Hi Guys,
I've been lurking in the technical forum, trying to get this damn thing to run well enough before it became just another abandoned 6.9.
Long story short, it was a California car that was brought to MN in 1998. It had been here a year before the suspension collapsed and left for dead since. It came out of a garage in South Minneapolis, so it had never really seen salt, and for a W116 is relatively rust free (never say fully rust free of course!)
I spent most of my quarantine weekends working on this damn thing, and it fought me for a while. Before I was able to really feel like this was a car, I had a lot to do... And with the help of you guys...here is what it took to get to today.
-I completely rebuilt the ignition system with a new spark box, coil, distributor cap, resistors, plugs, and grounds.
-Being an electrical engineer, I repaired, re-pinned, re-plugged, and re-wrapped the engine harness.
-I pulled and cleaned the distributor to make sure the vacuum advance was working.
-I re-ran and fixed all the vacuum lines and rubber hoses that had turned rock solid. The car came with everything vacuum related unplugged.
-I pulled the radiator, thermostat, and cleaned all the crud out of the system as best as I could while the garage was near freezing.
-I pulled the transmission cooler and replaced all the lines as most of them had rotted
-I put new belts on as all of them were missing.
-I changed the oil, added brake fluid, transmission fluid, and P/S fluid, hydraulic fluid...all reservoirs were empty.
-I replaced the ignition tumbler the hard way as the key would not turn
-Replaced the injectors, fuel dampener, accumulator, cleaned the pressure regulator in the distributor, and replaced the air metering plate as mine was warped.
-Replaced all the suspension accumulators and the hydraulic pump. Surprisingly, the one thing that was wrong with the suspension that may have taken it off the road was the pump, once I put that in, the car lifted itself up as if magic.
Whats left to do? Well.. everything lol.
-I am still tuning the fueling, I have two Wideband oxygen sensors installed, trying to get the perfect AFR is a challenge since im new to CIS.
-It doesn't have climate control (the previous owner messed with it a lot)
-It needs brakes all around, the rears don't work and the fronts look fine..but they're old!
-The front suspension leveling valve is leaking.
-Im sure all the struts can use a rebuild, the car drives level but well...im on borrowed time
-The power steering soft lines leak and the wheel feels sloppy.
-It can stand to use all new suspension/steering bushings considering all the rubber has dry-rotted
-I have new door seals for it. The windshield and rear window seals were replaced and perfect.
-The sunroof wont close all the way, and I suspect the drains may be leaking or clogged...
-The interior is a complete black interior made of MB-Tex. Its in great shape but the seats are all mushy.
-The rust I know of is my fault... I washed the car before I put it in the garage. The passenger floor stayed wet for 6 months and now I have surface rust on that side
-The paint is a thick re-spray from who knows when. Its got orange peel and isn't the nicest. I'll wet sand and buff it to hold me over for now.
-I have European bumpers sitting in my garage, I need to fab brackets for those.
-I want European headlights, but told myself I wont get them till the car can drive, stop, and steer well.
I'm sure there will be more, but there you have it. Another 6.9 mostly on the road.
