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13B/Ian - your input is required.

Started by Des, 06 November 2007, 05:29 AM

Des

how are things with Bismarck?
you have been a bit quiet on the battleship Bismarck?

Hope you haven't pranged her doing some weekend racing?

been up to anything with her?
any new mods? fixing anything?

any recent victories?

8) Des


13B

Hi Des - wow, my very own thread... !

As people well know, and probably against your initial wishes for the buyer of your car, the bismarck (hereafter shall be known as VMB690 or just VMB for short) was bought to be pressed back into daily service ... which is in start contrast to most other australian 6.9s which seem to be in varying states of restoration and seldom driven... no doubt the cost of petrol has lots to do with this.  Lucky for me I only have a short (17 min) drive to work and most of that is in traffic below 60km/r so a comfortable car with an auto was needed and a 116 (any w116 but esp. a 6.9) is up to the task.  I upgraded from a manual RX7.  Driving that in traffic is akin to a rowing marathon and and since its so low on low-speed torque most of the time it needs some revs to keep moving along, the fuel economy is not that bad going from the 7 to VMB (16mpg the RX7 averaged).

With careful tuning changes I've managed to improve the fuel economy from 320km/tank when I picked it up to 400km/tank now.

The exhaust system as you know I've changed, 3 or so months down I'm pretty used to it, still surprises many people.

Still leaks a small amount of engine oil from somewhere near the back of the engine even though I had both cam cover gaskets replaced as part of my RWC.  If its the rear main seal then it will just have to stay like that for a while.

I've bought a bootlid in green to hopefully soon finish the whole AMG look.

I've also bought some other tyres to fit to the bundts which should complete the whole 70s muscle car/chick magent look...

The suspension continues to baffle me.  Mostly works like a charm but once a week I'll go to my garage in the morning and observe the car sitting appox. 1-1.5" lower at the front than usual.  Upon starting the car the suspension light comes on and the VMB lowers at the back and very low at the front.  I have to drive it like that with the pimped-out look but there are no hills or undulations in my part of melbourne so I can get away with it.  About 3/4 the way to work the light goes out and when I park at work and get out i see the car is back to normal height... very strange.  Last time it happened I tried driving in 2nd gear (S) and the light seemed to go out faster due to higher engine rpms.

Next things to attend to: broken window regulator, WUR (disable it), aux fan.

I.
450SEL 6.9 #5440 = V MB 690 , 450SE # 43094 = 02010 H , 190E/turbo # 31548 = AOH 68K

SELfor50

Sorry mate, didn't get a chance to pull out that Window reg yesterday...  Was busy watching horses and playing cricket.   ;)

Speakin of yesterday - how did ya go?? ???

Des

Ian, interesting...thanks for the info

sorry to hear about continuing suspension issues, although to be honest I'm glad they are not my suspension issues, I now sleep a lot better at night :)

can you turn corners with the front not at the right height? without it scraping?

Are you running the BBS or the Bundts?

thanks for the update, good to hear she is being driven, although hopefully not in the rain?


CraigS

Try moving the height control knob to the high position and see if it comes up. If so, drive it in high for a while, then lower it down and see if it stays there.
[url="http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n77/Aegeanfoods/My%20Cars/"]http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n77/Aegeanfoods/My%20Cars/[/url]

WGB

I'm not an expert on this supension but I have been doing a lot of reading and absorbing.

Do you have a problem with the front or central levelling valve. It almost sounds like you have a ball-valve sticking and not allowing it to pump up. I thought there was a potential for the ball valves to seal when the car was lifted and that is what the central position of the cable is designed to prevent happening when the car is lifted with a jack.

You would need to do a leak-down test of the front struts to see if wear in these is the problem but my feeling is that something is sticking in a levelling valve.

Bill

13B

Quotesorry to hear about continuing suspension issues, although to be honest I'm glad they are not my suspension issues, I now sleep a lot better at night

can you turn corners with the front not at the right height? without it scraping?

Are you running the BBS or the Bundts?

thanks for the update, good to hear she is being driven, although hopefully not in the rain?

I don't think anyone who buys one of these 28+ year old cars expects perfection in the suspension - in fact its probably normal to expect that something is probably not 100% in the suspension even if you pay as much as WGB did for his car.  Mine cost 1/2 what his did and hydro-pump notwithstanding, works about as well as I expected.  When its all working right (which is most of the time) I still get the proper 6.9 experience, its just the 1 day a week it decides to play funny buggers.  I haven't pulled out the height adjuster because I did this once and the car took hours of driving and idling to get back to normal height - admittedly this was prior to installing a new pump - I just don't need that sh!t in the morning when I'm trying to get to work.

Can see where Rai Thistlethwayte got his bands name - Thirsty Merc - from, the amount of petrol consumed, oil and hydro suspension leaks, mine is fitting the stereotype perfectly.  That may sound like a dig at the car or PO but its not and I was pretty much prepared for it before getting back into a 116.

I'm still running around on the BBS wheels and they don't seem to rub (much) when the front is low.

News flash! VMB gets driven in the rain - nothing that can be done about it.  Does live in a garage both at home and work so things could be worse...

I.
450SEL 6.9 #5440 = V MB 690 , 450SE # 43094 = 02010 H , 190E/turbo # 31548 = AOH 68K

oscar

QuoteCan see where Rai Thistlethwayte got his bands name - Thirsty Merc -

So that's his name.  Always wondered what MB experience the band has had, thinking that with a name like that, they must have had some first hand encounters with filling up a 96L tank. Frequently!  I was watching one of their music clips ages ago and they were in a computer rendered w108.  Not sure of the song.  Might go for a youtube search.
1973 350SE, my first & fave

13B

The story goes he had a 60s MB with a blown head gasket which consumed more water than petrol but got them to those all-important early gigs and would not die.  Thats the Thirsty Merc
450SEL 6.9 #5440 = V MB 690 , 450SE # 43094 = 02010 H , 190E/turbo # 31548 = AOH 68K

oscar

 :D oops, thanks 13b, I've just been putting another thread together to leave this one alone.  No need to repeat yourself in the other thread.  Well, you can if you want if you know which clip has the 60's merc.
1973 350SE, my first & fave