Restoring an old 180db Mercedes Benz (Ponton) from 1960. A barn find ?

[anyweb]

cool but like I said I couldn't find any place that does renovate the tank, I would have taken it to a place if i could find one, it would have saved me a lot of time/energy

good work on the trains, looks like you are skilled at it !

 

[LostKiwi]

Might sound odd but try a rag with a little petrol to remove the coating. Often the petrol will dissolve coating like this. Messy messy job though!

 

[om613]

Heat gun and scraper, as it's a diesel tank, not a petrol tank.

Any light residue left should wipe off with petrol, xylene or acetone.

 

[anyweb]

ok i've been delayed with doing anything further due to work and my other old ponton has a water pump that died, so i've neglected to do anything with this one, but now i want to make some progress, it's ready for the acid treatment, the muriatic acid is 30% proof, how long should i leave 2 liters of this acid in the tank before emptying it again ? please advise

cheers

 

[anyweb]

ok so today I treated the inside of the fuel tank with Muriatic acid to remove rust,

I did about 1 hour 30 minutes per side before turning it upside down. I've documented the process with a few photos here, and hopefully this will mean I can move on with replacing the high pressure fuel pump next...

 

[anyweb]

So I haven't posted anything in a long time due to the fact that after I removed the fuel tank to clean it, i also........ lost the keys. One month after removing the tank I realized that i didn't know where the keys of the car were, and they were the only set, so if I couldn't find them i'd have to break open the fuel tank cover in order to re-fit the fuel tank.

Needless to say this depressing news de-focused me, and made me NOT want to see the car, which is pretty much what I did, I ignored it, until today.

While rummaging around in the boot of my MB180C I found a Mercedes box with something inside, i opened it and lo-and-behold, my keys which i lost one year ago !!!!

Photos below, now I can get back into the spirit of saving this car.

https://www.mb180db.com/2018/04/i-found-the-lost-keys/

 

[yorkshire1]

I have a similar problem with my reading glasses , after much searching usually find them on my forehead!

 

[sonic]

My father was going to buy a tax free one when we lived in Paris in 1960. Unfortunately the waiting time suddenly shot up. You have to keep the car for a year before importing it into UK the tax free.
As a result he bought a Borgward Isabella Combi, a great car never went wrong in 6 years.
Looking forward your continued restoration, now you have found the keys.

 

[anyweb]

So today I moved the car (for the first time in 30 years) from it's old garage to my driveway. I had to do this because the garage owner sold his house. Anyway, the car is now sitting in my driveway beside the petrol 180c (which does drive). Hopefully this year will be the year the engine springs back into life.

https://www.mb180db.com/2018/04/bringing-the-car-home/

 

[anyweb]

and today I gave it it's first wash in 30 years, check it out now -

 

[anyweb]

one step forward, two steps back, that's what it seems like with this car, well my neighbor has moved the car to his garage as he has a diesel expert friend, who he wanted to look at the car, and while they did he turned it over, except it didn't, turn over. The last time it turned over was when we initially tried to start it but discovered that the high pressure diesel pump was dead in the water, and at that stage the glow plugs were removed... and not replaced.

so clearly some damp has got in and the pistons are stuck, on Friday this week we'll take the bottom pan off and try and free them, but the chances are the pistons will need to be replaced, all i can see are more and more obstacles and more $$$, please someone convince me that things will get better, feeling a bit depressed and demotivated again

 

[Ken_R]

Try a spanner (ring/socket) on the crankshaft pulley nut. That failing, injectors out and get some diesel into the bores.

Never tried it myself but on one programme, can't remember which, they had the heads off and soaked the pistons with diesel. When that failed (after a period of waiting), they set alight the diesel - that worked.

Although exactly how you set fire to diesel unless it is atomized?

 

[om613]

Diesel down the glow plug holes.

 

[anyweb]

ok so here's today's update, the car has the bonnet removed, the head is off, the water pump has a leak, i've ordered a new head gasket, new water pump and my neighbor and his friend will try and free the one stuck piston... I guess I need to get a bank loan... but I really want this car to run so I will do it.

https://www.mb180db.com/2018/04/one-piston-is-stuck-so-its-head-off-time/

 

[davemercedes]

Wow... don't get despondent about climbing hills anyweb - it will be such a superb classic when it's finished. I'm really strucj by how solid it looks under the (missing) bonnet. I think this really shows Merc engineering as it was in the old days.

 

[rifiki]

Strong cars, I one in East and Central Africa 1961-68, petrol. Still has the cabin ventilation pipes which is unusual. Most parts are still available at a price. Good luck with your restoration.

 

[om613]

Looks like the engine's had previous work, to me.

The block's been painted red, suggesting 'engine out', block top is very clean = been machined.
Some OK honing on two of the bores, but the other two look quite pitted...

 

[davemercedes]

Still looks as though it's built like a tank - not bad at just under 70 years old - better than me!

 

[anyweb]

I'm depressed, the engine needs to come out, in addition to the stuck piston which needs to be removed from below (sump off) there's a stuck valve, the sump (oil pan) cannot be removed in situ, it's not possible as there's bits of car support blocking it, so the whole engine has to come out of the car and work done on it. I'm terrified that they'll find some severe failure in the engine meaning that I have to scrap it. Please all say a wee prayer for me, as this is already costing me way more than I expected.

I've told the guy to go ahead, and remove the engine, but i'm really really really hoping that the next call from him won't be more bad news, I really want to drive this car someday...

Some photos from today...

 

[Ken_R]

Bad luck but I'd try a few other things before taking the engine out. If you go to YouTube and search 'Freeing stuck piston with diesel' it throws up quite a few variations. Both 'chemical' and 'mechanical'.

Personally, I'd have still gone with the diesel in cylinder option first.

Something I found the other day whilst going through a drawer was one of those former 'holiday essentials'. A heating element coiled like a spring that you could plug into the mains to boil a mug of water.

I've got visions of filling the stuck cylinder with diesel and then warming the diesel with the mains element.

Fire extinguisher to hand, of course!