Mercedes W114 250 Coupe - help!

[Bellow]

First welcome, and second, I am equally impressed by how many people have gone to exceptional lengths to help, it is really rather lovely (especially as I need it!).

I'll second that! And site the post above yours as proof. Thanks DRUK, there's a HW agent within a 30 mile spit from where I am.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Picked up my re-cored rad from A1 radiators yesterday, a nice looking job turned round in two days. He did say he too couldn't find the part number either!

This morning picked up my wood from Silvercrest, who have done a flat out brilliant job. However, in the interests of keeping the readers hungry for more, the first time you'll see it is on the car when complete.

 

[tommyboy40]

Picked up my re-cored rad from A1 radiators yesterday, a nice looking job turned round in two days. He did say he too couldn't find the part number either!

This morning picked up my wood from Silvercrest, who have done a flat out brilliant job. However, in the interests of keeping the readers hungry for more, the first time you'll see it is on the car when complete.

tease

 

[Charles Morgan]

I'll relent a bit and give you a photo.

 

[Bellow]

Picked up my re-cored rad from A1 radiators yesterday, a nice looking job turned round in two days. He did say he too couldn't find the part number either!

One very tidy job there.

This morning picked up my wood from Silvercrest, who have done a flat out brilliant job. However, in the interests of keeping the readers hungry for more, the first time you'll see it is on the car when complete.

I like that idea. Not least of all as it is a reminder (to us) of the ensuing work required to repair the bulkhead - (not that you want to be reminded of it!)

Hobbyweld 5 Original Welding Gas | The full range of gases from Hobbyweld rent free cylinder suppliers

Thank you Druk. I enquired further and it transpires that rather than pay £20-25 (disposable cannister) for 110 litres of gas I can get from HW refills at £30 (add VAT) which contain 134,000 litres. Being able to MIG weld is an absolute boon.

 

[tommyboy40]

Rad does look fantastic. i polished the wood on my w124 with compound which really improved it as the po had obviously kept keys on it. I'm very curious to see how yours turns out. i couldn't see from the pics but was it just worn or did it have some cracks?

 

[Druk]

Thank you Druk. I enquired further and it transpires that rather than pay £20-25 (disposable cannister) for 110 litres of gas I can get from HW refills at £30 (add VAT) which contain 134,000 litres. Being able to MIG weld is an absolute boon.

If you're at a welding supplier get a bubble regulator to go with the bottle. Very easy to adjust the weld gas volume, certainly better than a gauge type.

Don't forget that there's an initial bottle purchase price as well as the gas. However that's refundable if you decide to ever give it back.


.

 

[Charles Morgan]

I like that idea. Not least of all as it is a reminder (to us) of the ensuing work required to repair the bulkhead - (not that you want to be reminded of it!)

I have a vision of a party at the end of this (nothing flash mind) for those who have helped, and there has to be an unveiling and some surprise.

Tony just came over to admire the wood, and he has been thinking about the rust location. Looking at the car, the drain for water under the ventilation grill is in the centre (found it underneath too - no rust at all), but water has got across to where the rust is and there is no drain at all - so we are thinking of how to drain the thing.

 

[Bellow]

CM: If you can access the surface of the water - some (improvised) suction device. If not, drill/perforate lower surface which, presumably has to be repaired anyway. (If the latter and drilling - cordless drill only).

Druk: The £60 deposit isn't unreasonable and certainly a whole lot better than a contract with BOC (oh the good(?) old days!).
I think I possibly have a regulator and gauges (from an oxy/acetylene set) but if not will have to buy (from HB - 'consumables page') and a converter kit to adapt to my MIG which has only ever used a disposable cannister (and has a diddy little regulator without gauges). Should I use it (in series with gauged regulator) or remove? Is a bubble regulator a better set-up than the above?

 

[Charles Morgan]

This is the water drain hole (n/s - there's one of the o/s too in like condition - fine) and you can see how the water should drain, but when coming in it must splash into a section over the footwell and build up, as the rust is all the way along the join of the footwell section to the bulkhead. To drain, I think we need a small pipe down to the wing, and lots and lots of waxoyl on the metal.

 

[Druk]

Bellow. I have a spare bubble gauge. You have PM.

 

[Charles Morgan]

While out in the engine bay area I had a good feel around on the underside of the manifold for potential union points for the vacuum line. None there.

The opposite end to the potential hole Graeme identified has this union - it may well be that there is an intermediate connector that fits between the manifold and the banjo union, I'll ask Colin for pictures of his manifold.

Meanwhile, what is this lovely rod heading south from the throttle linkage closer to the engine? Could it be something we might need? Only a full look when the box and engine are out (or with the car on a ramp) will get us much further, but encouraging.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Finally, thinking ahead to the D Jet to Megasquirt conversion, I have been thinking about the TPS. Obviously I'd like to do it without a new throttle body so I looked at how it had been done on my SM (always nice to have the finished object to look at just the other side of the garage) and this is what it looks like on the side with the sensor (lovely spring compared to the feeble one on the MB)

I think we can get the sensor (I need to look up which) to work on the coupe one - it has the same D Jet sensor shape on it.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Rad does look fantastic. i polished the wood on my w124 with compound which really improved it as the po had obviously kept keys on it. I'm very curious to see how yours turns out. i couldn't see from the pics but was it just worn or did it have some cracks?

Worn, wood cracked and flaking at the edges, the wood had lots of black filler originally so it was never going to come up well, and I wanted something really good. Original veneer of this period is really very poor, as is the metal and wood backing, it is impossibly thin too. W124 wood is better, and does respond to cutting compound (brasso too!).

 

[Bellow]

Re post#992. I'll wager MB have that vacuum pipe at bang on the correct length to mate directly to the manifold. Bear in mind though that the one under scrutiny so far is on a carb equipped car. Injected models may have a different pipe connecting to a different point on the manifold.
Re the pic - where does the rubber pipe go? And why the screw?

Hopefully that (the south pointing rod) is for the mechanical modulation but I'm getting an odd feeling it isn't due to the mismatch in ruggedness. It just doesn't look stout enough to mate with the rod that connects to the box. Hopefully I am wrong.

Re post# 993.
Yes, I'm hard pressed to believe a suitable pot cannot be mated to the existing throttle body. Spindle mating will key. Are the resistance values for the D-Jetronic pot different from what is required by MS? Are new D-Jetronic pots available?

 

[grober]

Re post#992.
Re the pic - where does the rubber pipe go? And why the screw? The rubber pipe appears to lead from the aircleaner exit duct before the throttle body. This and the bleed ? screw make me think it's some form of throttle plate by-pass= fine idle adjustment --- this is separate from the auxilliary air valve which is temperature controlled and is only used during warm up??

 

[Bellow]

In the 'shiny' pic, is the manifold attachment directly behind the thermostat housing? I'm inclined to agree that it serves some adjustment purpose but it appears to serve only one manifold runner. Strange for an idle stability function.

Has your SM CM lost a bolt? Or merely not required?

 

[Charles Morgan]

I see two bolts holding the TPS on - no more needed?

 

[Bellow]

Bracket on the right....

 

[grober]

In the 'shiny' pic, is the manifold attachment directly behind the thermostat housing? I'm inclined to agree that it serves some adjustment purpose but it appears to serve only one manifold runner. Strange for an idle stability function.

I wonder if that manifold tube connects to all the arms of the manifold?
There are numerous candidates for a port for the autobox vacuum control in the diagram
5 or 13+14 or 8+9 or 12 might all do--possibly with some form of adapter/port that screws into the manifold casting worst comes to the worst it may be possible to piggy back/tee off another of the vacuum connections