Originally posted by Just1MoreDave I always remove the support piece for the intake manifold.
For the same 1.8L displacement engine, the SLK250 takes 8 quarts of oil and the filter is maybe three times the size.
I never saw much harm in 'more oil.' (Kind of a nice side benefit of adding one of those filter relocating kits or an auxiliary cooler, actually. Perhaps your Mercedes even has one of the latter.)
Quote: Maybe not the only one. The new AMG-GT kind of goes in that direction. I have seen renderings of what an SLK might look like if they tried the same thing. The almost-tempting part is the construction of the car with its folding roof means that everything from windshield header to trunk lid folds itself into a little stack in the trunk. It seems possible to design it to remove a few bolts and unplug some wires and lift the whole thing off. Then pop on something else. It would probably cost as much as buying another car, though.
With Mercedes, possibly. I don't know if those folding hardtops add a ton of weight but they seem like a pretty livable option for those not really able to use em in the Sun. Suppose I do kind of miss T-tops, though. I also may someday restore function to my Volvo's moonroof. (It's not leaking so I haven't messed with it yet. I've some reason to doubt the tracks are quite right. ) But the seller gave me what he says is a functioning motor. (Also apparently the cranks from earlier models also could fit right in. ) I suppose it might be worth a try now that I've got access to a carport if anything should somehow get complicated.
Also considering those fog lamps again. Seems my local Autozone has a pair of something suitably-retro for cheap, those yellowish rectangular ones. May see if they're very junky or actually decent and just out of style.
There's still more-important things to do but sometimes I want little projects for times when I *can't* really do anything very important with confidence. Also suppose I want to try something on for concept before even thinking about trying to pick up some Hellas or something. (There's actually fog around here fairly often, I'm just not even sure how often I'll encounter it. ) At least I think I'm comfortable with my idea of style and placement. Just can't get enthused about sticking something more modern in or on there somewhere, so I'll imitate the 740s a bit, I think.
Also it's a bit more of shiny stuff to put on even if I'm not using them. (Which may sound odd, me adding shiny things, but a little more visibility wouldn't hurt pulling out on my street. Might add some European fender lights, just for pulling out onto the road.
. Even considering an old Euro number plate to add something reflective-white to the bumper.
Anyway, till the weather turned was actually getting things done, having had a few dollars for parts. And having had a nice weather window this January, even nearly got a good start on my suspension work. (I'd been hoping to get poly strut rod bushings in but learned she's getting too old to not-have-a-breaker-bar. (Obtained one this month, as well as, finally... Metric freaking wrenches.
(I'd been falling back on sockets and the car's own toolkit, which has very thin ones. ) Settled for putting in pretty blue sway bar end links which actually sorted out a lot of suspension wierdness, as the old ones had been overtightened and then *hardened* that way. Much more civilized and actually cornering much better.
Should be a productive year. Been gathering parts and tools bit by bit, waiting for spring to do engine front end stuff and other not-very-interesting things to talk about like water pump and hoses and spark tune-up parts (I guess the idea with Volvos there is 'Don't try to get fancy, they did it right the first time,') Should hopefully be able to sort out worn suspension parts as well, maybe put load-levelling springs in the back, (less a fix than a very useful upgrade, I think: apart from sometimes carrying heavy things, the big reason the current Ratmobile is a wagon is I may wish to depart the South with some belongings.
) And get all my fluid changes in somehow. (A lot of things have become doable with just a little cash.) And in between there's cleaning up the paint properly, (possibly painting the middle of the roof silver to control heat and deal with said paint: I've been contemplating an A/C delete but I'm told I may as well just disconnect the belt and I might just want to actually make it work later,) probably finally putting in some of the window tints I'd gotten some time ago and not been able to install (cause macadam driveways, surprisingly, aren't very suitable for this.
)
In other news, I've... Finally replaced the missing third brake light cover that I'd occasionally been trying to make out of various pieces of TV dinner packaging. (So many nearly-tidy solutions, it was a bit irksome. ) Ended up at last finding one on Ebay that was cheap enough to trouble with, prepped and painted with lawn-furniture plastic paint (which is awesome, btw, same as I used on my grille blackout: I'd be tempted to do one of my two-tone interior jobs with the stuff if more black were a generally good idea in this clime.
) Also expecting a straight exhaust tip to replace the double-bendy pipe Volvos tended to come with.
Hope that would pass inspection if I went to a state where they actually *do* inspections, at least since I removed the third seat, but short of replacing the whole exhaust for no pressing reason, I think it'll satisfy my niggling fussiness on that count.
(And there's a bunch of my talkative coming out at once. May be a bit of cabin fever. (Also have been keeping watch through an ice storm, not that I can do much about falling trees, but I think it's letting my housemate sleep.
)
Also, hey, is that your Merc? Recovered from hail damage, I trust?