On the front of my SLC I had 225/50R16 on AMG Aero Styling 1 monoblocks, 16x7.5 ET 17. About a year ago on one particularly unlucky day, I was travelling on a dirt backroad in Lurch, down near the Navy base when a logging truck b-double decided to take a corner a little faster than they should have. 
Lucky for me, I was only doing about 45km/h on the dirt cobbles. I took avoiding action but was blinded by a dustbowl from the oncoming truck. the right front hit a pothole, almost completely swallowing the whole rim - then the right rear hit it, but at about half the original speed. Both wheels were bent at the lip, by more than an inch.:crybaby2:
The front tyre immediately deflated. (It should have been destroyed, but Michelin obviously have some pride in their product - the Pilot sport 3 did not even rupture the sidewall. The tyres were tested on another set of wheels, and are still OK)...
Sinking a wheel in a pothole is No biggie in itself, but in the process of filling the pothole with tyre, the suspension compressed completely, punching the damper clear of the lower rubber retaining washer and circlip, sending the damper rod clean through the radiator header tank.
I still had 2 hours of travel ahead, and no water vessel to replace the header tank with. I limped the car, after making a quick emergency repair and removing the radiator cap, to canberra, a trip that ended up taking 6 hours. Once there, some rim swapping was done, and a damper was replaced, and the header tank was quickly patched, to get me home.
Here's a pic of the wheels.
![Alloy wheel Tire Rim Wheel Automotive tire]()
Got home quite OK. parked the car and worked for the week, travelling in the other cars, with intention to repair the damage properly.
That weekend, after replacing the header tank and refilling the coolant system with fresh coolant, The car was started and idled up to let the thermostat open in order to test the cooling system.
My neighbour turned up in the middle of this and we were talking for about 5 minutes. in the middle of this the car simply stalls. Something my 3.5 djet car has never done before. Turned off the ignition, and started the car again, but it didn't even catch. Checked the battery - 13.5v so it was in top shape.
checked the coolant tank, all ok.
checked the fuel gauge plenty.
Checked the oil...
Shit.. it was grey.
So after doing the emergency repair, driving home with no problem, and simply starting the car the following weekend, the head gasket had chosen that moment to blow and that was that.
The irony in all of this, is that not 3 weeks prior, I'd replaced the water pump, the radiator, all the hoses, the header tank and citric acid flushed the block and rinsed it out. The cooling system was perfect.
Not that it was bad beforehand, but the radiator was starting to lose efficiency.
So the car was covered up, and in the process of sourcing bits & pieces for the 107 project, I lost track of time, bought another Ducati, started riding more often, had almost lost interest in the slc- sort of... the planning process of the proposed project and finances were not sitting at the same table. So something had to give - eventually.
Last week I pulled the cover and needed some inspiration to realize my 'dream'.
Then I was reading the thread "how much tyre can you stuff in there" and thought about those 16x9 pentas. and would they really fit under the front guards.
I put the pentas on the car, just for shits n giggles, but at the same time I'm seriously evaluating what would be required to get Lurch back where I wanted him.
So I got them out from under the house, and went to remove the front right.
On inspection I noticed some inner lip damage from the pothole incident, where the tyre had pulled the lip down. Once the wheel was off, further inspection revealed that the subframe, control arm, tie rods, draglink and all the bushes are 100% undamaged. Testament to the fact that Mercedes-Benz are engineered like no other car. well, at least the 107's are...
Back to the tyre thing: So I shoved this 16x9 ET0 penta on the front hub and bolted it up, and dropped the wheel back down on the ground. To my amazement, the wheel is completely inside the fender lip and profile.
The tyre is currently a 225/50R16, but that's no problem, as there would be enough space for a 245/45R16 front without any rubbing either.... until you decide to turn a corner!
![Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alloy wheel Wheel]()
When I fix the inner lip, I'll have a much better idea. In fact the whole car is ready for rust repair and respray, so I'll do it then. But the fact that the lip was pulled down demonstrates that a 225/50R16 on an ET17 7.5" rim will still cause issues on lock under compression. Given the compression was at it's most extreme, and the steering wheel was ripped from my hands when the incident occurred, I'd say that's a clean getaway, compared to the complete bollocking it could have been.
So now I just look at this car, and the motivation is coming back, but the dollars just aren't meeting the project budget at the moment. Hopefully it will soon. I'm starting to really miss driving Lurch. It's so much better than the SL from a driving perspective, but without the sunroof, it won't ever provide that topless feeling.
Looks good on Pentas though. As if it wouldnt! Hard to say if I prefer them to the monoblocks, but on an SLC, I think maybe, because of the cars age, the 70's styling of the pentas just edge out the 80's monoblocks.
Something about the dish on those rims.... yeah.
![Vehicle Car Tire Automotive tire Automotive exterior]()
![Land vehicle Vehicle Car Mercedes-benz r107 and c107 Classic car]()
Lucky for me, I was only doing about 45km/h on the dirt cobbles. I took avoiding action but was blinded by a dustbowl from the oncoming truck. the right front hit a pothole, almost completely swallowing the whole rim - then the right rear hit it, but at about half the original speed. Both wheels were bent at the lip, by more than an inch.:crybaby2:
The front tyre immediately deflated. (It should have been destroyed, but Michelin obviously have some pride in their product - the Pilot sport 3 did not even rupture the sidewall. The tyres were tested on another set of wheels, and are still OK)...
Sinking a wheel in a pothole is No biggie in itself, but in the process of filling the pothole with tyre, the suspension compressed completely, punching the damper clear of the lower rubber retaining washer and circlip, sending the damper rod clean through the radiator header tank.
I still had 2 hours of travel ahead, and no water vessel to replace the header tank with. I limped the car, after making a quick emergency repair and removing the radiator cap, to canberra, a trip that ended up taking 6 hours. Once there, some rim swapping was done, and a damper was replaced, and the header tank was quickly patched, to get me home.
Here's a pic of the wheels.
Got home quite OK. parked the car and worked for the week, travelling in the other cars, with intention to repair the damage properly.
That weekend, after replacing the header tank and refilling the coolant system with fresh coolant, The car was started and idled up to let the thermostat open in order to test the cooling system.
My neighbour turned up in the middle of this and we were talking for about 5 minutes. in the middle of this the car simply stalls. Something my 3.5 djet car has never done before. Turned off the ignition, and started the car again, but it didn't even catch. Checked the battery - 13.5v so it was in top shape.
checked the coolant tank, all ok.
checked the fuel gauge plenty.
Checked the oil...
Shit.. it was grey.
So after doing the emergency repair, driving home with no problem, and simply starting the car the following weekend, the head gasket had chosen that moment to blow and that was that.
The irony in all of this, is that not 3 weeks prior, I'd replaced the water pump, the radiator, all the hoses, the header tank and citric acid flushed the block and rinsed it out. The cooling system was perfect.
Not that it was bad beforehand, but the radiator was starting to lose efficiency.
So the car was covered up, and in the process of sourcing bits & pieces for the 107 project, I lost track of time, bought another Ducati, started riding more often, had almost lost interest in the slc- sort of... the planning process of the proposed project and finances were not sitting at the same table. So something had to give - eventually.
Last week I pulled the cover and needed some inspiration to realize my 'dream'.
Then I was reading the thread "how much tyre can you stuff in there" and thought about those 16x9 pentas. and would they really fit under the front guards.
I put the pentas on the car, just for shits n giggles, but at the same time I'm seriously evaluating what would be required to get Lurch back where I wanted him.
So I got them out from under the house, and went to remove the front right.
On inspection I noticed some inner lip damage from the pothole incident, where the tyre had pulled the lip down. Once the wheel was off, further inspection revealed that the subframe, control arm, tie rods, draglink and all the bushes are 100% undamaged. Testament to the fact that Mercedes-Benz are engineered like no other car. well, at least the 107's are...
Back to the tyre thing: So I shoved this 16x9 ET0 penta on the front hub and bolted it up, and dropped the wheel back down on the ground. To my amazement, the wheel is completely inside the fender lip and profile.
The tyre is currently a 225/50R16, but that's no problem, as there would be enough space for a 245/45R16 front without any rubbing either.... until you decide to turn a corner!
When I fix the inner lip, I'll have a much better idea. In fact the whole car is ready for rust repair and respray, so I'll do it then. But the fact that the lip was pulled down demonstrates that a 225/50R16 on an ET17 7.5" rim will still cause issues on lock under compression. Given the compression was at it's most extreme, and the steering wheel was ripped from my hands when the incident occurred, I'd say that's a clean getaway, compared to the complete bollocking it could have been.
So now I just look at this car, and the motivation is coming back, but the dollars just aren't meeting the project budget at the moment. Hopefully it will soon. I'm starting to really miss driving Lurch. It's so much better than the SL from a driving perspective, but without the sunroof, it won't ever provide that topless feeling.
Looks good on Pentas though. As if it wouldnt! Hard to say if I prefer them to the monoblocks, but on an SLC, I think maybe, because of the cars age, the 70's styling of the pentas just edge out the 80's monoblocks.
Something about the dish on those rims.... yeah.
