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-   -   '83 Mercedes 240D - My W123 Restoration Diary (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/post-war/173972-83-mercedes-240d-my-w123-restoration-diary-7.html)

I would not be surprised either ;)

A head-turner!!!

The grin and pride when people envy your ride is a feeling worth every drop of sweat you have shed.

Happy miles with the car :)

The car looks majestic sir! This post deserves a full 5 star rating if there was one. Congratulations BTW and this car deserves an owner like you. How many kms have you done?
Just a small suggestion (if I may) - the red carpet could be looking out of place; may be you can replace it with a lighter shade like biege.

As someone who grew up in the 80s, this is the automobile that comes to my mind when I hear the hallowed words "Mercedes Benz." This is the car that defines the words luxury and elegance for me. Congratulation on living the dream.

Dear BowMan, I am so happy to see a W123 in such fine shape. Hats off to you. You are doing what I often dream to do.
Your photo of the side profile of the car made my day :-)
This is the finest W123 I have seen in a long long time and it looks almost exactly like some of the original marketing photos of W123 I have on my computer.
Hope to see more and more of your car.

Thank you Sir. truly one of the things I have learnt with this car is patience and persistence. In fact I surprised some of those who know me by how much of it I had to muster for this project.

:thumbs up


Few things can compare to the experience of driving down the road on a beautiful evening in a car you have mostly put together yourself. Thanks for your appreciation .

Thanks. I have not made a video yet but yes this could be something interesting.

Thanks Jeroen. Do you think this passes the Dutch standards?

Thanks.

The wheel caps for me have been like the icing on the cake. And every bit of it from stripping the old paint to buffing and then masking and respraying has bene done by me and my dad.

Besides I think Mercedes, VW and Porsche used to do the best wheel caps ever.

Thanks. Maybe yes, I will.

Thanks.

Thanks you./

Thanks you.

Thanks.

Thanks. If you do, please make sure you share the experience with us.

Thanks.

Thanks again.

I really think this car deserves a separate thread. I really hope soon.

Yes. The smiles you get from people is just another experience altogether and a huge contrast to the angry and impatient faces you usually get to see on Indian roads.

Thanks.

Thanks.

Thanks.

I am simply overwhelmed by the response from you all and words fail me. I would like to thank everyone for your love and appreciation. I hope I have enriched your experience by sharing my story.

I still believe my journey is still not over though and I will continue sharing. But what might come down the road will be diffrent from the story so far.

Let me share something that is very recent, in fact today morning.

I had decided on new tyres and I settled for Michelin based on my good experience with them so far. I was skeptical that the steel rims will hold air in a tubeless application so I was more or less prepared to use tubes with tube tyres because tubeless tyres of the correct size seem to have disappeared nowadays.

The old tyres and tubes were removed and I asked the shop manager if he thought these rims could hold air without tubes. He had not seen my car so far and said 'why not?' with a somewhat confused expression.

I told him that these are more than 30 year old steel rims.

'What?'

'Yes', I replied.

'No ways' was his answer. 'This is a new car, not more than 2-3 years old'.

At this point I took him out of the shop to my car and his eyes were almost popping out.

'Okay' he said. 'Let me show you what quality rims we have nowadays'

That particular tyre shop is a very busy one and at any given point there are at least 4-5 cars being serviced there. He showed me few rimes of new cars (I will not name the manufacturers).

'You see this' he said pointing to the rim lips where the bead makes contact. '9 out of 10 new cars that come for the first tyre change we have to use sandpaper to remove some surface rust, otherwise the bead or the value will not lock properly. On your rims we will not do anything and the new tyres will go straight on'.

No doubt they don't make it the way they used to.

Note from Support: Additional smileys deleted. Please use the Thanks button instead of quoting & replying "Thanks" to multiple posts.

Your decision to go with Michelin is the correct one. W123's ride best with Michelin Energy Saver tires but in India, your only option is the 195/70 R14 XM2. Not a bad option at all.

Exactly the one that I have got installed. While the tyres were being replaced I got a chance to inspect. Rotors are new and the calipers seem to be recently serviced but the rubber brake hoses are brittle and cracked on few places. So I will replace them and this is something I will do myself. I have ordered hoses on ebay and asked the tire shop guy to order a trolley jack for me. I have also ordered flared end wrenches which are essential for a brake hose job if you do not want to strip the ends. I am still waiting for some of these parts.

Last weekend I took the car to my friend's workshop for getting clutch replaced as the old one seems to be on its way out. Something not so apparent earlier with the lack of compression in the engine.

His workshop also has a lift and I spent a good deal of time under her inspecting the underside.

The tie rod ends and cracked so they are also now on order. The rear axle boots are not cracked but could be few months down the line. I am ordering them just in case.

I also noticed the drive shaft was not installed with the markings aligned and this was contributing to some humming at mid RPMs. Now that I know it will be aligned back in its balanced position.

There was no oil or fluid leaking except for the dip stick housing. I will see if there is a missing O ring...

I JUST replaced all the components you mentioned on my 300D. I would strongly recommend you source these from an official MB dealer. The rubber axle boot covers and brake hoses can deteriorate if they sit on a shelf for many year, which can be the case with many Ebay seller inventories. Proper rubber will last another 10 years minimum.

I was not as fortunate as you - my right axle shaft failed while driving, necessitating a replacement :/ I recommend OE Heavy duty Mercedes grease as well - its still the best for conditions like ours.

Here's a video link for all you need to know about the oil filter housing leaks, thanks to my friend Kent Bergsma.

Kent's classic Mercedes DIY Video

Not sure if the MB dealers will service W123's in these parts. I actually called one up and a pretty something voice asked me which year my car was which I wanted to get serviced. When I told her it was 1983 she asked me to wait online while she transferred to the service workshop.

The workshop guy thankfully knew little more about the stuff they are selling than the pretty young thing but he told me they serviced a very few W124s that were owned by some of noted owners who held on to their cars for sentimental reasons and were loyal Merc owners. But he had never even seen a W123 in the workshop.

I also asked if parts can be bought. He was not very affirmative and said they will need to be indented from Singapore but they take a long time to arrive. And it was a long buttt....

Some of these web retailers more inventory pretty fast by the way. Far quicker than the Old Delhi part holes near Jama Masjid perhaps? Maybe some of the Delhi guys can comment but my inquiries in Delhi were not very productive either.

Anyways they are arriving by post now and I will share pics when they land.

I have also ordered a digital torque and angle converter/adapter. This basically fixes on to your wrench and gives a torque accuracy of 2% and degree accuracy of torque. I have ordered the 6.8-135 NM one so that it more or less covers all needs on a W123.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOnrdvh6_Jg

http://sidchrome.com.au/product/torq...ptor-17-340nm/

These are by the way available in many diffrent price ranges and most are made in Tawian. I just bought this one because it was on offer on Ebay Australia for a good deal.

Why I wanted to get this? I tried my best to impress on the mechanic that he needs to follow the instructions to the last letter when it comes to engine torques and angles. I also think he did his best on this. The torque wrench he was using however seemed to be very old ('made in Englistan hai mere abba use karte the') and perhaps never recalibrated. I want to retorque my head bolts once even though this is not required for my engine because it uses the narrow shank head bolts...its a peace of mind thing for me. And then I will subsequently use it for all other jobs as well.

Maybe I will post pics/videos of the tool in action.

Oh and by the way Kent is super but sometimes appears to be a hard seller. And thanks for the video but my oil leak is at the oil dip stick housing tube, not the oil filter housing.

Sorry To hear the official MB dealers cant do much for you.

Here in Europe its very different. In general MB ensure part availability for 30 years after production stop. Any main MB dealer will stock quite some parts for the older MBs or can order it within 24-48 hours max. Also, many specialized shops to be found that can supply MB parts. And a very large pool of second hand parts as well.

Any MB dealer here will be able to service and repair a W123. Very often the mechanics like it as most of modern MB is very routine.

There are also quite a few specialized places around. From very simple one man operations to actually fairly large operations.

I guess it comes down to demand. The classic car scene is huge in Europe. There are still tens of thousands of these W123 in Europe. Its one of the more affordable and practical classic cars to own.

Interesting torque convertor you found there!
I prefer the traditional ratchet type because a good one is very accurate for many years and this looks it could be a bit cumbersome working in confined spaces.

Good luck and enjoy your W123 as much as you can! Nice to see you fiddling with it as well as driving it.

Jeroen

Couldn't agree with Jeroen more. Here in the UK, older Mercedes cars are still loved, admired and serviced like new vehicles. This is why TBHP meet ups and support groups are like an oasis in the classic Mercedes desert of India.

When I suggested sourcing parts from MB dealers, I did not mean dealers in India necessarily. I'm familiar with how little they know about classic cars from their own company. If you have the means, source them from EU instead or reach out to a Mercedes Benz specialist who has the needed connections. Parts are still largely available and in stock and what cannot be sourced new (interior bits) can be found on Ebay or from breakers. Happy to help if I can!

Bowman, what a great restoration! Thank you for sharing. Your patience, dedication and attention to detail are remarkable, and truly testify to your love for this car. The 80' German cars were just rock solid. The way you have restored this one, it should be good for another 30 years. I too have a 1981 BMW, so can attest to German build quality. One word of caution - use good seals and rubber. I have found that URO seals are not very good. These are the bits that will cause you headaches later - I learned the hard way.

Awesome job, congratulations!!

Congratulations BowMan! Your thread had me hooked and i just could stop reading. Very well written and even better executed.
Some observations: You should definitely address the underside on the car as thats the only thing that letting it down at the moment.

Have you replaced the interior? The earlier pictures of the car showed that it came with fabric interior and the ones posted later show MBTex interiors? Please explain. Once again, I would like to congratulate you for owning one of the fine examples of W123's left in the country. Its also my personal favourite as my father had one when i was little and I hope to own one some day again.