Mercedes W114 250 Coupe - help!

[Charles Morgan]

It's certainly integral to my calculus for the car.

 

[Druk]

But what is this I trip over on my return from Oxford? and more to the point, how do I get the garage door open?!

Looks to me like a 2.47:1 diff and a couple of driveshafts...maybe from a 1985 380SE W126?

Just a wild guess of course.






.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Ah ha! Let's see what the morning will bring. (an empty drive if I don't get it secured).

 

[Charles Morgan]

Excellent! A direction of travel established. I had thought you could go resto-lite and preserve the patina but as stated it requires more. Wow factor it is then!

What originally I thought was the patina of dirt has turned out to be the patina of rust underneath dirt. Virtually all the cabin chrome, of poor quality, is affected by bubbles and pinholes, and the same with the exterior chrome. Add in the need for a new driver's door and bonnet,the poor quality of the remaining paint, the need, alas, to recover/respray the rear seat (in brown) to match the red interior, and the impossibility of finding a good used red carpet set means so much will be new that I have to upgrade to avoid the metaphorical happorth of tar.

That which can be conserved shall be, the rest traded. But with a bright red interior, a splendid paint job and restored chrome work and wood, it should really say wow.

 

[Bellow]

how do I get the garage door open?!

Wait for the arrival of the brawny V8 and get it to do the hard work!

 

[Charles Morgan]

In the end I attached a rope to the pallet which functioned as a sled and so it was moved.

While I waited for deliveries, I cracked on with vinyl cleaning with the servisol. The rear trim panel in a rather filthy state

After just one spray and wipe with Servisol

and the grain neatly dirt free

 

[trapperjohn]

Not bad Charles not bad at all.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Another big order into Niemoller, a delivery from Parcelforce complete with weekly inspection by the friendly driver and a trip over to Tony and Jill to borrow a trolley jack (a really hefty thing) with a parting gift of a delicious Eccles cake and an Almond Frangipane tart from Jill 'as you would need the energy after moving that thing'. Tony then popped over to have a shufty at the progress.

I'm enjoying this too much, having just had said tart and cake with a cuppa out of the chill.

 

[Charles Morgan]

He also kindly lent me his impact wrench, which has made short work of removing the screws from the driver's door lock, which had just ignored my efforts for the previous three days.

The offside floor pan has now been painted in POR15, as has the rear offside wheel arch, while the boot floor, sills and inner wing have had their second coat.

As Tony put it, it now resembles a restoration project rather than a wreck!

 

[Minz]

This should be on TV. Perhaps 'Great British Wheeling Dealing Midsomer Baking Murderers'.

No seriously, great work so far and a really interesting thread to follow.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Charles Morgan]

That's very kind of you. I'd like to say how much having the input and help from members here is the greatest thing about this project, but that, even by my standards would be a bit of an untruth. As I ate the almond frangipane tart today I reflected on how wonderful it was, how sadly small it was, and how such exquisite bits of Jill's baking have made this project the joy that it is. You wouldn't have heckled the Eccles cake either.*

I shall return to the murders soon.

* she did suggest having a bit of a party to celebrate the car being completed (yes I know, hostage to fortune, superstition and all that) so some others might just get to taste some cake or scones or tarts. Or not, if Tony, Tony2 and I am in the queue first.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Drove through the dreary fens again today, picked up all the used bits I need. 6 hours in a car with a cold and no cakes, following tractors doing 20mph on A roads tested my enthusiasm somewhat. Colin, the seller of the parts taken from a 58000 mile coupe was very helpful on a number of things, and I now have pretty much all I need by way of chrome.

Wallet taken a battering over the last week!

 

[Charles Morgan]

Despite being afflicted with manflu or manebola I decided that moping was utterly unacceptable so kept myself going with plentiful mugs of tea and curried chicken soup for lunch (South asian Jewish fusion penicillin). Unloaded most of the car, although not sure where to put the bonnet and the boot lid (both in excellent condition, the latter in primer the former in original gold - this colour has now been struck off the list) so left them in the Volvo where no doubt they'll remain for months.

I ordered a new replacement drivers door shell from Niemoller as it is was not a lot more than a good second hand one without any of the issues to worry about. So today I cracked on with stripping the door of its contents and when done, off the car. I tried to be patient and do it all properly, but one bolt eluded me, so out came the grinder with a 1 mm steel cutting blade, and within seconds a section was out and the bolt located. I photographed where all the bolts and trim fittings went, and while the door is badly rusted, none of the mechanism is that bad.

A pic without door also showing where I painted POR15 in the interior on Thursday. No painting with any VOC components though until cold gone.

 

[500E]

Loving the progress on this!

 

[Bellow]

in original gold - this colour has now been struck off the list

I guess that's the process. One of elimination until the list reduces to a few colours to choose from. .

the grinder with a 1 mm steel cutting blade, and within seconds a section was out]

Surgical - they are so precise compared to the old thickies!

Loving the progress on this!

Ditto. And progress there is.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Elimination works quite well for a period. Of the 61 colours MB had over the life of the model, I have definitely eliminated 51.

The only problem is seeing the colours in the flesh. Old paint has weathered and worn with age so bears little resemblance to the original look. Dan and Matt who did my Allard (and my Alpina bonnet when I got a bit enthusiastic with cutting compound to remove the stone chips) have just painted a split screen VW bus from the 60s, in a colour I wouldn't otherwise have given a passing glance. It looks fabulous:

 

[Charles Morgan]

With the aid of Laurence (built like the proverbial) & Tony2, plus plenty of hot cheese scones from Jill, we (well, not much of me) got the compressor out of Tony's garage and into the back of mine.

It is a heavy awkward sod of a thing, somewhat dusty from 25 years of use in a paint shop and Tony's garage, but a serious piece of kit. The only things that remain is to clean it, wire it up, oil change and some extra air hose, then on with sandblasting my wheels and anything else in need of doing.

Afternoon job is clearing space in the garage, I am tripping over myself!

 

[Bellow]

Elimination works quite well for a period. Of the 61 colours MB had over the life of the model, I have definitely eliminated 51.

The only problem is seeing the colours in the flesh. Old paint has weathered and worn with age so bears little resemblance to the original look. Dan and Matt who did my Allard (and my Alpina bonnet when I got a bit enthusiastic with cutting compound to remove the stone chips) have just painted a split screen VW bus from the 60s, in a colour I wouldn't otherwise have given a passing glance. It looks fabulous:

I know what you mean. It is so hard to judge a colour without seeing it on the metal. Some of the colours in earlier posts (a few pages back) looked fantastic but I didn't/couldn't figure how plausible they'd be with the red interior which is obviously a key feature.
Noticeably, there is some revival of some of those older colours. I saw a current generation Mini last week in a blue very similar to the VW camper one and it really suited it. Perhaps it is form (retro curvy) that determines how successful the outcome is.

It is a heavy awkward sod of a thing, somewhat dusty from 25 years of use in a paint shop and Tony's garage, but a serious piece of kit. The only things that remain is to clean it, wire it up, oil change and some extra air hose, then on with sandblasting my wheels and anything else in need of doing.

Handy though. If it hasn't run for a while I'd turn the compressor over by hand a few times (if you haven't already) just to get it used to the idea that soon it will be reacquainted with electricity - and work. (Some unicorn tears in its inlet prior should help the bore if its dry and the rings a touch sticky). Check the belt for any perishing also. And the air filter - it is bound to be clogged if it has been working in a dusty environment.

 

[Druk]

That motor looks big enough to need at least a 16amp circuit to make it run.




.

 

[Charles Morgan]

13A according to Tony and the plate on the motor. It was the largest compressor at the time not to run on 3 phase.