W202 Worth Rescuing?

[Lxb3]

Since the car's just up the road from me (almost), if you need a loan of wheelramps or a hand with a socket set or anything, feel free to give me a call - 07714 335219.

 

[dirty hands]

if it was my dads........id keep it,pontoneer you are spot on...take him out in it..itll make him smile....that's priceless!!

 

[jay1983]

This is a great thread. If I was you I'd defo stick with it regardless of cost. As other members have mentioned, once it's road legal and you take your dad out in it it will make his day.

Budget for front ball joints incase it fails the mot on them. In my experience, a car that's been stood for a long time usually requires new ball joints. If its a similar set up to a bmw e36/46 it will have ball joints pressed into control arms. Relatively inexpensive to buy the whole arm and easy to replace.

Good luck

Edit** you won't need the full control arms if ball joints fail. They are not pressed in. You can pick ball joints up from ECP for £20 each. And don't forget the club discount.

 

[SL300-24]

I agree keep going. It will great for your dad to know that his car is on the road again I am sure.
I would forget the wooden ramp idea though, just buy or borrow (Lxb3) some steel ones which are fairly cheap.
The jobs that need doing should not be very expensive.
The car will not be worth a fortune at the end of it, but you cannot buy the contentment that you will feel having done this for your dad.

 

[grober]

Before faffing about with plastic drain plug on the radiator ---drain the system by removing the rad bottom hose- this is perfectly acceptable practice- in many cars its the only way to do it. Use a proper jubilee clip when replacing.
Its important with these projects to " triage" the car. It's all too easy with these projects to get sidetracked into non critical areas and spend too much time/money/ resource there. Buy an oil extractor as Pontoneer says- you can use it on your other or future cars.

Its important to focus also on your own safety- you have already mentioned the hazards of working under the car- I would add to these eye protection- working under the car is a messy business and inevitably stuff tends to drop in your eyes- hand protection- disposable gloves I find the blue nitrile ones are best [ You will be already familiar with their benefits in other situations] and a good set of face masks especially for working on the brakes. But the greatest hazard which may well apply in this type of situation is fatigue It's when you are tired accidents happen. Its amazing what a little help can do [ even if its just handing you the right spanner or cup of tea] and not trying to rush things.

Good luck with the project. And take stock at regular intervals.

 

[219]

Another thought ,Touché , does your mum drive ?

Could she take your dad out and about in it if it was fixed up ?

 

[jamesfuller]

Before faffing about with plastic drain plug on the radiator ---drain the system by removing the rad bottom hose- this is perfectly acceptable practice- in many cars its the only way to do it. Use a proper jubilee clip when replacing.
Its important with these projects to " triage" the car. It's all too easy with these projects to get sidetracked into non critical areas and spend too much time/money/ resource there. Buy an oil extractor as Pontoneer says- you can use it on your other or future cars.

Its important to focus also on your own safety- you have already mentioned the hazards of working under the car- I would add to these eye protection- working under the car is a messy business and inevitably stuff tends to drop in your eyes- hand protection- disposable gloves I find the blue nitrile ones are best [ You will be already familiar with their benefits in other situations] and a good set of face masks especially for working on the brakes. But the greatest hazard which may well apply in this type of situation is fatigue It's when you are tired accidents happen. Its amazing what a little help can do [ even if its just handing you the right spanner or cup of tea] and not trying to rush things.

Good luck with the project. And take stock at regular intervals.

You beat me to it, you risk damaging the surrounding areas getting stuck plugs out, its not essential and you don't want to risk busting the radiator, so leave them be for the time being, same with the sump plug. Once its in a garage and up on a ramp the sump plug will be 5 mins work to get out rather than a huge pain laying on your back.

Good luck with the car, once these issues are sorted it will make a nice usable and reliable run about.

 

[Touche]

I take it nothing can be done for your dad's vision even now ? My dad lost his sight due to cataracts in both eyes and had to give up driving , but after operations got his sight back and was able to drive again until he passed away . Are his other problems untreatable ?

How nice it would be if he could regain his sight , or even some sight if only to watch TV

He's dramatically better than he was a few years ago. He has one 'bad' eye and didn't even realise it. It was damaged in an accident as a child where he was hit in the face by a stick. So when his 'good' eye was lost overnight he couldn't see a thing. He couldn't tell who was standing in front of his face until he heard their voice. He's had experimental laser surgery to the eye under a clinical trial and had his cateracts operated on but really it's just time which has helped... Last month he read my daughter a book! (she's two so as you can imagine the book had suitably large print but it goes to show how far his vision has come).

Before faffing about with plastic drain plug on the radiator ---drain the system by removing the rad bottom hose- this is perfectly acceptable practice- in many cars its the only way to do it. Use a proper jubilee clip when replacing.
Its important with these projects to " triage" the car. It's all too easy with these projects to get sidetracked into non critical areas and spend too much time/money/ resource there. Buy an oil extractor as Pontoneer says- you can use it on your other or future cars.

Its important to focus also on your own safety- you have already mentioned the hazards of working under the car- I would add to these eye protection- working under the car is a messy business and inevitably stuff tends to drop in your eyes- hand protection- disposable gloves I find the blue nitrile ones are best [ You will be already familiar with their benefits in other situations] and a good set of face masks especially for working on the brakes. But the greatest hazard which may well apply in this type of situation is fatigue It's when you are tired accidents happen. Its amazing what a little help can do [ even if its just handing you the right spanner or cup of tea] and not trying to rush things.

Good luck with the project. And take stock at regular intervals.

Eye protection! I've probably taken 100 bits of metal out of people's eyes. Usually it's angle grinding a patch of rust. I've got a pair of safety googles thankfully.

And gloves! I've had loads of people asking to nab a few pairs of gloves as they're working on their cars and happen to be visiting A+E with an infected toenail etc. I usually give them 2 pairs and shake my head in dispair... Now I'm the guy nabbing the gloves! I can't believe how expensive a box of gloves is

Thanks for all the support guys. I'm planning on making a trip down next week so hopefully will get somewhere.

 

[guydewdney]

I can't believe how expensive a box of gloves is

my mrs uses a LOT of gloves (paraplegic t6 complete for those that understand) - and we spent ages lookign for the right price - which is literally 1/20th of the high street cost if you buy in bulk boxes. Guess what muggins has in his attic?

if theres any silly bits you want off a 202 - just ask - i have an elegance estate in bits on my driveway, seems a shame to crush it when the silly clips are required. if it takes a few moments to take off, I dont want money, just send me an sae. bigger bits require beer funding.... - well, Shiraz funding...

 

[DSM10000]

I can't believe how expensive a box of gloves is

my mrs uses a LOT of gloves (paraplegic t6 complete for those that understand) - and we spent ages lookign for the right price - which is literally 1/20th of the high street cost if you buy in bulk boxes. Guess what muggins has in his attic?

if theres any silly bits you want off a 202 - just ask - i have an elegance estate in bits on my driveway, seems a shame to crush it when the silly clips are required. if it takes a few moments to take off, I dont want money, just send me an sae. bigger bits require beer funding.... - well, Shiraz funding...

That post alone tells us why this forum is such a good place!

 

[WLeg]

Well done on the car. Might be worth speaking to Prof. Dan Reinstein about your Dad's eyes...whilst he is predominantly a laser eye surgeon, there is not much he does not know about this subject. I can PM you his mobile.

 

[219]

Well done on the car. Might be worth speaking to Prof. Dan Reinstein about your Dad's eyes...whilst he is predominantly a laser eye surgeon, there is not much he does not know about this subject. I can PM you his mobile.

Isn't it great how the wealth of knowledge on this forum goes so far beyond mere tin boxes on wheels ?

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

Fix it up and make an old man happy. Look upon the expenditure as a bit of a learning curve . You have already bought most of whats needed , and will shortly be an accomplished diy mechanic. Fair enough , my wife is an armchair doctor.

 

[mattc]

finally found the link where I fixed the SLS on the 124. this is not the fuel line however I believe from memory the fuel and the SLS lines are the same pipe diameter and bore. If someone could confirm that would be great.

the link is here

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/whee...sion/70923-replacing-pipe-self-levelling.html

HTH

 

[Touche]

I got to visit my parents this weekend and spent a few hours on the car.

When I started her up to check for the actual location of the fuel leak one of the hoses at the back coming out of the fuel filter had come loose and was now also leaking! So I had to tighten that first. Then I started on the front passenger side fuel leak. I removed the rusty metal clip that held on the hoses and to my suprise the lines were in good condition underneath. I started her up again and found a patch of rust further up the line which was dripping down to that point:



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It appears to be the pressurised hard line which goes from the fuel filter to the engine which is leaking.

I made an attempt at repairing it... sadly there wasn't enough clearance for me to use a pipe cutter to cut out that section of fuel line so I had to abandon the repair

Anyone have any suggestions? How difficult would it be to remove the hard line? Could I get it back on easily enough?

I also inspected the rest of the hard lines and they are in pretty good condition surprisingly. There is just one more spot of rust on one of the lines in a similar position to where the fuel line has rusted but I couldn't figure out what the line does... it was one of the smallest diameter lines running in the same place as the fuel line (there are 5 steel lines all running next to each other). You can see it in the picture above, it's the top pipe. Would that be a brake line?

Oh and since I had the front of the car on stands I located the other end of the broken radiator drainage plug, shoved a screwdriver up to the remaining piece (no heat applied) and it unscrewed easily. So I managed to replace the plug (£3.27 inc VAT from a MB dealer) drain the radiator completely and fill up with MB spec antifreeze/deionised water. Looking at the old broken plug it appears someone had put a metal washer on the drainage plug at some point. This has rusted and swollen which put pressure on the plastic plug and eventually snapped it.

 

[Touche]

I found a diagram of the fuel system...

It's 46 which needs to be repaired:



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[NDFR]

Thanks for the update, I'm enjoying this thread.

Don't give up and good luck. Sorry I can't answer your question though.

 

[Touche]

Thanks for the update, I'm enjoying this thread.

Don't give up and good luck. Sorry I can't answer your question though.

No probs mate, thanks for the luck

I've found a diagram of the braking system... it appears to be 77 which has a spot of rust on it. I guess I'll add that to the 'list'.



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[John Jones Jr]

Touche, personally I wouldn't bother to replace them without the use of a lift or I'd have a garage do it. Not being lazy but it's a job that lifts were invented for Consider getting the local garage to do it, a few quid in labour well spent imo.

 

[JOHNO978]

What a fantastic thread..Good luck with your quest,you seem to be doing extremely well.Its great that you are saving the car for all of the reasons previously stated. I would bet your Dad has a smile on his face when he hears of your work on the Car..wonderful. My C280 Elegance was on the drive for 2 years and Ive just put her back on the road...when all of the work is done and you get your MOT you will rightly feel very proud of what you have done....