Evolution - Tyrobenz Two Point Zero, A

As with everything in the world, evolution is constant.  TyroBenz is not exempt from this phenomenon.

For those of you who have read my introduction "About TyroBenz" you will have read about the first vehicle I drove, not a Benz, but a Land Rover.  My passion for them, with their rugged simplicity has never ceased, and following my brief relationship with Jade, I felt the need to have a project that I could breathe new life into, rather than destroying a thing of beauty.

As you know, my technical ability is a work in progress, and I found Jade to be quite complicated, so I set my mind to thinking about what I could work on: What is the simplest vehicle you can think of?  Yep, you guessed it, an early Land Rover.

I read an article on-line not so long ago which had a great piece of advice, ".... if you are going to buy a project vehicle, make sure it is not a duplication of what you have already....."

This is great advice, and as the article pointed out if you already have a classic coupe for example, and get another one, what are you going to do with it? You cannot drive both cars to the same venue, yet if your new project is something different, it will keep you passionate about it as it has a purpose onto itself.

Back when I was 18 or 19, I bought my very first Land Rover, it was a 1995 300TDI Defender 90, in British racing green, with a white roof and country spec windows.  I owned her for the next 8 years, right up until I left for Australia.  I loved it, and was actively involved in the Northern Ireland Land Rover Club where we drove all over the county taking on challenging off-road tracks, as well as event trials at the clubs own disused quarry.  It was fantastic fun. If you have never driven a Land Rover off-road I recommend it, they can go anywhere with the right person in the driver's seat.

 My 1995 Defender 90 300TDI

(For those of you reading in the UK, the number plate was a personalised one so does not refer to the age of the vehicle)

One summer I joined an expedition that saw us take the ferry from Belfast to Liverpool, drive down through England to Dover, before taking another ferry crossing to main land Europe.  Over the following two weeks we drove through France, into Italy and up to Geneva before heading home.  It was the trip of a life time.

The expedition was during the summer time and therefore "off season", turning the slopes of Val d'Isere from beautiful ski runs, into a muddy and exhilarating off-road centre. From here we could look across to the spectacular Mont Blanc!

I found it impossible to get the see-saw to balance but it was a lot of fun

It's time to get muddy!!

Whilst in Italy we climbed switchback tracks to a height of over 9,000ft, stopping every so often to vent our fuel tanks due to the atmospheric pressure.  Some of the petrol powered Landy's didn't quite make it to the top as the air was so thin, but thankfully I was in a diesel so we kept climbing.

Switchback roads in Italy

As the track got narrower, and the drops steeper the guys in the long wheel base vehicles started wishing they were in a SWB!

Once at the top we were all warned of the risks of getting out of our vehicles and running about, we were to walk slowly and not exert ourselves but it wasn't long before we were all taking turns to see how far we could drive up the glacier. Like I said, it was amazing.

Ice, Ice Baby!

During my ownership of my Defender, my brother, a friend and I also bought a short wheel base Series 2A Land Rover which we restored over a summer, rebuilding it on a galvanised chassis as the old one had some rust issues. I can however not take credit for the way she looks today as my brother has continued the restoration to a very high standard.  She is beautiful.

For the part of the restoration I was involved in, my memory is that it was far from difficult, a full size Mechano set for big boys.

Restored Series 2A shivering in the snow, December 2010

My brother still uses her on a regular basis and takes her to military shows, photographed here at Killyleagh Castle, August 2014

So, not long after Jade departed on a trailer I was back on Gumtree looking for a friend for UGU.  I looked at a fantastic Series 3 Station Wagon who had been in the same family since new, but unfortunately I missed out on it, so the search continued.

Over the next weeks plenty of short wheel-base vehicles popped up for sale, but I really fancied a long wheelbase station wagon, which I think is a lot more practical given it's second row of seats and boot space.

Eventually I widened my search area and up popped a 1969 (same year as UGU) Series 2A Station Wagon in Denmark WA, some 420km from where I live.  I was excited and called the owner who was really nice, and passionate about the Land Rover. Like many classic car owners the right buyer is more important than the money.

I really wanted her, but I am not much of a risk taker so after a week of painful contemplation I decided not to take the risk, I was gutted and annoyed at myself.

As the weeks rolled on and work got busier and busier I couldn't stop thinking about the Denmark Land Rover, noticing the ad was still on Gumtree.  On Sunday afternoon, I once again contacted the owner to see if it was sold and if he perhaps hadn't taken the ad down, or if indeed she was still for sale.  Fortunately for me, unfortunately for my wife, he still had it, so I bought it.

I am preparing for a nerve racking Christmas as I wait to see what it is that I have bought, hoping that the photographs I have seen are a true representation of her condition.  As of this morning, Tuesday 23rd December, the owner has dropped her off at the local haulage company who are going to bring her to Perth next week. I am so excited!

So here she is, Leif the Landy (named after her previous owner); a 1969 Land Rover Series 2A Station Wagon.

What I know so far is that I am the fourth owner, she is an original six cylinder model but now has a Holden Blue 202 motor with a Series 3 synchromesh gearbox.

I can't wait to meet her, and hopefully you will all continue to follow my adventures with UGU and now Leif as Tyrobenz moves up a notch to "two point zero, A".

Bye Bye Jade

Feeling pretty sad today, Jade is going to be picked up tomorrow by a friend who is going to remove her motor and gearbox to help save one last /8 before her rusty carcass finally is laid to rest.  I have stripped as much as I can and have lots of good bits that I hope will be able to help some other fellow enthusiasts.

This process has definitely made me realise I am not set up for the deconstruction of these beautiful cars, but rather as a lover of them.  Even though from the first few days of ownership of Jade, I knew she was destined to be a parts car, but that did not stop me getting attached to her.

My eyes have been opened to how luck I was when I bought UGU, she has next to no rust, thank goodness, and whilst temperamental, she is pretty bloody awesome!

You will no doubt have noticed that Jade is some what further dismantled than my previous posts, but I will back track and share my experiences with you all.

Bon voyage Jade, it has been educational.

Stripped and ready for collection.  

I still cannot get over how straight those panels are!!

I was amazed how easy it was to remove the windscreen!

I ran out of time to remove the heater, but hoping to learn another day

Fender removed and surprisingly no rust!

Reduce to a pile of parts and a few boxes.  Sad!

One last hurrah!

A tough nut to crack

When removing the interior from Jade, the steering wheel extraction has to be considered as one of the easiest jobs, however the boss removal; that is a whole other story!

Those of you who have been following my blog will know by now that Jade is a Series 1 W114, which means she has the much more delicate and in my opinion elegant steering wheel, complete with a chrome ring which in earlier Benzes, such as the Ponton, is actually the indicator switch.

As part of the series 2 face lift, this steering wheel was changed and brought into line with that of the bigger W116.  That wheel is much chunkier and lacks the classic aesthetic of the previous version, and so it is common to see the owners of series 2 cars sourcing the earlier version to install on their cars.

Jade's Series 1 Steering Wheel

Later Series 2 Steering Wheel, also seen on the W116, R107, W123

To remove the steering wheel all you need to do is use a large flat head screwdriver to prise the horn pad off.  It will easily pop off but be careful not to damage the pad.

With the horn pad removed you will see 5 nuts that hold the wheel to the boss; undoing those nuts will allow the wheel to be separated from the boss.

Steering wheel boss with the steering wheel removed.  Note the large central nut securing the boss to the steering column, and also the uneven spacing of the steering wheel fixings

It is worth noting as you remove the wheel from boss that the bolts are not equally spaced, which means the steering wheel can only be fitted in one location, pretty smart really, but frustrating if you do not notice the uneven spacing.

For the boss removal, you will need to keep the steering wheel fitted as you will need it for leverage and for goodness sakes make sure the steering lock is not on, as you will damage it if it is engaged.

There is a single nut that secures the boss to the steering column (refer to picture above), and as you would expect it is on good and tight.  I used my ratchet and all the extension bars and strength I could muster but it wouldn't budge.

I spoke to a friend to make sure it was not a reverse thread on anything, but it is not, it is just tight, I needed to find an extension bar.

This is where my process of removal will vary from the pro's, as I fully embrace some backyard mechanics, tyrobenz style.

Knowing that there are several properties under renovation near my house, I decided to take the dog for a walk and see if I could spot anything resembling a steel tube in any of the skips.

As none of the skips were at the park, my dog was none to excited about this new experience, so I called it quits and went back home and had another go; nope still not budging.

I next spotted the metal pipes wired to my back yard gates. I have opened those gates neatly every day for the past 4 years and never paid any attention to them until now.  I took them off and checked that they slid over the end of my extension bar, which they did giving me an extra 200mm of a lever.

Extension bar with metal tube from back yard gates

So that I could focus my strength on undoing the nut I decided that it would be best to secure the steering wheel from spinning rather than trying to hold it, so out come same rope.

I tied the rope through the steering wheel spokes and, as Jade's interior has been stripped, I used the hole where the interior light used to be to tie the rope off.

Some backyard mechanics.  Not pretty but free and it worked

With this done I put the socket in place and hoped for the best. To my amazement the nut came loose so easily that I thought I had sheered the bolt.

Steering wheel tied tight and free from movement

Boss removed from steering column, splines undamaged, great success!

As a said, not a conventional method, but it worked, and with the boss off I was able to pack it up and post it off to its new owner, who like I referenced before, is installing a series 1 steering wheel to his series 2 vehicle.

Packed up and ready for postage to the other side of the country

Tyro Part Mart - Item 5: Grille

Series 1 Grille

This grille is in amazing condition and is complete with all of its chrome pieces.  It is straight and un-damaged with plenty of shine.  Rosette and star not included.

Suitable for W114, W115 250

Quantity - 1 only

Part number: N/A

SOLD

De-chromafication

With Jade's bumpers, grille and headlights removed, a phone call from a really nice chap on the other side of the country who needed some chrome for his car, motivated me to get moving with the next stage of Jade's de-chromafication.

I few of the hip line trim pieces were already damaged making these a good place to start to see how easily the parts would come off; after all I didn't want to damage parts that someone else was able to use.

To my I surprised the hip line and sill trim pieces all come off very easily.  All I used was a cloth covered large flat screwdriver, and worked my way along each piece popping the clips out of the holders.  Jade may have been an exceptions as the trim had already been removed one already when Jade changed colour, cars with original paint may not be so easy.

Starting with a damaged one.  

Here you can see the red fixings that hold all the trim pieces in place.  

It is a simple press fixing.

So much chrome, part of the /8's appeal

 

The quarter panel hip line trim is almost 2metres long!!!

The sill trim for some reason had had new fixings points drilled into the sill which, with little consideration for the old one that were left unfilled, potentially assisted with the spread of moisture and therefore rust within the sills.  Not a good example of "out of sight, out of mind".

WHY??!!!! Why would you add twice as many holes into the sill?

Most alarming was the amount of crud that I found under the rear window trim.  This is of corner to me as UGU already has a rust blister under her back window which I have been trying to ignore, but seeing this I realise that I need to deal with it before winter arrives in June.

It is easy to see how rusting under the back window is so common 

when this much crud gets trapped under the trim.

Thankfully the clever folk at Mercedes-Benz in the late '60's must have know the day would come when I would need to post parts across Australia, so the rear window surround breaks down into several pieces thanks to these corner backing plates.

 Rear window trim as we would see it installed on the car

Rear window trim seen from the back with helpful backing plate holding the trim together 

A few of us have had lengthy discussions on W(A)114/115 debating a topic that gets a surprising amount of back lash from the purists: Chrome wheel-arch mouldings, WAM's for short.

Love them or hate them, WAM's appeal to a lot of people and are a common sight on many classic cars and, on the right body coloured car, I quite like them too, but being from the UK, I like many other people had concerns that they would trap moisture and lead to rust.  However, in our climate in Western Australia, we have busted this myth, it is simply not the case and Jade is another example of that.  Despite the huge amount of rust seemly everywhere in her body, the fenders and in near perfect, rust free condition.

WAM's removed and there is no evidence of rust on the 

fenders despite common misconception

Windscreen bottom lip trim and windscreen wiper cowl

So, with the chrome now all off, it's time to get them packed up and off to their new owner.

What's the next task you ask? hmmm, not sure yet so keep posted.

Tyro Part Mart- Item 4: Dinner plates, clocks or wheel trims

Four original 14" wheel trims.

Some gutter rash as you would expect after 43 years of parking.  Perfectly usable and are still a very tight fit to the wheel so little chance of them coming off if installed correctly.

These wheel trims have not yet been polished or cleaned but still have a lot of shine to them which is a great sign of the bling to come!

Suitable for W108, W109, W111, W112, W113, W114, W115, W116 & W123 vehicles

Quantity - 4 only

Part number: N/A

AUD $80 excluding postage. 

A date with Jade

After the big race today (Melbourne Cup) I decided that instead of heading out to celebrate with those that won, and commiserate with those that lost, my time would be better spent with Jade.

With a two hour window before sun set I was quite pleased with my progress, from this:

to the much sadder looking:

I was really surprised how easily I was able to remove the parts absent in the second picture, but even more surprised at how bad I felt about dong this; a bit like destroying a work of art.

I know that all these bits could be easily bolted back on, and yes I know that the rust is right though her, and yes I know I don't have the time nor money to restore her, but still; I feel sad.

I started this afternoon's work by removing the front bumper which I found significantly easier than the back one, probably due to ease of access.

There are four bolts that hold the top bumper bar in place, and as this is a Series 1 six cylinder car, it also has the lower bumperettes which are fixed the top bumper bar but also have a further two bolts securing them to the valance.

Front bumper mounting viewed from inside the wheel well. 

 (Front bolt has been removed in this photograph)

Bumperette mounting seen from above and behind the bumper.  

No room for a racket here so open ended or ring spanner only

With the bumper off I removed the headlights, grille, windscreen wipers and cowling which are so simple an explanation would be insulting to you the reader.  

The battery has been disconnected since Jade was parked up, but today I took it out to find the battery tray rotten and a piece of flat metal inlaid to fill the hole.  I am not sure what an intact battery tray is supposed to took like as I have never check UGU's, but I certainly hope it doesn't look like this:

Rusty battery tray, rust, rust everywhere...

And finally, as a reminder to myself as to why I am doing this, a gentle poke of the passenger sill with a screwdriver, and the the score is, screwdriver 1, Jade, Nil!!!

Screwdriver 1, Jade Nil

Tyro Part Mart - Item 3 Series 1 Steering Wheel

This is the steering wheel that was removed from Jade, 1971 W114 250CE.

There are a few cracks in it but it is perfectly usable or could be restored to be perfect, become the crowning jewel to your Mercedes restoration.

Suitable for W108, W109, W111, W112, W113, W114 & W115 vehicles

Quantity - 1 only

Part number: N/A

AUD $100 excluding postage.