Picked the car up today , got home without incident . it wafts along just as nicely , I imagine , as the day it was built .
Besides the rusty bits on the bodywork which need tidied up , I need to replace some brake pipes which look quite crusty - a relatively easy job but the most important one ; I discovered the horn didn't appear to be working , but on my drive I could hear a 'cluck' as I pressed the button , and on inspection both of the 'fanfare' horns are split open and corroded internally ; currently in the process of replacing them with a pair of Bosch 'blare' horns I have from a Ponton or Fintail . The air con isn't working ( not entirely unexpected ) and the blower isn't working , fuse OK , so I guess it'll be the motor . Surface rust on a lot of suspension components and front subframe , but that can be cleaned up and painted over ; transmission sump looks 'very wet' and was an advisory on last MOT ( I suspect a tranny oil change and new gasket will fix that ) . Soft close works on all four doors , but not on the bootlid ; however after reading the manual there's a lever you press inside the boot to lock the claw fully in and then close manually to get full closure . There's a hole worn in the leather on the steering wheel , hence the previous owner had fitted the glove ; I'll look for another wood/leather wheel to replace it , but am in no hurry . Tomorrow I also need to look at the busted passenger door mirror to see if I need to replace the whole thing or just the glass ; fortunately the cover looks OK so if need be I can just buy a used one in any colour and just swap the cover over . The passenger glove box won't open with the button , but I was able to insert a plastic trim removal tool and pop the lock , whenI get a minute I'll figure what's wrong and fix it .
The car came with the full complement of keys , service history consistent throughout its life ( last done last year and 4000 miles ago . Apart from what I've listed above ; the interior is very nice and everything works . Oh , and the factory Blaupunkt audio is very good . The five , eight hole alloy wheels I got also cleaned up quite well and the tyres ( stored in the dark and lying flat ) all appear in good condition ; after working out that the tyres on the car were all still legal , I drove home on them , with three of the extra wheels in the boot of the W140 , and the other two in the boot of my pal's A Class . I inflated them all to 40 psi , and will leave for 24 hours to see if any leakage before looking at fitting them - there were three Falkens , one Michelin and one unused Conti on a pristine wheel , which I think had been the spare ; the spare in the boot of the car also appears to be an unused Conti . I'll run the car as is once I get it MOT'd but will look at five new tyres in due course .
A few pics - the car still needs to be cleaned inside and out . It has been sitting since 31st December 2018 , when it was SORN'd according to the paperwork .
