The SL is dead; where best to dispose of the corpse?

[E55BOF]

The R129 is dead; washed it today, and it still looks good. The plan was to take it for MoT tomorrow, then sell it, but it wasn't having that. It's scrap, or a serious project...

What's good? Firstly, the AMG bodykit; it even has all the jacking point covers, at about £100 each. Secondly, the almost-as-.ew Sador 17 in wheels with nearly new (2000-mile) tyres. Thirdly, new distributor caps, rotors, plug leads, engine wiring harness (Sileck) and refurbished throttle body (BBA Reman). New OE radio aerial. The hood is good - slight cracks (1/4-1/2 in) at the edges of the plastic windows on the fold line, but functions perfectly.

What's bad? Running fine; about 3000 rpm, half hrottle; clunk (not very loud); revs dropping, not responding to throttle; stop. The RH bank camchain has snapped. The housing is badly cracked, and no doubt there will be internal damage too. It turns over, but not entirely surprisingly, it won't fire :fail

You might feel the wheel has come full circle; it arrived on the back of a truck, and it will leave the same way. It seems to like that...

I won't spend another penny on it. Where's the best place to get rid of it? E-bay, I suspect.

 

[219]

My friends over at my local indy have one , I think it's a 500 but not sure . It is a facelift model which suffered the misfortune of a marital dispute after the 'gent' who owned it was reportedly caught 'playing away from home' .

The car is evidence of the saying that 'hell hath.....' as witnessed by the scratches on every panel , slashed soft top , slashed upholstery , smashed instruments , smashed auto dip rear view mirror , smashed centre console .... I could go on .

I think there may be some mechanical parts in it , the boys bought it for parts ....

 

[E55BOF]

Thanks for. Mine and that one might make a good 'un, but I won't be the one putting them together.

 

[219]

Either Carl Burgess at r129.co.uk , who breaks these along with W140s , or maybe Olly at PCS , who has a r129 restoration company , might be interested in yours for parts .

 

[Doodle]

That's a bit of a bugger, but perhaps also explains some of the limp home issues of late.

 

[E55BOF]

It's a LOT of a bugger, actually... You plainly know more about the M119 than I do, but how could the camchain affect the limp home issue?

 

[poormansporsche]

Take the kit off and bung on ebay

Invest in some petrol and a box of matches

It will make you feel better !

Feel for you, can't say you didn't try

 

[E55BOF]

Yes, I gave it a good go. I had 2000 largely enjoyable miles in it last summer; including the purchase price, it's cost me over £2.50 a mile for that...

 

[tanuie]

Sorry to hear this, you did give it a good go. It's a shame when you have to give up, but i can't blame you.

 

[Doodle]

It's a LOT of a bugger, actually... You plainly know more about the M119 than I do, but how could the camchain affect the limp home issue?

If the chain was slack/moving around/etc before the failure then it can affect the timing, which would cause the cam position sensor to throw its toys out the pram (especially as there is variable timing control) and the ECU to stop play.

A sudden failure on a camchain is quite rare, they usually get hellish noisy long before that.

 

[E55BOF]

Thanks for that. NOW I understand, Mr. Fawlty...

HOWEVER... It's not a snapped camchain! There was never a sound from it when running, and the crack in the casting opens and closes as the engine turns over on the starter, so either the camshaft sprocket has come loose, or the camshaft has broken or come adrift in some way. The engine has good oil pressure - up against the top of the scale, even hot, over about 1200-1500 rpm -and if I were ten years younger and more impecunious, I'd at least take the cam cover off to see what's happened, and probably try to fix it. But I'm not, so I won't.

STOP PRESS... Spoke to Carl Burgess the R129 man. The camchain tensioner will have let go, and the camchain will have jumped and broken everything it can. No warning, just BANG! The engine is scrap, though all the new or refurbished bits aren't.

He made me an offer; I agreed; it's sold - he wants the bodykit for his R129. Good decision, I'd say; that bodykit really sharpens up the look of the R129.

The E-class is fine, so what will I have to post about now the SL is going?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

The E-class is fine, so what will I have to post about now the SL is going?

A W215 CL 65 should keep you entertained...

 

[E55BOF]

No thanks. I'll stick to the 211 and the XK; it's only got 15k miles on it, so it should give no trouble for quite a while (he said hopefully).

 

[Deleted member 37751]

XK? Any photos?