Topic: What have you done for your W116 today?

[Jed]

Floyd111,

Thanks for what is most certainly sounds advice.  I have done this before with a smaller, simpler, less expensive car (71 karmann ghia).  God knows I certainly don't need another project, as my garage is full of them.  Somehow I feel when you end up with a car like this it becomes your responsibility/burden/chore to make it right again....yes, it will require a good long look and think.

thanks agin

[w116john]

i am having some work done on the car next week to deal with some leaks and i decided to take out the rear seats as i am having the rear shocks done, and i was nervous expecting to find plenty of hidden surprises but i was delighted to find its in good shape a small area of surface rust, even the felt was in good shape and i found 10 pfennig which might come in handy if germany ever leaves the EU

all the best

[ptashek]

even the felt was in good shape and i found 10 pfennig which might come in handy if germany ever leaves the EU

I got rid of the felt when restoring Goldie, and replaced it with sound deadening mats.
That thing is a terrible moisture trap, and tends to get mouldy as well resulting in rust and a terrible smell.

p.s.: The old currency is still legal tender in Germany, and can be exchanged for EUR indefinitely
http://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/EN/Standardartikel/Tasks/Cash_management/free_exchange_dm_euro.html

[w116john]

i did smell like an old horse for while after taking out the seats,  i might do what you suggest and put in some sound deadening. the top of the seat is quite hard so i might try and treat it to some conditioner


john

[Malaysian]

Instead of sound deadening mats (the reflective sort) i used the spongy sound deadening material that is made from black foam.

Will this also promote rust on the floorpans apart from felt. Kindly advise.

I have only just done front passenger floor well as of now.

[ptashek]

Instead of sound deadening mats (the reflective sort) i used the spongy sound deadening material that is made from black foam.

Will this also promote rust on the floorpans apart from felt. Kindly advise.

I have only just done front passenger floor well as of now.

It depends on the foam. If it's closed cell, the n it'll be OK. Open cell will eventually accumulate moisture.

I have used the foam (closed cell) on top of the sound deadening mats.

[marku]

What material is supposed to be there? Mine has quite a thick layer of what appears to be bitumen which has been over sprayed with the body colour and then the floor mats which are very thick, sealed underneath, and moulded to fit over the heating ducts to the rear.

[ptashek]

What material is supposed to be there? Mine has quite a thick layer of what appears to be bitumen which has been over sprayed with the body colour and then the floor mats which are very thick, sealed underneath, and moulded to fit over the heating ducts to the rear.

The original floor insulation is some sort of bitumen matt, bout 4-5mm thick.
At least on my car, it was hard as stone and brittle after 37 years.

[Malaysian]

Its the ickiest bitumen of all. I spent half the day today scraping/flaking/brittling/breaking the damn 40 year old stuff to put in new insulation.

Using both black closed cell foam and reflective mats for this job.

Replacing all the smelly felt with the same stuff too.

[ptashek]

Did a few small jobs over the weekend:

- greased sunroof and seat rails, and antenna mast
- installed new OEM trunk edge garnish, incl. warning sticker
- re-glued the trunk seal as it came loose in one place
- adjusted idle RPM a little
- drove it, washed/waxed/vacuumed it, drove it again

[Peter]

Did you adjust the idle up? I needed to do this as mine was correct at about 650 rpm at idle but I feel as though this is approx 100 rpm low for any summer condition where I need the aircon working.

[ptashek]

Did you adjust the idle up? I needed to do this as mine was correct at about 650 rpm at idle but I feel as though this is approx 100 rpm low for any summer condition where I need the aircon working.

I dropped it to around 820rpm, warmed up. Ideal for the M117 is around 720rpm if memory serves.

[johnnyw116]

was a long time ago i did something for the W116 , 2 days ago i fitted a new heater control valve and Today i got my new 8-track player
its an 1974 Blaupunkt ACR 845 stereo quadro , were i was looking for for a long time becouse most 8-track players are 2 speaker and no blaupunkt , and i also recieved my velour dashboard cover from cover king , i have 2 litlle cracks on my dash so i have this for the mean time   

greetings : john   

[goldacre]

Replacing the water pump on the 450SEL...

What have i learnt since i last did this job?

i)  Use a 1/4 drive to remove the bolts with a flexible end for getting around the distributor so you don't have to remove it like i did last time using my 1/2 drive sockets 
ii) a 27mm socket required to rotate crankshaft to get the harmonic balancer in the 2 positions to access the 2 lower bolts
iii) aftermarket water pumps last around 5 to 6 years before seals fail.

Emailing around for genuine replacements reveals that you can get your pump reconditioned by a foundry in Germany via the Classic Center. Aftermarket pumps don't push the water around as well as the genuine articles so engine runs hotter. Genuine MB pumps are available but very pricey.

G

[s class]

There are several versions of aftermarket pumps out there for the 350 and 450 engine.  Stay away from the Meyle unit, the impeller is too far from the casing leading to very poor pumping efficiency.  The GRAF unit is really very much better.  I've used a few of them happily.