Patina, the most shagged W124 cab in existence... now has a W208 CLK for company

[124Cab]

Greetings from not so sunny Manchester ?️

I'm new to the forums, but not a newbie to shite that often costs me as many grey hairs as they do pound notes. 

My latest addition to the fleet (to live along side my P38, but I will highly the joys of owning that in another post) is Patina, a 96 Merc E220 cabriolet. Featuring a cool 188k on the clock a questionable ? D status - there is so much damage on it I wouldn't know what was the final nail in the insurance coffin. 

Brief outline;

Hood - shagged, won't go down as a window regulator is borked. Wings - rotten. Rear arches - one solid, one rotten. Jacking points - 2 out of 4 solid, but hey, they're covered in plastic so I won't worry just yet! Tyres - worst I've seen on any MoTd car, brings the tearm ditch finder to a whole new level. Paint - disgusting. Seats - foul, more likely to catch something inside this than out. I'm sure you get the picture...

Good points! 

Yes, it actually has an MoT until November!

Last lady owner 18 years, presumably gave up driving after clipping all four corners and down both sides. Drives really nicely, as most old Benzes do. It's my 7th 124, and 17th Mercedes and I've had prettier cars drive far worse than this, even on it's 10+ year old Chinese racing slicks. 

Picked it up in late Feb from an arrogant *ss*ole of dealer who bought it at Barron's auctions - hi hi if you're reading this - but haven't had the to get the spanners out thus far. So I guess this is where I will document the dramas that will soon unfold...

Replacement wheels (15" flat face I had in storage, I know not correct on the cab, sue me) and a set of 4 part worm Michelins going on next next week and seats out for a deep clean. Working on the basis I'll currently get 3 points per tyre...

I'm planning to keep this on a relative shoe string as it'll always be a sh*tter with the ? status, mileage and general degradation I doubt I'll be able to peddle back from...

Any one have options/experience on aftermarket front wings? I know quality varies hugely across aftermarket manufacturers. Not had much joy in the past but others have apparently.

 

1996 E220 Cab, Azurite Blue, 188k

1998 P38 DSE, Rioja red, 145k

 

[jon.k]

Wow, that is quite special!

[Fat_Pirate]

Superb, I love this.  

[gadgetgricey]

And a P38. You masochist  

That passeneger seat is only reserved for your worst enemies. 

Looking forward to hearing more about both,

[dc2100k]

Wow, what a honey ??

I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with her. There’s an identical colour cab that lives on the poshest street in Edinburgh, a mint 320 naturally. Every time I see it I miss my W124. 

[worley]

I dig the color! Can't wait to see the updates. Good luck!

[Wingz123]

If you ever come to get rid of it please give me first dibs I would be interested.

Thank you,

 

James

[Twiggy]

Looks pretty good that !

[HMC]

Lovely! Wonder what the history with it is. It looks like the sort of genteel decrepitude that can only happen with an elderly long term owner, plus a dog riding beside him or her wherever they went.

[Six-cylinder]

Such a great looking car.

When the hood would not go down on the one I used to have it turned out to be the micro switch in the header rail.

[dc2100k]

5 minutes ago, HMC said:

Lovely! Wonder what the history with it is. It looks like the sort of genteel decrepitude that can only happen with an elderly long term owner, plus a dog riding beside him or her wherever they went.

Crippling inheritance tax bill leading to sustained periods of vehicle dwelling perhaps?

 

[theshadow]

fibreglass is your friend,watch out for certain relay,that will ftp it,i flogged one,before ftp on new owners 2 weeks later,?

[somewhatfoolish]

That's disgusting, it's making me feel itchy. Well bought!

[Carlosfandango]

Love the Cab. I had one and while it wasn’t as gloriously shite as yours, it wasn’t great to be fair - but I loved it. I still regret selling it. Looking forward to seeing if you improve this, but love it the way it is! Well wear man  

I also have a P38 (three of them in fact). 
 

CFD 

[Peter C]

Have a look at my thread about my W124 200E. Last year I replaced the front wings, one of them a NOS MB part, the other a cheap EBay pattern one. I’ve also written a fair bit about typical W124 rust issues and how they were solved.

Awful looking car by the way - well bought!

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Convertible for extra brave points!

[GeordieInExile]

1 hour ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Convertible for extra brave points!

It's not really convertible right now though if the roof won't go down.

 

Means you're less likely to be seen in it though so it's all good.

[124Cab]

3 hours ago, Peter C said:

Have a look at my thread about my W124 200E. Last year I replaced the front wings, one of them a NOS MB part, the other a cheap EBay pattern one. I’ve also written a fair bit about typical W124 rust issues and how they were solved.

Awful looking car by the way - well bought!

I have been following your post for some time - beautiful example! Not looking forward to my subframe mounts as I've played that game before. 

[124Cab]

10 hours ago, Carlosfandango said:

Love the Cab. I had one and while it wasn’t as gloriously shite as yours, it wasn’t great to be fair - but I loved it. I still regret selling it. Looking forward to seeing if you improve this, but love it the way it is! Well wear man  

I also have a P38 (three of them in fact). 
 

CFD 

Ah, a fellow masochist! What models of P38 do you have? Presumably all eroding your bank balance at an alarming rate, leaving your mental health on the edge and your relationships in tatters? A braver person that I!

[124Cab]

23 hours ago, theshadow said:

fibreglass is your friend,watch out for certain relay,that will ftp it,i flogged one,before ftp on new owners 2 weeks later,?

Currently a majority stake holder at Isopon ?

[124Cab]

On 6/8/2020 at 10:05 AM, HMC said:

Lovely! Wonder what the history with it is. It looks like the sort of genteel decrepitude that can only happen with an elderly long term owner, plus a dog riding beside him or her wherever they went.

Little old lady and her dog indeed! I assume said woofer spent most of its time wet, clawing at the passenger seat. Year 2000 horse trials membership sticker in the window. Assume she was suitably well healed and just as unwashed...

[124Cab]

Many thanks for the kind words of encouragement!

I also find her to be quite the charming old ruin. In two minds about leaving the body the way it is... it seems so out of the ordinary for one of these.

Hopefully after a nice letter written to the previous owner will shed some light on its history. 

I've picked up a less ripped passenger seat base as a temporary measure to make it slightly less uninhabitable!

Year 2000 British horse trial member pass in the windscreen... answers on a postcard as to the profile of the previous lady owner...

[Six-cylinder]

Trouble is if you don't fix the hood you can't go hood racing!

Well I went hood racing and lost by a click to my friend. (mine was the blue one)

[Carlosfandango]

43 minutes ago, 124Cab said:

Ah, a fellow masochist! What models of P38 do you have? Presumably all eroding your bank balance at an alarming rate, leaving your mental health on the edge and your relationships in tatters? A braver person that I!

Mine are all 2.5 daysuls. 
daily is an auto and the ‘build’ one is a manual. 
 

yes, they suck me dry but sure I don’t drink. 
oh wait...

 

CFD

[Cookiesouwest]

Christ that's awful. Well played Sir

[Jerzy Woking]

I bought a pattern wing for my W202 from ebay. Definitely thinner metal than the original MB one (with big rust holes in it to lighten it). Car scrapped before I fitted it.

A mate took the wing from me and fitted it to his car. Said it all lined up fairly well, but needed a few taps with a rubber mallet in a couple of places. Looks fine now it's been painted.

[Conan]

Is the flat face wheels also off a W124? Definitely keep the bodywork shoddy though, the patina's amazing. Appears to be DB904 Midnight Blue as well which is the same colour as my old 124, great colour for it!

[DoctorRetro]

That's brilliant. Even I would be tempted to leave that lacquer peel alone! 

[Jerzy Woking]

1 hour ago, TheDoctor said:

That's brilliant. Even I would be tempted to leave that lacquer peel alone! 

It has that air of "I've plenty of money so can leave it looking like this" to it.

I want something as lacquer deficient for my daily in Spain.

[124Cab]

On 6/9/2020 at 11:07 AM, Six-cylinder said:

Trouble is if you don't fix the hood you can't go hood racing!

Well I went hood racing and lost by a click to my friend. (mine was the blue one)

It is one of the first things on my to do list! However, if I find that the hood ECU, struts, micro switches, pump and all other hood paraphernalia are totally borked, I may convert it to manual. I've a friend who's done his with great success, disconnecting the pump and creating a lever to operate the rear bow release via a cable and the rear cover release by bonding the Mercedes emergency release tool to the nut between the back seats. However I live in hope! I'm willing to chuck a reasonable wedge at it to see if I can get things functioning correctly before I start the butchery.