My 1974 Mercedes 230.4 Restoration

[James Rothwell]

What's the ride like now?

 

[Markb]

James - the ride is fine, only discomfort is when it grounds out on speed bumps!!

I realised that I didn't finish the story, I just skipped ahead to the end, so here's the filler in bits.. (copy and pasted from another forum):

July 22nd:

Well today was a bad bad bad day for mojo.

Spent 4 hours in the garage and all I managed to do was:
Get cable ties onto the chopped rear springs.

Wow.

Had a massive backward step - snapped one of the shock absorber mounting bolts. Really frustrating and I threw in the towel after that.

Got the car registered over here now & bought waterpump.

I'm changing my Job list now to try and keep the mojo up:


Job list:

Fit Air Filter
Fit Waterpump
Buy & fit exhaust rubbers
Source handbrake cable & Fit
Order & fit 2 new tyres
Chop 2 springs
Drill out snapped bolt
Straighten Grille
Paint Prep
Paint
Polish
Tax & Insure

Realistically, I see about 25-30 hours work left.
I want all of the above done by the end of the month, otherwise I can't guarantee its attendance at RRG

Once it's on the road:
Buy & Install subtle ICE
Buy & Fit new engine mounts
Buy & Fit new prop couplings
Buy & Fit Whatever else I brea

July 23rd:

Another evening in the garage - Mojo is low, but I'm forcing it to be high!

Got to the garage about 7pm after another long day in work. Getting pretty knackered now tbh, nearly fell asleep driving.

Managed to get the grand total of this done in 3 hours:
Cut rear drivers spring to exactly same dimension as the other side + drill holes for retaining cable tie.

That took about 30 mins, the rest of the time was spent breaking stud extractors, looking for my blowtorch and generally being angry at the snapped bolt. It is mega rusted in, so I think my plan of action is:
Drill out bolt with oversize bit. Tap out hole. Use oversize bolt.
At the moment I have a 4mm pilot hole which is near enough central, so I think I'm just going to go for it. I've tried everything I can think of, and it's taking up too much of my time.

Plan for tonight is to get the fugging thing out, fit airfilter and fit waterpump.

July 24th:

Update - Awesome mojo building day

Managed to get loads done in a very short space of time - about 4 hours. Fitted the air filter (noticed that the metal tubing from exhaust manifold to air filter box is broken), fitted the new waterpump, sourced exhaust rubbers and fitted. Chopped the rear right spring and front left spring so thats all the springs done.

I have a bit of an issue with the ride heights... (height measured to silver trim piece)

Front Pass:
Height: 62cm
Tyre: 195/45/16 (58cm dia)

Front Driver:
Height: 62cm
Tyre: 195/45/16 (58cm dia)

Rear Pass:
Height: 60.5cm
Tyre: 225/50/16 (62cm dia)

Rear Driver:
Height: 60.25cm
Tyre: 205/50/16 (61cm dia)

Now I think I've gone too low with the back springs. I want to raise them to the same height as the front - I'm going to make up some sort of block to put between the spring and hold it in with cable ties.

Need to order some new rear tyres as they are both stuffed and diff sizes:
Options (price per tyre):
195/45/16 Nankand NS-2 £36
195/45/16 Toyo T1-R £45
205/45/16 Nankang NS-2 £37
205/45/16 Falken 912 £49
205/45/16 Hankook K110 £51
205/45/16 Toyo T1-R £61
+delivery £12

I fancy the 205/45/16 profile as it's a little bit wider for the back but the arches are tight enough as it, so I reckon I'll order the 195/45/16 Toyos tomorrow morning!

Still have the nightmare bolt to get out, but I'm leaving that for now as it's a mojo killer!

Job list:
Fit Air Filter
Fit Waterpump
Buy & fit exhaust rubbers
Re-fit Handbrake cable
Chop 2 springs
Order & fit 2 new tyres
Drill out snapped bolt
Straighten Grille
Paint Prep
Paint
Polish
Tax & Insure

Have 2 full days to try and get the car ready for paint top coat! I'm not painting the whole car, only the bits and pieces I've done, so it might look a little rough but it'll be road worthy!

To the pics!

Couldn't find a funnel small enough so used a finger from a glove - worked perfectly!

Some pics of the lowness (want to raise the back 20mm)

July 25th:

Good day today. Got lots of little fiddly jobs done today that I'd been putting off. Nothing really of note, but mostly involved finding the right size screws and such.

Pretty certain that I'm going to raise the back by 20mm. How I'm going to do it is another matter - I reckon I'll have to replace the springs.

The big job I got done today is that I sorted my snapped bolt problem. Quite proud of the job I did too - it's super pro y0!

We very much failed at straightening the grille - it's made of seriously strong stuff!!!

So I'm right down to the cosmetics now Hopefully should have it in primer by tomorrow, then need to get the paint matched somehow.

Pic showing how low the exhaust is! About an 1.5inches.... The downpipe is also fairly low. Luckily these are both quite near the wheels, so with some very careful driving might get away with it.

I've also been considering my ICE...

I know the system layout I want:
Source
Amplified Front speakers
Subwoofer

Keeps it nice and simple. I'm fairly dreading the install though. I'm going to have to cut some metal to get the speakers up front. These two pics show the area in question on the drivers side.

I think I'm going to go for 5.25" full range speakers. I was originally going to go for components, but it means more chopping of metal etc.

The glovebox isn't large enough to take a headunit without chopping it up which isn't an option, so I'm going to leave the existing headunit in and bypass the headunit idea completely, and use my mp3 player as the headunit.

In effect, this will mean that I have a period looking sound system (unless you look under the armrest) with premium sound. This has also saved me money, so win all around. Only sacrifice is no radio, just MP3s.

I need to make sure that I have the depth in the footwells, but I'm sure I can work something out.

Job list:
Fit Air Filter
Fit Waterpump
Buy & fit exhaust rubbers
Re-fit Handbrake cable
Chop 2 springs
Drill out snapped bolt
Collect new grille and fit
Order & fit 2 new tyres
Paint Prep
Paint
Polish
Tax & Insure

July 26th:

So today wasn't the success I thought it would be. I got some of the polishing done, but forgot all my polishing cloths etc so couldn't get a good finish on the bits I did. Acceptable, but not good enough

Made good moves on the ICE - my amp works

Serious bit of kit - £300 new apparently.

Plan for tomorrow is to get it into primer. Need to order my paint too. How do I get the paint code? Or does anyone know what colour it is?

July 27th:

Found out the colour is 050 Weiss! Nice and simple.

So, today was some good progress. Managed to get most of the filler and stuff sanded down. Now it's not perfect, and I could have done a much much better job, but it's a 10 footer which is good enough for me. I don't have the patience for painting, never have, never will! Primer went on nice and evenly with no drips. Did 4 layers of primer, so a bit of wet flatting tomorrow and it's ready for paint!

Got the front end all polished back - it's the first time I've seen the car not covered in bird crap and dust, so the paint is surprisingly good! There are a few dents and scratches but I can live with all of that

Doesn't polish up too badly for an old girl.

Got a fantastic Insurance quote today, so she'll be taxed and insured by Thursday.

July 28th:

OK, so irritating day. Managed to have the busiest day on record in work, meaning that even with only doing half the stuff I had I still didn't make it to the paint shop.

So my cousin is going to bring the stuff up in the morning and get me sorted.

I got a little bit more prep done. I didn't want to sand down the primer, as I put it on quite thick, so I want to give it another day or so to harden nicely.

I also polished & fitted the grille - looks fantastic even though it's a little bent! No more piccy updates until Friday morning I'm afraid, as I left the cable in work, and I'm off travelling around the country now!

August 1st:

ok so here's a teaser pic

bad news is that its too low to drive.went a mile up the road with it scraping and turned around. still happy enough

Managed to get the rest of the paint onto the car - it still needs blending in but is much more presentable.

Fitted the front speakers - was quite tricky to get it right, but I think I nailed it. Need to mount the amp properly still, but it's all fitted and working. All the rest of the time was spent doing silly little jobs and polishing.

Jobs left to do before gathering:
Blend paint
Tuck exhaust into body
Roll arches
Sort out Rear springs - raise a little
Make up new sidepanels for interior where speakers have been fitted
Bleed brakes again
Road test

Optional:
Build sub box
Refurb wheels

Still a long way to go considering I have next to no free time between now and the gathering between work and racing. Argh.

August 4th:

Just about to head down to shell out an extortionate amount on new springs - €141 . I'm too worried about not having it done in time to do it any other way, plus at least it means that they'll definitely be nice and firm.

I've made a definite plan:

Tues night:
Spray Race car
Blend paint
Roll Arches

Weds night:
Fit Springs
Road test

Thursday night
Polish Race car
Look at raising exhaust

My whole weekend is taken up with racing

Then I have Monday - Thurs night to:
Make up new sidepanels for interior where speakers have been fitted
Bleed brakes again
Mop car
Fix everything that's bad from the roadtest

August 9th:

Well I've made some good progress.

Managed to get out for the race which took up Thursday - Sat nights.

Anyway - back to the Merc.
Springs chopped and fitted.
Arches Rolled
Fitted new Massive battery
Fixed instrument cluster

Rest of the weeks plan:
Monday:
Balance Rear Wheels
Blend paint
Do a little more painting

Tuesday:
Balance Front wheels
Fix Steering creak
Bleed brakes again

Wednesday:
Make a 10" Sub box
Make up new sidepanels for interior where speakers have been fitted

Thursday:
Mop, polish & wax car

Friday morning in UK:
Headlight Alignment
Get Tracking done


Joy.

When I come back, I hope to book in Mini and Merc for some paint work - I don't think my skillz are good enough.

August 11th:

So an update, I'm on the home straight
Sunday night - I fixed the instrument cluster, rolled the arches (didnt do a god job :\ ), fitted a massive battery, threadlocked the diffbolts,
Monday night - Blended the paint (dont expect much tbh)
I also got all 4 wheels balanced today and the dude who damaged them has agreed to get them refurbed when I come back from the uk.

What's left to do before Thursday night:
Collect & fit Sub box
Mount amp properly
Do a little more painting
Fix Steering creak
Make up new sidepanels for interior where speakers have been fitted
Mop, polish & wax car
Test drive :\
Pack

At 5am, 14th August, I left for the UK without road testing the car. It was a brave move but it paid off ultimately. It was a great weekend and without having that aim, I think I'd still be doing bits to the car now! There aren't many pics near the end as I was literally using every spare second fixing bits and bobs. Looking back, I'm amazed I got it done considering I was working 10+ hours/day in work and the workshop was 30 mins away!

 

[bismarck]

Car looks great.Really impressed with resto,have a 69 280s myself and am a welder by trade in the dublin area,if you are stuck with welding dont be afraid to ask.Dont normally like alloys but the wheels look spectacular,where did you get them?Great car

 

[Filippos]

Awesome job! Just love those customised 115s! Happy cruising!

 

[allias]

Thats really amazing looking car. I really like what you have done so far.

 

[trainer]

I will echo a lot of the above sentiments and need to say how nice that looks.

 

[alabbasi]

love it, I have a w115 300D that i'm repainting. It has a little rust but not too bad. I also have a very rusty 280CE that I need to get into next. That will be a hell of a project.

Watching others doing the same work will keep me motivated.

 

[El Caballo]

That car is nuts, a real standout among the cookie-cutter wing kits.

Pontoneer, thanks for the tip. I used 10W40 semi synthetic on the recommendation of some Mercedes restoring friends. They told me 20w50 was too thick, which was a pain as I run my Minis on 20w50.

Thought some people might like to see a few pics from it's maiden trip:

Did the 642miles (satnav) without too much hassle, just a knocking driveshaft and a leak 10 miles from home.

 

[dinoy]

i have original steel wheels and hubcaps for this baby if u want swap for the alloys u have we can do something pm me, it is best to keep it as original as possible

 

[LESTAYLOR]

Wow - absolutely love it! Great job. IMO, one of the best looking Mercs ever made. Didn't think the lowering and Lorinsers would work, but they do.

So say I. looking great!

 

[6pot]

thats really nice, simple is best.

 

[stwat]

Fantastic. I love what you have done with it mate

 

[BIG J]

Nice project mate well done

 

[Haris]

this is awesome! love it!

 

[alabbasi]

Amazing restoration. I've just set up a website that is dedicated to the W114 and W115 models. I'd love it if you could tell your story there.

www.stroke8.org

 

[Frankie]

I love the look,modified without being too offensive.

 

[2.6caratgold]

Very nice restoration, not over the top with add ons, Well done.

 

[tobyd@callnetuk]

The car looks great Markb.
Adore those wheels - you got a better pick and a part number for them?
Cheers Toby

 

[Silentdeed]

Great looking car, turned out better than expected, good job.

 

[Mugello]

Liking the look of this