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No, I didn't buy a car, its a car that belongs to a friend of mine. He's paying me to do some sorting out on it. Its a very interesting car. W124 300TE, previously owned by the owner of AMG - South Africa (AMG set a satellite branch here in the early '90's, and it only lasted a few years)...

Hey, I get to start a thread in the 'motorsports' section! Yesterday I went out to Zwartkops to support GrantV, and to further my son's development.

Well, after a lot of work, the car is running. I have to pass a roadworthiness inspection before the end of July. This morning I got front wheel alignment done. Still outstanding to be done : a) hydraulic leak from the front levelling valve - its not the valve leaking, one of the...

I also spent some time on the cooling system :

More work today : This is what my oil tank looked like a few months ago, and then the finished picture today :

More progress today. I do need another timing chain for trusty rusty, but it will not arrive from Germany in time for me to fit it prior to the roadworthy inspection I must pass before the end of July. So I was forced to close up the engine as it is. I refitted the sump and valve covers...

I have a lot of components removed from trusty rusty at the moment, and decided that before I close up, I should check the chain stretch. What a surprise I got. Have a look at the front cam bearing tower of the left head - someone in the past found that the timing mark didn't line up, and...

My wife drives a 1994 W202 c180 manual. I am suspicious that the clutch is on its last legs, but I have very little experience with manual shift cars. The symptoms - when pulling off gently from a stop, as one lets the clutch out, the first bit goes OK, then it shudders quite a bit, then its...

OK, this weekend I slaved away like a dog - on the W140's paintwork mind you. I am in the process of repainting the bumpers, and lower door panelling all round because it was looking a bit scratched, dinged, and tatty, putting off prospective purchasers. FINALLY, this afternoon I put that...

Hi all, My 280SE had some front rotor problems (well at least that's what I believed). THe symptoms were a) classic warped rotor type shudder when braking from speed b) when approaching a stop slowly, with light brake pressure, a sort of cyclical variation in braking effectiveness (presumably...

Very nice looking parts. How close are you to refitting the new heads?

Thanks styria, I have read up on checking and replacing the shims in the 6.9 engine manual. It makes sense to me now. One wonders though, most likey most cars would never have had this done. How far out are things likely to be - in other words is this something us 6.9 owners should be...

Hi styria, you are correct that my red AMG has improved a lot with the new timing chain. Trusty rusty has always had a very different character though, and subjectively performed better than the AMG, though the gap may have been closed since the AMG's new chain. (I haven't driven trusty rusty...

Rings may be very expensive, but ring wear is still preferable to bore wear in my books. This may indeed be trusty rusty's case. I have not had the heads off to see the tops of the bores, but from the bottom (sump off) it all looks very good. Compression is weak and uneven across cylinders...

That is certainly encouraging to hear. I have heard similar stories about lack of bore wear from other sources. I am hoping my luck holds out in this respect with trusty rusty.

Ah, now I see the photos. Well done guys. it looks like the heads must have been really close up against the firewall.

Ah, that's why I didn't get it before - here in South Africa they are 10" ;)

Is this Australian popular vocab for a particular tool? I've never heard this term before.