In reply to Stampie :
Yes you are correct lol. Moved on base because I didn't have have the cash or time to buy a $750k house in the DC market in a matter of days cause that's how long homes stayed on the market at the time! I'm still looking though; wish me luck 
Repeatedly buying old Mercedes when I have nowhere to put them couldn't possibly be the bad life choices you're talking about.
In reply to yupididit :
Naw buying cars isn't a bad life choice. Living where you can't store them is.
That black Benz is the first post is wall worthy even as a 40ish year old. Where do I sign up for that?
In reply to grover :
That's the redpig repainted in GT7 lol
Stampie said:In reply to yupididit :
Naw buying cars isn't a bad life choice. Living where you can't store them is.
Blame ya uncle
In reply to yupididit :
I didn't find him too forgiving of me when I didn't want to do the norm.
yupididit said:As of this morning I'll be acquiring a cheap 73 w108 with a 4.5 v8 as a donor car for this one and possibly another 4.5 car but lwb. HELP! I need somewhere to keep these cars so I can start the build.
I have a barn but I'm not close to you
In reply to chandler :
Man thats what I need. I've been looking at places with some land a barn or shop and most of the property I want to afford are over an hour away. But, my wife doesn't want to spend more than an hour each way commuting which is fair because I don't either. A few weeks ago we found a nice house on 3 acres with a whole separate shop for about $800k (that's a good deal here) about 20mins from where we currently live (45min commute to the Pentagon for my wife). We tried to put in an offer and the house was spoken for by a cash buyer within a few hours. That is how it goes here. If I could find a way to be able to afford a $1.2-1.5mil home then I could certainly find something easier.
barefootcyborg5000 said:Someone help me wrap my head around swing axles. I never read Nader's book. I understand there is an increased rollover risk, but wouldn't a big sway bar basically fix that?
Yupididit, dude. Your love for mercs is starting to rub off on me. I'll have to add them to my list of possibles when shopping for projects. Can't wait to see how this one turns out.
Not a sway bar, an S bar. Look at the back suspension of a formula V.
In reply to yupididit :
If you can't swap the rear end like you can on a Jaguar from 1961- 1997 try to find out who makes an S bar. Nope, not sway bar. S bar. ( it's shaped like an S with one leg going forward and the other leg going backwards. Look at a Formula V's rear suspension for inspiration. It will work even better than it does on the Formula V because low pivot axles. Don't use bar steel. The inner core does nothing but add weight. Find the tubing you think will work and take it into the local spring shop for heat treating. I typically use 4130. And I should imagine 1.00 with .090-.125 wall will work pretty decently. That's a Swag. To come closer I'd need a whole bunch of data.
But a later true IRS would be better. Even that will require some adapting to get working correctly. What works on the street isn't going to be good on the race track.
The rear sway bar may not be needed, plus you might need to change the trailing links. I think if you have some basic dimensions to work with you can find one from a Benz or BMW that will work.
Don't get crazy with rear spring rate. You are going to take so much weight out of the car that the stock springs cut down for proper ride height will probably get you most of the way there. Same with the front springs.
On all your springs fabricate a Jack screw assembly. Depending on the diameter of the Mercedes Coils you might be able to buy them from stock car products. Remember you can put them on the top or bottom of the coils. There are advantages to each approach.
If I recall the original version of that Benz went to something like 900 pound/ inch springs for the front and 500 pound/ inch for the rear. But it's been way too long to promise anything.
I'd go with the chopped stock coils simply to keep it in budget. Probably 1&1/4 inch front sway bar 1.25 wall.
When replacing the shock absorbers remember to shorten the stroke of them by however much you lower it. Leave them stock length if you stay at stock ride height. Don't get hung up on what they are supposed to fit. You don't want too soft shocks on a race car. Look at trucks. And figure out if you can adapt them. Don't throw away perfectly good shocks if you are lucky enough to get them. You can stiffen up the shock by replacing the fluid.
In reply to yupididit :
The cheapest property anywhere near you would be West Virginia. Plus low taxes compared to Maryland, Virginia, etc.
I don't know how much travel time is involved. But it seemed like about 40 minutes to where I got my fiberglass fender flairs and he worked in DC.
Would a train service that area? Could you leave one car at the station in DC and use it to get to work. ? Don't know answers. Just offering suggestions.
In reply to frenchyd :
Thanks! I'm looking at a slightly more modern Benz rear setup up for my w108.
frenchyd said:In reply to yupididit :
The cheapest property anywhere near you would be West Virginia. Plus low taxes compared to Maryland, Virginia, etc.
I don't know how much travel time is involved. But it seemed like about 40 minutes to where I got my fiberglass fender flairs and he worked in DC.
Would a train service that area? Could you leave one car at the station in DC and use it to get to work. ? Don't know answers. Just offering suggestions.
"Cheap" isn't a part of the conversation at this point. Given our work locations/schedule and the kids school schedules, taking a metro/train to and from work takes away any kind of flexibility we'd need as parents. WV is absolutley too far!
frenchyd said:In reply to yupididit :
If you can't swap the rear end like you can on a Jaguar from 1961- 1997 try to find out who makes an S bar. Nope, not sway bar. S bar. ( it's shaped like an S with one leg going forward and the other leg going backwards.
more commonly called a Z bar as recommended earlier in this thread.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
You are probably right. The ones I've seen look more like big S's than Z's
In reply to yupididit :
Sorry, just trying to help.
yupididit said:In reply to frenchyd :
Thanks! I'm looking at a slightly more modern Benz rear setup up for my w108.
Good. I like that idea a whole lot better than try to get an obsolete suspension to play nice on track with other cars Like your Mercedes
yupididit said:frenchyd said:In reply to yupididit :
The cheapest property anywhere near you would be West Virginia. Plus low taxes compared to Maryland, Virginia, etc.
I don't know how much travel time is involved. But it seemed like about 40 minutes to where I got my fiberglass fender flairs and he worked in DC.
Would a train service that area? Could you leave one car at the station in DC and use it to get to work. ? Don't know answers. Just offering suggestions.
"Cheap" isn't a part of the conversation at this point. Given our work locations/schedule and the kids school schedules, taking a metro/train to and from work takes away any kind of flexibility we'd need as parents. WV is absolutley too far!
I guy I was in the Navy with works in The pentagon now as a sand crab ( civilian employee of the Navy ). He says it's about an hour or so (depending on traffic) to his house in Harpers Ferry WV. He's got a 5 acre place where he works on wood boats as a hobby in the barn.
frenchyd said:yupididit said:frenchyd said:In reply to yupididit :
The cheapest property anywhere near you would be West Virginia. Plus low taxes compared to Maryland, Virginia, etc.
I don't know how much travel time is involved. But it seemed like about 40 minutes to where I got my fiberglass fender flairs and he worked in DC.
Would a train service that area? Could you leave one car at the station in DC and use it to get to work. ? Don't know answers. Just offering suggestions.
"Cheap" isn't a part of the conversation at this point. Given our work locations/schedule and the kids school schedules, taking a metro/train to and from work takes away any kind of flexibility we'd need as parents. WV is absolutley too far!
I guy I was in the Navy with works in The pentagon now as a sand crab ( civilian employee of the Navy ). He says it's about an hour or so (depending on traffic) to his house in Harpers Ferry WV. He's got a 5 acre place where he works on wood boats as a hobby in the barn.
Like I said already, its too far. 1hr is being optimistic for that particular commute. Anyway, this thread doesn't need anymore talk about NCR real estate market trends.
I just put deposit on another w108.
Look who finally made it to my garage.
The lighting in these garages are trash at best. Going to be investing in some battery powered shoplight solutions since I can't upgrade the lights in here. Probably Ryobi since I accidentally have a whole bunch of their battery's.
In reply to yupididit :
Linkable LED shop lights from Costco or Sam's plugged into a thread in adapter under that bulb above the car. I set one up like that in the basement for our laundry room and it throws plenty of light. A couple of cup hooks threaded into the rafters to hold them. Totally reversible.
Seems like a nice score. Was it a stalled project? Hopefully the missing parts are in back seat. Good luck, and have fun.
As 100011101 stated. If no holes allowed, strong zip ties around the rafters. How far can you go inside? Maybe some cheap white paint on the walls to reflect light.
Well here's hoping you get to build the car just as you'd like it.
Perhaps not follow my example? I just spent more than 30 hours removing a solid good trunk floor then replacing it with new metal just so the heat from the inboard disk brakes can get out easily.
Well maybe the new floor might, might, give a little downforce and reduce drag a bit
I've got family in Alexandria but they aren't car people, their garage is full and I doubt they'd have any leads but I can ask if you're still looking.
In reply to Dirtydog (Forum Supporter) :
The guy had it because it was a manual Euro model, same reason I bought it. But, he had/has over a dozen or so vintage Mercedes. He never did get around to this one. The missing parts are all in the trunk.
That is the only wall that's actually done. I'm not going to paint it but I will go for the linkable LED lights. I'm not sure if we're allowed to drill holes, I already did that when I put up shelving on the opposite e
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