TCW

No super big progress with TFW this week although it has been pressed into service much more than i was expecting. My employers in their wisdom have packed me off to work at Ericsson in Asker the last couple of weeks so TFW has become, on the days when i can't take the train, the commuter wagon and performed flawlessly, well apart from one strange episode turning right when the rear door decided to swing open all by itself, a trip to the workshop soon sorted the sticking door handle and back seat passengers can now feel safe in the knowledge that they won't slide out the car at every turn...pheeew.
All the commuting has finally persuaded me that TFW is actually ready for some fat so all being well i will embark on the next stage and squirt some B100 biodiesel into the tank. Now you would think that this being Scandinavia and all that biodiesel would be pretty easy to get hold of, well just shows how wrong you can be. It may look like there are lots of stations but zoom in on Oslo and you will find 4 - two of which only sell to businesses and one being so far out of my way that it ain't an option. So one station to chooses from then......great.
Still not a simple as you think tho. as biodiesel has a tendency to eat through old rubber fuel lines and block the diesel filters with crap so i'll have to keep a close eye on that. Probably mix with some regular diesel at the start just to see how it goes....watch this space.


The offending door complete with what i like to call 'elephant skin' trim around the window, 25 years of sun and sub zero temps has done it no good, it would probably look nicer if i just pulled it off and had the paint showing... waddaya think?

Road trip

With a trip to Kristiansand looming for TFW i really needed to get the drive belts in the engine bay replaced, i spotted they were, shall we say, past their best on my check of the car just after i bought it. With one thing or another, mainly time and money being in short supply, i didn't get round to attempting this until a couple of days before the trip, needless to say i ran into problems. The main culprit being rusted bolts. So i had to admit defeat, douse the offending nut and bolt in WD40, and risk the journey as they were (about 650km round trip).
This was the first real test of TFW in my ownership and it didn't disappoint or let me down.
For a 25 year old it still drives well, a few niggles with the change on the autobox but nothing serious, it gobbled up the km's without a worry.

So this week it was back to the workshop to change its belts.
There are four belts in total, a tandem setup for the water pump and alternator, one for the power steering pump and one for the air condition pump. See the cracks in the belts - not good.


The killer is that to be able to remove the belts driving the alternator and water pump you have to first remove the powersteering and AC belts, may as well change them all eh.
From bottom to top - power steering, air condition and twin belts for alternator and water pump.



A week soaking in WD40 had done the trick and with the airfilter housing removed for easier access the belts came off no problem.
They were a long way past their prime.



Only three new belts were put on as i couldn't get hold of a belt for the air condition pump so to save time and frustration loosening the pump bolts i just cut the belt off, don't really think i'm going to be needing air condition in winter in Oslo so i'll sort this out later.

Treasure

Didn't get to the workshop until wednesday last week due to one thing or another, but the service did eventually get done, new diesel filters, air filter, oil change, new thermostat and coolant.
The most noticeable difference is that the new thermostat cured the running cool problem at it now sits happily around the 80 mark.



The most rust, well that i have found so far, is on the right front wing and the tailgate and these really need replacing before too long. Now i'm not usually that lucky with things like this but as i was having a quick browse around the internet last friday I spotted an advert for Mercedes W123 parts - rust free tailgate, new front wing and front panel, wooohooo, and just down the road from where i work, a quick phone call later and i arranged to drop in on the way home. To cut an already long story short i came home with some bargains.
Here is my pile of treasure swallowed in the enormous boot of TFW.



One grubby but rust free tailgate.

The strip down revealed one or two broken bits but it is now ready for a dose of rust proofing.


Another one of TFW's less than good points is the fact that the struts in the tailgate have worn out meaning that a cut off broom handle is needed to hold it open. Needless to say these will be replaced when i swap the tailgate.