Merc C250 TD Blowover with non iso 2k nisocoat

[charlysays]

Oh and the 215/40/18s cured the arch rubbing on the front ! The ride is really nice- combo of squashy retired bank manager suspension plus 18s with low profile tyres is the perfect balance. They were too hard a ride on my previous sport spec w202s. Unfortunately they're two points lower on the weight rating, 89 Vs 91 but my insurance co said they aren't bothered about it as they are still "legal". Even these lower rated tyres are still good for over the gross weight of the car by a good 200kg iirc.
The other option I looked at was a 205/45/18, those have a load index of 90 so those might be worth a look in time if I ever really load the car up heavy but in reality there's not much percentage difference in weight rating between an 89 and 91.
The proper tyres are 225/40/18 with a load index of 91

 

[charlysays]

So in the true spirit of it being a 'blowover' I embarked on a total rebuild of the rear end entailing removing the rear subframe fuel tanks etc.
Found a few very small holes. Did some welding on the anti roll bar brackets. Subframe mounts and spring perches were all good.

Had the removable reusable bits like the anti roll bar, tow hitch cross beam and subframe shot blasted for 50 quid.
Did two coats of BH epoxy mastic on the subframe and a load of coats of por15 on the roll bar and the tow hitch cross beam.

BH epoxy mastic was great.
Por15 was a pain in the ****... It's almost translucent and shys away from anything which isn't flat or a large radius, runs for fun and then foams up and needs sanding back and recoating to fix. Overpriced. Only used it cos I'd had it on the shelf for years. Never again.

First started by thoroughly cleaning the whole work area plus a margin with the hose pipe and bilt hamber surfex hd. This had the potential for workshop mess but a couple of old boot liners / sand pits placed under caught most of the run off.

I invested in some Jotun 90a WG for the underside. Seems like great stuff. I first attacked everything with the needle gun, regularly sharpening the needles, then various wire wheels at slow RPM then finally DA and hand Sanding with 40-80g. Existing sound coatings were sanded with 120-180g.
I achieved atleast st2 spec on all bare metal, mostly st3 spec.

Seam sealed it last night and dabbed some more Jotun on the sealer. I think I'm finally ready to start reassembling it now, lots of new suspension arms and bushes to go on. I'm going to use white grease on every single fixing, use silicone grease on all suspension bolts / bushes etc and spray bilt hamber dynax UC into/ onto everything too. Hopefully it'll last atleast 10 yrs.

Thankfully the rest of the car won't require this level of disruptive dismantling as I work my way around it.

 

[Dcal]

Now that's a proper "blowover"

It's hard to stop yourself sometimes.
I know, I have the same affliction.
Just keep telling yourself it will be worth it in the end (and of course it will be)

 

[Edward Teach]

Finally drivable again. Really pleased with the transformation. Still haven't cleaned the inside in 3 yrs hahaha. It won't get cleaned until I've finished the more important stuff either.
Sills and jacking points are full of dynax, also dynaxed the inner bits of the doors on any seams, repairs or where trim fits on.
Fitted a set of infinity door speakers and an old sub I had lying around too so i can really enjoy music again.
Only thing stopping me using it now is getting some protection on the underneath around the rear subframe. Bought a drill Flexi driver for the harder to reach spots. Already hammered at the bits which I know rot and they're rock solid still, just flakey paint and some crusting.
I'm feeling more motivated for the upcoming rust mining operation now atleast, and there's no doubt I will look like a miner on the prep day(s) lol

View attachment 319084 View attachment 319085 View attachment 319086 View attachment 319087 View attachment 319088 View attachment 319089 View attachment 319090

It looks the business

 

[a111r]

Nice work, mate. If only Mercedes had taken that much care in the late 1990s.... on what were supposed to be premium quality products.

 

[Bornfree]

Is that the om605 engine?

 

[charlysays]

Is that the om605 engine?

It is. This one's standard at the moment. Will fit a 180hp stage 1 remap asap though. Great veg oil burning engine!

 

[Bornfree]

It is. This one's standard at the moment. Will fit a 180hp stage 1 remap asap though. Great veg oil burning engine!

I run a ssangyong korando with an om602

 

[charlysays]

I run a ssangyong korando with an om602

I think they're a better veg oil engine. Even though the 605/606 are indirect injection with an inline pump they will gum up their piston rings if they aren't properly prepped to run on veg oil. The older single cam engines, it seems you can just pour it in and go without needing to much else long term.

 

[Bornfree]

I think they're a better veg oil engine. Even though the 605/606 are indirect injection with an inline pump they will gum up their piston rings if they aren't properly prepped to run on veg oil. The older single cam engines, it seems you can just pour it in and go without needing to much else long term.

Yes i run 100% summer time and 50/50 winter all I've done is advanced the timing by 2°

 

[charlysays]

Yes i run 100% summer time and 50/50 winter all I've done is advanced the timing by 2°

I think of all the tweaks this is the most important. The om605/6 are set up very tardy from the factory and 100k plus miles of timing chain wear only accentuates it. They're quite unresponsive and sound very un diesel like. Advancing the timing gives similar results as a remap and definitely prevents gummed rings more than any other mod/ tweak.

You can go as close as 10 degrees to ATDC. I usually just max out the pump timing adjuster and bend the high pressure lines to suit.
I do have the pump locking tool now though so Im going to try pulling the pump and moving it a few splines on the timing gear so that it's on 10 atdc without having to bend the lines. Clatter clatter lol

 

[Bossrunner]

Fantastic post.
I'm interested in using this paint and wondered how well the paint is fairing a year on?
Any problems? How scratch/cleaning resistant is it? What about fading etc??
Any info would be appreciated
Matt

 

[owas]

Lovely job.

Got a 124 om605 here, hopefully start working on it soon and have it look as good!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Lovely job.

Got a 124 om605 here, hopefully start working on it soon and have it look as good!

View attachment 339865

Is that an e34 I spy with my little eye?

 

[owas]

Is that an e34 I spy with my little eye?

Yup

 

[charlysays]

Fantastic post.
I'm interested in using this paint and wondered how well the paint is fairing a year on?
Any problems? How scratch/cleaning resistant is it? What about fading etc??
Any info would be appreciated
Matt

Thanks mate.
It's fine. I found one rust bubble on the rear quarter near where the side window trim pushes in. I must have missed it during prep... I had to deal with about 100 or more and many were absolutely tiny, only visible after a thorough flatting off as a tiny brown spec so I dare say a few more will show themselves over the next year or two. It's fairly scratch resistant but it goes swirly like most paint which gets dirty and washed a lot.
I can still use it as a mirror of sorts and I've not polished it though, it's retained the vast majority of its gloss, far better than celly.
Seems durable. My test panel has been outside the entire time.
The only thing I was worried about was chalking like epoxy does, because nisocoat uses an epoxide hardener but it hasn't done this.

 

[Bossrunner]

Thanks mate.
It's fine. I found one rust bubble on the rear quarter near where the side window trim pushes in. I must have missed it during prep... I had to deal with about 100 or more and many were absolutely tiny, only visible after a thorough flatting off as a tiny brown spec so I dare say a few more will show themselves over the next year or two. It's fairly scratch resistant but it goes swirly like most paint which gets dirty and washed a lot.
I can still use it as a mirror of sorts and I've not polished it though, it's retained the vast majority of its gloss, far better than celly.
Seems durable. My test panel has been outside the entire time.
The only thing I was worried about was chalking like epoxy does, because nisocoat uses an epoxide hardener but it hasn't done this.

Thanks for letting me know. That's it, i'm going to try some as soon as it warms up a bit.
Did you use an airfed mask?
Did you use the same brand 2k thinners?

 

[charlysays]

Thanks for letting me know. That's it, i'm going to try some as soon as it warms up a bit.
Did you use an airfed mask?
Did you use the same brand 2k thinners?

It's a good product. It does like to dry a bit peely but I had nice results with 40% 2k slow thinner and 40psi at the gun on my 1.3mm sealey hvlp741. 2 wet coats and it looks great off the gun finish and has really good thickness like normal 2k.

I used a 3m 6800, abek2p3 filters, hooded disposable overalls (reused them til they had holes) and disposable gloves.

I just bought pro XL universal 2k slow thinner from Marlow paints. Worked fine.
The nisocoat spec sheet says you can use either epoxy thinners or their virgin 2k thinner, only standard for some reason. I used slow as it flashes very quick, slow thinner definitely helped this.

Tip; phone around local industrial and automotive paint suppliers and you'll probably find one with an account with HMG. They'll be able to order it in for you and it could work out a lot cheaper than rawlins etc. I bought some nisocoat hardener recently from a local paint shop who ordered it in for me and the product was nearly a third cheaper than rawlins, half the price when you factored in postage.

 

[charlysays]

Well it's back driving again. Apart from patching up the exhaust I think it's ready for an MOT.
Rear suspension is so taught, silent and smooth now! No damn squeaking from the knackered control arm rose joints.
Need to get the wheel alignment done, I just set the adjusters mid range for now, drives fine but could be scrubbing the tyres.

Still sitting a bit high at the back even though I fitted smaller pads this time but from experience it will settle / sag down with use.

On the down side I think I overcoated the seam sealer too soon on the underbody area I repainted. I left it 30 mins per starchem instructions but in places it seems to be very soft/ uncured under the paint, I picked back top coat in one place to check and it still smells too, bit sticky. In future I'll leave it overnight I think atleast.
I'm kinda past caring though, there's so much epoxy everywhere it's pretty well protected- two full coats of Jotun under the seam sealer. I guess if a seam moved enough to crack the epoxy the seam sealer even in a semi uncured state will still keep seams protected and it may eventually go off anyway but I guess it's kinda encapsulated.

 

[charlysays]

Yup

View attachment 339907

Some proper vehicles there. I would like to get a W124 or a 190 one day... fit a mild turbo setup to it so it atleast matches the stock OM605/606 turbo. Apparently the NA engines can handle a mild turbo install. Back when I bought my first C 250 TD over 10 yrs ago I wasn't anywhere near as competent at doing stuff like retrofitting turbos, bodywork etc than I am now so I went with the W202 with it being the first turbodiesel merc passenger car ever offered in the UK. The inline pump with no electronics in the fuel and no needle lift sensor on the injectors was what sold me- decent performance and will run WVO really well. I worry that the electronics on the W202 won't age well but so far so good at 25+ years old. I think those 90s cars had high quality digital electronics which are fixable and very long lasting unlike todays stuff. Also people have worked out how to de-immobilise the ECUs and map out stuff like the immo shut off valve, making it easier and cheap to fix ignition and immo issues.
The only comparison I can make to 90s cars and modern cars electronics wise is music making gear,.... Think early 90s Akai sampler (like S950) verus a PC running a soft sampler- the akai can/ will run forever and never crash, the PC may crash frequently and may well die irreparably within 10-15 yrs.
Random comparison lol.

Love the beemer too. I researched getting one instead of a W202 but was put off by all the oil filled suspension bushes and the rotary injector pump with electronics running in the fuel. I think they are aging better than the W202 tho body wise!