Preliminary Tuneup Results

Today I popped down to a "derestricted autobahn" to test the effects of Monday's tuneup.

Even though I accelerated on full throttle to probably about 180 km/h I was unable to reproduce the high-rpm misfire which I had been experiencing. I'm also glad to report that the engine pulls very strong on high rpm's. There is a noticeable surge in power after a midrange point, in a similar vein as in the M104 straight six.

However, only on our traditional strip day in May will I be able to decisively tell if the misfire problem is indeed fixed.

My Kind of Facelift

Since day one, my single biggest woe with the car's external condition was the mask. It was horribly broken in a lot of ways; some of the chrome was chipping and falling off, the upper lip was hanging, no longer attached to its plastic support clips, and some of the plastic grilles had broken. All the plastic parts were starting to fade pretty bad.

It's the primary eye catcher in the car's nose, so I wanted it perfect.

So yesterday I received, from Stuttgart with love,

A complete Mercedes-original mask. It is the single most expensive part I've bought for this car.

The old front. Not too shabby from a couple meters away, right?

 

Almost all of plastic clips holding the upper lip in place are broken; the lip is hanging free.

Chrome in the passenger side "wing" is falling off.

How did this happen?! Anyway, it was like this when I bought the car.

Only the outermost plastic clips holding the upper lip remain.

First, the mask came out. It is held in place by 5 evenly placed bolts and 1 screw. Remove those and the mask lifts off towards the front of the car.

The bolts had rusted a bit, leaving quite a sizeable amount of rust on the hood-side clips.

A previous owner had "repaired" the broken clips by gluing the hanging lip in place with silicone.

Removed the adhesive to the best of my ability.

Ready to receive a new nose.

Old, dirty mask & New, pristine mask!

The plastic clips have sheered off. Also, two kinds of adhesive here, so I would guess two previous "repairs".

Missing clip

You wouldn't believe the new mask. It is absolutely beautiful. The chrome is just unbelievable. It's pristine, and so gleaming nice. However, the mask is suprisingly light, and seems quite fragile. Had to handle it with real care.

Wax on

Soaking the fasteners in WD40 to remove dirt and rust.

"Clean" old fasteners, bolts

New mask installed!

You have to be surprisingly violent to get one of these masks in place. It actually has a rubber seal around it. I didn't quite get it 100 % centered, so it's a bit tighter on the driver side than the opposite. However, because it's still 0 celsius outside, I dare not uninstall and reinstall over and over again until it's perfect, in fear of breaking the plastic.

Front refresh is now finished!

15 Minutes of Fame

It appears I got featured in the MB Club magazine. :-D

The magazine ran an article about the Ice Track event that I attended a couple of posts earlier. The caption, written humorously in a thick Savonian accent, reads: "Juha Kohvakka came for a cruise in a 560 SEC".

Routine Maintenance

Today, at 300 200 km, I took the car in for a 300 000 km service.

New spark plugs (NGK BP6ES), oil (Valvoline MaxLife 10W-40) + filter, and fuel filter.

Really rubbish weather outside, so I'm unable to test whether any of this had any impact on the high-rpm misfire I'm having, but we'll see.

Changing the fuel filter was a bitch. I'm glad I was only observing. The nuts were basically welded shut with rust, but eventually they let go.

The old oil (LiquiMoly 5W-30) looked terrible. It was as black as you would expect after 11k, but it was also really really thin, it was like water. I'd decided in advance to switch to a heavier oil and now I'm really glad I did. A slightly heavier oil should work better with particularly Mercedes hydraulic lifters.

The NGK BP6ES spark plugs are a perfect fit for the Mercedes M117 engine.  They work like a charm. Even better all-around spark plug than the Bosch ones. And they are dirt cheap - 2,40 EUR a piece!

300 000 km

Congratz, Car!

Ice Track Goodness

This weekend I had the most awesome time with the SEC. I took it up north to Tahko, a ski resort in North Savonia, where the Mercedes-Benz Club of Finland held an icy conditions track day.

Drove there on Friday and back today. The trip was 340km each way so I got a chance to test the car's long-distance cruising capabilities for the first time since I bought it.

The back end of the car appears to have quietened down quite a bit. There's still some crackling from the diff (or shaft joints) at 85kph GPS speed but it's way better than it used to be, I'm thinking it's the diff since it's gotten better with the new diff fluid.

The Becker appears to overheat if I listen to it more than an hour straight. When that happens, it stops playing FM, and cassette sound quality is diminished significantly. I need to inspect the grounds anyway and while I'm doing that, I might see if I can increase ventilation in there.

Cruise control appears to be a bit dimwitted at times but since it's from the 80s I'll give it that one.

Overall, as I was thundering through Savonia, I realized the SEC has turned into what I always wanted it to be: a car that I can drive anywhere, knowing it'll get me home. I wasn't sure of this when I left, but now I am. It's all starting to pay off...

Also, on the way there, I achieved 9,5 l/100km. That really blows my mind.

Anyway, had a blast at the ice track. It was basically perfect sheet ice on a frozen lakebed.