Tons of work
05-13-2006, 01:04 AM
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Tons of work
Over the last few months we have replacing old parts with new and basically going through the entire car.
The car is an 87 300E. It is green and had a parchment interior. We bought the car in 2000 from a close friend and basically used it for a daily driver, child shuttle and beater to pick up parts, etc. It had a rough interior and I mean rough.
So far we have replaced the entire interior with a complete interior from a 95 E320 in black.
I started of course by ripping out everything to the sheet metal inside. Console, seats ( front and rear ) , carpet, door panels, dash, all the pillar panels from front to rear, rear deck and speaker covers, the soft trim around the doors on the body, the hard trim around the windows on the doors, basically the entire inside was gutted.
Man an old car can get nasty after 19 years of service. YUK!
The car has undergone a complete transformation.. it is wonderful now inside. The replacements were from a wrecked E320 with about 20K on the clock, so the leather is **** up perfect on the seats.
The 95's have a leather panel and wood trim on the door panels VS the MBTex and no wood trim at all back in 87.
I wish I could explain just how much nicer it is.
The only hang up I have now is the rear C pillars that cover the seat belt tensioners will not work properly. The design was changed for more comfort and the new panels are too close to the old stlye tensioner loops. I will have to order new panels in the older style in a black color.
The headliner and sunroof cover are still in parchment, but it really looks great. I have no plans to change it.
I may try and get some pics up on my site in the next few days for everyone to see. We also did white face gages and replaced the cluster with the 95 model cluster with the better/newer design for brighter light output. That was a huge change.
Mechanical replacements are numerous, but I will try and name everything if I can remember:
Fuel injectors, o-rings, and sleeves.
Two new fuel pumps, accumulator, fuel filter, all formed hoses on the fuel pump cluster from the tank to the front of the car, new tank screen and hose.
New Idle control valve and EHA module
New Bosch cap, rotor, plugs, wires, and coil
New Mahle oil filter and Castrol 20/50
New Temp sensor for the A/C system
New Temp sensor for the fuel injection system
I pulled the valve cover and air filter housing cover and had them bead blasted and black powder coated ( they look awesome )
Replaced the air filter housing mounts with new ones.
Replaced the water pump, radiator, thermostat and belt. Every hose under the hood was replaced. Including the air filter hoses, water hoses, and many vacuum lines
Reman started installed
New battery
XM radio, but not installed yet.
New neutral safety switch
New OVP relay
A complete replacement of all the rear suspension arms. Man, that was a 2 day job!! LOL I had the entire rear end ripped apart and discoverd ( on a saturday ) that the bushings in the rear knuckle were shot, but I did not have any so I had to custom machine bushings from a Ford truck to fit on my lathe. Along with sleeves to make them fit. Since then I have the new bushings from Mercedes and bought the install tool on ebay to go back to factory, but the custom ones are working great.
We did a compression and leak down test and got excellent results for an engine with 185,000 miles. 165 PSI in all holes and great leak down tests.
Tweaks in the works for phase one:
1st gear start in the tranny
Euro headlights and height adjustment
hopefully a 95 model hood and grill ( if it fits )
17" Monoblocks
Bilstein shocks
500E bars
Phase Two:
Head gasket and custom head studs
Since I supply camshafts for other types of engines now I am going to try a few grinds and see what happens
Twin turbos and air/water intercooling
3.27 rear axle
Upgraded brakes up front
More to come. I plan on getting the interior and powder coating pics up soon. I wish I had pics of the old interior and the valve cover that was peeling.
The car is an 87 300E. It is green and had a parchment interior. We bought the car in 2000 from a close friend and basically used it for a daily driver, child shuttle and beater to pick up parts, etc. It had a rough interior and I mean rough.
So far we have replaced the entire interior with a complete interior from a 95 E320 in black.
I started of course by ripping out everything to the sheet metal inside. Console, seats ( front and rear ) , carpet, door panels, dash, all the pillar panels from front to rear, rear deck and speaker covers, the soft trim around the doors on the body, the hard trim around the windows on the doors, basically the entire inside was gutted.
Man an old car can get nasty after 19 years of service. YUK!
The car has undergone a complete transformation.. it is wonderful now inside. The replacements were from a wrecked E320 with about 20K on the clock, so the leather is **** up perfect on the seats.
The 95's have a leather panel and wood trim on the door panels VS the MBTex and no wood trim at all back in 87.
I wish I could explain just how much nicer it is.
The only hang up I have now is the rear C pillars that cover the seat belt tensioners will not work properly. The design was changed for more comfort and the new panels are too close to the old stlye tensioner loops. I will have to order new panels in the older style in a black color.
The headliner and sunroof cover are still in parchment, but it really looks great. I have no plans to change it.
I may try and get some pics up on my site in the next few days for everyone to see. We also did white face gages and replaced the cluster with the 95 model cluster with the better/newer design for brighter light output. That was a huge change.
Mechanical replacements are numerous, but I will try and name everything if I can remember:
Fuel injectors, o-rings, and sleeves.
Two new fuel pumps, accumulator, fuel filter, all formed hoses on the fuel pump cluster from the tank to the front of the car, new tank screen and hose.
New Idle control valve and EHA module
New Bosch cap, rotor, plugs, wires, and coil
New Mahle oil filter and Castrol 20/50
New Temp sensor for the A/C system
New Temp sensor for the fuel injection system
I pulled the valve cover and air filter housing cover and had them bead blasted and black powder coated ( they look awesome )
Replaced the air filter housing mounts with new ones.
Replaced the water pump, radiator, thermostat and belt. Every hose under the hood was replaced. Including the air filter hoses, water hoses, and many vacuum lines
Reman started installed
New battery
XM radio, but not installed yet.
New neutral safety switch
New OVP relay
A complete replacement of all the rear suspension arms. Man, that was a 2 day job!! LOL I had the entire rear end ripped apart and discoverd ( on a saturday ) that the bushings in the rear knuckle were shot, but I did not have any so I had to custom machine bushings from a Ford truck to fit on my lathe. Along with sleeves to make them fit. Since then I have the new bushings from Mercedes and bought the install tool on ebay to go back to factory, but the custom ones are working great.
We did a compression and leak down test and got excellent results for an engine with 185,000 miles. 165 PSI in all holes and great leak down tests.
Tweaks in the works for phase one:
1st gear start in the tranny
Euro headlights and height adjustment
hopefully a 95 model hood and grill ( if it fits )
17" Monoblocks
Bilstein shocks
500E bars
Phase Two:
Head gasket and custom head studs
Since I supply camshafts for other types of engines now I am going to try a few grinds and see what happens
Twin turbos and air/water intercooling
3.27 rear axle
Upgraded brakes up front
More to come. I plan on getting the interior and powder coating pics up soon. I wish I had pics of the old interior and the valve cover that was peeling.
05-13-2006, 01:25 AM
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Mercedes-Benz w124
Holy mother ****ing ****. I am jealous! PICS !!! I'll ltrade you my 300e , it has only 130k miles and you can let have yours! Sweet ride man. Must run smooth. Congrats on your upgraded whip.
05-13-2006, 05:14 AM
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W124's
Looks like you're taking good care of your car. I hope to do the same in time when I have the right amount of funds.
Do you have any pictures you can share with all of us? I want to see the interior upgrade and how the painted valve cover looks like.
Do you have any pictures you can share with all of us? I want to see the interior upgrade and how the painted valve cover looks like.
05-13-2006, 10:11 AM
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The wife has the kids today for soccer and a birthday party. With some luck when she gets home I will get some pics.
Another thing that crossed my mind this morning was to remember to tell everyone that the front right ( passenger ) carpet piece is slightly different in shape underneath. It is not a big deal though. The 95 carpet set we used has more foam rubber padding and the molded shape is slightly different. You have two choices: modify the foam rubber or modify the plastic wire track that holds some of the chassis wiring. I chose to modify the wire track. Basically you just have to cut a small section out of the track out. Easy.
Don~
Another thing that crossed my mind this morning was to remember to tell everyone that the front right ( passenger ) carpet piece is slightly different in shape underneath. It is not a big deal though. The 95 carpet set we used has more foam rubber padding and the molded shape is slightly different. You have two choices: modify the foam rubber or modify the plastic wire track that holds some of the chassis wiring. I chose to modify the wire track. Basically you just have to cut a small section out of the track out. Easy.
Don~
Last edited by Don M; 05-13-2006 at 10:18 AM.
05-13-2006, 10:15 AM
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Originally Posted by battlecat714
How much have you spent so far???
I think it is nearing 5 grand. It is/was a stupid economic move for some people, but it really is in the eyes of car owners on what is right and wrong on fixing up older cars.
I love this little car and always have. It is kinda my hobby for the next few months/years to have fun with. Lately it has taken a more sinister turn toward the performance side as well. With plans for big HP. Enough to whipe up just about anyhting on the road.
Don~
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05-13-2006, 05:15 PM
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a TVR Cerbera Speed Twelve
Originally Posted by Don M
I think it is nearing 5 grand. It is/was a stupid economic move for some people, but it really is in the eyes of car owners on what is right and wrong on fixing up older cars.
I love this little car and always have. It is kinda my hobby for the next few months/years to have fun with. Lately it has taken a more sinister turn toward the performance side as well. With plans for big HP. Enough to whipe up just about anyhting on the road.
Don~
I love this little car and always have. It is kinda my hobby for the next few months/years to have fun with. Lately it has taken a more sinister turn toward the performance side as well. With plans for big HP. Enough to whipe up just about anyhting on the road.
Don~
05-13-2006, 10:24 PM
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Alright, I got a few pictures up of the interior for you guys to see. I wish I had the before shots.
More to follow, but this is a start.
http://www.f1diesel.com/300E.html
enjoy!
Don~
More to follow, but this is a start.
http://www.f1diesel.com/300E.html
enjoy!
Don~
05-14-2006, 12:11 PM
#12
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Originally Posted by Don M
I think it is nearing 5 grand. It is/was a stupid economic move for some people, but it really is in the eyes of car owners on what is right and wrong on fixing up older cars.
Why not spend your money on parts rather than depreciation. It's REALLY hard to spend as much as a new car.
IMHO people who buy and maintain cars thinking only of resale value are missing the point.
I'm pretty sure I've already doubled the purchase price of my TE and have no regrets whatsoever.
05-14-2006, 12:32 PM
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Originally Posted by lkchris
Not to me.
Why not spend your money on parts rather than depreciation. It's REALLY hard to spend as much as a new car.
IMHO people who buy and maintain cars thinking only of resale value are missing the point.
I'm pretty sure I've already doubled the purchase price of my TE and have no regrets whatsoever.
Why not spend your money on parts rather than depreciation. It's REALLY hard to spend as much as a new car.
IMHO people who buy and maintain cars thinking only of resale value are missing the point.
I'm pretty sure I've already doubled the purchase price of my TE and have no regrets whatsoever.
I watch ebay and local newspapers and the price for these things has rocketed as of late.
I cant find a clean 500 for under 14,000. Clean 300's are as high as 9,000 and cabrios are stupid expensive. Some are over 30,000.
We paid 4500 for our 300E in 2000. It had a rough interior, but the maintenece was flawless and it showed in the compression and leak down tests. At 185,000 miles it was as tight as a new engine.
To me the leasing trend and the buy high and trade back to he dealer upside down is nuts, but what do I know?
Don~
