It's a little late, but one good source of interesting fittings, Pegasus.
You can find some really odd stuff on OEM set-ups. I recently found a 11 mm banjo bolt, the fitting I had bought of course was 10 mm. I had to use the 11 mm funny bolt, as there was no way to modify the threaded hole.
Time for an update, although I don't have pictures of anything to show...
The car starts, idles and I even managed to make it move under it's own power. The only thing is that the clutch won't release fully! I searched many forums high and low for the little information about manual Mercedes and most of the time that guys were having this issue is when the clutch wasn't bled properly. If you don't know on those cars you are supposed to reverse-bleed the system by hooking up a tube from the RH front caliper bleeder to the slave bleeder and push fluid into the clutch system. I tried that and kept popping the hose off until I found out the slave bleeder had to be opened way more. Eventually I put a clamp on there and used a new oiler can filled with ATE Typ 200 to backfill the system. It seemed to work but did not make my issue disappear.
Last week I pulled the transmission and the clutch. I found absolutely no mistakes. I even ordered a new clutch master cylinder and a new slave cylinder. Back when I ordered the original parts in 2018 I was poor so I got the cheapest I could find. I hoped that I received defective parts. Well, I received the new MC and to my surprise it was a FTE cylinder (which I think is OEM) in a AMS box. I measured both cylinders, found out the new one had 1mm extra stroke and installed it. I am still waiting on the slave, it should be here tomorrow. Maybe the pushrod lenght is wrong or something. If I don't find anything, I'll measure the distances from the engine mounting face to the clutch fingers and then from the throwout bearing to the transmission bellhousing and find out how much the slave is compressed when at rest. I can always extend the pushrod to make the cylinder almost bottom out at rest and this way I'll get full travel...
With the first snowfall around the corner, it's frustrating that I won't have been able to drive the car this summer but eventually I'll find the problem and fix it. Plus I don't know if I mentioned it, but I received a RacingDiffs LSD "conversion kit", so I can install that and put snow tires on the OEM 15" wheels so I can at least revive a bit of those wild Montreal winters dailying RWD cars. The plans for the winter are only to repair some minor things like the door speakers, the sunroof, the Tempmatic lights, etc... that and the timing chain and guides hehe...
Bleeding through the slave using the caliper makes the most sense due to how the lines snake up and around to the master cylinder. However, if you have a power bleeder, you can still force the air out from the top side via the reservoir through the slave bleeder.
I just went through this recently with the clutch replacement on the 16v, and it worked like a charm. The caliper method can be a PITA if you're doing it on your own.
did you have the flywheel ground at all? On the Volvos I used to play with, you had to be careful how far you cut them because too far and the stack height of the assembly wouldn't be right, and the pressure plate wouldn't clamp as well as it should. Which, I guess would be more like a permanent slip than a permanent engagement, but still. On the Volvos you had to grind down the pedestals where the pressure plate bolts too, in line with how much material you removed from the friction surface.
These flywheels are two-step flywheels, so in addition to machining down the mating surface for the friction disc, and equal amount of material needs to be removed from the top for the pressure plate itself, otherwise you run into the scenario that styIngle mentioned above.
I had the outside of the flywheel cut to remove weight, but for the fricton surface the guy said he just lightly sanded it down. Even if that was ground down too much it would never clamp tight enough, not the opposite!
Still battling the same clutch issue (https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/clutch-is-impossible-to-bleed-and-wont-release/178347/page1/), but now it starts without too much trouble and it sounds cool. 130 HP can sound mean!
I have no clue how I stumbled upon this thread but I'm glad I did. I just picked up a '93 190e 2.3 8v supercharged. I'm currently hunting down parts to 5 speed swap and convert to megasquirt. I'd be interested in info on your trigger wheel. Also are you running a cam signal also? I'm still trying to fully wrap my head around which signal is for what. Awesome build man. Looking forward to the ITBs!
Cool find! I would be curious to see how the SC setup is made. How is the fueling done right now on the setup? I know some guys on the Mercedes Forums would use a Split Second secondary injector controller and put an additional injector between the CIS metering unit and the throttle body.
The trigger wheel is a 36-1 that I drew in CAD and had cut out of 1/8 steel. I made a really close fit with the back shoulder of the crank pulley and simply JB-Welded it in place once I figured out where to mount the sensor. It seems to be working pretty good for now. I'm not running a cam signal, I have 4 ls coils that I run in wasted spark.
The stupid clutch issue is still puzzling me. I ordered a new clutch kit and just received it today. I decided to work on other parts of the car since I've been bleeding a clutch and pulling the transmission for 3 months now.
Previously, I bought the front handbrake cable since the original one was rusty. I was concerned that it would snap if I pulled it eventually. When i saw I had to remove the seats and console to do this I decided to do it later. That time is now.
This is the cable:
First thing was to disconnect and remove the adjuster thing and the rear cables. I wanted to clean up the brackets at the same time since they were starting to rust:
OF COURSE once I started removing the coating and the sealer there had to be a rust hole. I'll have to fix that from under the back seat.
Then I removed the passenger seat and tried to do the driver's. There are 4 bolts holding the seat. The bolts are screwed into speed nuts in an embossement on the floor. One of the speed nuts was rusted and the nut part was just spinning. I had to drill and dremel the bolt out for the next 2 hours:
Finally got the seat out. I saw that there was a remnant of an alarm system there. I removed it:
The guy who installed that in 1995 screwed it into the air duct (with "house" Robertson screws too, what a professional):
Good time to pick up 1$ in change and vacuum everything:
Console up:
Now I had access to the pin holding the cable in, but I still had to undo the handle assembly from the car to remove the pin:
From the underside, there was a bit of rust. I removed the sealer to see if there was not a hole. I was happily surprised. Caught that one on time:
Finally the cable is out. Old vs. new:
Now I can put 2 coats of POR-15, some sealer and undercoating back. Wait one day between each product. After that I can install the new cable, put the interior back and move on to the rear brackets. Also I need to order the speed nuts for the seats.
In other news, I got my hands on a spare intake manifold to modify into an ITB manifold. But before I do that I need to finish the rust repair (there is more than the handbrake spots) and figure out the clutch!
Clutch issue is solved. The pressure plate I had was defective.
Today I installed the flywheel and clutch back in the car:
I also made sure to NOT drive the pilot bushing all the way in the crank. I found out that if I did so, the input shaft only went 3 mm in the bearing. I tapped the bearing so it was just a few mm in the crank.
I also made a new hardline for the clutch since I somehow broke the flare on the old one and it was already leaking...
The transmission will go in the car this week.
Since I had the seats out because I had to remove the center console to get to the handbrake cable, I cleaned them well. They came out very good. The MB-Tex material they are covered with is ultra durable! I might delete the center armrest eventually. It was cool when the car was automatic so I drive with only one arm. But now I think it'll be in the way of my elbow when shifting...
I removed the rust under the car where the handbrake cable would attach and I installed the new cable. I used POR-15, POR-patch seam sealer and rubberized undercoating.
Finally, I re-installed the seats and the center console.
Transmission is back in. I hooked up the shifter rods and the hydraulics. I tested the clutch operation and it works A-1. Problem solved, onto the next one... rust repair... again!
First one to be fixed is one of the rear parking brake cable attachment points as shown at the top of this page. I removed the back seat to access the other side of the damaged area:
I located the rust hole, it was almost completely hidden by the sound deadening. I chipped that off and hit the damaged area with a hammer. I found out the metal was thinner than expected! More holes!
I'm getting good at this. Cut the cancer off:
Separate the cable attachment point (to be reused) from the rotten metal:
Cut a patch template out of cardboard, transfer to metal, use imagination to reproduce compound bends and complex geometry:
Also, make it butt joint instead of lap joint for extra points...
Zap it into place with the fluxcore because I like to make this more difficult
I still need to finish welding it. It'll be done this week. After that I'll weld the attachment point back on, seal the welds, paint and rubber coat.
Next spots to fix are the "saddle" bottoms of the trunk. There is a drain in each one of them and the panel assembly is quite complex. The factory put a whole lot of sealant but unfortunately water got in the lap joints and rotted everything. I knew the driver's side was bad, but I thought the passenger side was fine. I was wrong! When you see a crack in the undercoating with rust peeking through, better get the welder ready!
Driver's side, from trunk:
Driver's side, from under:
Passenger side, from trunk:
From under:
I'm ecstatic to hear you got the clutch issue fixed! Reading your posts about it, I could feel your frustration.
I've always thought these cars were cool, so I'm certainly enjoying reading about your projects with it!
My clutch fork is worn, so I get a nice chirpy when the pedal isn't depressed, so I get to drop all that again to replace it.
But glad you got yours sorted.
Where did you source the new flywheel and what did the old one look like? I am having very similar issue on my 5 speed swapped C36 and have the dual mass flywheel.
ccrelan (Forum Supporter) said:Where did you source the new flywheel and what did the old one look like? I am having very similar issue on my 5 speed swapped C36 and have the dual mass flywheel.
I got it used from used from a user on one of the Mercedes forums.
If you have the same issue, remove the clutch and flywheel from the car, compress the fingers with the throwout bearing and a large bolt (or a hydraulic press). If it doesn'r release about halfway through full travel, you have a problem. Have you bled the system by adding fluid through the slave bleeder with an oil can or the FR caliper?
In reply to Rocambolesque :
Yes, we have changed the slave cyl and bled the system with no change at all. Planning on pulling engine and trans in the spring/summer and feel like issue should be obvious at that point.
More rust repair from this weekend:
I got the patch fully welded under the seats
I drilled holes in the patch and spot-welded the e-brake cable bracket from the top:
Painted
Then I vaccumed the mess that all that grinding created inside the car and I put the bench back in.
Time to move to the back trunk corner. I cut a big hole in the driver's side:
Notice how many panels join here. One panel for the wheelhouse, one for the trunk floor, one for the saddle section, all lap-jointed and with about 1/4" of sealer. I thought about rebuilding the panels one by one but abandoned the idea.
I planned on replacing that section too, but I realized that from the inside it is in a place which is impossible to reach with a grinder.
I don't like welding when I don't see the other side of the panel as I cannot protect it afterwards and you never know what's behind the panel. Sometimes it catches on fire. I'm being extra careful now with that since I now work inside...
To give more strength to the area, I made a first patch out of a square steel tube with a thicker wall
I welded that in and welded back the section where I cut too far. There was some sealer on the other side which I couldn't wire-wheel off so it kept catching on fire. I had to do one tack at a time and keep wet rags to cool it and put the fire off. Eventually the sealer got soft and I was able to take it off, allowing me to weld longer beads.
Finally I made the main patch out of thinner steel and tacked it in.
Next time I'll finish welding that and I'll be able to make the hole for the rubber drain.
Then I'll do the other side...
And the front wheel wells...
And the radiator support...
Damn rust!
In the last days, I finished fixing the e-brake cable brackets, they are now all sealed and undercoated. I put the cables back on, the driveshaft, the heatshields, the exhaust... I'm still waiting for my 2 clip-nuts for the front seats.
The injectors I initially installed were old. I originally purchased them used (OEM for T-bird turbo coupe I think) circa 2010 to fuel my ABA turbo VW. Back then you could either get the ECU chip for 310cc/min injectors or 440cc/min injectors. Since I was running a little T25 turbo, I thought I would be good with the 310cc/min injectors so I bought a set when I found one. But eventually I found out the associated ECU chip was discontinued and hard to find used as most people bought the 440cc/min version. I found one of those chips and associated injectors and put the red injectors in a bag and forgot about them. Two weeks ago I was thinking about that and came to the conclusion that it would be better to make sure that those injectors fire evenly and don't cause me problems down the road (could be a total pain to diagnose...). I sent them to a shop where they got them ultrasonic cleaned. Got the report back, they are in fact 330cc/min! Now they should operate like new ones.
I finished the driver's side corner of the trunk. I drilled the hole for the drain and tried to dimple it with 2 big sockets. It worked, kinda...
I started the other side:
I made the patches out of a 1/16'' wall steel tube, I sort of replicates the thickness of the OEM lap joints. I should finish welding it sometime this week.
There are other minor rust spots around the car that also need to be fixed, but I decided that I'll stop after this trunk corner. I'll do them next winter. Priority is getting the car running and putting kilometers on it.
After fixing this rust, I'll wait for spring to drive the car. Meanwhile, I will do 2 things: fix the sunroof which sometimes gets stuck and fix the stereo that only plays 3 out of 6 speakers. Also, the car came with aftermarket speakers in the back but the grilles were missing. I found some used ones, but guys want top dollar for them. I searched high and low for universal grilles that don't look like spaceship parts and couldn't find any, until this week. I found this canadian company, Q Components, selling universal metal grilles for 5$ each!
I will install them and also cut out some aluminium plates to hide the original grilles mountings:
My previous solution consisted in fabric squares with push tacks to hold them in. A bit too much wind and the tacks let go, sending one loose tack somewhere. With the new grilles it'll be much better.
When you don't have access to the other side, weld thru primer is great for preventing rust on the area that you won't have access to. Just be sure and wait till the weld thru primmer is dry, welding on it before it is dry, it can / will catch fire.
Looking good! I keep looking at used MBs near me but I am broke and have enough projects. You need to find a used mig welder with gas and stop using flux core. You will thank yourself for it.
noddaz said:Looking good! I keep looking at used MBs near me but I am broke and have enough projects. You need to find a used mig welder with gas and stop using flux core. You will thank yourself for it.
The worse part is that my welder has the provision for the gas. I should search for a bottle...
The second trunk corner is finished, but I did not take a picture of the finished product yet. It is now painted, I only need to install a new rubber drain/grommet.
I can show you welding pictures though:
After those were taken, I fully welded it, ground it down, seam sealed it and painted both sides. I also touched up a few welds from inside the car.
Oooof. I am all too familiar with that QC rust. Great work! This is quite possibly my favourite Merc (besides the Gullwing). A friend is building one as well but is doing a S55 & manual swap.
As for getting a bottle of welding gas, I have yet to find anyone in QC who is willing to fill up a 'personal' bottle. I might be asking the wrong people but they all just rent and exchange and it gets expensive.
They probably ask you "T'as tu un compte ici toé" 
Rocambolesque said:They probably ask you "T'as tu un compte ici toé"
Bingo.
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