News:

www.W116.org - The #1 resource for our W116! Established 2004

Main Menu

What have you done for your W116 today?

Started by BWalker82, 18 May 2011, 06:27 PM

WGB

Today - paid the mortgage to get them dry and cosy.

Bill

Type17

#16
I left it in its parking garage, which saved it from sitting in the horrendous traffic jams in my area (I live about 700m from the US Embassy in Dublin, and Barack Obama is visiting Ireland today, so there are road closures/diversions everywhere you turn), and which also saved it from enduring the gusty winds which are flinging twigs and small branches at cars and everything else - note the windy weather if you see coverage of their visit.

PS: The presidential car got stuck on the steep ramp out of the American Embassy in Dublin, and the President had to switch to the back-up car, and leave by the other gate - Video
'76 350SE in Silver-Green

calvin streeting

I cleaned and polished mine. also fitted a new fuel filler drain hose (some one cut through the old one when welding up the boot well).

calvin

toxonix

Took off the trunk lid, stripped the front right brakes down to the spindle and replaced the rotor, repacked bearings, cleaned and repainted vent cover and removed the old caliper. The pads were down to the steel. These calipers are no good, so I'm ordering refurbished calipers, new lines and replacing the old hard lines.

1980sdga

Quote from: toxonix on 23 May 2011, 02:46 PM
Took off the trunk lid, stripped the front right brakes down to the spindle and replaced the rotor, repacked bearings, cleaned and repainted vent cover and removed the old caliper. The pads were down to the steel. These calipers are no good, so I'm ordering refurbished calipers, new lines and replacing the old hard lines.

I need to do my bearings. Is it just the standard castle nut/ cotter pin arrangement?  Any tips?

I drove my 116 another 200 miles today  ;D  She's gotta go about 150 miles tomorrow then another 175 miles home on Wednesday.

So far so good but my ACC amp went out again  :-[

KenM

That's a funny clip Type 17, surely shows a poor lack of pre planning on the part of the secret service or whatever they're called, you would think that almost anyone would look at that hump and think, 'hump, long car, it ain't

gonna happen...'

Type17

The Embassy don't use that gate normally, but the long, thin (and very full) car park meant that they couldn't turn the long cars around, so they decided to use it. The slope on the normally-used gate is much shallower  ;)

Apparently, Obama and Michelle were in the other car, behind the stuck one, so they were reversed out the other gate and drove by a few minutes later.
'76 350SE in Silver-Green

thysonsacclaim

That car is nuts, I wonder what it weighs?

I've read a little about it years ago when Bush was in office, but apparently they do a new car for every President. The old ones are now to be used for testing purposes / explosives tests.

They keep a blood bank in the trunk of the President's blood type as well as a first aid kit full of what you might expect from a combat kit (morphine pads, transfusion kit, anti-coagulants, cipro and other antibiotics) as well as a closed supply of oxygen.

The plating is at least 5 inches thick.

toxonix

Quote
I need to do my bearings. Is it just the standard castle nut/ cotter pin arrangement?  Any tips?
No castle nut, key washer or cotter pin. It's a split nut with a locking bolt. I was kind of taken aback by the lack of ant-turn mechanism on this bolt. Under or over-torquing this locking bolt could be catastrophic, as its the only thing holding the front hub on. This bothers me a little.

The bearings are like most other cars. An outer bearing, larger inner bearing and dust seal. Check the spindle and bearing races for brinelling. They should be perfectly smooth. Over-tightening, sitting or dust seal failure can destroy the bearings. The dust seal surface at the base of the spindle should be clean and free of pitting.
I clean hub, bearings and spindle completely, removing all grease and dirt in the parts washer before repacking with high temp wheel grease.

1980sdga

#24
Quote from: toxonix on 24 May 2011, 12:53 PM
Quote
I need to do my bearings. Is it just the standard castle nut/ cotter pin arrangement?  Any tips?
No castle nut, key washer or cotter pin. It's a split nut with a locking bolt. I was kind of taken aback by the lack of ant-turn mechanism on this bolt. Under or over-torquing this locking bolt could be catastrophic, as its the only thing holding the front hub on. This bothers me a little.

The bearings are like most other cars. An outer bearing, larger inner bearing and dust seal. Check the spindle and bearing races for brinelling. They should be perfectly smooth. Over-tightening, sitting or dust seal failure can destroy the bearings. The dust seal surface at the base of the spindle should be clean and free of pitting.
I clean hub, bearings and spindle completely, removing all grease and dirt in the parts washer before repacking with high temp wheel grease.


Wow! no fail-safe at all?  How do you set the pre-load?

I've done a lot of wheel bearings and it sounds as if we do it the same way.

Thanks for the info!

Oh yea, I drove my 116 165 miles today  8)  I want wipers on my headlights...

TJ 450

Preload is set simply by turning the clamping nut only. I just do it by feel. You don't want it too tight obviously.

Yes, there is no absolute failsafe mechanism. As long as the clamping bolt is tightened properly, all should be OK, and ideally these ought to be replaced with the bearings I would've though.

Tim
1976 450SEL 6.9 1432
1969 300SEL 6.3 1394
2003 ML500

koan

Quote from: TJ 450 on 25 May 2011, 12:29 AM
ideally these ought to be replaced with the bearings I would've though.

I've got a couple of front wheel bearing kits, in each are both bearings, the cap and seal, they come with a new bolt for the clamp but not the clamp itself.

koan
Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, Amen!

skatinblind815

Hmm.. In the last 2 weeks I have:

Completely disassembled and reassembled,  cleaned and my rear view mirrors.

Installed a new fully functioning AAV. ;D

Ran speaker wires for rear speakers and wires to the trunk for subwoofer. Which also included vacuuming out all the old dust and dirt which was under all the seats and carpets.

Reattached my climate control console to the wood that surrounds it.

Top of all engine fluids, and last but not least...

wash and wax.

It's almost summer :-)




caleboar

In the last month I have:

Installed new distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs, wires, coil, and condenser wire. Also, new entire stainless steel exhaust from Timevalve and new catalytic converters. New wipers (bosch evolution) and Rain-X on the window. I've never used this product before, we'll see. Removed cluster, padded to remove road rattles and trimmed speedometer cable to reduce "flickering". New sheepskin seat cover from Shear Comfort. Clean grime off of air intake and buttefly valve. New antenna mast.

Today I'm planning on flushing radiator and refilling with original MB fluid.

I have been looking into new tires but have been a bit stumped. I can either find well-known brands (Michelin, BFG, Falken) that offer tires in S or T rating, or lesser known brands like Maxxis and Doral that offer an H rating. I'm not sure which way is the better way to go. I like to corner hard around city streets.

Also on my list is checking the vacuum system for leaks.

BTW, I think utn-boy wins this category.

1980sdga

Drove it about 150 miles today.  Maybe I should ask "What has your W116 done for you today?"   ;D

About 600 miles in 3 days on less than a tank and a half of fuel  ;D

Gonna check the fluids and head out again tomorrow...