ML write off rebuild

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Tom-B

Tom-B

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Some strategic purchasing of parts has happened today, after much searching and new radiators ranging from £100-250 I was able to secure what I think is a reasonably good deal.

For a Nissens/Koyo rad from Euro Car parts, and a new thermostat I was quoted £185 after using their online discount, naturally after ECR I always try Carparts4less as they have exactly the same parts and often come in cheaper.
Their "Winter12" -12% discount took me to £168 and then a bit more googling for voucher codes landed their "Sale15" getting 15% off landing at £162.
I then ordered this through a fovorite of mine Topcashback which get's me 3.15% cash back or roughly £5... total cost for both £157 before a small fee for shipping.

For those who've not used topcashback before, I highly recommend it. Last year alone, on purchases I would have made anyway, I got £25 cash back into my bank account for doing nothing other than ordering it via the Topcashback app instead of going directly to the retailers website.
As a plus, you can trade your cashback for enhanced offers and increase the value...

So looking forward to next Sunday where I plan to spend most of the day in the garage, I'll be picking up some new O-rings for the A/C condenser and intercooler pipes as the current ones are looking a bit flat.
I want to go for a remap once everything is done, and boost increase so anywhere I can avoid boost leaks the better.

If anyone could recommend coolant, it would be really helpful as I understand we should be using MB approved / certified stuff.
 
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Tom-B

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Always a good day when new parts arrive, it’s even better when you’re pleasantly surprised.
After a brief moment of panic caused by a large hole in the oversized box, I was able to get inside.
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The rad is actually a Koyorad, a brand I’m very familiar from my Japanese performance tuning experience and I’m sure it’s great quality.
No crappy thin plastics, and all the fixtures and fittings look great.
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On top of that the thermostat is also good, I didn’t realise that Wahler was in fact Borg Warner the manufacturer of turbos and the like... so high hopes for both! Time will tell.
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To top it off, a trip to the local MBUK dealer meant I could order the replacement intercooler pipe O-rings and A/C condenser O-rings as well as 5l of blue antifreeze as the price wasn’t too bad.
 

Capra

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Watching this thread with interest. I take it your background is in car repairs?
 

Capra

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Nah ... he was a Shakespearian actor.

Tom B or not Tom B.

Oh dear, they can only get worse!
I know it was a stupid question, but some people self teach without having worked in that area that's all.
 
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Haha I must admit that’s the first time my name has been linked to Shakespeare... Tom & Jerry... Thomas the tank are the usual suspects!

I don’t have a background in car repair, just been completely addicted to cars since I was a child and I’ve had more than 50 cars in the last 17 years... and 6 years was spent in China where I only had 2!
I’m largely selft taught with help down the years from friends in various motor trades.
Just love getting stuck in really and giving it a go.
 

Capra

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Haha I must admit that’s the first time my name has been linked to Shakespeare... Tom & Jerry... Thomas the tank are the usual suspects!

I don’t have a background in car repair, just been completely addicted to cars since I was a child and I’ve had more than 50 cars in the last 17 years... and 6 years was spent in China where I only had 2!
I’m largely selft taught with help down the years from friends in various motor trades.
Just love getting stuck in really and giving it a go.
that's very impressive then, good luck moving forward with the project.
 
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A/C system de-gas... well, it would have been if there was any gas still inside! Better safe than sorry at least.
The bright side is, although the system was empty a pressure test showed that it holds pressure well... so I can only assume the A/C system hasn’t been serviced in a long time.
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A run to the dealer for some new parts as planned plus I decided to grab a new receiver drier for the A/C to fit while it’s all apart.
A bit concerned it’s not the right part, but will find out in the morning!
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alexanderfoti

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A 5 min vac test is not long enough to successfully check for leaks, imo.

Good shout on the receiver dryer. Considering it's empty it's probably saturated
 
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A 5 min vac test is not long enough to successfully check for leaks, imo.

Good shout on the receiver dryer. Considering it's empty it's probably saturated

Cheers Alex, and yes you’re probably correct. We agreed that as Mark would be back to refill the system after it’s sorted, a long leak test (15 mins) should be carried out.
Hopefully it’s just had a slow leak from one of the O-rings, the rings on the donor parts were all square and hard so I should imagine mine are the same.
Will find out later!
 
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So another day down, and a predominately successful one at that.
I managed to find probably the most valuable piece of plastic shrapnel around, this little beauty means I can repair the passenger side headlight and not have to spend £150+ on a good used part. I was checking the bumper out to see if it’s salvageable and it dropped out, must have been wedged in somewhere.
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And so it begins:
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Starting to like working on this car, as it didn’t take too much longer to get it this far:
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A bit of a scare with the new Koyo rad, thought I had been sent a a duffer as it had big slits in the upper and lower supports.
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But a quick bit of googling was enough to reassure me that these were intentional, and are something to do with stress relief during thermal expansion.
With the cooling pack all reassembled, it was time to get to work on the O-Rings. First up, intercooler pipes.
Before:
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After:
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A liberal clean with brake cleaner was enough to clean off the old oil and ensure there’s no debris that’ll end up in the turbo later.
A/C lines... before pic only, after pic was too blurry to see! But you cann see they aren’t in the best of shape.
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Thermostat out next:
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Replacement is same manufacturer as the OEM part, so happy with that!

Buttoned up the remaining pipework, wiring and sensors.
I hate those clips for the oil lines wjere they meet the radiator, cold hands do not work well with them! It was snowing as I started to fill the coolant!
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The only thing that didn’t go to plan was the changeover of the A/C receiver drier, I broke my only TX25 bit trying to remove the screw holding the retainer plate on... so that’s going to be one for next weekend.
Got her up to temp, bled the air out of the system and went for a drive around the farm. Really happy as even with slightly flat tyres and half a front end, she drives lovely.
And the heaters are the best I’ve ever had, was hot as hell on full blast!
The other half has kindly offered to try and repair the headlights for me, so I’ll be taking full advantage of her OCD tendancies.
All going well, I’ll be MOT ready in the next couple of weeks.
Just a grille, PDC sensor and possibly some bumper parts to source now.
 
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Was hoping to get an hour in the garage last night but unfortunately it didn’t materialise.. so decided to have a look at repairs on the headlights.

Driver inner mounting was sheared off.
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So although the break lines up quite well, I thought I’d try and strengthen it up some more.
Had some dense foam lying around and it’s quite incognito.. so shaped it up.
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A bit of epoxy 2 part glue, and some pretty ropey taping and clamping and I was reasonable satisfied with the joint.
I’m going to have another go at further reinforcements in hidden areas as a round two.

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Result is ok, not perfect. Once I’ve added some more reinforcement I’ll give it a sand and a blast of matte black to tidy it up.

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I’ve got my eye on a set of black facelift Xenons that require a little love... so these halogens could be a short term solution to get the car back on the road!
 
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Another part sourced, will verify the colour match tomorrow but thought it better to buy a used silver one and chance it matching, than a new black one that would deffo require paint.
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Few jobs for the morning, mostly checking part numbers and having another crack at replacing the receiver drier.
Have got the feelers out with a friend in China to see if I can get a grille at a reasonable price not the silly money they go for here.
Also got a pair of these on their way, although they need some repairs, so won’t be on the car in the near future.
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I also need to get a wiring harness and they are 120 euros, which is low priority currently.
I got them as they were very cheap and don’t come up fo sale often.
Also on their way are 3-pin plugs and 4.7k resistors for the swirl flap motor mod.
MOQ was 10pcs of each so i’ll probably knock up a load of them and sell them on ebay. At a much more reasonable price than the £50 rip offs on there!
 
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Managed a small amount of time on the car at the weekend, as most of Sunday was spent on a friend’s Polo changing the front coil springs.

Anywhoo.. I stripped the front bumper down to see what was salvageable (if anything) and unfortunately it’s not a lot.
Inner frame is cracked in numerous places, and broken at the bottom missing material.
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The foam has seen better days and is probably not worth saving considering its part of the energy absorber.
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Fogs and fascias are unscathed, metal skid plate is bent and I’m looking for a good fabricator who’ll have a go at rolling it back into shape.
Seems like the Americans have it really good when it comes to metalworking skill availability!
These are really expensive and hard to find, so worth a bit of effort. I’ve tried three local places and no one is interested.
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PDC plug from the sensor that got obliterated in the crash, it’s not in the best shape but I can fix it.
It looks worse as it has part of the PDC sensor still attached.
Remaining PDCs, temp sensor and loom are all OK and can be reused.
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I’m seriously considering buying a complete used bumper from America currently as it’s cheaper than falling foul of the mercenaries here...
I’m hoping Dronsfields get something in, as they’ve been great so far and incredibly helpful with part numbers etc.
 
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Managed an hour on the car last night and wanted to get the A/C receiver drier off which turned into a right PITA job! The screw holding the bracket on had galvanically corroded in place and I couldn’t shift it, eventually just rounding the TX25 screw head.
Ended up getting an angle grinder on it with a plasma disc, wish I’d just done that to begin with.
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New unit is slightly different but all mountings and fittings in the same place:
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O-Rings were ok, just a bit dry, but I have plenty of new ones so changed them:
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Bit of lube in the form of PAG oil:
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All sorted:
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So she’s ready to be regassed next weekend.
Plan is to get the drivers headlight repaired, get the wing and bonnet on, bumper beam and washer bottle back on.
Should have a replacement radiator grille and PDC sensor arriving middle of next week, and I’ll get cracking on the nightmare that is the front bumper.
Finding a good used replacement has been tough, loads of pre-facelift available but the facelift ones are like rocking horse turds.
I’m considering repairing the structural frame, getting a new skin, and sourcing a new lower grille, plate plinth and valance... leaving just the skid pan to sort out.
 
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