My biggest 6.9 adventure to date.

[Big_Richard]

I've done some reassembly work today, ive found the missing seat belt parts lost during the interior make over.

I've filled the tank with 98 octain and taken the car for a preliminary drive to my other house.

I'm within an hour going to embark on a 200km drive down south, where the car can sleep in comfort in an enormous lockup garage. Till i return home tomorrow.

It will be scary and exciting at the same time. Ive in my long ownership (since 2003) never taken this car out of the metropolitan area. Not one square inch of this vehicle hasn't been molested by me somehow or another so its really quite a test of my confidence.

I decided long ago i was going to do this, and now the time has come 

Will i make it, or will i return on a flat bed trailer 

Wish me luck!

If i said i wasnt scared, i'd be lying...







B-pillar trims not installed as theyre getting recovered in leather

[s class]

Looking good. 

Im sure you'll enjoy the blast. 

[Big_Richard]

Success!

I arrived in 1 piece.

After 2 hours on the road I have become intimately knowledgeable of this crappy 70's cruise control.

I think I'm going to pull it apart again and replace the caps again. Every 5 minutes I had to increase speed by 5kmph to maintain speed.

Only issue noticed apon arrival was the fact that I forgot about my weeping high pressure Cu crush washers on the suSpension pump banjo fitting. Having had replaced the pump I never put new ones on and thought, she'll be right.

I've lost 1/4 of my suspension fluid but not to worry, I'll still be able to make it home

[TJ 450]

Awesome.

Good luck for the trip back, and I'm sure it will be running better too.

Unfortunately I'm capped, so the pics will take about a decade to download.

Tim

PS; I was assigned additional jobs today, so I only just got back (2000hrs).

[wbrian63]

Congratulations on spreading the 6.9's wings.

The design and implementation of the hydro-pneumatic system never ceases to amaze me. When I was breaking #1164, I thought sure I'd find at least one line fitting that would require a set of locking pliers to remove. To a nut, every one came loose with the proper use of a line wrench. None had been leaking, or had appeared to ever have leaked. (Of course, this was an Arizona-delivered car, with very little undercarriage rust.)

I think this is attributable to the general precision of design and construction that is evident throughout the car. When fittings mate properly, the don't need to be viciously tight to seal.

This is in the way of an explanation, as I've seen the same as you regarding the cu crush washers. On many other cars I've worked on, replacing a crush washer was frankly a waste of time, regardless of the system involved (brakes, fuel, transmission, etc.). They rarely leaked when reused. If there was a small seep or drip, I'd just rub the washer around on the concrete floor to roughen the surface and reinstall. Again, I attribute this to the general sloppy build quality of the fittings. On the MB, everything is machined to a high finish - not so much on other cars. I beleive the roughness of the surfaces aids in the sealing with the washer.

On my 6.9, before I disassemble a single system that uses cu crush washers, I make sure I've got replacements in hand. Not long after getting #521, I attempted to clean the pressure regulator and height control valve. Thought I'd get away with reusing the various crush washers in the system. Put everything back together and tightened as I would normally for a crush washer fitting to ensure a tight seal. All of the fittings leaked. Tightened further - still leaked. Used the concrete trick - still leaked. Got new washers and just snugged the fittings tight - no leaks anywhere.

Again - congrats on getting the 6.9 a bit out of its element. Your December/January is our May/June, and those months are some of the best here north of the equator.

Regards

[flutes]

MT that's a great drive. I got hooked on old Mercs taking a friend's w126 down to Eagle Bay, within a year I had my 450.  Your interior is looking mighty schmick, by the way.

TJ, you're capped? What have you been downloading?!

[TJ 450]

MT that's a great drive. I got hooked on old Mercs taking a friend's w126 down to Eagle Bay, within a year I had my 450.  Your interior is looking mighty schmick, by the way.

TJ, you're capped? What have you been downloading?!

Haha, 50GB of pr0n!

Only joking, my brother downloaded the war simulator using Steam, and we stream stuff on YouTube like there's no tomorrow. I also suggested he not seed millions of torrents all the time, like he does.

When the pics finally download, I'm sure there's some nice eye candy to observe.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

I'm currently sitting in my 6.9 charging my blackberry off the "cigar lightler" socket.

I never realised untill today that the "cigar lighter" isn't energised until position 2 on the ignition switch.

Not to worry, I have brought along with me a car battery charger and have that going too.

One can never be too prepared on a long journey in a 31 year old car.

Out of interest, I wonder if anything gets destroyed when you leave the ignition in 2 for a while on these cars without the engine running. I understand on some vintage vehicles it would overheat and destroy the coil.

Speaking of which, mine is hot to the touch!

Oh well, enough blackberry charging for now.

[WGB]

Photos look good -congratulations on getting it going after a long time.

I hope the drive returns all your enthusiasm crush washers excepted.

I think these cars can only get more special as they age, the only problem being that cheap parts are probably going to be harder to source.

Bill

[Big_Richard]

The enthusiasm certainly has returned. I haven't stopped smiling since yesterday and am constantly out in the big shed playing with it.

I look forward to entering the forrest highway 110 zone from the give way sign, its going to be a wide open throttle event even if it is only for a few seconds

Now that the girlfriend knows I'm handy with cars I'm on korean car repair jobs now... Have already replaced front disks and pads with wheel bearing wash n repack. Next I've got to do front main seal and timing belt. Shoulda kept my mouth shut

[Big_Richard]

Also, I forgot to mention.

I assumed these old cars would have pretty inaccurate speedos.

I found the one in my 6.9 dead accurate at all speeds when comparEd to my gps.

The one in my daily driver 2010 mazda 6 is less accurate over 80kmh about 5km off at 100 -110.

My 6.9 speedo has a sticker on the back suggesting it was recalibrated in the 1990's

[TJ 450]

Yep, all it takes is a bit of a drive and the enthusiasm returns.

You should be able to wind out that first gear entering the 110 zone... it gets the adreneline going!

Saw the pics, I reckon it looks better through one's eyes.

I may be going out in mine for a NYE event, we'll see.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

Only a matter of time now before the 6.9 exits the huge shed and starts its journey back to perth.

May take a more scenic route, forrest highway is a little ho hum...

[TJ 450]

I'd take the South Western Hwy... forget Old Coast Road I reckon.

Just a bit of a story,

On Thursday I was driving along the former and realised a Police vehicle was behind me. Of course, I was bang on 110km/h, but as soon as the car in front saw the cop car, they erratically slowed down to 80, 90, 70 and were clearly showing their paranoia. The cops promptly overtook me and pulled them over.

Naturally, I commended their actions, I mean WTF, you couldn't behave in a more suspect and dangerous manner!

Good luck with the journey back home, I hope it all goes well.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

im back in Perth,

6.9 performed flawlessly .

i drove the entire way with cruise control on and for the entire journey it held the speed rock solid.

only did about 10km with my foot on the accelerator.

the suspension pump cu crush washers even fixed them selves.

Just shows the car really just needs to be driven.

experience was asbsolutely magic in every sense. have done 430km's and the fuel tank still shows over 1/3rd a tank remaining. Not bad for an m100 at all.