Some of you may recognize me from the W126 forum, but most of you are probably unaware that I've been lurking around for a while, and then some of you are probably waiting for me to just get to the car.
Anyway, I decided to buy what most of you would consider to be an amusing craigslist bargain car. It's a 1992 190E 2.6 with 193200 miles on the clock, complete with all of the $650 car features such as a rebuilt title, the worlds worst aftermarket stereo, a service history that stops in 1998, a couple crusty spots here and there, and an interior that looks and smells like it just barely escaped the junk yard.
I bought the car from a kid who had owned it for 8 months, and I don't think he knew how to take care of an older car because when I bought it, I made the sale contingent on him buying me a gallon of coolant and some oil. The reason for this was because it was missing 2/3 of a gallon of coolant, so the temp gauge was fluttering everywhere from 40 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius, but it never overheated. The car was also down to the min mark on the oil dipstick despite having the oil changed at 191k miles on July 2nd. Also did I mention that the Euro style headlights were wired by a moron so they kept shutting off while I was driving the car home at 9 PM last Friday.
Since getting it home, I've torn the car apart and my impression is positive overall. The car has suffered a frontal impact at some point with an object that sticks out higher than the front bumper, which damaged the core support and the upright bracket between the radiator and headlamp, which took out the original drivers side headlamp, but the rest of the car appears untouched.
The headlights are missing the 5 prong male end plug that plugs into the harness, so the wire ends keep falling out of the sockets, hence the headlight shutoff. The drains under the fuse box and battery tray were clogged, but nothing is rusted out. It also appears that the underside rust was caused by some dingus bottoming out the car on a speed bump, since the problem is limited to the drain holes that protrude from the bottom of the chassis.
The shocks are clearly blown, and the radiator leaks coolant, but upon drainage, no radiator poop or coolant discoloration was noted. The radiator, water pump, coolant lines, ignition distributor parts, ignition wires, and thermostat are already on the way from Autohausaz. There is no evidence of headgasket failure, and the car passes the smoke test.
Now what would you all recommend as far as repairs aside from the obvious for this project car?
Now for photos :surrender:
Thanks for reading.
Anyway, I decided to buy what most of you would consider to be an amusing craigslist bargain car. It's a 1992 190E 2.6 with 193200 miles on the clock, complete with all of the $650 car features such as a rebuilt title, the worlds worst aftermarket stereo, a service history that stops in 1998, a couple crusty spots here and there, and an interior that looks and smells like it just barely escaped the junk yard.
I bought the car from a kid who had owned it for 8 months, and I don't think he knew how to take care of an older car because when I bought it, I made the sale contingent on him buying me a gallon of coolant and some oil. The reason for this was because it was missing 2/3 of a gallon of coolant, so the temp gauge was fluttering everywhere from 40 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius, but it never overheated. The car was also down to the min mark on the oil dipstick despite having the oil changed at 191k miles on July 2nd. Also did I mention that the Euro style headlights were wired by a moron so they kept shutting off while I was driving the car home at 9 PM last Friday.
Since getting it home, I've torn the car apart and my impression is positive overall. The car has suffered a frontal impact at some point with an object that sticks out higher than the front bumper, which damaged the core support and the upright bracket between the radiator and headlamp, which took out the original drivers side headlamp, but the rest of the car appears untouched.
The headlights are missing the 5 prong male end plug that plugs into the harness, so the wire ends keep falling out of the sockets, hence the headlight shutoff. The drains under the fuse box and battery tray were clogged, but nothing is rusted out. It also appears that the underside rust was caused by some dingus bottoming out the car on a speed bump, since the problem is limited to the drain holes that protrude from the bottom of the chassis.
The shocks are clearly blown, and the radiator leaks coolant, but upon drainage, no radiator poop or coolant discoloration was noted. The radiator, water pump, coolant lines, ignition distributor parts, ignition wires, and thermostat are already on the way from Autohausaz. There is no evidence of headgasket failure, and the car passes the smoke test.
Now what would you all recommend as far as repairs aside from the obvious for this project car?
Now for photos :surrender:
Thanks for reading.