In reply to yupididit :
I agree.
I think even Austin has more folks who appreciate these cars than down here.
In reply to yupididit :
I agree.
I think even Austin has more folks who appreciate these cars than down here.
Went for a quick spin with the jumper removed from the equation entirely and the car behaved entirely different. Throttle response felt better, AC cooled better when stopped, and the car actually took off when I floored it.
After much texting and discussion with my esteemed friend, yupididit, it seems the future for this car has been determined.
Looking at an M113/M113k with a 6-speed manual; the aftermarket seems to have done a lot of the legwork when it comes to adapting a manual to the M113, more than I had realized.
I'd looked at the M113 in the past, but dismissed it due to the same issue I'd face with the M119, and felt the M119 would be an easier swap and easier to adapt a manual to; I was wrong! Dead wrong!
A little more research is needed, and then parts acquisition can begin. I'd love to knock this out this winter and turn around a running, driving, road trip ready car!
With this discovery, I don't think I'll be putting any time into adapting the T5 to the current motor, at least not for now. If I don't sell the M117, I will certainly use it in another car.
I'm here for it!
In reply to yupididit :
You're gonna help me when the time comes. 
Not 500-related, but it is Mercedes related.
Two months ago I had my harmonic balancer decided to retire as I pulled into my driveway; sent the unit off to California for a rebuild. Got the unit back and immediately had one of the worst cases of belt squeal I've ever hear in my life. That was a screech so loud I needed ear pro to not go deaf... Took the belt off and decided to watch the crank pulley spin with a clear wobble... Called up the person who did the rebuild and explained the situation to which is said "send it back".
Back it went, arriving last Thursday in sunny California. Days go by and I get a call this morning asking why it was returned... remind him of the previous phone call and the issue and his response is "How is that possible with that bearing in there?" I told him to chuck it up as I have to see for himself.
Now, I want the opinion of others, is this "normal":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbVGulj4JpM
In all of my experience with pulleys and dampers, it should be spinning true... am I overreacting here or am I in the right?
Am I right to consider this unacceptable (given what I paid for the rebuild service)?
My FIL has one, though I'm not sure of the year - with EU headlights he got at a wrecking yard in Dubai, while on a Navy trip - that he swapped an LS into, way before that was the thing.
He's in Atlanta and I'm in Oklahoma, and I haven't seen the car in 12 years, so I don't remember much else... I can call him if you have any questions.
Brad
Please do! It would nice to get some info on it just to have.
I'm curious how he dealt with the oil pan and steering, as well as what transmission he used.
Your father-in-law has a configuration many lust after, though the "purists" would turn up their noses; they need to get over it!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On another note, I've been driving the car since I've made the discovery about that jumper wire, and I can tell the car is running richer, but it's definitely better than how lean it seemed to be previously.
I've basically been trying to make some progress on the issue in the video posted above with the harmonic balancer for the 190E; I was supposed to received a call after they chucked it up to verify the issue I had with their rebuild and haven't heard a thing.
Annoying. I need the 190 driving again so I can get this one ready.
Keeping an eye out for a parts car with a 5.0 M113 so I can have an entire donor to work with if I want. Still leaning toward the NA M113 as opposed to the M113K (huge price difference) as anything will be a marked improvement over the M117.
Since the 190E is still down, I've been giving my truck a break by driving this car more frequently, and I still feel it is the best riding vehicle I own. It's a joy to drive as it glides over imperfections in the road as though they aren't there, and handles well enough in corners even at ridiculous ride height.
It just solidfies my desire to perfect the car in a way that is fitting for ME, and not some purist or collector who only looks at resale value and profit; this car was meant to be driven, and driven it shall be.
I hit this milestone yesterday morning on the way into work:
Nice! I just hit 115,000 miles in my '86 300 SDL.
Jordan Rimpela said:Nice! I just hit 115,000 miles in my '86 300 SDL.
Not even broken in yet ;)
I would eventually like to add a long wheelbase version to the stable myself, along with the coupe.
Not much to report on this car other than I've been driving it for the few times I go into work (gotta love being IT).
Did some cabling today at a friend's shop:
I have a spare ladder and some tools at said shop, so I didn't need to bring the truck, just some spare cable, few RJ45 connectors, and my laptop.
Since I've mostly been at home, I've knocked out a few woodworking projects to make my home office a little more comfy. It was time to get my desktop tower back off the floor after 10 years, so I whipped up a little tower cabinet, with storage for spare keyboards (like my precious IBM Model M), old GPUs, and other PC peripherals. The big drawers still stick a little bit, I opted for bottom runners made out of wood instead of using drawer sliders from the hardware store to use up as much of my scrap wood as I could. The big drawer faces are actually from two doors I made that were too tall, so the excess was just sitting around.
Then, I made some end tables to go on either side of said office couch. Now the lady will have a place to set her drinks and snacks while I work:
I'm by no means an expert carpenter, but a Kreg jig for screwing everything together with biscouts and wood glue for added strength made these very neat and utilitarian.
In the future I hope to make more pieces, perhaps branching out into playing with dovetail joints and other methods of joinery for more aesthetic flare.
I brought home a big little brother today:
It's gonna get quite a bit of needed love.
That I can't have
In reply to yupididit :
I'd have probably passed it on if it was an SE, or wasn't 040. Both of us got lucky/unlucky. LOL.
I forgot to share this update here, but it's a runner!
Friends, I need ideas!
The accelerator pedals in these cars are "wear" items, and I don't mean just the rubber pads. The pedal rotates and slips on the rod underneath, but this plastic eventually fatigues and breaks. I snapped some photos, but I can't recall where I placed the missing piece that broke off, but here's someone else's photo:
Now, the stock pedal also secures to the floor via a clip, and that decreases the travel distance required for the pedal. Without it, you'll see the rod sits farther foward. I'd prefer to come up with a floating pedal that pivots that secures to the rod, but that will not reduce the artificial increase in travel distance.
The pedals themselves are fairly inexpensive, but this is the third to fail on me in 10 years, and this one happened on the highway trying to overtake. I don't want to have to worry about this anymore. Modifying the stock pedal for a permanent solution is likely the best bet, but I'm curious as to what y'all would recommend. Here are some photos of my pedal, as well as how it's all mounted.
Further looking is telling me that the travel distance I have to take up when installing a working pedal shouldn't be there. Linkages have been screwed with.
Linkages are adjusted and all is well with a stock pedal once more.
Discovered a massive vacuum leak coming from the AFM boot, and a small leak from the gasket for the fuel distributor after doing a smoke test; no other leaks were observed.
Since I'll be pulling all this nonsense to replace the gaskets, I want to tackle the TPS. Here's the pitfall, the TPS is no longer available, and the plug from the EZL is currently jumpered "closing" the circuit. This drops idle RPM in gear down to around 350RPM when in Drive, far too low for what it needs to be.
I've scoured the web looking for a wiring diagram for an early Euro-market car, but all I get are early diagrams for what appear to be US-market vehicles. It seems that even in the early '80s, the US-market cars where fitted with a 3-pin TPS; one common, one for WOT, and one for Idle. I have a 3-pin that tests out okay, and I should be able to use it without an issue and simply take one wire out of the equation.
If the standard test for continuity is anything to go by for the 2-pin switch, the CIS system wants the TPS to be closed at WOT. Right now with the jumper in the plug, the EZL should be registering that the car is consistently at WOT.
Idle speed should be 650-700RPM in P, and it is with the jumper in place; without the jumper, idle speed is at 800+ or so, and in gear is about 750RPM. 550-600RPM is where it should be in gear. It seems for some reason or another, when the TPS failed sometime ago, they sought fit to simply jumper the plug and screw with the fuel mixture as well as the idle bypass. Without an analyzer, this will be a chore to adjust properly, and my nose isn't "trained" enough for the old school sniff test.
My best guess is that without a properly functioning TPS, the system would either lean out, or run too rich and the car would simply shut off. The fix was to have the car thinking it's in in WOT all the time, and adjust the mixture and idle bypass so that the car idles and runs. This is mostly a hypothesis, and I encourage anyone with experience with CIS to chime in.
Catastrophe has struck!
I went to a friend's shop to install an updated condenser and compressor from a later car for better cooling to keep the family comfortable. All went well, save for one of the cap screws that secures the compressor bracket to the timing cover (which also acts as another bolt for said cover). My friend decided to hit it with an air ratchet, and I already had mixed feelings about it, but given he works on these all the time too I just let it be.
Discovered I was leaking oil this morning, and that the puddle was getting larger with every subsequent drive, so it was time to chase down that leak. Imagine my shock when I discovered that the front timing cover cracked at that same cap screw that was tightened with the air tool... Not the end of the world, as I've got a replacement cover from my old motor, however, the process of replacing the front cover is an involved one, one that likely means pulling the motor, as the heads have to come off, as well as the two-piece oil pan.
This is my primary driver, and family hauler, so this is a HUGE issue for me. I've got the truck as a backup, but driving a CCLB truck to certain places when having a family outing can be cumbersome, so it looks like it's time to reclaim the Durango from my dad until I figure out the path forward on this car.
Options are: 1) Replace the front cover, knocking out headgaskets (again), valve stem seals, front seal, etc.); 2) M113 with 6-speed manual from a Chrysler Crossfire; 3) LS and enter the world of being able to get parts for it just about ANYWHERE.
None of the above are cheap, fast, or easy.
In reply to Azryael :
Buy a real dd that isn't 40 years old for the fam and figure this out later lol.
In reply to yupididit :
That's a bitter pill I just can't swallow. I just can't get into something newer, and when I do find something remotely appealing, they want way too much for it.
In reply to Azryael :
You already know what I'm going to say lol
yupididit said:In reply to Azryael :
You already know what I'm going to say lol
Not being too nosey, but isn't there a decent XJR somewhere around here?
Dirtydog (Forum Supporter) said:yupididit said:In reply to Azryael :
You already know what I'm going to say lol
Not being too nosey, but isn't there a decent XJR somewhere around here?
I would hate to put a car seat in an XJR lol. He knows I'm going to recommend something more modern and reliable as a dd for him and his family. As his friend, my suggestion wouldn't be anything fun to him lol.
You'll need to log in to post.
