The first was the A/C.   I knew the second to last owner had done a lot of work on the AC a couple of years ago and it had recently been cold.  However, when I got the car it was almost tepid.    When I had the pink slip done, I also had the A/C regassed.   The leak must have been very small as it held vacuum well and the air is now very cold.    Great for the Aussie summer.    My mechanic noted that the viscous fan was not really working all that well and the car was relying too much on the electric fan.   The previous owner put a used one on, but it obviously hadn’t lasted.   A brand new MB coupling is $180USD, so I’ll just put a new one on.

Next was an oil change for 375,000km.   Last one I am aware of was at just before 370,000 in October 2020, so a good time to do it.   The oil wasn’t particularly dirty, and the oil analysis report done a couple of years back showed an engine in good health.    The car even cam with a filter, so I didn’t have to order one.

Those were the main short term mechanical improvements.   The rest were largely cosmetic.

The first was the inside rear view mirror.   The housing had cracked around the dimmer button.   I had a good uncracked mirror from my 420SEL parts car.    The W126 and W124 mirrors are ever so slightly different, but not enough to notice unless side by side.   Another easy fix.    In the picture below the mirror is already replaced.

As can be seen in the picture, there is some fading and other paint issues on the roof of the car.   I tried to see if a clay bar would help at all, but it didn’t make a great deal of difference.   The roof is probably as good as its going to get until it is repainted.   I don’t have any plans to do that.

Next easy one was the floor mats.   The car came with regular floor mats that didn’t fit well.   I put in the dealer fitted rubber mats I had in my 560SEL.   I plan to get some of the ribbed mats for that car like most of the W126s came from the dealer with.   The rubber mats fit the more utilitarian nature of the wagon, and how I plan to use it.

Another easy one was the owners manual.   While I had the service book, data card and all the other books in the owners manual pack, I was missing the actual owers manual.   I found one on ebay that was the right year and it is now on its way.    The owners manual pack confirmed the car was sold new with a Becker 1402, as the booklet was still there.   Something to keep and eye out for.

The next improvement I made is more polarizing.   The car was originally sold with a leather steering wheel.   This was fitted to W124s from 1988 onwards as I understand it.   At some point, the leather wheel had been replaced with a plastic one from an earlier W124 or W126.    Over time the stitching comes undone.    While the plastic wheel was in good shape, I just felt out of place.   And given the wheel is right in front of your face, I wanted to change it.   A MB Club member found me one that was not perfect, but not expensive either, so I did the change.   You can judge if this was worth it or not from the before/after picture below.

I had also noticed I was missing the first aid kit and warning triangle.   The warning triangle is specific to the wagon, and I think the first aid kit is too.    I don’t expect to use a 30 year old first aid kit, but there was a specific spot for it and I would like the car to be complete.   The same MB club member who found me the wheel was also able to find me these items so I could fit both to their proper home.   Something that most people are not going to care about, but I like to have all this stuff.

Finally there was the wear on the front arm rest.   Not that surprising after 375,000, that even MB-Tex has its limits.   As part of the same deal with the triangle, first aid kit and wheel, I was able to grab a series 1 W126 MB-Tex armrest.   They are not identical, but I think I should be able to use this plus the one I have to get something working.    If not, I can probably sell it on for what I paid.

The post 300TE first improvements appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

I’ve thought about getting a Nardi steering wheel for my 450SLC for years.    There were two main things holding me back.   The first was they are quite expensive.    Second, their smaller diameter means they obscure the speedometer.   In the world we live in where 5km/h over the speed limit seems to get a harsher punishment than actual crimes, seeing the speedometer is a must.

I then chanced upon a company who make an offset adaptor for a Nardi steering wheel.   This raises the wheel by 13mm, making the instruments more legible.  It also has the added benefit of giving you more room for your knees.   Not only that, it’s made in Melbourne, Australia.     Secondly, I also found that pricing varies widely, and I was able to get one from the USA for about $500USD including the boss kit.   Since I purchased the wheel earlier in the year, they have gone up by about $50, so I am glad I did.    I went with the classic 390mm wheel with satin spokes.

Next year, in March 2023 it will be 20 years since I bought this car.   Over the last few months I have been doing some upgrades I’ve always wanted as part of the ’20 year anniversary’.   That includes the Penta wheels and will include the Becker radio too.

For the 107 models, the steering column changed in 1978.   Many websites reference 1976, but that is not correct.   Therefore, a different boss kit is needed depending on the year of the car.   My car is a 1977 model, so it needed the earlier boss kit.   I outlined the difference back in 2014 when I was first starting to think about doing this.   To make sure I got the right kit, I actually put my car down as a 76 and wrote in the notes I needed the earlier kit with the 15mm shaft.

The plan was to have the wheel on before the National Rally, but the wheel I wanted was backordered, so it took a few months to arrive.   It’s rained pretty much constantly since, so while the wheel arrived a few weeks after I returned, I only just got the car out and installed it.

Installing a Nardi steering wheel on a 107 model is not difficult, but there are no instructions to speak of.   Therefore, everything was trial and error.   Getting the existing wheel off is very easy, the rubber pad on the front just peels off and exposes a nut, which I think required a 22mm socket.   It’s easier to have an assistant to break it loose, but I was able to do it with an extendable ratchet.

It wasn’t immediately obvious how the horn worked, but comparing the two wheels, I think I worked it out.   There are these two tabs that stick out of the steering column housing that touch concentric metal rings in the base of the factory steering wheel.   These then connect to wires that go to the horn button.   The Nardi wheel uses the same approach.    When I say I think I’ve worked it out, I mean it seems like it’s installed correctly, but the horn is still not working yet.

From there, I slid the boss kit on to the steering column and used the same nut and washer to tighten it up.   I did this with the wheels oriented straight ahead to ensure the Nardi steering wheel was on straight.  The Boss kit didn’t seem like it had an orientation, but there was a little circle above one of the screw holes, so I used that as ‘top’.

Normally, this would be when the wheel is attached to the boss.   However, I had the offset adaptor.  The offset adaptor consists of two pieces.   The bottom piece bolts to the boss, and moves the screw holes up for the wheel.   The second part is a spacer that the wheel mounts to.   It comes with its own slightly longer bolts for the wheel attachment.   It also leaves room so the whole wheel and boss assembly can be removed in future.

Originally, I mounted the wheel directly to the adaptor.   However, it was obvious that something was wrong.   I could not get the horn button to stay in place.   It was so loose it just fell out when driving!  The little springs to hold it in place could not grip anything.     Turns out, I was missing a piece.

There is a retainer ring that is supposed to go on the end of the boss to allow the horn button to grip.   I’m not sure if it was supposed to come with the wheel or boss, or if I was supposed to know to order it.   Either way I didn’t have one.   Luckily, it wasn’t expensive and I was able to order one express post from Tasmania.   For future reference, that place has quite reasonable prices on wheels too.

Getting that piece was only the start.   From reading forums, it seemed like it went on the boss before the wheel, but I wasn’t sure which way.   and I wasn’t sure if that was event correct.   In the end I tried it face down on the boss (didn’t fit), face down on the wheel (didn’t fit) until it worked face up on the boss. It looks like it sticks up too much, but with the trim ring, it actually doesn’t.

Next is the trim ring, that has little cutouts to go over the bolt heads.   The horn button plugs into the wiring.   In addition, the horn button has some wire in the shape of a triangle that acts as a spring by the way it sticks out of the housing.   It’s obvious when you see it.  I found it easier to put the top of the triangle in first, then use the small allen key to push the bottom corners in to fit the horn button.

I’m really happy with how it looks, and even happier with how it drives.   The Nardi steering wheel feels really nice to grip and drive with.   The slightly smaller diameter makes the car easier to drive and feel sporty.   Its odd, but the steering feels sharper and sportier.    The Nardi steering wheel fits the character of the C107 as a grand tourer.

I am using the standard Nardi horn push.  I spent a lot of time looking for a nice Mercedes Horn button, but gave up defeated.   They are all horrible.   The two main versions are a black button with a small blue Mercedes star in the middle.   Its tiny and the wrong colour.   There is another version, which is very expensive, but at least the right colour (silver with black background).   However, the shape of the Mercedes star is all wrong and it looks like a toddler drew it.   For over $400 I would want it to be an exact copy.

I’ve now driven the car twice since I fitted the wheel.  I won’t be going back to stock any time soon.   The original wheel will be put away in a safe place, but I can’t see myself mounting it again.

While the wheel didn’t come with any instructions, or that retainer ring, it did come with an attractive cover.  This isn’t the sort of car I’ll be parking out in the sun, but its quite nice regardless.

The post Nardi steering wheel for my 450SLC appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

These Mercedes steering wheels were basically the same for all W108, W109, W110, W111, W112, W113, and early W114 and W115.    Early cars had a round horn ring, which was changed in the early 60s to a flatter top.   The cars of the 50s had a different design that was similar in concept, but with no padded center and a circular horn ring.   The W100 (600) has a wheel that is a similar design, but not identical.

The standard steering wheel was black (ebony) and had a black center pad with the Mercedes logo and a chrome horn ring.   Up until the mid 60’s it was also possible to order an Ivory coloured steering wheel with a colour matched center pad.   When ordered, the gear stick knob was also Ivory coloured.    This was option code 551.   This option was discontinued  for the updated 1968 models (i.e. the 280s and later 300s).    This was also around the time the steering wheel was revised with a large steering column behind it.   The most obvious difference is the removal of the chrome ring around the horn pad.

The picture below shows an early Finnie with the ivory steering wheel and the round horn ring.  Note the end of the gear stick is also ivory.

The Ivory steering wheel is much more susceptible to age and heat related cracking than the black one.  Both are still available from Mercedes, although at significant cost.   The Ivory wheel is very popular in more recent years and is often added to cars during restoration, especially to vehicles such as the 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet that were never available with this option.   In most cases the gear knob is not changed at the same time, so the difference is quite apparent.     These wheels were only ever available with the center pad in the same colour as the wheel, although I’ve seen many ‘restored’ cars have dyed it the same colour of the seats which I find rather garish.  The photo below shows a 280SE 3.5 Coupe with the correct steering wheel and gear knob.   The flattened top of the horn ring is contrasted with the round one above.  This is also the final version without the chrome ring and the thicker steering column.

Another popular owner change over is to add a Nardi wheel.  Personally I prefer the original wheel, but the Nardi wheel can look good on the W113 roadsters.  Apparently in the USA, some very late W108’s were delivered with the W116 style steering wheel in 1973.

The post Mercedes steering wheels of the 60’s appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

These wheels also do not fare well in the sun, so many owners wish to replace them.     The first type of SLC steering wheel was from 1971-1972.  These wheels are easy to identity as the horn press is in separate buttons on the sides of the pad, and the wheel rim is thinner.   These wheels would have only been fitted to early 350SLC models (up to #5139).

The second and more common type of SLC steering wheel uses the full pad as the horn push.  It also has ribbing on the left and right hand side of it (photo below).   This type continued until partway through 1979 (at car #28363), when the later wheel without ribbing was introduced.

As well as three types of wheel, the steering column changed in around 1978 (Specifically at car #20032).   The original one has a nut holding the wheel on a smaller shaft.   The larger one has an allen bolt holding on a larger shaft.   This means that later wheels are incompatible with earlier cars – i.e. mine from 1977 which is in the #17000 range.      The picture below shows the earlier shaft and the data stamp can be seen 11/2/77.

This post came about as I had seen a nice W124 wheel at a good price and was investigating if I should change over.   However, this wheel is incompatible with my car.   My wheel is in good condition, so I will not make the change, but my other option would be a wood Nardi wheel.  These are very nice, but also very expensive.

Update: July 2022:   I went with a Nardi steering wheel in the end and am really happy with it.

The post SLC Steering wheel options appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

I also had the rear trim between the new lights fall down again.   I used some 3M double sided ‘Velcro’ type product as well as the clips and it was looking very good – but about 3/4 of the way through a 2 hour drive it fell down again.   Back to the drawing board….

The post Update: DS Steering wheel wrap and rear trim appeared first on Classic Jalopy.

The steering wheels up to the 1971 model year were thin wheels wrapped in black plastic tape.   (I understand some very early cars had a different system).  Later cars had the soft ‘safety’ steering wheel.   My car, being a 1970 model, has this steering wheel.   At some point the tape had been removed and some rubber coating added.   The rubber coating didn’t feel right, so I had wanted to restore the wheel to how it is supposed to be.

I had found a thread on the Aussie frogs forum that detailed not only how to get the tape, but how to install it as well.   I ordered a wheel of this tape from Citroen Classics in the UK a few months ago, and finally got to installing it today.   It is a two man job, so I had to wait to find an assistant who was willing to spend an hour or two wrapping the Citroen DS steering wheel.

The tape comes in a wheel, and you get more tape than you actually need to do the job. This allows for a few mistakes.  There are two holes in the wheel to start and finish the tape.  You have to cut the it to a tapered end to fit in the holes and the wind the wheel.   I ended up using a 3M trim adhesive that I had available and using plenty of masking tape along the way to let it set.

I can’t say I did a perfect job wrapping the Citroen DS steering wheel. It is quite difficult to get a perfect and even wind.  I am pretty happy overall and the job is well worth doing.   The 3M adhesive also seems to be working well at this point. I will leave the wheel taped for a few days before I remove the masking tape just in case.

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