, turns out the little festoon bulb had a split conductor. #fixt #profeshnal

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Then it was onto some beatification.... The rear end interior trim was all reinstalled. 

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Then, it was off to bed, the next trip would be the MoT.... 

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#doublegaffatapewingfixftw

 

 

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So, today (Wed) I had a day off and the possibility of having a long lie, that was soon shattered when I realised the Merc MOT was booked in for 10:30. Not too early I hear you cry, indeed, however, the car was a 45 miles away, so, that meant earlyish rising, well, before I would normally get up for work. First port of call was to collect @320touring at c. 08:30, I arrived at the pick up point, and was delighted to see him, and 2 cups of coffee, in cups that were coiffeable whilst driving. We made pretty good time, (the benefits of size 12s and 10* stone of weight...) and arrived at the unit at the back of 9. First order of the day was to put the 10l of diesel (yes, actual diesel, from a fuel station #swoon) that I brought with me, in the tank. The first 5l went in no hassle, and the second started fine, however stopped after about half, to my surprise (the gauge doesn't work) the tank was full, I must have filled it with more veg in the intervening months than I remembered. She started up, and was a bit grumpy, but soon settled down. 

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09:35 we were off! @320touring in the support vehicle... A gentle bimble through the local town to the motorway allowed me to recalibrate my driving style to 'relaxed'. On to the motorway and up to 70, she sat quite the thing, it drives well now, as the front wheels don't flop about independently. I did however notice a fair bit of brake vibration, and rode the pedal for a bit, which helped. The rest of the journey was uneventful, and we arrived at the MoT station about 10:15. The brakes were still quite funky, so a few good, hard stops in the industrial estate brought them right back around. The car was parked and the keys deposited to the nice man! 

Then, it was time for the most important thing..... BREAKFAST! 

I had 2 rolls with bacon and potato scone, @320touring had a roll with square sausage and black pudding, we both washed it down with a large coffee #decadent. An hour or so of talking pish passed, and we witnessed a boy in a 10 tonne chiller truck effectively handbrake turning it into the petrol station, which was nice.... 

With the GOV website unbothered, we decided to head back round to see what was what. 

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WILL SHOCK YOU........ 

We rounded the corner, and the merc was nowhere to be seen.. @320touring wittily quipped, 'do you reckon that they have scrapped it for you already?' 😂. As we parked up, we were met with a familiar odour.... #VEG, the merc rolled out and we got out the polo... The magic words were heard being uttered from the mouth of the station owner 'it's a pass'..... 

#success

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The owner of the station and his dad were both quite impressed with the old bus, and fondly remembered the OM603, as 'F*cking cracking big engines in them'

Here is a happy, and slightly surprised/relieved fellow

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BEHOLD THE MAJESTY*

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After a quick comfort break, it was put straight to work, 6 e30 BBS were removed from the garden and transported to the unit. I let Neil drive it through, he seemed to be pleased with how it drove. I was impressed with how composed it looked from behind, now that it has some form of damping! 

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We also got a fair bit of tidying and sorting out of stuff at the unit, so all in all a good wee day. 

Now I have to decide what to do with it 😂🤔

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  • 320touring changed the title to Jaypee's 300td Merc - MOT SUCCESS 28/04/21.

Took this big lump up to the unit today, after doing the old tax switcheroo yesterday. The polo was parked up. 

We started cleaning the front seats, especially the driver seat, as it had been mawkit after the lay up and the work. I didn't get any pics, as I am a professional. 

We then discussed what was next... It was decided that we would have a go at one of the front wings, the passenger side one was the better* one, some bridging filler should tidy it up, I thought, so off with the gaffa tape..... 

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Arseseseseses. 

So a quick change of tack was required (pun intended)... 

@320touring had brought the welder back, but we had no grinder, so had to rely on tin snips, which were right biased, a metal file, a screwdriver and some p38 filler. The pictures should tell you a story 😎😂

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@320touring loving it.. 

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Engineering* solutions*

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Some wob added and sanded down. 

Managed to get a couple of coats of zinc primer on it too. 

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Certainly a lot, lot better than it was, definitely not concourse, but it's a lot less horrible. Also Mr and Mrs Plod are likely to be happier. 

Cheers to @320touring for the assistance! 

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