Previously I had a stuck ignition barrel in my 280SE. After 5 hours of trying, I finally got it to move, allowing me to get the car out of the way. At the time, I was feeling pretty confident that the right tool would get the ignition tumbler out no problem. As it turns out, my optimism was misplaced. The first issue was...
Today was the 2022 Shannons Eastern Creek Car Show. This is the biggest car show that I know of in Sydney, and is held at Eastern Creek Raceway. I’ve been going for years, but have never entered a car. All those previous times I have been a spectator, most recently in 2018. The 2021 and 2020 events were cancelled due to coronavirus and...
I’m currently planning to install period correct Becker radios into my 450SLC and 560SEC. I previously outlined the radios I plan to use, and tested them. I was able to confirm that the Becker 1402 destined for my 560SEC was working correctly. Rather than using the internal 2x25W amplifier in the Becker, I planned to connect it to an external amp. While I...
Today I attended the monthly Auto Brunch event at St Ives Showground. This is easily the best cars and coffee event in Sydney. There is always a huge variety on display at this event. This wasn’t the biggest event I can remember, but it probably has the biggest variety. A great example was a timewarp Chrysler Lancer. I don’t recall the last time I...
I installed the Classic Auto Sound Becker tribute radio in my 250SE a couple of years ago. The W111 series are supposed to have a slimline radio instead of a DIN size. Unfortunately, a previous owner cut my dashboard to DIN size. This meant putting the correct radio for the year was now practically impossible. Instead of putting a 70s Becker instead, I went...
I was able to attend the Eastern Suburbs cars and coffee event this morning. I’ve managed to attend the last couple of these events and there are always a good mix of cars attending. As it is an eastern suburbs event, the most popular car is always the Porsche 911. It was interesting to see a 930 Turbo parked next to a regular 911...
Earlier this morning I returned from the MBCNSW July 2022 Night Drive. We try to rotate the travel direction around Sydney, so this time we were going South. The drive was actually a repeat of one we did back in February 2021. That drive was quite popular, so we figured we would run it again. The drives in the dead of...
I was quite keen to start using the 280SE more now I have sorted out the steering, exhaust and drivers seat. I don’t have a modern car, so I rotate the various historic registered cars I own to keep them inside their 60 day logbook. The 280SE obviously has a lot of entries available. I was also looking forward to driving it more...
Now I had the 280SE at the point where I could drive it more, I wanted to attend to the drivers seat. Like most of these cars, years of driving had caused at least some of the springs to break, causing it to feel collapsed and lopsided. The first Mercedes I ever owned, my 1985 230E already had this issue on purchase. It...
The final things preventing me from turning the 280SE from a garage queen to a rolling restoration was getting the exhaust sorted out. It really was a mess. The rear muffler had been changed about 20 years ago (I have the receipt), but the rest was original. It really showed. Not only that, but the 280SE W116 exhaust for right hand drive cars is...
My next job on the 280SE project was replacing the drag link and tie rod ends. Of the six ball joins in the steering, two were really bad, and the others were all quite old. In addition, I planned to replace the idler arm while I was there. The rubber was old and cracking so it was definitely due for it. I already...
I generally like to keep my cars stock. The exception to that is period accessories that are totally reversible. Things that the first owner may have wanted to do to the car to improve it or customize it. The most obvious of those are wheels, but there are plenty of other things that can be done, like changing the steering wheel. I’ve...
In the two years of owning my 560SEL, one of the things I have appreciated is the original Becker CD player. I’ve owned many classic Mercedes-Benz models over the years, but until the 560SEL none of them had their original Becker intact. The Becker radios just look and feel right in the dash of the car. I had never really understood that before. That...
The W116 Mercedes is no longer a common sight on the roads of Australia. Yet, at one time, it was quite prevalent. With a 450SEL costing more than 8 times an equivalent Holden it was a very expensive car. Despite that, it was a strong seller with little real competition. The closest competition was probably from Jaguar – but they were much cheaper,...
This evening was the monthly MBCNSW night drive. We finally completed a route we have wanted to do since March of 2021, on the third attempt. It was worth those attempts as it was a great drive. We actually planned the route back in February 2021. To test out the route, we did an informal dry run with a few club members. We...
I attempted to attend the MBCNSW May night drive with two separate cars. Coincidently, I had the same brake issue with both cars. On both cases I experienced a soft brake pedal, and on further investigation a very hot drivers side rear wheel. The rear caliper was not releasing properly causing it to drag and boil the brake fluid. I knew the hoses...
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