Evan

Air bag (cup) mounts, do they need to be tig'd and crack tested or just mig away?

Awhile back I picked up a pair of Slam Specialties RE6s for the back and set about drawing some circles on the computer and getting them laser cut, then I countersunk some holes into them so they can be bolted to the rear arms via the two threads you can see sticking out below I loosely put the diff back in the car today and tricked Dave into coming around by promising him a swim. Put one of the original 13in wheels on it and mounted the bag to the lower arm then dicked around with bits of wood as spacers to work out how tall the cups for the top mounts were going to need to be. Came up with a number but turns out the tube I purchased is too small in diameter to fit over the upper springs perch - must have been holding the wrong end of the ruler or something. Anyway will come up with a work around tomorrow. I won't be running the 13s, I've got some 14in steels from a W108 Mercedes which run the (IMO) better looking single piece hubcap apposed to the 2 piece items that 13in rims run, but the 14s don't have tyres on them so for measuring purposes the 13s will have to suffice etc. will muck around with it some more tomorrow.

Kia Ora, I decided to pull the diff apart a couple of months ago is it was 5 star manky and the rubber bush on the pivot rod and boot that joins the two halves were perished. If you ever hear of anyone saying they're going to pull apart a Mercedes swing axle stop them immediately; they're the biggest pain in the ass to take apart and an even larger one to get back together. Way back when I got the car I put an order through to Pelican parts and brought a load of new seals and bearings (along with shocks and bushes etc). I raided this stash for a new pinion seal. The pinion nut on these is some stupid castle nut thing, which the Special Mercedes tool for costs something like $120 from the states, flagging that idea I picked up one of these from Aliexpress for approximately $7, it's for removing some motorcycle clutch or something but it just so happens to be the right size and did the job, fingers and toes are crossed that the preload on the pinion bearing is right, I think it's close enough. the bearings inside all looked ok. Regreased everything and smushed it back together with some new bits, it's now far tidier - but hasn't gotten any lighter.

Will jingle jingle tomorrow

Thanks for checking Yeah I've had a google, trying to avoid buying one for the 30mm of thread I want to clean up. all else fails I might just try putting a new bolt in it and call it good.

Hi Hi Hi, long shot but would anyone in Auckland have an M20 (1.5 pitch) tap I could borrow it re-cut a thread in a tube i have? Can bring a beer around for you to drink while I sort my shit in your driveway etc. Ta, Evan

Yeah I hope this is coming to Arapuni

Yep

Nah I paid all my bills

Waiting for the invoice isn't as fun as waiting for a package from the couriers though

when do you want it looked at?

Ta da! That's the last bit of rust on the shell taken care of, you can see some pitting on the parcel shelf but meh, it'll be ok. The whole thing is in primer now and at home while I save some more money before having the actual panel and paint done.

Also the new sills have been fitted to both sides, both front jacking supports were replaced while they were off along with new inner front sill sections. Repairs have also been made to the front right corner of the drivers floor pan, left hand side of the front passenger floor pan and replacement of the whole rear left floor pan The next step is to fix this gem. The previous owner had begun cutting out sections of the rear parcel shelf/bottom of rear windscreen area including the lip that the rear windscreen seal sits on. Originally I thought I could still get these panels new from Mercedes like I did the boot floor which would of meant a simple(r) case of drilling out spot welds and welding in a whole new panel. Turns out I was wrong on the availability of replacement panels and this guy is going to need to be repaired, oh yay.

Some more cutting and welding has taken place, this time in the rear seat/ C pillar area. I haven't got any photos of these bits all sealed up but they aren't holes anymore.

Did you know it takes 2 weeks to get sills through Customs in this country? TWO WEEKS.

These photos are hot off the press from the panel beater, received these this evening, haven't seen this in person yet. And what I reckon is the best bit.. A FLOOR! Left hand side: Right hand side (spare wheel well) Have asked them to take a break on it for a couple of weeks while I wait for the new sills to arrive, and to give my bank balance a breather so will have more in a month or so.

Some progress pics

Went and had a look yesterday, the doors are now less self draining than they were before, with the lower door skins having been fitted and the lower frames replaced on the front 2 doors. However the self draining capabilities of the boot floor have increased substantially since last featured Have new sills on their way from Germany at the moment, I think they will be the last repair panels I'll buy in, everything else that's needed will need to be made here. Also I got called out the other night with who I have/haven't given thanks to in previous posts. An Honorary mention must be made to @Ned for storing the car for the 4-5 month period between it getting blasted and going to the panel beaters.

How many hours do you spend sanding something like that?

Another couple of boxes arrived from Germany, containing lower door skins for all 4 doors, lower frame for the drivers door and new pieces for the bottoms of the rear 3/4 panels. Also the Panel beater has made a start, hopefully have more photos after the weekend. this corner was a bit worse than it originally appeared.

In other news I've received the first of the panels from Germany, first photo shows a new lower door frame for front left door, front left inner sill section, LHS spare wheel well. Second photo shows new boot floor, RHS spare wheel well and vertical panel that connects boot floor to the LHS spare wheel well, you can see stickers on these pieces, they're all Genuine Mercedes panels that you can still get new, whoop! Have just put through an order for lower door skins, Lower drivers door frame and patch panels for the bottom of both rear 3/4 panels. Hopefully this order doesn't bounce back, have found some of the overseas merchants list items on their websites that when you hit buy now they come back saying 'sorry these are NLA'. It should work out cheaper to import these pieces rather than have them made here. The car went to the panel beaters last weekend so hopefully will have more progress to report reasonably soon.

Hello, Have skipped forward 756 steps and made a start on tarting up the wood interior pieces (wood interior, daaaaaaaamn). The original varnish has faded/cracked/gone yuck after 50+ years so I thought we can't have that. These photos are a bit out of whack but give a comparison: Before, as you can see - yuck. After 3 applications of paint stripper/scrapping parts came out like so: I took a trip to Bunnings to find some new varnish/stain. After 10 minutes staring at the shelf wondering 'do you get interior stain because it's for inside the car, or exterior stain because the car is outside in the sun...????' I walked out with a pot of Cabots interior stain and proceeded to throw 3 coats on things New vs OG: Ta da, photos are a bit weird, they make the pieces look like they're rough textured or has a bit of grit in the stain, but they don't they're smooth and look choice in person. Have a couple more pieces to do then that's done.

I've watched a few of those vids of that CF 240z. It's a bit of a balls up how all he is doing is laying carbon over the factory panel to make the new panel, then removing the original panel to attach the new CF panel. The whole car is going to end up fractionally larger that it should be, curious to see how it affects panel gaps and things like tail light fitment. Also the nice smooth finish ends up being on the inside of the panel, which you don't see...

I've considered that, could make some additional moulds to work with what I've got and give that a go too, I just don't know if it would be runny enough to get into all the spots.