6.9 repair underway - by east london hairy bloke.

[nathan]

thats pretty damn good. hope it works out well.  youll be ready to drive those athletes the 4 hours to the olympics in no time!

[pal]

LOL, I think with the way London is at the moment it would be quicker for them to run.
We've already started the apologies and its not even underway yet.
:-)

thats pretty damn good. hope it works out well.  youll be ready to drive those athletes the 4 hours to the olympics in no time!

[pal]

Hi Guys, I've returned to the UK and back to the 6.9. The refurbished struts were waiting for me  . It was only £200 for both to be refurbished! The garage said they were able to fit standard hydraulic seals - still available. They do look good - I will take some pictures and post in the next few days. I will be fitting these next weekend so will post with more updates asap.

[Tony66_au]

Thats a great deal on the struts!

Love your work!

[alabbasi]

Man, I've been trying to explain to my friends how lucky they are to be able to work on cars here in Dallas when compared to living in London. With this thread, I can show them

A couple of weeks ago, I threw away a 6.9 that was 90% rust free. It was worn out though and the interior was burnt from the Texas heat. All I kept was the the engine, transmission, rear end and the height control valves.

I admire your efforts and good luck with the project.

With best regards

Al
Bald Ex West Londoner

[pal]

Thanks Tony, hopefully other people can use the same guy and save lots of cash.
Cheers.

Thats a great deal on the struts!

Love your work!

[pal]

Hey Al,

Wow - 90% rust free and in the bin... sob sob... as you know London cars are almost as damp as some of its people :-)
I've got some more horrible posts of when I removed the sills - I'll get those up too so you can have a chuckle at how the paint was holding the rust together.
Cheers & thanks for the encouragement.

Pal

Man, I've been trying to explain to my friends how lucky they are to be able to work on cars here in Dallas when compared to living in London. With this thread, I can show them

A couple of weeks ago, I threw away a 6.9 that was 90% rust free. It was worn out though and the interior was burnt from the Texas heat. All I kept was the the engine, transmission, rear end and the height control valves.

I admire your efforts and good luck with the project.

With best regards

Al
Bald Ex West Londoner

[pal]

Finally back in the UK after a long stint abroad - I can't believe how time flies! Repair commences today.
Hope you guys are all good and enjoying your cars.
Regards
- Pal

[s class]

we are, and we are looking forward to more progress photos from you

[adamb]

Hi Pal,

Welcome back. Get cracking while the weather is good. Don't know how long it'll last.

Adam

[pal]

Hi All,


Great to get working on the car, one to drive and enjoy and the other to fix.
Taking the covers off after so long felt great but the task at hand is a great challenge.
Plants have begun to grow under the car.
SO starting with both wings off I checked the sealer and waxoyl - touching it where required.
I then proceeded to re fit the coil, resistors and wiring. There were several wires which were corroded and I replaced these.
I compared the wiring against the 350SEL and found some of the wiring in the 6.9 was incorrect, not sure what the effect would be but the 350 hasn't been fiddled with so I'm hoping its right.

I also soldered a wire that was on top of one of the hydraulic spheres/accumulators.
[size=78%][/size]
Next I got started on the ball joints and greased and sealed these up
[size=78%][/size]
I couldn't get the stone chip shields on and tighten them - I will need to fashion a tool or cut a small slot to do this at a later date.
I might just fashion another shield since the original ones seem to end up as plant pots.

I then proceeded to assemble, fit and bleed the struts, I used a jack to lift the assembly up to meet the ball joint.

I've used new nuts and bolts which I'll cut to size instead of the originals which looked a little tired.



Next I fitted a new battery which only just sat in the tray (from a crash damaged Audi A4 - only £20 thanks Unit 41!)



I removed the old alarm and also immobiliser which was faulty.
Next I filled up with 20l of fuel and went to get the keys.....


When I turned the key it started... rumbling into life after quite some time. There was a large cloud of steam quite quickly and then it settled. When I tried to start it again it failed... the guy who had repaired the started previously turned out to be a bit of a cowboy, several friends who had taken their cars there have had issues with repairs to alternators and starters - so I was a little suspicious.


I decided to get the starter looked at from a friend of my father who is an auto electrician, the guy tool one look and said there was a fault with it - apparently something had been fitted incorrectly preventing the gear from returning fully into the starter after ignition. This would cause it to fail to start until the starter gear moved back in, by a jolt or when parked up for a while. He did the repair, refused to take any money for it (we forced him to take a bit) and we got the starter back.


The problem was sort of fixed, well there was a change in the nature of it.


There is still an issue with the starter, there are four wires - red, brown, red/white and earth. If I apply the battery +ve direct (and release) to the brown wire of the starter the car starts every time, hot or cold, without fail.

So the unreliable starting issue is gone, I still can't start the car always using the key tho. I suspect the relays are faulty so I'm looking to get those replaced. I could take the easy route and fit a separate relay but I haven't quite given up on the proper system yet. Looking at the starter relay it looks like its had better days.
I checked the connectors were clean under the battery tray, all looks good.
The fact it starts using the key sometimes and not other times seems to point to relay issues or faulty wiring? Not sure.... I think I will need to check the voltage at the starter end with a meter, I'll come back to it.
Next I drilled a hole through the new welding which to fit the bonnet release and hydraulic control wire. I fitted a rubber gromet and fed the wires through - finally got the bonnet shut - the welding on one side obstructs the bonnet lever so I will need to make some adjustments before both sides can be fitted.



I tightened on the wings and fixed these to the front, they are rusty but I don't have the funds to fix these just yet 


When the car started up (after it was bled) it raised up perfectly - the struts appear to have been repaired fine (phew)
The best thing was starting the car and moving it across to the other side of the drive (using the handbrake) - I think most of my friends had given up on it as dead so it was a shock to see it moved    I think the small dwelling of insect and plant life under the car also had a shock - its been a while.


So next steps are to fix the starter issue, few remaining bits and bobs under the wings, re-fit the servo properly, brakes and then on to the interior.


Cheers all
Pal

[John Hubertz]

I had an intermittent start issue with my '77 4.5L car that was due to slight wear of the ignition switch assembly.

I found that if I turned the key to start it like any normal car it would sometimes seem to start but then die instantly.  By maintaining my grip on the key and then (rather carefully) manually turning the key back to "run" as the car started instead of allowing the ignition switch spring mechanism to do so the problem was solved. 

Hope this solves the mystery - keep us posted.

[alabbasi]

Yep, if the lock barrel is sticky, you want to replace it before it jams up turns into a nightmare.
Pal, next time i'm in London (which I seems to be a rolling 'this time next year') we're going to need to sit down and swap horror stories about restoring these old barges.

[pal]

Thanks John, that's good to know - I will check it out.

I had an intermittent start issue with my '77 4.5L car that was due to slight wear of the ignition switch assembly.

I found that if I turned the key to start it like any normal car it would sometimes seem to start but then die instantly.  By maintaining my grip on the key and then (rather carefully) manually turning the key back to "run" as the car started instead of allowing the ignition switch spring mechanism to do so the problem was solved. 

Hope this solves the mystery - keep us posted.

[pal]

Lol, Al - they are a bit like barges - when you are here, drop in for a cup of tea. I might try the lock barrel - my problem seems to be a hard fault now which is usually easier to spot. It never starts with the key.

Yep, if the lock barrel is sticky, you want to replace it before it jams up turns into a nightmare.
Pal, next time i'm in London (which I seems to be a rolling 'this time next year') we're going to need to sit down and swap horror stories about restoring these old barges.