Ron's R170 Project

fotofreak · Apr 11, 2019

efair said:
What does the tool do?

Oh ya, the sending unit base is made of plastic, with two recessed holes across from each other at the perimeter. To remove the unit it takes less than a 1/4 turn to loosen it. This is basically making a spanner wrench, I have come across many other ways that others have built, but having a wood workshop this was quick for me. I drilled and inserted two screws on an angle which allow the handle to work at an angle, as the sending unit is somewhat surrounded but other features in the trunk. I did have to remove the canopy in the trunk, 2 10mm bolts. i'll include a picture of how the tool fits on the sending unit.

fotofreak · Apr 22, 2019

fotofreak said:
Oh ya, the sending unit base is made of plastic, with two recessed holes across from each other at the perimeter. To remove the unit it takes less than a 1/4 turn to loosen it. This is basically making a spanner wrench, I have come across many other ways that others have built, but having a wood workshop this was quick for me. I drilled and inserted two screws on an angle which allow the handle to work at an angle, as the sending unit is somewhat surrounded but other features in the trunk. I did have to remove the canopy in the trunk, 2 10mm bolts. i'll include a picture of how the tool fits on the sending unit.

Here is the spanner tool in action, I used an angle in the screw holes to accommodate the odd space inside the trunk. It is a two handed operation, but works, hopefully wont need to use it again.

fotofreak · Apr 22, 2019

Brakes Part 2

I thought it would be best at this point to replace pads and rotors on the car as I was not sure if I was out of spec in respect to braking behavior. After all the reading, I decided on Brembo ceramics, which I went to newparts.com, putting me back a reasonable $230. Even with all of my toolbox full of stuff, I still needed a hex and torx which homedepot was able to help with. The one tricky part of the job was that a couple of the discs were frozen in place. I quickly escalated to a larger hammer, placing strong hits as shown, which released the stuck rotors. There are plenty of videos and step by steps to walk you through the job. I followed the Brembo recommendation of pad bedding, which included a first slow easy period which is used to remove any residue on the rotors. You will see a coloration change on the rotors until they look clean and shinning. The real part of the bedding process is stopping the car from speeds of 35, 45 and I even went a little faster. From my reading there seem to be different schools of thought in how this should be done, but went with the manufacture's recommendation.

So after a week of driving the car, I will have to say, I like how the brakes are feeling now. Normal traffic stops do not take any extra expected effort and I did have to quickly stop once in a parking lot without any damage to either of our cars. I'm comfortable not thinking about brakes any longer.

fotofreak · Apr 22, 2019

Easter Dinner Visit

We had my wife's mom over for dinner today. After some drinks, cheese and crackers, my wife asked if I can show her mom the progress with the car. So I took her to the garage, where the car had the doors, trunk and roof in the 'transformer position' (I will explain that in another post). When she saw the interior she was in disbelief in how nice it looked. Up to now, she had no idea what I was doing with the car. She then continued to explain how he was never going to get rid of the car as he felt it was a classic, and how he would always try to drive it on Sundays. When I told her I that the car was running and I was driving the car, she smiled. It was a nice day.

efair · Apr 22, 2019

Did you ever resolve the red light/have to re-close after sitting overnight? I had a thought about that...

fotofreak · Apr 22, 2019

efair said:
Did you ever resolve the red light/have to re-close after sitting overnight? I had a thought about that...

No. I noticed that it was also getting worst. To resolve it temporarily, I would move the switch into the close position, moving the hydraulics to push everything close. I think it is the boot tongues not locking into position, but I also have other hydraulic problems.

fotofreak · Apr 22, 2019

Hydraulic Oil Leak

The weather in Naples has been perfect for roof down drives, so i have been exercising the roof on a daily basis. The other night I noticed that the roof was moving slower than normal, and the following day was even slower. Initial investigation showed a low level in hydraulic fluid. I quickly suspected the rear trunk actuators since that was the first repair I did to the car. They were perfectly dry. From the trunk I can see the arms of the main cylinders and they looked dry. So next I was removing the headliner panel which revealed the leaky lock cylinder. So I reviewed Klaus' videos for the lock and main cylinders. At $55 for TopHydraulics to repair, better than new (as Klaus puts it) for each cylinder, I was not going to leave something else to leak later. Pulling the main cylinders while I was pulling the lock cylinder was not that much more work. After going though the brakes, I have decided to rework as many things as possible. The cylinders are packed up to ship out for repair, now I need to figure out what to do with an oil soaked headliner.

M4rCu5 · Apr 22, 2019

fotofreak said:
now I need to figure out what to do with an oil soaked headliner.

Something that many people have tried and failed to clean and successfully recover. Usually ends up with a purchase of either a new budget busting headliner or a second user non-hydraulic soaked item. Good luck with that.

Good thread by the way

fotofreak · Apr 23, 2019

Door Panels (Cards)

Both door panels were loose as a goose. I started by removing the passenger side, once again following online video how-to's. I replaced all of the plastic clips, the ones that press into the doors, as they seemed brittle, purchased from MB. Each of the clip brackets had worked their way loose, along with the center part of the card. There were pieces along the top side which also came loose. Basically all green glue had come unglued. I chose Gorilla Glue, because I love the stuff and had surplus. I used glue clamps where I could, and for the center pieces, I used heavy weights to hold the pieces in place while they dried. Use care with this stuff as it grows and you don't want to see that on the passenger side of the panels. Not a difficult job, but one thing to watch out for is that the screws holding the driver pull handle, there are three of them on the inside of the panel, are left handed threads. (No need to use an impact driver for this job) I still cannot figure out how the engineers thought a reverse thread on the driver side made sense? The doors panel cards are nice and tight, looking good. (Slowly getting used to words like Card and Boot).

fotofreak · Apr 24, 2019

Smoke or not

So it seemed like this was a simple job, replace two parts that had plastic that gave up. The first was a center console piece that held the side mirror adjuster and the red roof switch. The later had giving in, and the red switch disappeared into the console due to the clip that holds the switch broke. The other part was the driver side marker light lens, image of both attached. Where it got difficult was that I had found some cool smoked side marker lenses. I also found rear lights in smoke. I have also been eyeing wheels on craigslist and scheming different colors of grey paint (no pun there..). But then I have always been saying that the goal of the project was to bring the car into spec, something similar to how my wife's dad took possession of the car, something that can be driven today, something to maybe even keep in the garage and drive on nice days. Granted someone could argue that the radio upgrade exceeded this theme, but I would counter that it was a necessity to drive this car in this decade (I love how Spotity and Pandora plays up when I start it up). End result, no smoke, which might mean no wheels and no paint, focusing on spec, at least today..

efair · Apr 24, 2019

Look over those switches carefully- it's often possible to reattach them without buying new. I prefer two part epoxy but gorilla glue may work smartly.

I've had good luck with cleaning some headliners, no luck with others. I always removed the vinyl, used a lot of dawn dish soap, put it on thick, rub it in evenly and let it soak for 5 mins, then scrub it hard with a stiff brush or plastic wheel in the drill. Let it dry, and repeat. Sometimes 10 or 15 iterations. Then have it recovered at the trim shop. After 10 tries you should know if it's salvageable.

efair · Apr 24, 2019

https://images.app.goo.gl/MNLa4ZC18xnkUzqR7

fotofreak · Apr 24, 2019

efair said:
Look over those switches carefully- it's often possible to reattach them without buying new. I prefer two part epoxy but gorilla glue may work smartly.

I've had good luck with cleaning some headliners, no luck with others. I always removed the vinyl, used a lot of dawn dish soap, put it on thick, rub it in evenly and let it soak for 5 mins, then scrub it hard with a stiff brush or plastic wheel in the drill. Let it dry, and repeat. Sometimes 10 or 15 iterations. Then have it recovered at the trim shop. After 10 tries you should know if it's salvageable.

It was actually not the switch, but the flat piece of plastic with two square type of openings, one of clips broke. Cost me less than $10 from the local dealer, they have been great.
As far as the liner, it looks like it was replaced once before from the invoices that I have from work he had done, made of cardboard, not sure if that is factory. I am trying to dry it out in the sun, but I don't think it is working. I might be buying a clean dry used one for $200, but not in a hurry right now.

efair · Apr 24, 2019

The factory one is definitely not cardboard.

Dean-o · May 6, 2019

I was able to successfully salvage a oil damaged headliner. First I removed all the vinyl headliner material. Soaked the oily areas with denatured alcohol and extracted with a Bissell carpet/upholstery "steam cleaner", using water only, so as to leave no soapy residue which could interfere with adhesion almost as much as oil. Several cycles, really seemed to remove all the oil. Bought some "ultrasuede" headliner material at a local fabric store, and used 3M no.80 spray adhesive to attach it. Better than new, IMHO.
If you're still having issues with power steering noise when turning, I had that problem too. Kind of a low growl sometimes. Turns out if the reservoir on the power steering pump is even a tiny bit low on fluid, it'll do that. Top it off and see if the noise goes away. Then look for the leak. Mine was right where one of the hoses met the pump. Clamp was just loose enough. All I had to do was tighten it.

fotofreak · May 6, 2019

Dean-o said:
I was able to successfully salvage a oil damaged headliner. First I removed all the vinyl headliner material. Soaked the oily areas with denatured alcohol and extracted with a Bissell carpet/upholstery "steam cleaner", using water only, so as to leave no soapy residue which could interfere with adhesion almost as much as oil. Several cycles, really seemed to remove all the oil. Bought some "ultrasuede" headliner material at a local fabric store, and used 3M no.80 spray adhesive to attach it. Better than new, IMHO.
If you're still having issues with power steering noise when turning, I had that problem too. Kind of a low growl sometimes. Turns out if the reservoir on the power steering pump is even a tiny bit low on fluid, it'll do that. Top it off and see if the noise goes away. Then look for the leak. Mine was right where one of the hoses met the pump. Clamp was just loose enough. All I had to do was tighten it.

Did you let the alcohol soak for some time before extracting? It has been setting outside and seems to be less oily but it is still there. I will give your method a try before investing in a dry headliner from eBay.

fotofreak · May 7, 2019

Power steering noise when turning

Early on, my research revealed a few options:

Fill the reservoir to the top as @Dean-o mentions
Flush out the old PS fluid
Add a MB PS additive

The additive is only to be added once per lifetime to a PS unit, and whoever adds it needs to leave a yellow dot for others to see. My unit had this yellow dot, so I passed on this option.
The noise reminded me of low fluid, but the level was at the lower limit, which did not seem like it would be a problem to me. So after buying a jug of PS fluid from MB (I have been staying with only MB fluids up to now, since I don't know if it really makes a difference). I tried swapping out old fluid with a baster but I don't think I really did much of a fluid swap. I did though leave the level at the full mark. @Dean-o since I have read this from others as well, I think you might be right, that the unit is sensitive to the fill level of the reservoir. In any case, I have not heard the noise for what is two or three tanks of driving. I don't feel I really fixed anything, but the noise is not there, so I guess this is good news!

fotofreak · May 7, 2019

Bodywork #1

I was quoted $4000 to make the metal straight with a fresh coat of paint. Since I still want to buy wheels and tires, and since I used to do a little body work when I was younger, I took the plunge. This dent on the front driver side fender looks like something must of fell in his garage to make such a pointy dent. I first tried one of these paintless dent removers. It basically uses a strong gluestick with a screw type of gadget that pulls the metal into shape. I don't know if you can tell, but it did move much of the metal back into place, but could not completely fix the sharp dent. I continued with some bondo work, followed by primer and glazing putty. I think this is ready for paint, which I am planning to do (try) myself.

Dean-o · May 7, 2019

Re. the headliner cleaning, I let the denatured alcohol soak in long enough to thin the hydraulic oil, but not long enough to evaporate or to risk damage to the headliner shell. And then suck it out with the vacuum. Repeated until a good rub showed no trace of oil on my fingers. One more tweek, when the headliner was out, I took the opportunity to put some Dynamat on the underside of the metal roof. Even convinced myself it was a little quieter afterwards ;-)
As for the power steering noise, I agree, that pump must be sensitive. Anything less than a full tank and it can growl. Glad yours is behaving itself now.

neveridle · May 25, 2019

R170 rebuild

Hello, I too am restoring a R170 that has been neglected and sitting for awhile. That looks like a very nice project and I am sure your wife and you will enjoy all your hard work driving the car around once you get all the wrinkles ironed out. If you don't mind me asking you where you purchased the interior paint from for I cannot find a supplier for it that will ship to the states? I will be watching your progress as you get that beautiful car back on the road. Good luck with and happy motoring! neveridle

Ron's R170 Project

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