What have you done to your Pagoda today?

[Panzer82]

Yeah, the first thing everybody says is "You let her sit on your car?!"

Only after insisting on a thorough inspection of any part of her that would actually touch the hood... no, not really. And yes, I know it's aluminum and that it can dent easily, but the front edge is pretty damn strong.... it was fine.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Panzer, you are a Gentleman and a Scollar to let her sit on your fine car, anyway there is always the "Dent Doctor" we all have one or two near by besides, the hood is properly reinforced below to give it that extra strength.

The nice thing is, you will have some very nice professional photographs of your car and the young lady

[Garry]

I have been working for some months trying to figure out how I can fit my Pagoda into a 7 metre by 5 meter courtyard, have a nice deck area and a hot tub together with some small gardens and a storage area for bicycles all in our Town House in Melbourne when I want to get the Pagoda off the street if I bring it there.

After much thought and drawings and work, I have almost got the solution and have built the contraption but I am still waiting for some hydraulic rams to automate it.

First picture is the court yard with deck, hot tub, garden and bike hide but no car. The second photo is the car in the courtyard. Dont ask about lowering it, water table is 3 feet below the surface and Town Council would not allow me to do it.

Garry

[batman]

Hi Garry,

Have you/did you think about some sort of sliding frame attached to the underside of one of the doors that could then fold out & over the top to form a 'roof"?

see you saturday!

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Great idea Garry!

Must be nice to be able to see your treasure while relaxing in the living area or in your hot tub I can invasion it be quite a challange to get out and into the car. Perhaps the next project would be to add a small opening panel/door near the driver side door to make it easier.

Looking at your photos reminds me of my younger years, you know when we came up with an idea and we said to ourself I should patten that idea (many did like the fellow with the paper clip and made millions LOL). Anyway my idea at the time was very much like yours, only there be room for the driver to get out then by remote control the car would lower into the ground (sitting on a hydraulic platforms). The top sections would have build in heating coils to melt the snow in the winter time. I was living in Montreal at the time were we have lot's of snow during the winter. Anyway your pictures brought back those old memories of days gone by.

[Flyair]

Garry,
just curious to know how you get out and in your Pagoda while both wings are raised?

[hauser]

I picked out new leather and carpet.

[114015]

I picked out new leather and carpet.

Hauser,
Why?
AFAIR your interior was just great a couple of years back. Brown leather if I remember that correctly.
There is no need to replace that.

Or, are my memories getting lousy here?

I am getting old I suppose ....

Achim

[hauser]

How can anyone go wrong with classic brown leather?  If you live in Florida!  Dark interiors are just way too hot. 

I'm going with Parchment or similar.  We are waiting on new leather samples from Germany which are vegetable dyed.

More to come.  BTW it's been one year 5/1/14 that my car left for rejuvenation spa in Maine.

[hauser]

New gas tank

New fuel pump

New oil cooler

Oh Yeah!  Ouch!!

[batman]

Today - replaced cracked & tired headlamp boots on both sides with new ones. Its easy, an hour each side. As you need to pull apart the two electrical plugs that connect to the back of the light assembly (so that you can push through the wires into the new boot), make sure you write down a "plan" of the 5 pin main plug.

[hauser]

My car went to the paint shop today.

My driveshaft came back from Arizona and is now vibration free.

It's coming together!!

[J. Huber]

Well, let's see, first I spent an hour or two trying to set the dwell angle to 38... My car has been running fantastic for years, but I noticed a little hiccup in starting and idle, which usually signals the points. Sure enough, the dwell was 50 something. I did the ping-pong game of resetting them ... 21. 44, 28, 48, 34, -- its tricky for me to get that gap just right. (I can hear the Petronix and 123 folks chuckling)... Finally I hit 37.5 which I figured was close enough. Started fine -- ran smooth. My daughter (16) who had been watching, suggested a test drive -- her driving of course. So off we went. Ran very good -- I proudly proclaimed "mission accomplished". Now I hear the rest of you chuckling...

We pulled into the local market for a victory snack, and into a slightly inclined parking slot. As she moved the automatic shifter to park, I noticed it sounded kind of funny. She shut off car and when she let off brake, the car started rolling. I said, hit the brake and don't let up! My e-brake helped a little but it was still moving, if she let up... The shifter was as loose as a goose. Now, many years of membership here had me diagnosing this quickly: shift bushing problem... Even with this knowledge, I couldn't exactly try to fix it where I was, so we called AAA. Within 20 minutes, the Pagoda was riding high on a flatbed -- and my daughter got her first ride in a tow truck... (looking for silver linings here) 

So ironically, the problem I started with was not the problem I ended with...you never know what is just around the bend with these Pagodas, or life for that matter.

[49er]

Hi James, Sounds like that could have been a lot worse. Good thing your "pilot" had a good push down on the brake pedal and you with the emergency brake. I have been pretty lucky, knock on wood, with mine since Ernie resurrected it from the grave five years ago. I took it down to his shop last week for an oil change and lube. Didn't really need it but but always fun to shoot the breeze with him and just keep in touch.

 I remember a few months ago you were looking at an older MB Sedan for your daughter? Sounds like she has eyes on your SL instead

John

 

[J. Huber]

So, that was yesterday -- but since the question is asking about "today", here goes...

So suspecting the upper shift bushing, I decided to go in for a look. I had ruled out the lower one because yesterday I crawled under to verify it was still holding and in good condition. I figured it would be because I had replaced it about 10 years ago. But I did not do the top one then... (shoulda woulda coulda).

Anyway, I was pretty sure it was the top guy, and luckily I had a couple extra bushings I bought last time. I peeked at the Tech Manual and went in. Sure enough, once I managed to get a hold of the shift rod, the old one was cracked and just crumbled as I pinched it out of its socket. Following the steps below, I was able to replace the little stinker -- and once back together -- took another test drive! No tow truck needed this time!!

Lessons to learn here: Get AAA plus which allows you to request a flat bed. Join this site as a Full Member so you can use Tech Manual. Buy a couple spare bushings to keep in your stash (like 3 bucks at most.) If possible, change both bushings at once, because if one is 52 years old, its gonna go sooner or later.

Yes its in the tech manual in sort of broad terms but here is my condensed step-by-step that might be helpful.

1. Remove carpet from floor and tunnel. These sections should not be glued down.
2. Remove for bolts holding shift gate box on. Be careful not to drop them in the abyss.
3. Lift shifter out of the way. Down in the tunnel somewhere is the shift rod, you have to find it and get a hold of it.
4. Remove broken bushing pieces from the eyelet if its still there -- other half might be on the shifter.
5. Heat up a cup of water in the micro to boil -- soak the new bushing for 10 mins to soften it a little.
6. Press new bushing into eyelet. Small hole faces drivers side (LHD). Attach shift gate arm mechanism to the shift rod, press it until its snaps in.
7. Reattach shift gate, reattach carpet. Be sure lever is firmly in Park when you start car. Test the shifter positions -- drive on!

This job could be done in less than an hour for sure. It could also be done out in the real world where you are stranded. If you keep a set of the bushings handy and have a pair of pliers, a 10mm wrench (and if possible some really hot water) you can pull off the fix.

Hey John, yes could have been worse for sure. Still humbling though to see the old Pagoda getting carried away on a stretcher... And Calli definitely enjoys the open air.

[Benzo]

This looks like something out of the Avengers movie!! Awesome.

How do you get in and out with the windows up?

[JamesL]

Drove it like I stole it up the Route Napoleon from Gap to Grenoble then sat on the Autoroute for nearly 5 hours at 80+mph!

[49er]

 We brought home a new "room mate" for our Pagoda. It doesn't speak german very well but since it's "heart (engine and transmission) came from there, we are pretty sure they will get along OK. It has been nearly 47 years since I bought my last Mercedes, so I figured it was about time

John

[Erics]

Drove it like I stole it up the Route Napoleon from Gap to Grenoble then sat on the Autoroute for nearly 5 hours at 80+mph!

That may well be the coolest drive on the planet. Route Napoleon in a pagoda.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hi John,

Congratulations on the new stable mate, both complement one another. I like to call my two toys "something old and something new"

Happy and safe trails always.

PS. Is it a C or E Class?

[49er]

Thanks Rolf. It is a C300. When we visited the MB Musuem in Stuttgart last year, my wife spotted one on display in the show room area and got behind the wheel. As they say, "the rest is history"

John

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hi John, the C Class is a great car, you will love it. My last company car was a C350 4MATIC I sold her to a lady. Then I traded my M3 for a E350 since my wife hated the M3 exhaust tone. A few weeks ago I traded the E Class in for my now C6.3 AMG ... What can I say other then I missed my M3 and now with something new and something old in my garage I'm living the dream. Besides, my wife has her own wheelchair Doge Caravan so no more complains from her

[jpinet]

Well, after close to 6 months of work, my rebuilt engine went back in the car, along with rebuilt/restored everything. Gaz tank, radiator, alternator... The works. Had a few issues to get it running well, but now resolved. Rebuilding that very tired engine was an adventure. So worn I had to sleeve the cylinders and have valve guides made because MB's largest oversize was too small for the wear in my head. Every moving part and many not moving parts of my engine were replaced. I had everything that could be balanced, balanced. OK, I had to sell my kids to pay for all this, but what a difference! A sweet running engine. And good looking too!

[Garry]

A fresh engine and all the ancillaries always looks great after being done. It looks good.

As I had everything out of mine and had already spent a fortune, a friend said to put a fresh coat of body colour paint in the engine bay or I would live to regret it. It cost next ot nothing to do. I did and am glad now that I did. I hate to say this but whilst it was all out you should have sprayed the bay with the red body colour. 

[Peter h]

I have a loss of oil to the engine right. The water thermostat and the chain tensioner removed. The rubber seal on the chain tensioner was hard and too thin, could not seal. Used new rubber and cleaned everything.
It should be tight after installation everything again. 2 hours work
Peter