Billy's W124 Coupe Project

[BillyW124]

Sorry for the late response, recently it seems i havn't had time to myself been uber busy with work and house commitments! I have a week off next week so that should be good.

anyway, back to the motor funny you should mention the kit, im paying Andy's autobarn a visit on monday to drop it off for a spray job. hoping to get it ready in time for Jay's meet on the 4th.

Recently i've swapped out the OVP, fuel pump relay, Air intake sensor and the purge valve. Not because they were busted, just a bit of bullet proof maintenance - we know what i'm like!

I have a new rad comming with a few bits to complememt it. I'll be installing it when i do the u gasket reseal job. It will be easier to get that timing cover back on too with the extra space when the rad is out. Once in, its another coolant change.

...Reason why i'm changing the rad, well, i dont like the original 320 one, it's got stone chips and a couple of dents in the slats

As for the general running of the engine, it just seems to get better and better. I had this same feeling with my 220 lump. The more it gets driven the better the refinement.

 

[trapperjohn]

What brand of oil are you using in the engine Billy please. I dont want to start an inhouse fight on oil brands and viscountcies, just would want to know what is your personal choice of oil for your mighty fine beast.

For my diesels I use the right spec but what suits my budget at the time. Right now one is running on Millers 10 40 and the other on ECPs cheapest. I notice no short term difference.

See you at Jay's

CHEERS

 

[BillyW124]

What brand of oil are you using in the engine Billy please. I dont want to start an inhouse fight on oil brands and viscountcies, just would want to know what is your personal choice of oil for your mighty fine beast.

For my diesels I use the right spec but what suits my budget at the time. Right now one is running on Millers 10 40 and the other on ECPs cheapest. I notice no short term difference.

See you at Jay's

CHEERS

Morning John, looking forward to Jays meet, I really hope the weather will be like the recent spell.

I use Castrol Magnatec 10w 40 semi synth. I also used this on the 220. On both engines the oil performs as it should with no issues. I've been lucky when carrying out any oil changes as ECP have always had them discounted at the time i have bought them. I've heard Miller's is a good oil...

 

[BillyW124]

AMG Gen II

Got the AMG kit out today in preperation to sending it to the body shop for a paint.

The front bumber is a replica piece which appears to be well made. This remains to be seen however. I have two options with this piece, either go ahead with just spraying the bumper and installing as is, or chopping it up and moulding the bottom half on to an existing original bumper. The latter would mean i have a sound attachment if ever there was a doubt.

The mounting points on the replica are all there and mimics the actual thing, i just dont know how it will fair in the long run and especially with the driving lamp mountings. I dont want them dropping off!! The bumper is made of FRP and on the face of it appears v. strong. Andy's Autobarn will assess and we'll take it from there. As there isn't any 'flexibility' to the bumper compared to an original or at least the rear AMG bumper, i'd have to be very careful not to knock it. I reckon one smack and its doomed. The original stuff bends and flexes. I can literally twist the rear bumper and holds shape very well. As i'm adding the chrome strips to the front and rear bumper, the front will have to be nice and flat for correct seating. Currently its not, however not so bad, i'm a bit weary the chromes wont sit nicely even still. This gives me more reason to use an original upper half piece.

Font Bumper:

The Kit - the Rear bumper and sills are original pieces

Original bumper for proposed use:

A visual of the chromes, The rear bumper needs a bit of work to make it perfect. Exhaust heat has deformed the plastic from the car it came off so somthing will need to be done.

These two bad boys are the original w124 driving lamps, brand spankers. I dont want these to go under my wheels!!

 

[Deleted member 26392]

Happy days Billy. I think your head has already decided the best solution would be to bond the bottom of the amg to your existing bumper... les *****ing around as the chrome is already there and you know it wont fall off.

 

[RBYCC]

Billy

As we've discussed bonding the lower GEN II piece with panel bond to the upper stock piece will allow you to retain the stock mounting along with the internal impact parts...
Not that difficult, your shop should be able to easily do it !

Ed A.

 

[BillyW124]

AMG Kit

Got the kit back from Andy's Autobarn last night and as mentioned earlier today in the merc specialists section, he's done a cracking job.

A lot of tweaking to the front bumper to get it spot on. Luckily there was a CE in the yard for Andy and the chaps to dry fit the bumper on numerous times and get the right fitment. Decided in the end to keep the bumper as a whole rather than chopping it up. Mounting points have been correctly aligned to fit the body, chrome fixings have been nicely fitted to the bumpers. The driving lamps were a poor fit in the original cut outs so these were modified around the bottom edges to make them fit nicely to the bumper.

Taken the following pics from my phone so not the best, but here they are:

 

[Niks]

those look yum!

 

[bencolem]

Awesome

 

[adile220]

Quality!

Can't wait to see what these look like on the car.

 

[LowMilerAMG]

It's gonna look great! Can't wait!

 

[BillyW124]

Engine bay spruce..

I wanted to give the engine bay a good clean ahead of Jay's meet last week. Thought i'd post some pics of the effort.

A good mate of mines who's starting up his own detailing business offered to have a crack. Here's the results of his efforts. I think its come out really well. Its now really easy to maintain cleanliness in there going forward.

 

[BillyW124]

Timing chain front cover 'U' gasket replacement

Finally got my indy to sort out the leak comming from the front timing cover yesterday. Also replaced other various bits and pieces at the same time including a new rad.

Here are some pics from yesterday:

 

[brucemillar]

Billy


You need more practise leak sealing.

Head to my place anytime. My 55 loves oil.

 

[The G.F.P]

i went to all the bother of removing the headlamp wash wipers from my convertible and then you put some on to your coupe!

i think the cars look smoother and less cluttered without them plus they always go wrong and dont do much

 

[Borys]

You do love your car
Awesome

 

[kth286]

Great quality pictures.

It's tricky getting the top timing cover back on without moving the green U seal, especially if the pin holding the timing chain guide rail is not removed.

I see your guy used a long bolt with spacers to get the pin out, without having to get a slide puller.

They can be very tight, but clearly it all worked well.

 

[BillyW124]

i went to all the bother of removing the headlamp wash wipers from my convertible and then you put some on to your coupe!

i think the cars look smoother and less cluttered without them plus they always go wrong and dont do much

yes you would be with the majority thinking a flush look is better on these cars. I ensure the wash wipe function is commissioned every so often to keep the motors from seizing up, i think that's the key.

Great quality pictures.

It's tricky getting the top timing cover back on without moving the green U seal, especially if the pin holding the timing chain guide rail is not removed.

I see your guy used a long bolt with spacers to get the pin out, without having to get a slide puller.

They can be very tight, but clearly it all worked well.

Taking that dowel out makes the job a 100 times easier making sure the seal isn't disturbed. The cover went on effortlessly. I think he was using that tool you see especially for removing the pin. Its just a threaded end you screw on to it. You probably can get a way with using a bolt the correct size and tap it out. A gripping tool will probably damage it as you can't really get much purchase on it to grip and pull at the same time. The pin sits quite far in.

 

[Niks]

For some reason I like 124's with the headlamp wipers, has a certain look to it. Without it sort of looks too plain and makes the headlamps look too big, almost bug eyed.

Considering doing this on the estate.

 

[kth286]

if the headlight wipers 'do not do much' it is because the wiper itself is away from the headlight glass.

over the years the wiper blades seize in their arms and leave a gap between the blade and the glass.

The plane of the wiper traverse is not flat, the blade moves out at the highest point and gets stuck in that position when it comes to the rest position, thus leaving a gap.

Free it off and lubricate the linkage joint, and all will be ok.