More Merc Madness , Battery malarkey

[Rusty Pelican]

Couldnt resist .
1991 190E 2.6 in some kind of light metallic blue 

Questionable history - Sportline badges when its not one - whats not to like 

Still its got 12 months ticket , runs well and the interior is lovely .

More to follow once i get my bonce around it 😁
Anyone want my  56 reg C180K Avantgard - MOTed til August next year , running well - everything works ( unless you fill it past 3/4 whereby it honks of fuel ) 

 

[HMC]

Lovely, IIRC thats “diamond blue metallic” had a couple of 124s in it

Got some interior pics? Any other sportline bits on it?

[Rusty Pelican]

18 minutes ago, HMC said:

Lovely, IIRC thats “diamond blue metallic” had a couple of 124s in it

Got some interior pics? Any other sportline bits on it?

It was for sale at Bonhams a while back ( i didnt buy it from here ) , you want pics , heres a shite load of em 

https://carsonline.bonhams.com/en/listings/mercedes-benz/190e-26-sportline/e625e979-4b9b-495f-b2b6-05781a84b1db

[shampooefficient]

Oh, excellent choice sir!

We have a "smoke silver" (beige) 2 0 with the rare manual box. I'm not convinced the box isn't made entirely from rubber but it suits the car. We have silly cars and it's nice to have one that when you start to press on, goes "hang on... Are you absolutely sure about this".

I have  bit of experience dabbling with these so if you need advice shout up and I might know... If not I'll know where to point you.

Also, get and carry a spare OVP relay. Or two.

[2flags]

That looks lovely. I take it this is from the era when Mercedes didn't rot like a 70's Fiat?

[hairnet]

nice

must do this one day

 

[Nullzwei]

Lovely 190. Did a VIN  check and your car was originally spec'd with a sportline AMG  performance steering wheel, option 281. No mention of sportline suspension but you do have a larger capacity fuel tank.

https://www.ilcats.ru/mercedes/?vin=WDB2010292F869246&VinAction=Search&language=en

[Rusty Pelican]

1 hour ago, Nullzwei said:

Lovely 190. Did a VIN  check and your car was originally spec'd with a sportline AMG  performance steering wheel, option 281. No mention of sportline suspension but you do have a larger capacity fuel tank.

https://www.ilcats.ru/mercedes/?vin=WDB2010292F869246&VinAction=Search&language=en

Figured it wasnt a sportline before i bought it , bad of Bonhams not to confirm the sportline bit , they just took the sellers word - dodgy stuff 

[AndyW201]

Great spec, great colour with the best engine, well played!

I've seen the discussions on the 190 site on FB with this car. Ignore the naysayers, if it has the chassis pack, it's a sportline optioned car, and therefore has a right to wear the badges regardless of whether it has the interior package or not. I kind-of have an eye for these cars and the ride height and the way the wheels sit in the arches tell me it's a sportline chassis car. An easy  way  to check whether it's a chassis pack equipped car is to check the small body coloured plate on the slam panel with the three digit codes on. If the code 650 is on there, then it has the sportline chassis option. The chassis pack comprised of lowered and uprated springs & gas shocks, thicker anti roll bars, lower ratio steering box & smaller steering wheel, firmer bushes throughout and wider wheels and tyres so quite a comprehensive upgrade. The know-it-alls have no clue, there was never a 190 sportline model, (apart from the US where there was a special run-out model called the sportline, in black with the chassis pack, and the sport interior in black and red leather) it was a series of option packs. You could have the chassis pack on its own, the interior in a number of combinations (sports front seats only, 2+2 sports front and rear seats,  cloth or leather) on its own, or the chassis and interior packs together (as option 950).

FWIW out of my previous 190Es, I've had a 1.8 with both chassis & interior packs, with badges,

a 2.0 with chassis pack and standard leather interior which didn't have the  badges from new, (but I fitted them, at great expense)

and two 2.6s with standard leather. One had a sportline badge on the boot from new but no wing badges, (wing badges eventually fitted by myself again)

and the other had the wing badges fitted from new by the supplying dealer.

It all depends on what the supplying dealers or original owners preferred. When the owners forum was a proper forum rather than the mess that's on FB now, nobody ever questioned the 'authenticity' of my cars!

In any case, you've had a cracking buy anyway with that car at that price,  2.6 values are well on the way up. True to form, I sold my last 2.6 for a pittance just before the prices shot up...

So have you got rid of the W203 then?  I'm just about to do the same, probbaly in favour of an older Merc!

[Rusty Pelican]

29 minutes ago, AndyW201 said:

Great spec, great colour with the best engine, well played!

I've seen the discussions on the 190 site on FB with this car. Ignore the naysayers, if it has the chassis package, it's a sportline, and therefore has a right to wear the badges regardless of whether it has the interior package or not. An easy way to check whether it's a sportline equipped car is to check the small body coloured plate on the slam panel with the three digit codes on. If the code 650 is on there, then it has the sportline chassis option. Chassis package comprised of lowered and uprated springs & gas shocks, thicker anti roll bars, lower ratio steering box & smaller steering wheel, firmer bushes throufhout and wider wheels and tyres so quite a comprehensive upgrade. The know-it-alls have no clue, there was never a 190 sportline model, it was a series of option packs. You could have the chassis pack on its own, the interior in a number of combinations (sports front seats only, 2+2 sports front and rear seats,  cloth or leather) on its own, or the chassis and interior packs together (as option 950).

FWIW out of my previous 190Es, I've had a 1.8 with both chassis & interior packs, with badges,

a 2.0 with chassis pack and standard leather interior which didn't have the  badges from new, (but I fitted them, at great expense)

and two 2.6s with standard leather. One had a sportline badge on the boot from new but no wing badges,

and the other had the wing badges.

It all depends on what the supplying dealers or original owners preferred. When the owners forum was a proper forum rather than the mess that's on FB now, nobody ever questioned the 'authenticity' of my cars!

In any case, you've had a cracking buy anyway with that car, 2.6 values are well on the way up. True to form, I sold my last 2.6 for a pittance just before the prices shot up...

So have you got rid of the W203 then, I'm just about to do the same in favour of an older Merc!

YAY YAY YAY - Its got 412 , 470 , 600 , 620 , AND 650 , You Sir are my hero

The W203 is getting sold on , tricky to sell a car just before Crimbo though so  in January il do a bit of a sales thing 

 

[tooSavvy]

@AndyW201... Hooray! 

To listen to someone who knows $hit from $hinola on these.... Bit like the look, on Humpty Gokarts face, as he exits the swamp in The African Queen >> At last!!

Top Trumps M9 👍

🚙💨

[Rusty Pelican]

Got the whole washer system working , new pipes , one new pump ( headlight one ) and connected some random wires back together that were poking out the bonnet , probably wash jet heaters but ive no way of testing if the work 

[sutty2006]

I still want a 190. I’ve had a hankering for an old merc for a while. It’s a shame I enjoy old Vauxhalls instead 🤣

 

That’s definitely a going to town rig 👌

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I've gone off 190s a bit myself, but it's a lovely car. 

Quite jealous of the interior. 

[Schaefft]

I think this thread needs more photos. Sat in a Cosworth a few years ago and was quite impressed by the tactile feel of the switch gear and interior in general. In thats coming from a W140 owner!

[Rusty Pelican]

Abject bodgery .

So the car came with a rusty steel spare with a tyre the wrong size dated 95 with more cracks than a busted window .

Anyhoo i did get a proper alloy spare and got the correct sized tyre fitted so all good there .

However the washing up bowl holder inner / junk pot dont fit anymore , alloys too deep so the threaded bit wont reach and also the the tops too high so you cant close the spare wheel cover 😳

So to the bodge bit . First off cut the washing up bowl so it actually fits lower than the new wheel . The top you cut off will fit over it still . Fit bowl and bang it down so it hits the wheel and the top does the same . fix in place with some trim clips / nuts and bolts / self tappers / chewing gum - whatever you got really .

In the middle of the original threaded mount it used to screw too theres an M8 thread - I just made a bolt with a handle and used this .

Result - all fits together well , i still have the washing up bowl / junk pot fixed in place with the correct alloy

[Nullzwei]

The more sporty w201's fitted with wider alloys came with a hump in the boot floor cover to accomodate the wider J spare . Now unobtanium i would imagine.

[Rusty Pelican]

3 minutes ago, Nullzwei said:

The more sporty w201's fitted with wider alloys came with a hump in the boot floor cover to accomodate the wider J spare . Now unobtanium i would imagine.

Yep , got the hump in the plastic cover and the carpet , couldnt find a shallower washing up bowl for the wheel though , seems you just didnt get one

[stuboy]

nice looking merc, good buyage

[Rusty Pelican]

Todays debacle

Sorting oot the antifreeze . Hasnt been changed for years and looked like mud .

So it will run blue or red antifreeze from what i can tell and this was running red - seeing as my other cars run blue and ive got a proper mix strength tester thought it best to flush the whole system oot and go blue .

Cue lots of hose action , back flushing etc etc and finally the whole system ran clear .

Expansion bottle had loads of crud in the bottom so thought id remove it and clean it .

What fun that was - mainly the reservoir low warning plug was seized solid - loads of lube and prying with a tiny screwdriver got it off whereby i noticed a wire broken off . Had to re solder this ( with an iron way too hot as it turns out ) and got it back together .

Shorting out the two terminals proved the circuit for the washers and rad worked as the light on the dash burst into life .

No idea if the floats work but thats for another day less raining and cold .

Need to top up the system once its cooled a bit .

[Rusty Pelican]

So im a twatting ejit .

Got the cheap alloy spare and had a new tyre fitted then noticed the NSR tyre going down .
Nae bother il fit me new spare except ---
Wrong feekin offset so it sticks out enough to potentially rip the arch off . so gotta find another wheel but at least this time im not guessing - because part number and offset taken off the leaky wheel .

So still no spare wheel 

[Rusty Pelican]

New / another wheel obtained , tyre fitted and we finally have a spare wheel that fits.

Weather has been appalling lately so not done much however I have fixed the drivers side sunvisor mirror / light effort . First time i used the visor the mirror cover fell on me . hinge busted clean off both sides , recon it was just placed on .

Try and find a drivers grey twin light vanity mirror for a 190E thats not busted - no feekin hope , did find a pair of black ones in the EU at wallet melting cost so thats out.

I did however find a visor for a W140 
Right colour = check 
Perfect mirror assembly = check 
Fits perfectly = no chance in hell 

Plan was to remove the entire mirror and light from this and fit it into the 190E one - And it only feekin works 😁. Lots of faffing involved and the W140 ones light unit is shallower on the top so wouldnt clip in , no issue as self tapping screws to the rescue  

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

How fancy. My sun visor is in the door pocket. 

[Rusty Pelican]

29 minutes ago, Conrad D. Conelrad said:

How fancy. My sun visor is in the door pocket. 

Not exactly ideal 

[Rusty Pelican]

Used it Friday evening for shopping , twas bloomin cold out so told Mrs Rusty to open the passenger side outer vent for some warmness , " just blows cold she piped up " , seeing as the knobs on hot thats not ideal .

Research turned me into panic mode - leaky heater valves , vacuum operated this that and tother and general complications abound.

Turns out whoevers been in there before didnt reconnect the vent rod back onto its knob.

Took ages to fight my way in there but the result was an over whelming success .

Great when you fix stuff you didnt even know was busted . Only pic i took because dead battery  

[Rusty Pelican]

Sod any important stuff .

Lets fit the repro dealer plate on the rear . wwwtandbclassics.com is hardly 1991 🤣

Original threaded inserts were long gone and probably why the plate was stuck on ( just ) 

Still the holes left were perfect for M5 Rivnuts so its mounted as factory again .
Not sure how accurate the font is but its the best i could get

[mk2_craig]

That looks absolutely spot on. Who supplies these? 

[Rusty Pelican]

1 hour ago, mk2_craig said:

That looks absolutely spot on. Who supplies these? 

Got them via facebook from a company called Retro Plates. When i asked if they could do it they already had the info including the phone number 

https://www.facebook.com/retroplates

[Rusty Pelican]

And for my next repair .

Drivers side ( UK ) mirror handle adjust in and out up and down handle doodab thingy .

Busted clean off well before I got it.

New handle aquired from ebay ( from Poland IIRC ) .

Fitting its easy , getting the broken bit out is a right nightmare . Its riveted to the adjuster doofer and getting that outs a nightmare . basically file the top off , prise the busted bit off . File the bottom bit and punch the pin out .

Fitting the new arm is the easy bit although you cant reuse the pin .In the end I used a pop rivet with a washer that only just fitted the rivet at the far end therefor pinning it altogether . pop rivets hold well but not solid so it all still pivoted OK .

Loads of greas added .

To compound the hell the top mirror mount screw had previously sheered off . couldnt get that out so sawed the stub off , drilled right through and locked in an M4 bolt.

Anyhoos it all now works perfectly

[Rusty Pelican]

More Merc mayhem
This time disassembly and re greasing the mono wiper .
Its been running slow and sometimes refuses to operate .
Absolutely no grease in there whatsoever save for the remains of some sticky goo .