tax exempt project

[khimani_mohiki]

Ill soon be moving to a nice little bungalow with an adequate driveway and garage, after having spent most of my time working on my cars out in the street or in the car park outside my flats :bannana:. So I fancy a project with an older mercedes, preferably tax exempt. Im thinking a W114, W115 or W109. I wanna stretch my legs on this one and do a V8 conversion (M117 or 119 if i can get one cheap) possibly with Megasquirt or VEMS and pretty much keep the rest stock with the exception of a minor lowering and some wheels with a bit of dish, that sort of euro look but not too extreme.

Something like this, sans the lowrider wire wheels..

I was poised to buy a 1970 W114 on ebay last night but moving house and having to pay 3 months rent up front meant i couldnt justify it.

Ill be looking to buy at least a rolling chassis within the next month once i get all my moving expenses repayed by my new employer, so if anyone can help me out or point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated, any condition will be considered as ill be doing all the welding etc my self.

 

[d w124]

That`s very nice mate,good for you

 

[iscaboy]

aha, a fellow megasquirt enthusiast, good for you...

 

[kay7]

Looks very nice indeed!

 

[khimani_mohiki]

aha, a fellow megasquirt enthusiast, good for you...

Ive never done anything with megasquirt but did a lot of research last year when my ignition amplifier packed in. I have been wanting to do something with it for a while but only have the 1 car so couldnt have it off the road for the time required to do the conversion.

My only concerns looking at cars this old is getting parts, its hard enough getting stuff for W126's without breaking the bank.

 

[Sp!ke]

You could always buy a Smart Diesel - that'll be tax exempt too.

 

[khimani_mohiki]

its not so much for the want of not having to pay road tax its just i fancy an older car and if im going to get one it might as well be tax exempt, for as long as that lasts anyway

 

[The Boss]

u r an inspiration.. its something id long to do.. who knows what i will do in the future, but having a fully restored classic on my drive way one day done with my own hard work is truly a rewarding experience..

good luck, dont know much to advise, but its a vision...

 

[khimani_mohiki]

Got a 1968 W115 220, should be arriving this evening. Bought it unseen on ebay for £750, a little more than i wanted to pay but im told its a runner and was being used until 2008, so hopefully not too much rot.

Ill get some pictures up when its safely on the drive, can someone please move this to the projects section?

 

[renault12ts]

Well done. Can't wait to see the before and afters.

 

[jaymanek]

they rot a LOT... id check it carefully before comencing any mods!

 

[khimani_mohiki]

The seller kindly removed the battery without telling me, so myself, a neighbour and the delivery guy had to push it onto my drive. Hooked it up to my SEC battery and turned it over, it fired but wouldnt start, i didnt want to drain my battery so had to leave it in the akward position it was in.

Going to start stripping all the exterior trim tonight after ive organised the garage.

 

[MercFanUk]

Sounds like it'll be a very interesting project

PS, you should stick a thread in the Projects section, we can all follow along then

 

[EDZ649]

Sounds like it'll be a very interesting project

PS, you should stick a thread in the Projects section, we can all follow along then

You can't. You have to post it in the general section to start and wait for one of the mods to move it to the projects section when they decide its worthy....

 

[MercFanUk]

Ah, didn't realise!

 

[khimani_mohiki]

This car is poverty spec, manual everything, no central locking, there arent even any wing mirrors!

Work so far;

-Removed front and rear bumpers, chrome in great condition
-removed chrome trims, all good
-removed headlights, 1 reflector needs attention
-removed rear lights
-removed rear seats

The rear light apertures are completely shot full of rust as is one of the rear bumper mouts. There are a few holes in the floor and the passenger seat base fixing.

I bought a new batter and got the engine running as well, after tickling the choke for 10 mins i managed to get it moving under its own power without stalling.

 

[219]

That is very similar to the 220/8 I learned to drive in and passed my test in - except mine was White with red Tex interior and manual with column change .

They were fantastic cars with a superbly balanced chassis which gave handling and cornering abilities way ahead of most other cars of the era . Mercedes threw all of that away when they replaced them with the W123 , which handled like a barge by comparison , but did at least redress it somewhat with the 190 which again was a car that handled well . The six cylinder W114's , sadly , did not handle as well as the W115 due to having too much weight up front , but all W115's were eminently 'chuckable' , could easily be thrown sideways and recovered or controlled through four wheel drifts on fast roads - great fun . I well remember an Alfasud owning friend ( one of the other better cars of the era ) being hugely impressed when I took him out in it and remarking that it held on in bends just as well as the 'Sud . Personally , I always prefer RWD as you can do a lot more with it .

That shot of the engine bay takes me back , right down to the Stromberg 175 carb .

Door mirrors were an option , although a lot of these cars ended up with aftermarket wing mirrors .

Mine was very rusty before it was 10 years old , but was written off in a head on crash when I was confronted by a car coming round a bend on my side of the road and alongside a lorry , leaving me nowhere to go : that Mercedes I am sure saved my life , and for that reason I have always driven Mercedes for the subsequent 30+ years .

 

[khimani_mohiki]

got busy with the angle grinder today, the offside rear wing was full of filler and the rear lights were held in entirly with silicone sealant. Wing is fixable but im going to need a whole new rear panel.

 

[khimani_mohiki]

Uncovered a bit more today, most of the offside rear has been repaired before and has about 2mm of filler on it.

Holy jacking point batman!

Someone has been at this before, looks like an MOT patch up type job.

More floor holes

dont think OE or pattern floors are available so will have to make some up

Things to do this week;
-buy a mig welder and engine crane
-get some replacement panels
-drop the rear subframe

 

[EDZ649]

And I thought my 116 was bad!