[BowMan]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Interesting torque convertor you found there!
I prefer the traditional ratchet type because a good one is very accurate for many years and this looks it could be a bit cumbersome working in confined spaces.

Good luck and enjoy your W123 as much as you can! Nice to see you fiddling with it as well as driving it.

Jeroen

Yes, well the reason I ordered this is they are claimed to be more accurate that click type torque ratchets and I could get this one to cover most of my torque range for about the same price as the 2 click types I would need to buy for that range. There are others that are not round and can perhaps fit in tighter spaces.

Originally Posted by Screwdriva

Parts are still largely available and in stock and what cannot be sourced new (interior bits) can be found on Ebay or from breakers. Happy to help if I can!

Thanks. I really appreciate the help.

Originally Posted by benz220

One word of caution - use good seals and rubber. I have found that URO seals are not very good. These are the bits that will cause you headaches later - I learned the hard way.

Awesome job, congratulations!!

Hmmm. Now that I have them and I am getting these red herrings I will keep an eye on them. At the moment they fit okay but are a bit stiff.

Originally Posted by iceman1

Have you replaced the interior? The earlier pictures of the car showed that it came with fabric interior and the ones posted later show MBTex interiors? Please explain. Once again, I would like to congratulate you for owning one of the fine examples of W123's left in the country. Its also my personal favourite as my father had one when i was little and I hope to own one some day again.

The car came originally with velour interior which I believe was a more expensive option back then than MB Tex. Perhaps leather being the most expensive.

The driver side front seat interior had worn out and the previous owner had done a rather poor attempt at getting them covered with genuine leather.

I have replaced all seat covers with the best material I could find that appeared closest to MB Tex in terms of feel and quality. This narrative is there in my earlier posts.

[BowMan]

Okay, now about some work I did on my car. She has been away for the clutch a few days and I miss doing small jobs on her. The idea is to slowly keep on bring her up.

One of the mental notes I had made a long time back was to bring back the true Mercedes feel when one operates the doors. Years of use and lack of care takes it's toll on even the strongest of designs and my doors sure needed lubrication at the hings.

The best tool for this is a push type grease gun with a needle or pointed end. The end displaces the ball at the greasing point and one has to pump grease till it comes out at the other end.

I did not have that particular grease gun and I could not find it available in any of the tool shops I inquired. I tried to make do with syringes but they do not develop the required pressure and one syringe even exploded on me when I was attempting this.

So I decided enough is enough and I will get the correct tool. I ordered from UK on Ebay and this is what it looks like.



Here is the greasing point on a W123.





After one or two strokes and pressure builds and one might be inclined to think the job is done. But not yet.



Push a little more till you see grease oozing out like this from the other end of the hinge.



Vola!

Sometimes this may not work as expected due to build up of rust within the hinge. One can try some penetrating oils and massage the hinge a couple of times by the door and then leave for a few days and try again.

I greased two of my doors and then massaged the hinges a hundred or so times each. Why two and not all four? Well, these things are best enjoyed when you have saved something for another day

[BowMan]

Some tools I have been collecting over the past few weeks. Few of these improvised from what is locally available and few ordered from Ebay. The 33 point spline socket seems to be difficult to find now in tool shops. But I saw one with a guy who specialized on these old diesels but he would not part with it. But he did make me this drip tube which is rather well because what I saw online was just unreasonable prices for this little tool.













Any tips or hints from those experienced on this procedure are most welcome...by now it will be clear what I am attempting

[BowMan]

Alright gents. Last week I accomplished a lot. On Saturday morning I started with the goal to finish valve adjustments so that Sunday I could devote to Diesel IP timing.

Since there is restricted space to turn the engine at the crank pulley I decided I will use the steering pump pulley nut. However the steering pump belt was slightly loose which meant on compression stroke even after removing all the glow plugs I was finding it hard to turn the engine.

So I decided I will first tighten the belt which is a straightforward procedure and then went on to do the timing on all the valves.

I ran the engine on idle to check for any improvements and sure enough the idle was really smooth now (my exhaust values were set too tight).

Next morning I would not wait to start working on the next really big step in my tuneup.

After a good 4-5 hours of hard work I got the magic drips. Felt this was an achievement to do it for the first time so took a video.

https://youtu.be/ANRqM4_h_3c

I feel a much more responsive and free revving engine now and the exhaust is completely clean.

This week I decided I will do something cosmetic and not mechanic. I decided I can improve the way the air filter housing looks by repainting it. Much better now.

[Ani0404]

Hello Bowman. That's great work brother. Eagerly waiting for the completion of all the works related to vehicle and it is a pleasure to follow your thread.

[BowMan]

Originally Posted by Ani0404

Hello Bowman. That's great work brother. Eagerly waiting for the completion of all the works related to vehicle and it is a pleasure to follow your thread.

Thanks Anil. To me there are many ways in which one can enjoy a classic or vintage car. For sure there are the long and comfortable drives. Last weekend we did a 500Km trip with the car and it the car was more comfortable than the other two we have. I must agree not all classics or even lesser number of vintage care can do this but the W123 is still very much a dependably daily drive car while still being a youngtimer classic.

Then there is the attention one gets. Wherever I take my car it just attracts a crowd and it seems everyone wants a selfie with her. Can be a bit worrying sometimes.

But a bigger part of the whole experience is working on these cars. The Mercedes designers gave a lot of thought even to the guys who would be servicing these cars. Compared with the cramped modern cars there cars are such a pleasure to work on. I am always looking at the opportunity to find areas where I can improve upon her. So instead of taking her to a mechanic now I like to invest in tools and spend some time researching the procedure myself. For instance I took her to someone who is locally an expert on OM616 engines. When I took her to the guy he told me "sahib hamaru to janam aj mataor ma thiyu che" which roughly translated to "Sahib I was born in a Matador" referring to the Bajaj OM616 licensed vehicle. However when he started to work he asked his apprentice to undo the spline lock screws and he used a wrong sized screwdrivers which marred the screw head drive slot. Now the car was is 30 years old and the screws had no sign of abuse but now this joker had put them. Such small things really put me off and I decided then and there I will do the procedure myself...

Next in line for me are the brake hoses and tie rod ends...

[Chevy_Noir]

Hi Fellow Gear-heads,
I'm in the process of restoring my W123 in Mumbai. Any help in steering me towards a good body and paint shop in the city will be really appreciated, especially a shop that has experience with these grand dames. Sadly over the years, the car has accumulated a fair deal of rust in all the usual places.

[BowMan]

Originally Posted by Chevy_Noir

Hi Fellow Gear-heads,
I'm in the process of restoring my W123 in Mumbai. Any help in steering me towards a good body and paint shop in the city will be really appreciated, especially a shop that has experience with these grand dames. Sadly over the years, the car has accumulated a fair deal of rust in all the usual places.

Hey Chevy while I am not from Mumbai and nor an expert in body shops but I can share something that I learned. The key to how good the end result is how well the process steps have been done. And that pretty much depends on how much the owner gives to his project. For me at least weekly visits were a must and I traveled nearly 300 Km every week for this purpose. Having now learned I would select a shop that would be nearer so that I could monitor more frequently and spend less time travelling...

I wish you all the best in your restoration journey and please do share the details as you progress. We would love to be part of the process.

Since I am here I may as well share some progress on the car.

Winter is the best time of the year to work on these projects and this year round I have been busy on the suspension parts. I had ordered Brake hoses and tie rod ends. Finally finished with installing these.







The tie rod ends were badly stuck. I first ordered a pickle fork which undid the outer ends. But there was no space to use a pickle fork for the inner ends so had to order this. Would have been an impossible job without this. Works like a charm



Here is the work underway...







The new brake hose secured well and the tie rods being tightened to torque spec - 26 Ft. Lbs.





Here she is getting her wheels aligned after the new tie rods put in.



One more thing. Today morning I finished spraying the boot with Matt black industrial paint. This makes the boot look clean and is also a measure to guard against rust.

[Screwdriva]

While Lemforder is a good OEM supplier, I'm a bit surprised you chose to purchase Meyle brake hoses, when MB supplies them cheap. Any reason?

[BowMan]

Originally Posted by Screwdriva

While Lemforder is a good OEM supplier, I'm a bit surprised you chose to purchase Meyle brake hoses, when MB supplies them cheap. Any reason?

I think I was searching for ATE hoses since they are the OEM supplier for most of the brake components and which I believe is a South African manufacturer. But the supplier I purchased from did not have ATE hoses in the correct length for my VIN number but he had Meyle in stock hence my purchase. These are Made in Italy and seem to be well made.

I ordered these a couple of months back and the MB ones I think were twice the price of ATE which is something I could not find any reason to justify.

[ajay99]

Originally Posted by BowMan

I think I was searching for ATE hoses since they are the OEM supplier for most of the brake components and which I believe is a South African manufacturer. But the supplier I purchased from did not have ATE hoses in the correct length for my VIN number but he had Meyle in stock hence my purchase. These are Made in Italy and seem to be well made.

I ordered these a couple of months back and the MB ones I think were twice the price of ATE which is something I could not find any reason to justify.

ATE is not a south African but a german brake component manufacturer since 1906 and used to supply for most german marques like VW,mercedes.audi etc.
http://www.ate-brakes.com/the-company/ate-history/

[Screwdriva]

Originally Posted by BowMan

I ordered these a couple of months back and the MB ones I think were twice the price of ATE which is something I could not find any reason to justify.

Ajay is correct. ATE and Bendix were both OEM DE suppliers to MB. As an FYI, the price for a Mercedes Benz supplied hose is Rs. 2500/- in each corner, as quoted by the dealer. This is before any MB Club discount.

I'm not sure how much you paid, but I would always caution against economics when brakes are concerned. Both my W123 and W124 have new braking systems supplied entirely new from MB solely for this reason.

[BowMan]

Originally Posted by Screwdriva

Both my W123 and W124 have new braking systems supplied entirely new from MB solely for this reason.

Can you please elaborate?

[Chevy_Noir]

Originally Posted by BowMan

Hey Chevy while I am not from Mumbai and nor an expert in body shops but I can share something that I learned. The key to how good the end result is how well the process steps have been done. And that pretty much depends on how much the owner gives to his project. For me at least weekly visits were a must and I traveled nearly 300 Km every week for this purpose. Having now learned I would select a shop that would be nearer so that I could monitor more frequently and spend less time travelling...

Thanks for your detailed post Bowman. Really inspiring to see the restoration that you are undertaking.

Your point about owner involvement is really the key. There are some shops in Pune and Hyderabad that I know, but will be much more comfortable with a local Mumbai shop that I can visit regularly. It is a bit difficult to find a shop with the space for a full body restoration. I intend to strip the car of all interior and mechanical parts and let the shop restore all panels that are rusted before a full primer and paint treatment. So a place that can carefully store the parts while the body work in on is important.

Please keep sharing your progress.
Cheers.

[Chevy_Noir]

Originally Posted by Screwdriva

If you need any advice with this process, and it looks like you could use some, pls. don't hesitate to reach out. You own a priceless classic vehicle, one of the few that will never let you down.

Mr. Screwdriva, the engine bay of your W123 is a thing of beauty. Congratulations of such a beautifully maintained car.