Project CLK55 AMG

[SL63 Mark]

So can I ask, is Flickr the place to go for those of us with Photobucket accounts ? I notice my photos are disappearing too.

 

[Sasha94]

That second one is just what I was after so I bought it. Will be here Wednesday

Can get the plate transfer done then!

I've used Flickr for other images but never tried hosting one on here but they seem to be OK

 

[AMGeed]

I uploaded all my Photobucket pics to Flickr and have posted a few on here directly from Flickr.
Seems to work as before. Photobucket account deleted. Greedy idiots that have ruined thousand of blogs, travel reports, forum how to's etc etc.

 

[flowrider]

I uploaded all my Photobucket pics to Flickr and have posted a few on here directly from Flickr.
Seems to work as before. Photobucket account deleted. Greedy idiots that have ruined thousand of blogs, travel reports, forum how to's etc etc.

I've done the same. I think the lack of warning from Photobucket is extremely poor.

 

[Sasha94]

By this evening all the pics should be back!!

 

[gramey]

Well these arrived today to go on the car! Will look great when fitted I think

View attachment 37975

Just be mindful you don't get pulled by a traffic cop who's bored as both pressed and resin plates are illegal and if multiple offences are committed the DVLA will revoke the plate with no compensation.

 

[JBell]

Just be mindful you don't get pulled by a traffic cop who's bored as both pressed and resin plates are illegal and if multiple offences are committed the DVLA will revoke the plate with no compensation.

These Pressed metal are not, these are BSAU type approved with the correct font and postcode engraved into them, nothing wrong with them at all.

 

[corradoman]

I bought the same plates and really struggled to get any sticky pads to hold them on my slk so i went to mercs to buy the plate holders and believe it or not they gave me them as they said we dont charge for them, i was shocked but happy, ha ha, they look smart to be fair

 

[Sasha94]

Just be mindful you don't get pulled by a traffic cop who's bored as both pressed and resin plates are illegal and if multiple offences are committed the DVLA will revoke the plate with no compensation.

Both sets of plates I have are BSAU marked, legally spaced, have the correct, post 09/2001 font for the ages of the vehicles and show the makers names and postcodes. They are both totally legal and are sold as such.

Many suppliers don't supply legal plates but I've always used the suppliers of both sets of plates and in over 5 years and 140+ thousand miles I've never been stopped

 

[Sasha94]

I bought the same plates and really struggled to get any sticky pads to hold them on my slk so i went to mercs to buy the plate holders and believe it or not they gave me them as they said we dont charge for them, i was shocked but happy, ha ha, they look smart to be fair

The only ones Merc in Junction had were big bulky ones that had Inchcape branding on and they still wanted to charge me! As I don't really like them I'm much happier to have one on the back that is more discreet

 

[Sasha94]

Hi everyone, my name is Sasha and I'm 22 from Bangor in sunny North Wales. Not sure which section to put this in but this is my recently acquired CLK55 AMG which is my second car and project. My daily is a 12 Volvo V50 DRIVe as I have a 140 mile daily commute!!


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

The first thing I've done has been sorting out some proper key rings because that's always important, starting with this one which was bought on holiday in Paris years ago by a family member who had a Mercedes at the time and not something you can usually get unless you go there so I'm very happy to receive this as a gift


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

And then this one for the spare key


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Nearly forgot the engine!


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

This car, as ever for one of my cars, needs a few things doing.

So the faults so far include

Drivers heated seat not working
Armrest trim broken
Drivers seat trim broken
Drivers electric seat sometimes doesn't come forward on the button but does on the memory function
Passenger electric headrest only goes up on the button but comes down on memory and when the seat is folded forward
The dash makes a loud clicking noise on ignition for 20 seconds which is a comman CLK issue relating to the HVAC system

Not a big list for a 14 year old Mercedes I think!!

Potential upgrades include
Sorting the questionable colour match round the rear arches
Refurbishing the wheels
Refurbishing the brakes
Getting the exhaust to be a bit more audible
Sorting the phone function out. As you can see the car has the factory Nokia 6310i phone on the dash but no phone. I am looking into a Viseeo Bluetooth adaptor but I'm not sure if the phone system even works so another option would be an android head unit as the cost will be the same for both
Otherwise general tidying and maintenance.

I've been loving the car since purchase. Have been averaging 22 MPG on its first full tank of Shell V Power and I've just ordered all the bits I need to service it including 16 NGK iridium spark plugs, 10 litres of Shell Helix fully synthetic oil, 2 Pipercross performance air filters, a genuine MB oil filter, crush washer, oil filter removal tool etc etc ready to give it the full treatment this coming weekend. Has been an expensive day lol, and the new dash cam to be fitted tomorrow!

Hopefully this will become a blog for the car and it's journey with me as it's maintained and improved as I do a lot of the mechanical jobs myself.

Thanks for looking everyone!!

 

[Sasha94]

Thanks, what's a normalisation procedure?

Here's some Volvo pics just to show off the daily haha


Volvo V50 by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Volvo V50 by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Volvo V50 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

[Sasha94]

I've had this Mercedes Star Gard clean bag for a long time and although I'm never going to use it it'll be a cool thing to keep in the car.


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Full detail will be done by me shortly once the mechanical stuff has been done

 

[flowrider]

Can a mod move Sasha's post #371 above to post #1? Thanks

 

[Sasha94]

Thanks all, well I'll be fitting the dash cam later, will instruct Laura to take a picture of me with the car

Here I am with the Audi when I bought it


Audi A4 by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Here I am 2 weeks later when I got married


Wedding by SashaGrace, on Flickr

I have chopped my hair to shoulder length now though but it's still me

 

[Sasha94]

Can a mod move Sasha's post #371 above to post #1? Thanks

I'll report all the posts when I'm done and hopefully get the thread back on track

I'm breaking for dinner now, more soon

 

[Sasha94]

Not when it comes to maintaining or protecting the car! It lives on a street so a motion sensing camera is a must so I've gone for another Nextbase 402g as in the Volvo and ordered the same stealth adhesive mount to replace the mahoovise suction mount you get as standard. The car already having 2 Nextbase hardwire kits in it was just extra helpful. The service is next over the weekend hopefully then the cosmetics can be thought about.

Some pics of the camera install for now


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Clearly visible on the passenger side but won't be too bad with a smaller mount. Also my Volvo peeking in the background


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

My view from the drivers seat


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

And because I said I'd do it, here I am with the car!


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

That's all for today, have sent off a V888 form and the fee to the DVLA so looking forward what they will send back

 

[Sasha94]

So here's a shot of todays haul


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

This includes new wipers, new seat trim, oil filter, MicroSD card for the camera and the new mount to lower its profile along with a note for 3 more parcels that I wasn't in for. I'm hoping these will be the oil and spark plugs along with some headlight bulbs for the Volvo. Anyway, first things first, remember the huge Nextbase camera mount...


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

It is gone to make way for this 3-D printed mount


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Once it was all cleaned up it was time to reinstall the camera


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

And from the outside


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Much tidier than the original install

Hopefully more soon!!

 

[Sasha94]

Thanks, it's all very exciting buying a new car, I like to do all the little repairs and a full service when buying them to give me piece of mind so yesterday I got started on the service side of things. I also received the floor mat plugs from Latvia so I installed them. The drivers mat is damaged slightly but for £3 these make it look a bit better for now. It started like this


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Not good enough, so let's sort it


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

That's better


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Next I decided to start the under bonnet jobs and change all 16 spark plugs! Started by removing the front half of the engine cover


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

After removing the air box it's clear there's another thing to add to my list!

Mercedes CLK by sashagracehottie, on Flickr

The rocker cover gasket is clearly leaking...


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

On the other bank there's just oil around the filler cap which is expected from spills etc


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

So I started by removing and labeling all the coil packs and masking over the electrical plugs


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

The clean up is going to take a lot of my time!!


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

I ended up giving the engine a quick de grease and tidy up as I hate putting dirty stuff back together and it will help me determine if the gasket is definitely still leaking


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Time to do something now! The iridium plugs I ordered ended up not being in stock and I got a phone call from the supplier asking me if I did like to wait or have these laser platinum plugs and some money off instead. That reduced the cost by quite a bit so it became a no brainer and I went for these


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

 

[Sasha94]

But first, it's time to take the plugs out and you will need a 16mm spark plug socket, a half inch ratchet, a universal joint and extension a 17mm open ended spanner and a 3/8ths ratchet, extension and spark plug socket really help for the hard ones at the back.


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

That combo works for the front 5 plugs but the last 3 are harder work so time to break out the UJ


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

That worked for the next one, but the 2 at the back of this bank are much better accessed with a 3/8ths set


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Time to install the new ones


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Nip them all up and re attach the coil packs; that's the drivers side bank done! Passenger side bank to go


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Here's where the photos get a bit thinner on the ground. Laura had a migraine and had to go in but I soldiered on with the passenger side bank. I found it much harder to do these, but working with the 3/8ths sockets on cylinders 6,7 & 8 made it possible although the plugs on cylinder 8 are a mare to get out, you have to feed the tools in piece by piece before removing them piece by piece. The 16th plug was a proper task to remove and took about 30 mins to free, first the coil pack was welded on and impossible to remove. Much tea was consumed while I tried to work out how in God's name I was going to free it but then I managed to get the spanner in at just the right angle and it came out! Phew!

So here are all 16 old plugs, but wait, what is this interloper?!?


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Yes! The 16th plug, the one that wouldn't come out was a genuine MB plug made by NGK. I guess whoever did this last couldn't get the plug out and gave up but I did not!

Once it was all done, the bay was cleaned


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

After spending 4 hours on that, it was time to turn my attention to the airbox


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Filters not bad


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

New ones are better though!


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Time to get the cover cleaned!


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

And back in the bay


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

And that is all she wrote! Nice clean bay with 16 new spark plugs and 2 new air filters.


Mercedes CLK by SashaGrace, on Flickr

Oil change later today, seat trim and wipers also on the to do list. It never ends!!