As a writer living alone in Toronto, life is expensive. I needed another car like I needed another hole in my head. And yet, conveniently before Christmas, I found myself staring at the hood ornament of my tenth grade desktop background.
It's a 1990 300CE coupe in 199U Blauschwarz over black leather. I picked it up running and driving with nearly all functions, erm, functional for $2,750 Canadian which is at least seven real dollars. It needs a windscreen, a muffler, some fiddly interior switchgear and some cosmetic work but the underbody is solid and the leather is immaculate.
I've already ordered a bunch of parts and they should start showing up in January. The goal is to have a really nice, comfortable fair-weather cruiser. Don't worry, the 325i hasn't gone anywhere.
Welcome to the coupe club! Rock auto did have the exhaust on close out and I think it was maybe $250 for the entire thing? I'd love to have black but for the original $500 I paid I'll settle for anything.
In reply to chandler :
Beautiful coupe, man! I thought about a stock replacement muffler, but I've got something tasteful but different that I had to special order coming in a few weeks. It's less expensive than RockAuto, stainless and should free up a small handful of BHP yet not be loud or obnoxious.
Pictured: the moment where "huh, there's a tear in the factory wheel well undercoating" goes from "huh, there's no metal there anymore. At least it isn't hugely structural."
The strut tower and frame rail are rock solid, so I'll just have to make a patch panel in the spring and plug weld it into place. It's surprising that's the extent of the rot on a 30-year-old Toronto car. Also, the broken Becker Grand Prix radio has been removed and a very 90s-looking unit will take its place as soon as it arrives.
Always here for 124 content!
the grommet from the washer fluid pump was likely bad for a long, long times and rotted the sheet metal under it
ccrelan (Forum Supporter) said:
the grommet from the washer fluid pump was likely bad for a long, long times and rotted the sheet metal under it
That's what I'm thinking too. At least the rest of the shell is solid and the only rot is on a non-visible part.
Only 124 with a 8k rpm tach haha. I has a 95 124 wagon, did an amg 3.6 swap, sportline suspension goodies and eventually a 5 speed manual. Loved that beast, always got compliments on it. If I had the space and $$ if have kept it, bit faulting a 25 year old german car, I had enough of the front cover leaks, the valve cover leaks, the other words quirks it would develop. Loved it, and wish I could have kept it. Don't see too many CEs around
Monthly update time! Progress is slow due to the Canadian weather and mostly amounts to amassing parts. I ordered a Trabhan galvanized inner fender repair panel from Germany which I'll be plug-welding in place, then seam-sealing and painting. My mate's old W126 donated a significantly fresher steering wheel and my special order from Vibrant arrived for the exhaust system.
Most recently, I picked up a pair of slightly tatty front guards that are still much nicer than what's on the car now. While the frigid weather prevents painting outside, I decided to say Berkeley my deposit and turned the bathroom into an impromptu prep booth using the exhaust fan. After some grinding, sanding, POR-15, spot putty and primer I arrived at this.
All ready for a lick of paint, a solution for the second lower retaining bolt and re-attachment to the car. Now the only mission-critical thing left to order is a windscreen. Fingers crossed, it'll be on the road by May.
Be very careful welding galvanized, poison fumes.
NOT A TA said:
Be very careful welding galvanized, poison fumes.
Seconded, for more attention - reading one or two experiences online was terrifying.
Sonic
UltraDork
1/25/21 10:20 p.m.
classicJackets (FS) said:
NOT A TA said:
Be very careful welding galvanized, poison fumes.
Seconded, for more attention - reading one or two experiences online was terrifying.
I've experienced it first hand. It's awful.
NOT A TA said:
Be very careful welding galvanized, poison fumes.
Yep, grind the edges before drilling and plug welding. I still have to see where the patch lays though, if enough existing panel is maintained I may just end up panel-bonding it as it's no more structural than a sill and it's easy to blow through 22ga.
Honsch
New Reader
1/26/21 8:58 p.m.
If B pillars are for nerds, you need to import a Nissan Prarie.
In reply to Honsch :
Dude, I'm in. You could have so much sex in a Nissan Prairie.
G_Body_Man (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to Honsch :
Dude, I'm in. You could have so much sex in a Nissan Prairie.
Sorry, but I'm not sure anyone can...
chandler said:
Sorry, but I'm not sure anyone can...
Not with that attitude, you can't!
Brief update, the cold start reluctance was traced to a worn accumulator which has since been replaced. Also, the 300CE now sports a full set of dashboard switches. Replacement fenders have been (somewhat poorly) painted over the weekend in prep for welding the patch panel in. I also threw in a Kenwood Excelon head unit and quickly discovered that the OEM speakers are trash. Drop-ins and a JL WOV3 may be incoming. Next up, sourcing authentic AMG wheels to be shod with whatever press tires are available for testing, replacing the windshield and getting it on the road.
How's this for a setback? If you look just above where the tie rod sits in this really crappy photo, you'll see that a considerable crack has developed in the rather rusty left front frame rail. Normally, this is where most people would start looking for a cleaner shell. Unfortunately, I grew up on the GRM message board, have friends who are professional fabricators and really like this stupid car. So without further ado, here's my plan of attack.
1: Pull off the steering box, spring, shock, knuckle and control arm for greater access.
2: Buy a handheld sandblaster. If this is exposed, there's probably additional severe rust that isn't. Plus, I've always really wanted a handheld sandblaster and it's still cheaper than paying a body shop.
3: Ensure that key reference points are square and that the front left corner is braced. This will require leveling the left front corner with the rest of the car, using the opposite side as reference.
4: Cut until there's room for a strong joint to be made. As it's along the curve in the rail, it makes sense to remove the spring perch to allow for more working area and weld on a new one later.
5: Have a skilled friend weld in fresh metal. Strength beats visual attractiveness any day of the week, although with enough room, good metal and quality whiskey as a bribe, handsome butt joints could very well be the end result.
Am I crazy? Absolutely. Was the decision to fix this shell made whilst sober? Surprisingly so. Has this essentially turned into a full restoration on a five-year timeline involving a full respray and countless hours of labour? Yes. But at the end of the day, it's just metal. Ask anyone who's owned a Toyota truck in the salt belt, things could be worse.
As these cars dwindle in numbers, I'd rather see them saved than scraped. Being able to do a lot of it on your own or with friends to cut down on the costs really makes all the difference.
Whelp, the 300CE has been let go, but for good reason. Remember the Cutlass I based my username on? There's a very good chance that I'm buying it back. Now that I'm a well-employed college graduate and not a broke high school kid, it'll be possible to give the Cutlass the life it deserved, plus I'm overdue for another party barge. Right now, I'm picturing slot mags and a whole host of other realistic upgrades. While it's sad to see the CE go, at least my username may mean something again.
Good call. I said “gulp” when I heard your plans. Let someone else do all that rust repair.
