This months non-mover

THW hasn't budged an inch since i left it in the car park at work before Christmas... Not needed to use it, not had the time, an added bonus is that it annoys one of the bosses at work that this huge great hunk of metal stands there taking up a space, which amuses me a LOT besides the roads in Oslo are super salty in the winter. I need to do some serious rustproofing before i expose its soft underbelly to that kind of thing. Granted it's lasted 25 years so far but it's at that point where any more abuse and it'll rust away before my very eyes.
Might coax it into life this week sometime, got a few errands to run.

Still, car work hasn't completely stopped....I have the Austin afterall.
Took the clutch hydraulics apart late last year as the last few times i drove it 2 gear was becoming a bit difficult to engage. As i had expected, judging by the grungy fluid i could see in the master cylinder, it needed a good sort out. Hydraulic fluid is hygroscopic so needs flushing out every couple of years or so, don't think this had been touched for a very long time...result, one very bunged up rusty master cylinder and even more rusty slave cylinder. Me thinks it's been functioning on a something like a 70/30 water clutch fluid mix, not good for the insides of the cylinder, they tend to rust. Not sure i can even save the slave cylinder, i'll give it a try though just waiting on the parts to arrive from my trusty middleman in the UK.

Master cylinder pieces, i could quite believe that this hasn't been touched for many many years.





In pieces, i can spend hour after hour taking things apart, more fun than actually driving the car sometimes.



Cleaned up and put back together using new insides, the walls of the cylinder were very lightly pitted in places but it should be OK, it all seemed to rub out with a bit of emery paper.



Another item on my list of things to do is sell these utterly horrid alloy wheels that came with the car. Cars in Norway generally come with 2 sets of wheels one with winter tyres and one with summer tyres. These are obviously the summer ones and I really don't like them, won't suit the car at all, just need to source some original Mercedes alloys, i got 2 in the pile of treasure i bought not long ago just need 2 more, turn up on finn.no all the time just need some in the Oslo area.

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.

Tough stuff

The once over

Monday night is my messing around with cars night so i took TFW up to the workshop to get my hands dirty and find out what really lurks underneath that scabby green paint job. I didn't get any kind of history with the car but could see that it had been registered to a lady from 1986 until earlier this year. Another thing i learned is this that TFW is a german citizen, spending its first 4 years there until being imported to Norway in 1986.
Only driven to and from work so far (and then only because i couldn't find a parking space near the flat which isn't metered parking during daytime, so i had to move it)
I have to say that TFW has impressed so far, starts first turn of the key no problem and cruises as sweetly as you expect from a Merc, albeit one that is 25 years old.
It runs a bit cool and takes an age to warm up which isn't so good for a diesel, so it's something that i'm hoping a change of thermostat will cure.
So what did i find out about it?
Nothing serious really the usual stuff from an old used car, rust, yes check, number plate lights and one tail light not working, tyre pressures all over the place and all very under inflated, leccy aerial stuck ...booo.

British and German engineering come face to face, both real heavyweights of their respective eras. The Merc wins on engine size 2998cc v 2912cc but the Austin wins on the smile factor and it has less rust.




This is what it is all about - 3 litres of turbo diesel. All looks clean and very well maintained



Two things that need attention, cracked rubber boot on one of the steering joints.....


and a broken coil spring, both on the same wheel.


So after my investigations i drove TFW to the mercedes parts store and stocked up on service items ready for next monday.
Air Filter
Diesel filter x 2
Thermostat
Oil Filter
7 Litres of engine oil
and 4.5 litres of antifreeze
kr 1136,- Cheaper than sending it for a service at the local Mercedes garage i bet.

Introducing TFW

The Fat Wagon needs a little cosmetic helping hand ill give you that but beggars can't be choosers and for the princely sum of kr8,500- whaddaya want a supercar?
The vital stats:
A Green 1982 Mercedes Benz 300TDT
Engine is a bomb proof 2998 cc Turbo Diesel which also just happens to be able to run on other fuels

So as i'm lucky enough to have a workshop at my disposal first things will be to give the car a once over to discover just how much of a shed it actually is, give it a bit of a service to make sure everything is OK and then it's ready to be tested out using SVO or even WVO!
The cold winters in Norway aren't really the climate to try this out as the fat tends to gloop up in the fuel lines, so a few home made 'improvements' are required.
There are plenty of kits available from the internet to convert but where is the fun in that and besides i'm a real tightwad.