First of all, my apologies.

I know, I've been letting the side down and not posting. This does not mean, however, that the 124 has not been getting use. Much to the contrary, in fact. It's been used and abused (hopefully not much of the latter) and, as of a month ago, it's my sole vehicle. I got rid of a modern that I absolutely loathed, and still haven't purchased a classic replacement for it as I intend, so for going on a month now, it does absolutely all the work.

Not that it was on light duty, but now there's no escape.



Over the last year, there have been very few spots of bother, showing what a sound and reliable base the 124 is as a daily driver. The only real snag ocurred a couple of weeks ago when I thought the clutch cable had gone, but was greeted instead by a sound cable and a snapped pedal... whoops!



Still, no bother, I got it out in the evening, carpooled with the missus in the morning and got it welded, reinforced and back together in a matter of hours. By noon that day it was back on duty. Not bad, eh?

The diff trouble of old is still there, but as I type, the new diff is being built in the garage. I managed to source a new crownwheel and pinion to raise the final drive to a whopping 11/40, to replace the unobtainable stock 10/41. All I could find were the standard Berlina set of 10/43 or the wagon's extra low 9/40. So when this turned up in Spain (a period kit used for cars being converted to torquey diesel engines for taxi service), I snapped it up right away. So here's the pair, along with a diff rebuild set (bearings, crush sleeve, gasket and seal), that's going into the original final drive casing. Watch this space...



A couple of weeks ago the little old lady turned 45 (it was first registered on March 10th, 1967), and birthday also means inspection time. It got a clean sheet, but there were a few personal notes of details still not fail-worthy, but that will need sorting. Top of the list is the steering idler, a very crude and basic affair in these early cars, which was getting very sloppy. This is simply an axis supported by two plastic bushes that collapse quickly. Mine was replaced early into my ownership, so five years and change later it's dying again. This needs a serious rethink, so I went and dug up the remains of the last one of the rejects crate, cleaned it up and dragged it into the engineering department (aka my office desk):



It's been measured, and a few charts consulted, and now I'm finalising plans to convert this to roller bearings to terminate this damn issue for good. Drawings will be finished soon to get the arm machined and the housing will receive a set of bearings, no more plastic. A toolman's solution to a cheap engineering compromise.

But above all, this little italian machine has been, and continues to be enjoyed. Thousands of miles between daily school runs, occasional gas runs to the border, a few longer runs to attend university classes, and some strictly pleasure runs in between. I can't get enough of driving it, and it seems to enjoy it too. Just yesterday I went back to the border to get gas and came back home via one of the many options that cross the mountains, and the trip was a delight on all counts. Here's a small reminder of the magic of the early evening...



It seems to love these roads best, and so do I. The driving is magical, and the controls respond ever so eagerly and smoothly, that you feel like finding any excuse to go back and do it all again!

Roll on...

Last week I got cursed by excessive fuel pressure issues.

I'd already suspected that the carb was occasionally leaking fuel as the electric pump probably overcame the needle on the float bowl every now and then, but then as I decided to inspect the issue I must have disturbed something in there that made it worse... much worse.

The original intention was to sort out the vacuum connection on the intake manifold to get it away from the brake master cylinder, as I'd feared they might be occasionally touching due to the engine's vibrations at low speeds, but when I looked at the carb I couldn't help messing with it.

The result was a crappy running, either stalling by a drowned carb or stumbling at cruise speeds from a very excessively tight needle valve not allowing enough stock of fuel in the bowl for sustained speed. Back to the drawing board...

I immediately did what I should have done ages ago and got myself a fuel pressure regulator from eBay, but since that would take a few days to get here from the UK and the sun was shining, so I became desperate. So desperate that I reversed the installation, disabled the electric pump, removed the blanking plate I had fitted and put the mechanical fuel pump back in...



Result? No. Not even close. I messed up big, so the carb was still flooding even with the tiny pressure of this pump. Time for drastic measures: whip out the carb, and replace with a known good unit from spares. What I got was a stock Weber 34 DHS, the original fitment on these engines. This essentially differs from the 34 DMS that was in there in the actuation of the secondary barrel, which is mechanical on the DMS and vacuum-operated on the DHS. So the response is more sedate, but fuel efficiency is improved.




Now we were in business! The car immediately sprang to life, the engine running sweetly, no leaks, misfires, nothing. Absolutely spot-on!

A test drive was something I'd never pass on, so at 2:30 am off I went, in the company of the dog (well I had to get him somewhere as he was running loose in the garden). This proved that the solution was indeed quite successful (and the dog loved it too). The engine was now actually running smoother than it had ever been, which leads me to suspect that something was never quite right with the other carb, despite it being new when fitted to the car... go figure!

So the next day it got rolled onto daily duties again:



There's nothing that touches it for outright charm in the parking lot... or downtown:




And so it went on... back to work after lunch:




Going shopping:



And waiting for the end of the little guy's rugby practice:



Daily life with a car like this is utter joy, i love being able to share my day with a car that gives me such pleasure, it brightens up even the dullest commute.

Long may it continue...

I've been damning the weather lately, after having the car on stands for over 2 weeks while giving it a thorough going-over and service in my spare time.

This included fitting the balanced propshaft (the front section was quite out of balance, but the worse culprit appears to have been the actual zone where the UJ was coupled. I did suspect this was creating some slack, but the guys at the balancing company aligned it with precision and shimmed it properly. They even cleaned and sprayed it black, plus marked all the alignment references:



It still shimmies a bit, but I suspect the rear spline connecting to the diff input shaft may be buggered again, my fault for not holding back on using the car even with the improper shaft fitted to keep the car mobile. There's also a strong vibration that's engine related, I think it's either a case of excessively hard engine mounts (changed a couple of months back) or the alignment changed on something that's now making contact with the body. Investigation will follow.

Another symptom that reared its ugly head lately and will need sorting soon is the dreaded front end noise that signals dead suspension bushes... I suspect they'll be my Christmas break entertainment...

One other job that followed the service was the replacement of the dynamo with a modern alternative:



This is a 90 Amp Bosch alternator out of a 90's Fiat Coupe. The conversion was relatively simple, the restoration of the actual beast was harder, as it arrived in quite a state...



Still, some hard graft later it all went in, and finally came good. Now I have no fear of using the car at night, with the radio on and all the electric stuff already in the car. Running the engine means that the MSD ignition is also running, plus the electric fuel pump. Add the halogen lights and it's a big juice requirement, something the dynamo could only cope with at high revs at the best of times. Now that's over, and even at idle the lights are fine, heck, even the gauges look so much brighter! Well worth the effort!

Here's the beast in its final destination:



I was dead chuffed with the results, but the weather was quite poor, with rain insisting on making its appearance every single day. But today, despite the near-zero temperatures, the sun made its presence felt and I promptly jumped into the thing and drove off, top down, to a work assignment at 9 am:



After the quick meeting was done I went into town for some shopping, parking the car downtown to many a confused or amused looks at my resolute will to drive an open car through such harsh temperatures...



And after I got back home, I decided to treat the old girl to a long-deserved spruce up:



The temperature was now a full 7 degrees Celsius, but I persevered. I just got my water for the bucket from the indoor plumbing so it was warm. After all, it would be a touch harsh to wash such a thing of beauty with freezing water...



After the bath, I drove off to the nearby village and back at full speed, thus replacing the job of the drier at the autowash...



After getting back, I left her to finish drying up under the sun while I went indoors to get the lunch done. A productive morning! Here's the girl getting her warmth:



In the afternoon I went back into town with the little kid to get myself some headgear to make the winter topless driving a touch easier, a good idea now that I too am getting topless...

Soon there'll be some more news about the girl's cosmetics... keep tuned!

The daily use continues, despite some constraints with budget straining the maintenance and repairs required to make the old girl proper again lately.

Still, the original propshaft is now getting properly balanced, while the "bitsa" keeps hanging on and keeping the car mobile.

The summer now over, it's time to use the girl again, with the lovely weather helping things along. The previous weekend I got some time to myself on sunday afternoon so before anyone changed their minds I was on the driver's seat running for the border:



This was literal, as it turns out, because I was getting low on fuel and enjoyed the opportunity to top up the tank at a reasonable 25 cents lower than Portugal:



After feeding the horses, a gentle drive through B-roads beckoned, and the next stop was the lovely medieval village of Marvão, where once again I enjoyed the magnificent views over the surrounding countryside:







Later on, I drove through a few other roads, but the stretch to Castelo de Vide was hampered by direct sunlight offered by the setting sun and a very dirty windshield, so when I got back home the first task was a serious cleaning of the offending item.

In the meantime, I decided I'm going to add an aesthetic complement that's unoriginal to my car but one that I feel is more than justifiable, in the form of stainless steel sill trims:





These were only fitted in this form starting on the BS series in mid-'69, but the visual is so well complemented by them that I can't help but fit them, they upgrade the car's visual by some measure, besides the practical issue of guarding the painted sill cover from getting scratched. So these are going on the car soon, they've already been added to the to-do list.

One other issue that I'd been meaning to do for quite some time was check the ignition timing, because I suspected it was a bit off as the car was reluctant to rev freely and spluttered at the least excuse, so one day I ran out of excuses and pulled out the timing gun:



As suspected, the timing was a bit retarded, around 8º advance when the manual states 10. However, I noticed long ago that the new old stock distributor I fitted when the car was recomissioned back in 2006 had 12º in its references, so I tried going with that.

The result was quite noticeable, as the engine now does really feel so much looser and rev-happy than before, it even starts and runs cleaner right from cold, so it's a definite result.

One other job now comissioned is to do with this little piece here:



Yup, we're finally getting a retrim! And like I always intended, we're going red! I got chatting with my favourite trimmer and chose the colour from a catalogue of Mercedes-Benz spec trim as per his recommendation, and the missus approved the choice. It's a lively colour but not too brash, I didn't want a dark shade or a bright one, and I think this one is spot-on.

Unfortunately, he is now swamped with work so the task will only get up to speed around new year, but I can wait... it's taken 4 years to get here, so another couple of months won't kill me. And this gives me time to get the stuff needed to get all the details right anyway.



Speaking of which, I'm currently trying to sort out the seatbelts arrangement... I've only had lap belts fitted, but I'm thinking of upgrading to three-point ones, especially at the rear for the kids, but it will take some ingenuity. Anyone done this sort of work on theirs? let me know.

Hi all,

Sorry for not posting frequently, but one of the disadvantages of being a teacher is the end of terms, and exams. These are frantic times at their best, and when coupled with a young family and house duties, even worse.

But enough apologies. The old girl has been used lately, not as much as I'd like to, first because of pollen allergies and then because of a massive heatwave that made me chicken out and use the modern during daytime.

Still, she did get quite a lot of use. One of the many things I did with it was go shopping. If anyone tells you the boot space is useless, think again! Look at this lot:



That's a full shopping trolley's worth of bags and a few more beyond that...

And last week when the drinks stock got too low with the heatwave in full strength, she came to the rescue again:



Anyway, there's obviously been quite a bit of other driving beyond supermarkets too. The town centre has seen us visiting a few times:



The only snag here is it requires defensive parking tactics, as you can see from the size of some of its opponents in such areas... modern cars are huge fat tanks compared to my little old girl!

Like I said the sun has been pretty strong lately, so that persuaded me to run with the top up on a few occasions:



But the best drive I've had was a few days ago when a couple of things to take care of at night gave me the opportunity to enjoy driving through town in the cool night air, and I took the opportunity to take along the camera and do a small photo session. Here's a couple of photos near a part of the town's fortress walls:





Doesn't she look great in the dark? At least you can't make out the body's imperfections in this light... must get that sorted!

Driving through cobbled streets did highlight a bit of a squeak from the front suspension... time to grease the balljoints! More on that next time!