This is why being a car enthusiast is awesome!

For those out there who don't quite understand the enjoyment I get out of being involved in the world of car enthusiasts, here is a perfect example of why I love it.

A few weeks ago, a fellow member of the Mercedes-Benz W114 Facebook group W(A)114/115, who lives on the other side of the country from me, and who I have only spoken to via posts in the group, was on holiday south of Sydney last week.  Whilst on holiday he popped into a second hand book store and came across a complete set of original Land Rover Literature from 1970 and instantly thought of me!

Having paid the princely sum of $3 for them, they arrived in the post today and I am absolutely thrilled with them.

What I find incredible is the fact that they are the same age as Leif, and that they still have their original sleeve to keep the three books together!

I can't help but think of the work that went into the making of these manuals; the hand drawings that fill their pages are nothing short of beautiful, yet detailed pieces of artwork.

Thanks Murray, you are a champion!

Original manuals and sleeve from 1969!

A little piece of history - battered but beautiful

Forget Monet, this is my kind of artwork!  

Check out the level of detail and shading

Who better to explain the correct gearing positions than the manufacturer

So, I guess it's time to get to the second hand book stores; who knows what manuals can be found there!

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.

Sway bar linkage replacement

With the excitement of picking up Jade last week I had totally forgot that UGU also needed some of my attention; very much a case of out of sight, out of mind.

A few weeks ago I attended the start of Perth's German Car Day which, despite the horrendous weather, had a great turn out of 90 cars from Perth's German car clubs.  I was unfortunately unable to take part in the event, which perhaps upset UGU and who could blame her having seen some of the fantastic cars on show.

MBCCWA President Paul Blank addresses the attendees

W113 Pagoda SL. What makes this particular car special to me is the fact that it is a daily driver for the MBCCWA Event's Coordinator. And she loves it, understandably

A pair of Porsches, followed by........

..... a trio of Porsches, outdone by.........

..... a trio of W116's! (My opinion only of course)

Yes please!  Audi Quatto Sport S1

SL's, Wagons, Coupes, they were all there

Beemer boys

Brand spanking new G55

Off they go

Ford Focus XR5's were assembled in German so happily welcome at G.C.D

Anyone for Golf?  Love these Mk1's

After I watched the convoy leave, we packed up and made our way home.  Half way home we turned a corner an almighty bang came from the back of the car.  My heart skipped a beat as I quickly pulled over and got out expecting to see something major had broken, but instead I couldn't see anything unusual.  I opened the boot to see if perhaps something in there had become dislodged, but again I couldn't see anything.

A little baffled we set off again with no noise or anything unusual, that was until we turned another corner, BANG!

Again I pulled over and got under the car to have a better look but still couldn't see anything wrong.

The next day I took UGU to see a fellow MBCCWA member who had a look for me.  Being more mechanically minded than me (which isn't hard), he quickly found the problem. The drivers side rear sway bar linkage had snapped meaning that each time we turned a corner the broken linkage would fall over hitting the inside of the wheel causing the awful noise.

Broken rear sway bar linkage.  Hard to see unless you know where to look

With the problem found I spoke to my friends on W(A)114/115 to see if anyone could help me with a part number so I could order a new part;  better than that, one of the members had a spare and brand new set which I happily bought from him.

New linkages, one for each side

Located on the other side of the country it will take a few days for the parts to get to me, and as I want to use UGU this weekend I decided to pay Jade a visit to borrow one from her. Sorry Jade but your big sister comes first :(

Armed with my new socket set, which was a bargain in it's own right.  A gumtree purchase of a preowned, but never used, 166 piece Kinchrome socket and spanner set which I bought  for close to half the price of a new set.

New socket set, and the first I have owned.  Excited!!!

I finished work early and headed out to the back garden.  I jacked up Jade, removed the wheel and using a 17mm open ended spanner and equal sized socket I unbolted the linkage.

Jade, minus one sway bar linkage, for the time being

Removed and ready to be fitted to UGU to get her through until the new parts arrive

This couldn't have been easier, but for me it was hugely rewarding; a quick and easy task to add to my knowledge bank.

Original Service Manual

I had a fantastic result buying an original Mercedes-Benz Service Manual from a chap I met through the Facebook Group W(A)114/115.

This hardcover binder is full of vehicle specifications, beautiful technical drawings and what I really love, notes from a previous user.  Just like the car, this is an artifact full of history.

With the purchase came a replacement bonnet emblem that I needed to replace my original one which unfortunately had it's spring over-stretched due to an ill fitting car cover.

This is worthwhile point, if your Benz is parked outside and you are going to be regularly putting on and taking off a car cover, I recommend you either remove the emblem (an easy process which I will cover in a later post), or cut a hole in the car cover for the emblem to protrude through.  Perhaps if you are friends with a gifted seamstress some excess material could be taken from the bottom edge of the cover to make a pouch/pocket to cover the emblem in situ, this way the whole car is covered which is ultimately what you want.

Perhaps this all sounds like a lot of work, but it only took one stormy night for my car cover to pull on my emblem enough to overstretch the spring.  What this does is allow the emblem to flop about when you are driving, and trust me, there is nothing more annoying than seeing a crooked gun sight at the end of you bonnet!

Anyway, so back to the service manual.  These are worth their weight in gold, so if you find one snap it up.  It is a lot easier to flick through a book that use the CD ROM versions available for purchase online.

I will be referring to the manual in the tyro workshop so this won't be the last you hear of it.

A very useful reference indeed!

W(A)114/115 Facebook Group

  

W(A)114/115 is an informal Facebook group that I created at the beginning of 2013, you will not the similarity of our logos.  

The groups original intention was to bring together Mercedes-Benz W114 & W115 owners and enthusiasts in Western Australia, helping us share knowledge on a localised basis. Due to the appeal of the group it was opened to all of Australia and now includes some international members.  

With a membership of more that 120, the group continues to grow and has been praised for its laid back, yet welcoming and knowledgable format. We have had vehicle ownership changes between members, and spare part sales and trades are a regular occurrence helping to keep all of our cars on the road.

 Go to W(A)114/115