– By Eric Fantin –
I have been working slowly but surely on the wagon, as per previous articles, I tackled the rust by removing the front clip, some welding was needed in the front of the rocker panels, a common issue with the W 123 bodies, luckily I caught it just in time, nothing serious, a patch of couple inches on both side, the bottom of the fenders needed a tad more but I was able to form a piece of metal below the crease line and weld on the thin fenders, some paint and undercoating, voila!! The car did look much better.
I started applying the decals soon after, it is a long difficult process…. The result is mixed, some panels are very nice some others leave a lot to be desired, I might have to redo a few, looks good from 5 feet away, having the car in the sun helps but it will not erase some of my sloppy workmanship.
I then proceeded to look into the maintenance part of the car, I had already replaced a few parts but the car had not been maintain for a while, so after the usual oil change, filter fuel filters and more I proceeded to adjust the valves, a very often neglected item on the MB diesel engines, all valves needed adjustment, although it is a routine job, it is still time consuming even with the correct wrenches.
I have been test driving the car for a bit now and so far so good, I plan yet to attend to several issues, going through the vacuum lines and connectors, again a recurring issue with the diesel cars, the vacuum pump and its maze of small nylon pipes controls the power brakes, ignition, the transmission modulator, cruise control, HVAC system and the power locks, as the aging process begins and leaks will start developing creating all sorts of driveability problems, parts are cheap but it requires a fair amount of patience, next is a good transmission flush, rear axle flush, a diesel purge on the injectors.
The rear self-leveling suspension seems to function correctly, but I will probably do a fluid flush also. If I decide to keep it (one too many cars…) I will spend hard cash on tires, an alignment and a rust free tail gate, at this point I will drive it as it is enjoying the big manual sunroof (have no plans to attend to the AC).
The driving experience is slow by modern standard with a decent handling but ponderous manners, the steering wheel alone is the size of a commercial truck!!, I have had many W123 cars, this is not the best example but not the worst either, with more TLC, it will offer good vintage motoring.
Email Eric Fantin at straigh8@gmail.com