Restoration Difficulty Level

[andyburns]

Thanks Tom,  your answer looks perfect!  I certainly couldn't have done it any better. 

I have had better days.  All I managed to do today was to rustle through my remaining parts as a final stock take to ensure I hadn't missed anything major.  I came across the other half of the special Siamese clip that I was banging on about a few days ago.  Thought it was lost.  Quite hard case as the reason I misplaced it was one half was in the gold plate bin, the other in silver. 

Took drmb's excellent advice and riveted the two together.  These little clips are 40 USD so am pleased I have saved a bit more money.  Thanks Lloyd

Spent yesterday in the hospital after the pain of the back and sciatic nerve finally got the best of me.  Confirmed herniated L5 disc putting the gearbox on the back of the engine.   All part of the cars history now. I was offered a bed overnight but really wanted to return to 'my little precious'.  Was given a five day supply of oxycotin which is interesting stuff indeed.   Perhaps this is the first post in sl113.org history written under the influence of narcotics

[mmizesko]

Tom,

You are awesome.  Perhaps I can get Joe a. to find a way to put this in the tech manual.

I love this forum!!!

Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH

[Tomnistuff]

Andy, please go easy on the car.  We only have one spine.  The other is only sheet metal.

Mike, I suggest that we ask someone else to verify the hole spacing and dimensions before it gets put in the TM.  I'm just a little concerned that my hole sizes are "after paint" and don't really tell you what size to drill them.  A before paint hole diameter would be infinitely better and more consistent.  Additionally, I took a couple of measurements on the driver's side as well and noticed that, while the hole spacing was consistent from side to side, the fore and aft dimension of the first hole "position" relative to the panel edge varied by up to 4 mm.  That tells me that for each "set" of holes there was a template (because of consistent spacing), but the horizontal positioning of the templates for drilling may have been centered on its panel visually instead of being measured.

I really wish we had documentation of the factory procedure, although the final effect is probably the same - since the chrome position does not depend on the clip position.

Can we ask someone to check another car against my measurements?  Anyone?

NOTE:  THE SKETCH IS NOT TO ANY SCALE - USE ONLY THE DIMENSIONS.

Tom Kizer
Quebec

[mmizesko]

Tom,

I hear you.  The good news is that the primary goal here was to avoid drilling into supporting ribbing in the doors and under the pillars, so if yours are clear of supporting underhell, jp will most likely be fine. 

I agree though.  More data the better.  Anyone else have their lower trim off?

Thank you again for investing in helping another SLGroup member.

Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH

[GGR]

Andy, please go easy on the car.  We only have one spine.  

Exactly!

[Peter van Es]

You are awesome.  Perhaps I can get Joe a. to find a way to put this in the tech manual

Mike, you can add this info yourself. All full members can although it currently relies on just a couple. The more that help, the better!

[andyburns]

Have been chipping away at things the last couple of days.  Fairly limited stuff but progress needless to say.  Finished off the gearbox linkage fit up.  The last bit was quite tortuous as it involved bending into the cabin to install the last couple of tiny castle nuts and fit the tiny split pins.  Usually would have taken 10 minutes but ended up being a 3 hour ordeal with plenty of rest stops.  You need really good illumination to line up the holes and the turrets of the nut!  Its great to be able to finally sit in the car and change gears.  Another milestone!

[andyburns]

Also finished up the alternator rebuild.  After bead blasting everything I had the fasteners plated.  Also replaced both the bearing and the brushes.  Everything else was ok.   My wife got a bit angry at me as I did all the reassembly in the comfort of my bed as the back was just too bad to stand at the work bench.  Needless to say I managed to avert world war 3 and kept all the grease confined to a piece of news paper carefully positioned on my lap.

I got my wife to drop the finished item down to an auto electrical crowd for bench testing.  Bad alternators can cause all sort of weird difficult to diagnose issues which I simply don't want to contend with.  I was quite surprised when they rang to say it was perfect and supplying a 65A unregulated charge.  Not so much surprised that it was ok, but more around the 65A.  I thought it was a 45A alternator.  Perhaps they are rated after regulation but even then I would be surprised if this process sucked 20A.

The initial issue with the alternator was the part of the casting I broke off when I took the engine apart a year ago.  At the time I was trying to loosen off the belt by turning the hex adjustor on the connecting arm.  I didn't know it at the time but the part had seized and all the force I was applying to the nut was just loading up the alternator housing until it gave way.

Not until I took a close look at the adjustor arm in the last week did I click.  After a bit of gentle persuasion I managed to free up the adjustor and polished off all the rust and gunk that had caused the issue.  Treated the mating surfaces with a light coat of teflon and then added a bit of grease into the mix to banish the problem for at least the next 5 years.

I have never seen this adjustment mech on any of the W108's and it appears that the late 280sl also shared the W108 adjustment rod.  I am thinking mercedes changed the system out for the same problems I have experienced.  I swear it didn't take too much force to shear the alloy housing!  It also doesn't look as if the early adjustment arm has anywhere near as much thread/adjustment as the replacement system.

[andyburns]

Sunday Arvo Project with the kids

This afternoon I sat down with the kids and pulled apart the two washer pumps I had.  Both were broken.  The one I took out of the SL had a snapped off input pipe.  My fault again all those months ago which I pulled the engine out.  All preventable.  I should have simply cut the hose, which I replaced anyway, and carefully used a craft knife to remove the old hard plastic tube.  Ancient history now just would be good to save 100US plus shipping by using parts from other old units I had floating around.

The second unit was out of a W108.  They are slightly different with the motor body being longer and the motor mounting using screws rather than bolts.  

The pump guts are identical which is what I wanted so figured I had a good shot of saving a bit of dosh.

Stripped everything apart and discovered the the W108 pump was 100% seized which obviously was the cause of the motor seizing and burning out.  This is the part I needed so I stripped the unit down and cleaned in wax and grease removed to ensure I didn't melt any of the plastic components.  Lubricated all the clean components with plumbers grease.

If you attempt this repair the one critical step is to ensure that you dont tear the bottom seal.  I learnt from experience that its very delicate.  Dont try and pry it off from underneath.  A much better technique is to push the pump input spindle which puts pressure on the brass bottom plate and pops the seal in an even manner.  Without the seal intact the pump will leak like a sieve.

Assembled everything back up using a light smear of the plumbers grease on the mating surface of the rubber.   All looking good!

[andyburns]

Sunday Arvo Project with the kids 2

Gave the kids a lesson in how the pumped work.  They were both fascinated with it so decided to wire it up to show them and give it a good leak test before installing in the car.  

Tickled pink with the result.  Dearly love saving money and time, especially this time of the restoration.  The cosmetic result is adequate.  Doesn't look brand new but tidy enough to put back in without looking out of place.

[andyburns]

One hour away from having emergency surgury to remove a good portion of my l4.  Surgeon just asked to draw an arrow on my back..  I asked him if he could draw a three pointed star instead.   

[DaveB]

Good luck Andy and try to take it easy recuperating.

[Jonny B]

Indeed, best wishes, best of luck. Have a quick, but thorough, recuperation

[mmizesko]

Andy,

I'm so sorry that you have to go through this.  Best wishes for a speedy recovery and a great outcome.

Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH

[Garry]

Good luck Andy and a speedy recovery. 

Garry

[RobSirg]

Andy, your explanatory notes are simply the best. Also appreciate the way you allow everyone to learn from your experience - it gives a white collar worker like myself the inspiration to try some of these jobs when I get into my restoration......what a pity you cant work some of that magic on your back!!........... if only a smear of plumbers grease could sort that problem out. All the best. Rob.

[reggie]

Andy
Get well soon, I have been reading all your posts from the begining, Best thread ever.
Anybody that can sit in bed with an alternator between their legs is ok with me,
Best wishes
Reg

[GGR]

Best wishes Andy

[andyburns]

Thanks guys.  Rob love your sense of humor.   Hadnt thought of the plumbers grease. Bloody good idea but might not have been too good for this application

got through 3 hours of emergency decompression surgery last night.  They cut of a fair chunk of the disc between l4 and l5.  Back pain has gone which is good but stll go no sensation in both feet.

all this from lifting my mercedes w113 manual gearbox 5 weeks ago.  Guess I am just not as strong and durable as I was in my 20s

All just adds to the story I guess

[andyburns]

I decided today to spend some time on the refurb of the spark lead setup.  Nice easy light desk work.  Probably even less interesting than my normal posts but at the moment its all I have to offer.

Absolute mongrel of a thing to work on with the metal tube factory lead holder that all the leads are threaded through.  I think it only featured on early cars and was done away with quick pronto after dealer mechanics started swearing after having to thread the leads ever time a lead change took place.

I still think its another quite groovy and unique feature of the car so want to retain it come hell or high water.

I have chosen to replace the rubber grommets with non oem generic rubber units.   I dont think even an expert would pick it and the rubber quality is just as good as oem units.

The leads themselves I have reused.  All bar one which has a broken cap that plug into the dizzy cap.  Luckily its plug number one so will be easy to pull out of the loom and replace when I get around to finding a replacement.

Cleaned everything up with wax and grease remover and then used draw cords to pull the leads through the lead holder.   Am one grommet short which is incredibly frustrating, as I am not able to drive anywhere for at least three weeks, and also have the second lead to source before the unit is finished.

At least its some progress.

[getsmart]

Hows the back feeling Andy ? 
Whats the longer term prognosis ?

Joe in Aus

[andyburns]

Hey Joe,

I dont know what it will mean long term.  A bit worried about that.  Just have to wait and see if the feeling and strength will come back to my legs.  Still very numb.  The main root nerve l4/l5 was badly compressed.

Also pick up a post op infection which I am dealing with now.  Totally bed ridden.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks I can resume light duties on the 113 again.  Looking forward to it.   

[getsmart]

Not good mate....

It would be a big challenge I imagine to keep your mind occupied....fortunately we have the internet. Aren't you a programmer ? I remember when I did some programming in my younger years that once I started I couldn't stop ! Here we have AFL (Australian Rules Football) and the final was played last weekend and my team "Hawthorn" won, going back to back ! If I was laid up I'd be watching that over n over

Get well soon !

[andyburns]

Just got out of the hospital after another 24 hours stay treating a 7cm blood clot in my arm.  Fond thoughts of getting back to the pagoda are increasingly slipping away.   Now have to inject myself for 10 days with blood thinning anti clotting agent and also have to take tranquilizers to keep me calm and blood pressure down while on the anti clot.  What next?  Perhaps we should remove my thread into the 'way off topic' category as it seems its now more about my health then my car.

[Paul & Dolly]

Keep the faith, Andy,
I look forward to reading your posts,
many of us out here send our thoughts and best wishes
for your prompt recovery.

Paul