My new 450sel

[Flogrates]

Hi everyone!

After nearly years of looking and mind changes I picked up my first classic car over the weekend.

My grandmother just before I was born had a 6.9 in Brown and then when I was small had a blue and silver 560sel. Since I was small I wanted a w126 in blue but the w116 shape has always appealed immensely but are quite rare in my state. I randomly found this one in the next state over and got it shipped down.

It's in pretty good Nick for it ages but needs a few things. (This are the photos from the add LOL, havent even driven it to work yet)

It has a few issues, most of which I'll slowly address.

-head unit has a mind of its own? Works very occasionally
-bit oil smokey, possibly valve stems seals?
Paint is a bit average, some dodgy rust fix and some near bare metal in spots.
- sunroof is hard to close, will need a service
-doors are hard to open, I've lubed but they are still very sticky

Other than that, I'd like to get modern speakers and amp running off the Becker. No one seems to do the cables any more ?

- colour code the hub caps
- air lift 3p W/dolud struts
- the driving lights under Neath the front bumper
- general restore / refresh as needed.


I shall post some more photos later when I am not in my phone.

[rumb]

Congratulation. Looks like a nice car.

The outside door handles are quite easy to remove and a good clean and grease will make them operate smoothly.

What do you mean by head unit?

[Flogrates]

Congratulation. Looks like a nice car.

The outside door handles are quite easy to remove and a good clean and grease will make them operate smoothly.

What do you mean by head unit?

Argh yeah I'll attack that.

The radio. It's very intermittent. Seems to power on and off.

I need to remove it to fix the cassette tape so hopefully whatever the problem is is obvious

[Nabstud]

Nice pickup. I saw it on Carsales, looked like a nice genuine car and priced right, knew it wouldn't last long!!

[karmann_20v]

Nice pick up! Lately I've noticed a few Milan Braun 116s on the FB groups and now this one.

[Flogrates]

Around all the Xmas stuff and trying to avoid work as harvest starts I managed to get some time to mostly sit and stare at the radio hoping it would fix it's self.

It turned out to be the Inline fuse holder being not very nice. I went and purchased a new one, then second guessed myself and used tap LOL

I then decided I am to lazy to get the tape working for a aux adapter so I ordered a Bluetooth dongle.

I did give the chrome a quick polish, it's in very good nick still.

I then started investigation on the rubbing noise, I was hoping it was something simple like low brake pads but alas. Life against me.

I did find both some Racey boy new rotors and incredibly hard to turn wheels. Possible wheel bearings needed soon.

It looks really really good underneath which was a relief lol. Only a leaky shock.

My search for the bad noises continue.

[Flogrates]

Had a day on call, rather than at work. So as everyone does I went and blew some hard on things ranging from oil for this to scrabble.

Had the first proper drive today, doing about 60km all up and boy was it great. The trip also highlighted all the little things I need to fix up to get it to a what I guess you could call a modern standard.

Once I got home poorer and happier I gave it a quick oil change with Penrith 15/50w. I end up with some Racey race expensive one. I need to research properly for the next one as 160 dollar oil changes does not appeal.

I also jam some pull noodles into the seat to fix the sag. I did a half assed job to get me through till I can be bothered pulling the seat out (probably when I do sound system)

I also gave the shed a good clean while I was waiting on the oil to drawn which was the real win.

[Flogrates]

Had a day on call, rather than at work. So as everyone does I went and blew some hard on things ranging from oil for this to scrabble.

Had the first proper drive today, doing about 60km all up and boy was it great. The trip also highlighted all the little things I need to fix up to get it to a what I guess you could call a modern standard.

Once I got home poorer and happier I gave it a quick oil change with Penrith 15/50w. I end up with some Racey race expensive one. I need to research properly for the next one as 160 dollar oil changes does not appeal.

I also jam some pull noodles into the seat to fix the sag. I did a half assed job to get me through till I can be bothered pulling the seat out (probably when I do sound system)

I also gave the shed a good clean while I was waiting on the oil to drawn which was the real win.

[Flogrates]

Fingers crossed the oil change will help my smoke issue.

[Randys01]

What a buzz for you.     Congratulations.!!  this looks like a well worn  but worn well unmolested example.
Not sure how you got conned into $160 bux for the required 8/9 litres of oil?.filters for these are cheap . IMHO you do better to buy  Castrol GTX 3? and replace it frequently.  This ole girl is going to have plenty of gunk in the system so frequent oil changes are the go..and it's ezy on these unlike the 6.9 which always turns into  mess.!
Not sure of the provenance of this car or KMs but after 40 years new valve stem seals do make a difference.

This project will keep you off the mainland for at least 5 years!!   Good luck.

[Flogrates]

What a buzz for you.     Congratulations.!!  this looks like a well worn  but worn well unmolested example.
Not sure how you got conned into $160 bux for the required 8/9 litres of oil?.filters for these are cheap . IMHO you do better to buy  Castrol GTX 3? and replace it frequently.  This ole girl is going to have plenty of gunk in the system so frequent oil changes are the go..and it's ezy on these unlike the 6.9 which always turns into  mess.!
Not sure of the provenance of this car or KMs but after 40 years new valve stem seals do make a difference.

This project will keep you off the mainland for at least 5 years!!   Good luck.

The only 15/50 oil my local repco had was some penrite V8 super car shit. Hence the price. I'll do it differently next time.

The car has 217k km but yeah, valve stems on the list.

[Randys01]

Run it for only 500kms and drain ..replace with GTX and new filter. Yep. Run it for  another 500kms. You will be horrified how quickly and dirty that drained oil presents.
Take note of the hot oil pressure behaviour at idle..when running 15 W in summer you might find it a bit wanting. 1 bar at 750 rpm would be nice.

[Flogrates]

Run it for only 500kms and drain ..replace with GTX and new filter. Yep. Run it for  another 500kms. You will be horrified how quickly and dirty that drained oil presents.
Take note of the hot oil pressure behaviour at idle..when running 15 W in summer you might find it a bit wanting. 1 bar at 750 rpm would be nice.

Tassie is barely having a summer this year so it should be fine.

I've ordered grease for the sunroof,. A transmission filter kit and booked it in for wheel bearings later in the week.

I swore to myself (and gf) that I would only get it fully drive able and stop for awhile but not having good music is bothering me so much I can see speakers and an amp getting bought any day.

[Flogrates]

Well, 8 days and nearly 1500 later I picked up the Merc last night. Front wheel bearings were in need of a change, the rears were apparently totally destroyed.

Apparently they almost gave up on the job at one point.  It was lovely to get it back but that it's definitely tampered my enthusiasm for the car LOL

[rumb]

Well, 8 days and nearly 1500 later I picked up the Merc last night. Front wheel bearings were in need of a change, the rears were apparently totally destroyed.

Apparently they almost gave up on the job at one point.  It was lovely to get it back but that it's definitely tampered my enthusiasm for the car LOL

Those rear bearings are a real pain - I can understand the shop being dismayed.