1969 Mercedes 200. Because they said it couldn't be done

Man, this thread is going to be harder than I thought!

The Mercedes has been as reliable as the sunset lately. I think the last time I had the hood up was for a jump from Zsolt shortly after the battery charge failure. I mean the cooling system is keeping up, she starts when I ask her to, she still leaks a little trans fluid out the output shaft, but otherwise she's as tough as nails (if not a little guttless still)

As far as the day we jumped her went: Short story long we thought we'd give the car one more chance to start with this battery before I forked over cash for another. It's been my experience that if you let this car sit as long as I have (I think it was two or three weeks at that point) then it's going to crank for a bit, while the fuel pump fills the carb bowl. Well, it's hot and I wanted to give the car the best chance possible to start so I had a nifty idea, I took that can of imitation WD40 and sprayed it right into my carb's inlet.

Crank, sputter, RUN, die

Spray

Crank, sputter RUN. idle

I wasn't sure if it was going to work. Now that I know it does, I'm never buying another can of starting fluid! (not much of a threat, if I'm honest. Last time I had a can of start spray it went in a spud gun)

Surprisingly, the AC is still blowing cold air. I was really expecting the leak rate to be high enough to kill it by now. "Yupididit" is right though, it's by no means adequate for the area. In the shade it can cool the car down, but in the evening sun you start to sweat. I still haven't bought the shades for the windows (I was going to opt for shades instead of tint) because we're still paying two mortgages, but they're definitely on the "ASAFP" list. Our house in the states is pending sale, we're just waiting on papers to be signed.

Which is good, because also on the list is an uprated HVAC blower motor. The one in the car is super quiet, but anemic at best. I was hoping it'd be something with a little room to tinker with (maybe something I could put a bigger fan on etc) but it looks like this:

And that's a first for me

I figure I have three options at this point.

• one, I can put my meter at the motor and make sure it's getting the full 12-14vdc. The idea being it's anemic because the resistor pack is old and resisting more, thus making it move slower.

• two, build a small power amplifier from transistors. more juice = more air? The risk being me completely ruining my motor

• three, installing a second blower motor before it to force more air into it. Then, maybe, it'll move more air.

Your thoughts on that one would be appreciated. I think I've listed them in order from easiest to hardest as far as installation goes (and, honestly, probably the least to most likely to make a difference )

Good times

Now Zsolt's Mercedes, on the other hand, has been getting some wrenching time. It vibrates intermittently at 120kph. And when I say "intermittently" what I really mean is: the vibrations seem to move from the front of the car to the back and then they stop. Then they start at the front and move back.

So far we've changed some sort of air suspension accumulator to get rid of this <2krpm drone and that made the car amazingly quiet. Of course we had the wheels balanced (about 5 times and two different shops). Then we changed all the motor and transmission mounts and that made the vibration worse.

Then we changed both flex discs on his driveshaft which seemed to help a little, but before we could decide whether or not there was improvement he hit a pothole at speed

Front and back on the driver's side (then I let the Alpine play. I was bumping new E36 M3 from NWA, it was "gangsta gangsta" at the top of the list)... Back on track: That right there is about $2000 worth of Brabus wheels down the drain ($2k because the other side is good still. $4k for a set on fleabay).

He paid a local shop 12kd (about $40) to "fix" both wheels but there was still noticeable vibration where you'd expect it.

Today he paid 270kd (close enough to $1000) for new rims and tires

He went down from a 19 to a 18 to get a bit more sidewall (insurance against more potholes), and it significantly improved the ride quality.

More importantly though, why am I telling you this? I'm glad you asked!

I think I've found automotive Mecca!

The pictures just dont do it justice...

This street has to be a mile or more long and it is just wall to wall shop after shop. Both sides of the street all the way down and that's just the main drag!

I mean beyond the main drag are all the back roads. Beyond all the backroads are the alleys. Beyond the alleys are smaller alleys. It just never ends! It must be the size of a small city!

And in all of that. We found exactly ONE shop that sold rims

That's it... One

Someone has some serious influence to pull that off because I'm really not kidding )And the darn place wasn't even that big of a store).

Good times.

On the blower motor, first I'd probably pull it out and make sure the bearings/bushings aren't just dragging and in need of a bit of oil. Any oil left in an oilite bearing made in 1969 is probably tar now, especially in that climate. Another use for your can of fake WD40.

Three ideas on how to overclock this darn thing and I hadn't even considered basic maintenance

I'll see if I can get access to the fan. Because of the way the center console is installed, it's not in the best spot...

(not my photo)

I was feeling bad after last week that so little was being worked on the car, so this week I started giving myself about 20-extra minutes in the AM to tinker a bit. The strategy worked on my Alfa project, plus it'd be cooler than trying to work in the oven-like afternoons we have.

Check out the time of day and the temp. Not quite 6am and already almost 100deg

Also, it's not my turn to drive right now (I commute with Zsolt and another co-worker) so I can carry over a little mess into the next morning. I figured since I was going to be behind the center console for a bit, I thought now was as good of a time as any to finish that wire removal I started when I found those energized relays:

Best I could figure, they went to a foglight set that's no longer installed in the car... And since I was already behind the center console, I should probably look around for that pesky fan. Weeeeelll, I found it, but it wasn't where I expected it to be. Instead of behind the center console, I found it above the passenger footwell:

At first I thought that was a good thing. I'd have more room to work with, and it was easier to access than it would have been had it been in its expected location. Unfortunately it's mounted in a way that doesn't allow me access to the wires (seriously, I sliced my hand open this morning feeling around for them), plus half of it is covered in that black sealant... Gluh.

In the original position, I think there might be another fan motor in this box I'm looking at, but haven't opened it to verify:

I spent a little time this morning googling the CFM rating of birdcage HVAC fans, rpm, series vs parallel dual fan installation and then I had a bit of an epiphany.

Could this be a job for

The E-Ram!!!??

Seriously. If I try to add a fan or uprate the one I have, I have to worry about getting it in the right spot, adapting it to the current mounting flange, space, blah, blah, blah.

If I get one of these inline POS's, I could put it right at the vent outlet to maybe boost the output a bit? After that it's just a matter of 5 wires and a switch. Maybe a relay at worse... (of which I've harvested a few from this car)

Are there any downsides?

Good times

During this weeks work I did give a little attention to the fact that the passenger door doesn't unlock with the key. I figure a tumbler just got stuck, or it was getting old, etc. I squirted a bit of my "Loozen" in there and let it sit a day. The next morning I ran the key in and out a few times to see if I could get the tumblers to fall, and the whole darn thing came out in my hand!

I decided the best thing I could do was to remove all the tumblers. Car theft here isn't really an issue, and people aren't interested in old cars... besides, who'd know?

Well, it still didn't turn and it looks like the end is broken and stuck in it's mounting location. I think someone tried to muscle this thing open at one point and failed. I'll have to get a new one on order. It's not a big deal right now, but when Mrs. Hungary gets out here it'd mean I'd be opening my door first and that's just not right

Good times

'Round town:

No, that's a dog.

Apparently, Quaker does oatmeal a bit differently out here

<img src=" cant call it "bloody" without vodka?

<img src=" road surface out here

<img src="

You see this a lot out here. I'm not sure if it's complete disregard for maintenance needs, the high temperatures, or a combination of both. I'm not taking any chances, I'm getting a new extinguisher.

The barbers out here keep putting an extra "o" in their salons and it gets me all excited every time!

And the biggest scam the US government ever pulled was convincing the US that Area 51 was in the United states I found it, and all it took was one wrong turn. I didn't go in though, lots of guards (no kidding)

Good times

oh wait! I found this (these?) in my neighborhood!

That's a parachute strapped to the back of that corvette

E-ram? That looks like a run of the mill marine bilge fan/blower (so your gasoline powered boat doesn't explode) to me.

Yugo has it right - look for a marine tunnel blower if you want to add a little air. Your first guess about the resistor pack is a good place to start, but they usually fail closed so the fan gets full power only.

Squirrel cage blowers usually do a good job moving air, so I'd focus on the basic maintenance before getting creative.

Any blower wiring I've dealt with bypasses the resistor pack on full speed, the resistors fail open and you get nothing on some or all of the lower speeds.

Oh yeah! Yugo, you're absolutely right. See, I was close, but forgot that it bypasses the resistor at full.

That lock tumbler: should be a somewhat easy swap once you get your replacement. Beats trying to change them once they've rejected the key.

In reply to Hungary Bill:

That picture of the road surface sure looks a lot like Texas

Porsches have a center fan, plus two footwell fans. There may still be one hiding behind that center console. Might be a German thing. Keep looking.

Oh man, you guys are awesome! I knew there had to be another name for those things (The E-Ram was the first advertisement I remember seeing for an e-bay electric supercharger all those years back. Worse yet, I saw a car with one actually installed... ) But I used to work at a marina, how did I NOT think of a bilge blower.

I still need to look at the voltage getting to this fan. It's entirely possible that it's still going through a resistor when the top speed is selected. It just doesn't seem to blow very well (of course, basic maintenance is in the cards). I think poor duct routing could be a factor too. I'm betting this is an aftermarket unit, and the ducting gets squished a bit under the driver's side dash.

So this week: Find those pesky blower wires and make sure it's getting full juice, lube up the bearings on the fan, open that vent box behind the center console and see if there's a fan in there too, and get that door lock fixed/on order.

here goes

Woody: That center console box kicked my butt...

I'm positive I removed every fastener and every darn clip and STILL no amount of prying with a screwdriver would get that dang box open. In the end, my interior looked like this:

and I gave up with I accidentally ripped this:

Dang the bad luck. I'm positive there's a second fan in there but I just cant SEE it. I also have a hard time following the wires from the switch because of the center console.

Ah well, Ac is still working. I found that the install for the AC unit utilized flexible ducting to route the air to the two dash vents. Both sides were pinched pretty bad. I was able to re-route the passenger side a bit and now that side is blowing strong. The driver's side is going to be more of a challenge. Probably one I'll tackle next week.

Also, I found more use of adhesives to hold stuff in that isn't usually held in with adhesives. Take for instance this carpet with what looks to have been hot glued:

Who am I kidding. We all know what that looks like...

and now my interior is back together and looking like this (ripped panel not installed, and you cant even tell)

Good times

Taking a break from the AC, I decided to have a look at the passenger lock to see if there was any way I could fanagle it and not have to buy a new one.

<img src="" />

The problem is, even though the tumblers have been removed the lock barrel is broken in half at an angle down the line. I can turn it in both directions no problem but it slips on itself and wont actuate the door lock mechanism.

On the surface the solution seemed deceptively simple. Those forks in the last picture are the other side of where the key goes. In the unlocked position those push on a similar set of forks on the latch side and things open. Lock the car and the forks twist 90degrees and that creates a gap large enough that it wont actuate when you push the button.

I saw that the center of the door lock part was threaded so I figured a button head screw might fill the gap and let the door operate even though it appeared to be locked.

Easy money

<img src="" />

Of course it didnt work. It turns out that the door locking system is much more complicated than that (really, I should have known). When you lock it those forks rotate on each other just a little bit. That little bit is enough to move a pin inside the latching mechanism that blocks the exterior button from being pushed. In other words, the screw COULD work but I'd have to cut things to disable other parts of the locking mechanism.

In the end I just bought another door handle with a lock from e-bay for $35. When it gets here I'll see if I can remove that barrel, take out the tumblers, and install it in my door.

Good times

Saw this. Is this just a "here" thing or did these make it to the states as well?

Still trying to make heads and tails of the ducting on the driver's side (which I am officially blaming for the poor air flow, now that the passenger side is going good) and I see lots of scrunching:

And true to form, having identified the problem I've moved on to something completely different!

Way back when I was using the imitation WD40 to start the car, I couldn't help but notice the carburetor seemed VERY dirty

Sure, I get the dirt in the intake tract, but in the fuel bowl!?!

Oddly enough the intake manifold was pretty darn clean! (dont ask me how that works) It had a little film and discoloration from the PCV system, but otherwise there wasn't much in there. Actually now that I typed that, it's a wet manifold. Gas probably cleaned the dirt and ran it through the engine... ouch

Anyhoo, I checked the intake tract for leaks and saw that the cap to the air filter housing was missing its rubber seal. (old one on left, spare one that came with the car on right)

So yeah, two days later and I had it all cleaned up (on the kitchen counter... right next to the sink... Don't tell Mrs. Hungary )

All in all, pretty easy squeezy lemon peasy. But I did notice the rubber mount between carb and manifold had a few cracks in it.

None of the cracks go all the way through though, and it passes the "Bill pressure test" so back on it went. I gotta ask though, why the bottleneck speedbump thingie in there? Seems like that'd reduce flow...

But then again, I generally assume Mercedes knew what they were doing when they made stuff so maybe it benefits things somehow?

Good times

Speaking of carburetors, I really need to do some research into tuning how-to's for this carburetor. It has two mixture screws and one plunger needle adjustment screw...

<img src="" />

I'm thinking cold start mixture, idle mixture, aaaaaand... what the heck does that plunger do anyways? (scuttles off to the tubes of you for research)

Cheers!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/wyspAHrMbb8

It just dawned on me that there's no accelerator pump in this carburetor. Interesting!

Hungary Bill wrote: https://www.youtube.com/embed/wyspAHrMbb8 It just dawned on me that there's no accelerator pump in this carburetor. Interesting!

It's a berkeleying SU carb in drag!

That might actually be a good thing since the SU constant velocity carb is a great design let down by some of the world's E36 M3tiest manufacturing. The Germans were actually not bad at the manufacturing bit back in the day.

In reply to NOHOME:

Knowing absolutely nothing about CV carbs, I can say it does seem a LOT simpler than any carb I've ever had apart before. Even the Rochester single barrel downdraft on my Impala...

Seems to work well too. Although (and forgive me if I've already mentioned it) there is a bit of a miss when I shut it off and then start it again within the hour. It'll clear up after a block or so of driving so I haven't been super motivated to try to hunt it down yet

Good times.

By the looks of it, the Kool aid man is in Kuwait and he's gotten loose!

you guys are probably safe in the States, but right about now I'm very worried about my walls...

Finally caught up on your adventures. Thanks for letting us experience cultural differences through automobiles. It's fun.

The bottleneck speed bump thingie may be there to create some turbulence for better mixing of the air and fuel.