Refitting the Choke Cable

After a break from the car for a couple of weeks to sort my house out, I took the cable clamp bolt off the 300se's main air suspension valve to replace the choke clamp I broke by overtightening it on the 220.

Also cleaned the plugs (again) and narrowed the spark gap to .4mm from .6mm. Adjusted the idle and jets on the carburettor and the advance on the distributor, but need gas analyser to get it right. Running OK though, no clouds of black smoke.

Eventually got the passenger door fitting correctly enough for the MOT.

Tomorrow need to bleed the brakes, finish sorting the doors out and replace the horn switch on the 220 which I nicked off the 300se, then get the sills welded and hopefully it will pass its MOT.

From 20100603

Last door on

Went to vote today and saw this Bike on the way back - I want one. Pulled a muscle so just got the door on ready to take it to be MOT'd after I've bled the brakes.

Starting the engine and replacing the doors

Had a bit of a battle to get the 220b going again after cleaning the whole fuel system except the fuel pump which I am going to rebuild with a kit. Turned out it was the plugs which I had cleaned last week, but which were completely filthy because of the multiple attempts at getting it going without success over the past few days.

Moved the car out of the garage and started on replacing the doors in order to get the car to the Welders and then the MOT. Got both the back ones on and the front passenger side back on, then it got dark, so I will put the driver's side on tomorrow and adjust them all so that they fit well enough to drive with, given that they will all have to come off again to prepare the car for spraying.

Finally, I'm going to bleed the brakes tomorrow and put the horn switch on which I nicked off Hercules (the 220b's hooter developed a mind of its own a while back and I had to disconnect it to avoid getting beaten up every time I turned left).

Very knackered, but very relieved the car started.

Fuel system nearly done

Spent most of the day wire brushing pipes and tubes. Next time I'm going to wear gloves... Anyway, got everything back together again, and it's beginning to look better under the bonnet. Tried to start the car, but the battery died, so it's on charge and hopefully it'll fire up tomorrow.

Reinstalling the Carbs and Thermostat

Rain stopped play yesterday, so I made a very small start on organising my house and caught up with friends.

220b

Compensated for the lack of progress today though. Dismantled the hoses from the radiator to the thermostat housing on both cars. The pipework was really garred up with what looked like the stuff bachelors get in their washing machines when they haven't cleaned the soap powder tray for several years. Set about them using the wire wheels. Had to use a hacksaw to remove one of the Jubilee clips. Put the plumbing back together along with a new rubber hose and four new Jubilee clips and am very happy with the result (as long as it doesn't leak when I start the engine).

Replaced the carburettors, getting the left hand plate the wrong way round the first time. They look a lot better than before, but am intending to send them away for a proper rebuild prior to selling the car.



300se

Tried to get Hercules to rise up off its stops today, but the compressor gave up before I got anywhere except cleaning the gunk out of the air reservoir. I'll see what's wrong with the compressor and try again soon.

Petrol Tank, Carbs and Thermostat

Drained fuel tank and removed. Replaced and changed Jubilee clips. Using a jack really makes the job a lot easier. Blew compressed air through the system. Removed plumbing between fuel pump and carbs. Removed carbs. Soaked the carbs in the petrol I had drained earlier on. The washing up brush was ideal for the job, although it won't be washing any plates again. With the plumbing out of the way, I was able to remove the thermostat housing and extract the two 5mm Allen bolts that had sheared with a pair of mole grips.

Cleaned most of the oil and grime off the carbs and left them to soak in petrol overnight. Removed the needles and cleaned them with very fine wire wool and petrol.

Tomorrow I hope to get the engine running again and put all the doors back on.

Doorhinges II

Went shopping for clips, bolts and tools. The great thing about Brighton is that everything is within walking distance. Now have the bolt extractors and some Jubilee clips to see if the thermostat housing can be saved.

Tried out the new blowtorch on the rear hinges, but still not happy with the lower hinge on the passenger side. Will have to get a hinge pin extractor and do it properly. There is also a bit missing on the driver's side lower rear hinge, so Hercules is going to be donating a few more bits in the near future.

The rustiness of the long distance bolt

Thought I'd get the head off the thermostat today. As with almost everything on a 49 year-old car, instead of taking five minutes, it's going to take a while. Not only have two of the Allen bolts sheared off, but the jubilee clips on the hoses are rusted solid. So I've cleaned up the two bolts that came out intact and have replaced them so that the car is drivable, and I will leave the housing alone until I have all the parts I need to make a proper job of it.

Then it started to rain, so this evening I'll mostly be reorganising my house into something approaching a home, albeit one smelling of petrol and oil. Just one more coffee should do it...

Door Hinges & Pertronix

My grease gun arrived today along with some other toys, so I made a start on the hinges which were mostly stuck solid - The needle nose grease gun adaptor snapped as soon as I introduced it to the grease nipple, which was a good thing, because it was obvious that it was useless for the job in hand. I drilled out the needle stump with a pilot drill, and now have a nigh on ideal tool for greasing the hinges. I know there is a correct tool available from Mercedes, but there is something quite satisfying about making one yourself.

The grease went in fine to one of the hinges, but none of the others. Having researched the cure on various fora, I decided to cook the recalcitrant hinges over my hob [WARNING - boiling grease spits out in all directions], given that I cannot find either my electric paint stripping gun or my blowtorch in the place formerly known as my sitting-room.

Having grease-gunned the barbecued hinges whilst still hot [WARNING - boiling grease now squirts out in all directions], the hinges are completely freed up and ready to go back on, once I have finished cleaning them and assuming they don't seize up again overnight. The rear door hinges which are welded to the B posts are going to need the attentions of a blowtorch which I will either find or replace.

Other jobs I did today were reconnecting the fuel tank, cleaning the plugs and the distributor cap and borrowing my neighbour's compressor to see if Hercules rises off its haunches tomorrow.

Hinges



As I was doing the plugs, I thought I would take a couple of pictures of the Pertronix 1864A I installed about 4 years ago on the 220 - the installation was very straightforward, the only nerve-wracking job being grinding off a bit of the vacuum advance pivot arm to clear the magnetic collar which sits over the spindle and underneath the rotor arm. At the same time as installing the Ignitor, I changed the coil for a 40,000 Volt Flamethrower from the same company, doing away with the ballast resistor connection as per the instructions. The only visual difference is that there are two wires going from distributor to the coil instead of one, and of course none to the resistor. I think I might enclose the two wires in some black heat-shrink sleaving once the engine bay is finished, for the sake of originality.

As to performance and reliability, I have to say that it's been brilliant. I kept the points just in case, but it has never let me down since I installed it, and the car goes like a rocket (speed limits permitting, naturally).

Pertronix Ignitor 1864A

Petrol Tanks and Pulleys

In spite of industrial amounts of coffee and cigarettes, it has taken me two days to recover from sorting out the garage. I must remember I'm 50, not 25.

Today I took the valve cover off the 220 to check the timing chain - it's as tight as tight can be, so no worries there. I took the opportunity to clean the cover a bit, but a lot more cleaning is required. One of the Allen bolts has sheared off in the thermostat housing and there are water marks everywhere, so I will try and extract the remains of the bolt, or failing that, will replace the housing at the same time as putting in a new thermostat and rubber hoses. I also intend to replace all the brake pipes and the master cylinder before selling the car.

The rest of the day has been spent inhaling petrol fumes. I got the petrol tanks off both cars and removed the dregs and old fuel. I have mostly got the 220's back on, but intend to put new hoses on both of them before I'm finished with the job.

Finally, I got a message from a very kind member of the Mercedes-Benz Club who told me where Hercules had been - Muswell Hill. He has the pulley off the generator and is going to let me have it back, as he borrowed it off the enthusiast who had apparently bought Hercules. He also bought the lights, so they now have a very good home on his W112 Cabriolet. It transpires that the chap who owned Hercules had good intentions for the car, but that the council intervened and towed it away. He must be gutted, poor bloke. I'm sorry I made assumptions and called him a vandal now. Anyway, when I get Hercules back on the road again, I'll have to pay him a visit in it which I hope will cheer him up.

Sorting out the garage...

Started at around midday, finished around 8.00 a.m. My sitting room is now a repository of car bits, computer bits, bits of kebab and general crap. Fortunately, I am single at the moment. However, at least the door-less 220 is comfortable. I, on the other hand, am a bit tired. Nothing an industrial quantity of coffee and cigarettes can't sort out though. Plan for today if I can get going, is to drain Hercules's oil and fuel, reconnect the damaged fuel line, borrow the generator pulley from the 220 and install, then fire the 300 up, now that I have the keys.

Before:



After:

The eBay Advert

All doors off

Got the back doors off today and am soaking the hinges in petrol. Trying to get the brakes to work properly by using a piece of wood to fully depress the brake overnight, as recommended by my garage. The rear doors are in quite good condition and only need a bit of repairing.

Fixing the 220b

My concentration has turned to getting the 220b into restored condition.
So far have got the doors, bumpers and dented wing off.
I tried fixing the dented wing, but it's too far gone, so am now replacing it with a new old stock one. The underneath is extremely solid, and requires only a little welding to the front of the o/s sill. The damage to the front beam is very minor and the plan is to cut the bent bumper turret off and replace it with the one I cut off the 300se. The bumpers are also being replaced with those off the 300se.

Repairing the crash damage to my 1961 220b

Got bumper bar off, then took wing off and replaced sheared bonnet hinge bolt.

More Dismantling

More work today - Cut off the bumper turret to repair my 220b. Removed the headlining, scraped off a lot of soundproofing from the rear of the cabin. Also got the dasboard mostly off.

Dismantling the car

I've spent the last three days dismantling Hercules. The rust is pretty bad, and both sills and most of the floors are rotten as are the front and rear cross members. The bumpers are now off, and I took an angle grinder to the exhaust which was rusty, very bent and trailing on the ground. All the air suspension parts are intact, and I will attach my neighbour's compressor to the reservoir to see if the car rises up. The airbags are pretty ancient, but they used to hold air, so hopefully they still will.

Hercules Returns

I've just got my old car, Hercules, back after 6 years!

This is the picture from the eBay Ad.

Luckily the interior is still all there and the chrome is in the boot.

I had no idea a car could disintegrate so badly in six years.

Anyway, Hercules is back, and will rise again.