[oefvetw124lover]

looks like a great project car
dont "WHIP" it with those wide tires though

 

[Fonzi]

I went out to re-park the wagon yesterday and the battery was dead as a doornail. Before I remembered that I'd lent my charger to my brother-in-law, I pulled the battery from the car which clearly hadn't been removed in years. It's a big correct Bosch battery, and the bolts were all rusty. The battery tray is gone with the wind. I've never seen such a lack of a battery tray before. I scooped out the piles of rust and tossed them on the street and then thought, "I should not have done that."

Anyway, the car is still on its downward spiral right now. Add in some wheel swapping and and it's not going to look nearly as good very soon.

 

[Fonzi]

This looks like it might be short lived as the bills are proving tough to pay this month. I put it up on eBay in case I can make a quick easy buck. I'm putting up as much stuff as I can find the time to do. I need to come up with $2000 to pay the bills. So I started taking videos of the current condition. These are good to have anyway, even if I keep it and fix it up.

And finally, just the car back under the cover.

It looks like the car just needs a little TLC and could be back on the road. Hopefully I will get time, but a man must understand his own limitations.

 

[Fonzi]

Last night I spent a lot of time learning a potential reason that these AMG wheels were left on the vehicle.

The first wheel I tried, I could only get one lug out. The AMG wheels have short extended heads that are common on r129 and 560sl r107 cars. The extended heads were discontinued by MB due to the heads breaking off. I hit that first one with PB Blaster and got the other three wheels off despite their rusty lug bolts. I ended up getting all but two lug bolts out. I could have just wrenched on it, but I knew that I would end up ripping the head off and having a bigger problem.

This must have been why the wheels were left on the car.

You'd think that taking it down to my friend's shop where he was working all night long and just hitting it with the impact gun would have done the job. Nope. To minimize the twisting of the bolt head off to the sides, we set up a floor jack to support the outside of the deep socket we were using. That way we could stand on the wrench and not worry about the extended portion twisting off onto an angle as much. No luck. Keep in mind, I drove the car about two miles hitting every bump I could on the way to the shop.

Finally we decided to take a look and see if there was any way to get to the rotor from behind to hit it with penetrant. Fortunately there's a slot on the front heat/dust shield where you can see the back of the lugs. I shot it repeatedly for hours it seemed with PB Blaster. Shocking the bolt on both sides with a hammer (and punch on back side). No love.

Finally, @rwd4evr suggested heat and had a torch on hand. I cooked the hell out of the bolt from the back side and was able to get one of the two remaining bolts out. Shwew! Having that success, I was confident I could somehow get that last one off. It didn't come with the same procedure of heat and PB Blaster and shocking. It took a little more. I had to loosely put in the other four lug bolts and take the car for a really hard drive after all that heat and PB Blaster and shocking. Finally, when I pulled it in I was able to get the last bolt out.

Realizing that we were able to spin the wheel and see the lug holes from the back side of the rotor was really key to getting these bolts out. Otherwise, I would not have been able to hit it with pentetrant, a punch, and heat.

I finally got the mother f'er off though.

Fronts are 7.5x17 et37 with 225/45/17 tires that rubbed behind the tire on the fender. They also rubbed the inside fender it seems.

Rears are 8.5x17 et30 and stick out way too far with 255 tires, 255/40/17 I think.

The car is now sitting on 15" 15-hole w124 wheels.

 

[gatorblue92]

Those wheels cleaned up pretty good.

Your experience with the lugs is one reason why I'm using the shorter lugs on my AMG wheels. They may not be "correct" but they won't snap off when you remove them either.

 

[Fonzi]

Those wheels cleaned up pretty good.

Your experience with the lugs is one reason why I'm using the shorter lugs on my AMG wheels. They may not be "correct" but they won't snap off when you remove them either.

Had I not read the horror stories about 560sl wheels and people destroying entire wheels just to get the lugs out, I might not have been so cautious trying to get the out. When you see the twisting before you hear any creaking noises, you know it's just not right.

Yes, MB apparently discontinued the extended head lug bolts due to this issue. So I wouldn't say your lugs aren't correct. Rather, they are "updated" with the MB recommendation.

 

[magicbigdaddy]

I have always had success with using a deep impact socket on the lug and hitting it as hard as I can with a big hammer. After that the lug comes out as it should.

 

[Fonzi]

I have always had success with using a deep impact socket on the lug and hitting it as hard as I can with a big hammer. After that the lug comes out as it should.

I need to get an earthquake impact gun. The one I have is the <$30 Harbor Freight one. But this situation was special. I didn't think of the idea of putting a Socket on the bolt to whack it with a hammer, but was able to get some pretty good shots on it with a heavy ball-peen hammer. I really should have thought of putting a socket on it because they often have those removable caps, something that would absorb the shock the way I was hitting it.

 

[euroamg]

Congratulations on the wagon! Always nice to find a good deal on one of them.. Looks to be in good shape just a little work needed..

 

[Fonzi]

Thanks. I've got too many cars. Ironically this one seems like it could be a "practical" car seating 7 and probably doing better on MPG than nearly anything else I've got. On the other hand, I need a project like a hole in the the head. So I may be putting back up for sale for cheap. It runs and drives, but doesn't seem to be getting better. I probably should have at least put some fresh gas in it. Maybe that's next. Drain the tank and put fresh fuel and lots of injector cleaner in.... and spark plugs.

 

[Fonzi]

Gotta thin the herd. I never really got this project off the ground or figured out what I wanted to do with it. I have it up on CL for $800 (obo).

There were many moments when I considered the concept of an m119, but discovered it makes sense to at least get a 400e before doing that. I do have the good m103 in my 1986 w126 car that runs great but has not title or Vermont registration (which I can buy for $300 is seems). I'm bent on whether to register the sedan or part it out and maybe put the m103 in this wagon. But... whatever sells first.

 

[Fonzi]

eBay listing started at $200. https://www.ebay.com/itm/253083963394

Fire sale time!


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[Fonzi]

Okie dokie. Well, I’ve given up on the car, and couldn’t sell it for $200-300. Bummer. It seems to have decided to stop running which is no crime since it appeared to have had a blown head gasket anyway with oil in the coolant. So when someone was offering to trade a stick shift OD w201 chassis for a few MB catalytic converters, I let him chop the cat off this car. I think the rear exhaust was half-off already anyway.

So, now that I’ve unsubscribed from the W124 forum, what am I doing back here?

Well, after seeing 500e prices going insane. I decided to look once again for those cheap 400e cars that I thought I’d seen. Whoa!! There’s a cheap on out there! Sure, more than the wagon cost, but apparently looking like a good driver. So chances are good that tomorrow, if this 400e is good... , I will not be the sole owner of these things, but there will be:
- 1989 300te
- 1992 300te
- 1993 400e
- a few 5.0 m119 engines laying around

What would YOU do?

I’ve decided to focus my efforts on 1985 and earlier cars. So this is going against the grain, especially with a 1993 wiring harness year car. I haven’t bought the 400e yet, but very possibly will in a few hours.

Would you??


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[Fonzi]

Ive been reading this, and figure maybe I should make a “400te” thread...


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[LeftCoastGeek]

where would the battery go on a '400TE' ? on a 400E its in the trunk because the false firewall in the engine compartment has to be pushed back to make room for the V8.

 

[Fonzi]

where would the battery go on a '400TE' ? on a 400E its in the trunk because the false firewall in the engine compartment has to be pushed back to make room for the V8.

People have definitely done this several times. So I puke not be the first to figure this one out. I will research.

This is the link I forgot to post.
http://forums.mbclub.co.uk/threads/w124-500te-lets-do-this.229179/page-9

 

[LeftCoastGeek]

I'd just hate to have a battery box in the trunk space of our wagon. we USE that thing, back seat folded flush, and pack all kinds of stuff in it.



now, a V8 powered Cabrio, that might be fun. but probably really tricky engineering, due to the heavy chassis mods the cab required to maintain stiffness.

 

[sbaert]

2 questions

1) What is the budget for this build?

2) Are you willing to replace the front cross member, which is a required mod to hold the M119?

The rest, like battery placement, are doable although you will sacrifice some cargo capacity

 

[LeftCoastGeek]

I suppose if you took the 3rd row seats out, and use a slim AGM or LiION battery, maybe 2 6V in series, you could get the battery under the rear deck.

 

[humblejoe]

You can get ventable batteries in the interior, they use a tube to vent to the outside