Time to fix and modfy

[Vetruck]

I've finally come to the point I hav etime to start messing with this car- most other projects out of the way.

First and formost- 1)I have a front O2 sensor on order to fix the SRS red light that has been on the dash for 2 months now-
2) The antenna mast is ordered that I just friggin messed up by not turning the radio off in the last drive through carwash I went through (could kick myself in the ass for that one).
3)Yesterday I fixed the headliner that was coming undone just about a 1/2" bavk for the rear opening of the sunroof- wind was flopping it and the edges were peeling back. i used some 3M 80 spray adhesive for Vynal and also brushed it into the corners real well. the material strecthed and crinkled at first, but after about 2 hours of drying it strarted to reshrink back to normal fitment and today its as good as new looking.

4) The front koni montube shocks arrived 2 days ago- waiting ont he rears backorder until 7-8-13

5) spring compressor arrived

6) just ordered my new wheels
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7) Going to try to run over Monday mid day if I get enough of a break (running another business errand near there fisrt) and try to drop into Extreme Dimensions in Fullerton to inspect and pickup as set of Duraflex CR-S sideskirts. (I have Brabus front and rear bumpers- the real ones)

8) when the wheel get here, I will dismount 4 used BFG KDW2 tires (60% tread left)off some rims for another car I no longer have. Then I will have two of the four mounted onto the new front wheels to see how the 215/40-18's look. if they are decent then I will simply order 2 245/35-18's to match for the rear 9.5 wheels (fronts are 8.5's) . if they look too small then I will dispose of them and but 4 BFG Sport Comp2's in 225/40 fronts and 255/35 rears like they should be.

From there I need to ge tthe Brabus front down off the rafters and clean it- It uses the OEM front lower center grill part, but the two outside little ones are replaced with Babus shapes ones that the previous owner had siliconed black crap all over them and stuck them on. I need to clean everything off real good and figure a better way to mount these and then get Hella 450 driving lights and fit them. Then its off to paint for the body kit parts. I am not even going to bother test fitting the Brabus front and rear because the molds look so perfect with factory mount tabs I am sure they will fit beauiful just by the looks of them. The sideskirts though I will have to work on just a little based on AtomicVettes thread and pics- but they too look decent.

Getting excited, Its been about 8 months now since I bought this car and I am finally getting around to building it. I had finished the interior with a few upgrades the first month I bought it with new Brabus pedals, Brabus custom made mats, chrome center console pieces, gear knob,Brabus door pins, tinted windows 35%/20%, and a detail.

Dean

[John Jones Jr.]

Sounds good but need photo's!

[Vetruck]

A get an email from this Email from a Mercedes parts wholesaler saying my sunroof track angle guide part I ordered is on hold until he can get my VIN # from me so he can verify if it's the part I need and if he'll need to add anything else. I told him to get it in the mail tomorrow or he can take a flying fuck and Ill cancel my order and go elsewere- WTF is with ordering parts for these cars? arrogant bastards

[Vetruck]

Also a little tip for everyone. On the headliner fabric I had to reglue the wind edge of it right behind the sunroof opening, it layed down very nicely and feels soild again with absolutely no wrinkles (it wrinkled badly when the glue spray was wet)- Today I used some 3M double stick tape along the span about 18" long and stuck the headliner foam to the underneath of the metal sunroof cage at the rear span of the opening. I noticed that at freeway speed the headliner wobbles there since there is no screws or clips in this area to support it. It now stay firm even at speed.

[Vetruck]

JJJ, I took a wide angle interior shot with the GoPro- this car is immaculant on the inside and a very nice canvas to work with on the outside also
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Here's a recent outside shot, I had just picked it up from getting the paint clayed and detailed, but the shot was fuzzy pointing into the sun. The friend I bought it off of was in his early 70's (im mid 40's BTW) and just babied the car. He took perfect care of it with full service records.

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[anf6789]

cant wait to see the progress!

btw that second pic has to be the worst shot i have ever seen, lol.

[Vetruck]

cant wait to see the progress!

btw that second pic has to be the worst shot i have ever seen, lol.

Something tells me Im in the dark ages with my crappy MetroPCS cell phone picture.

I tried to zoom in on this picture
http://www.club202.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1314&d=1370446627

[John Jones Jr.]

btw that second pic has to be the worst shot i have ever seen, lol.

Bloody hell, Vetruck even my photo's aren't as crap as that one & mine are bad! ;)

Keep up the good work.

[Vetruck]

LOL- yeah but if you've seen one stock 94 C-class then you've seen then all. That pic is just for "before" sake. It pretty much looks like it did new off the lot but with 2 very minor dings Ill have a guy down at Fletcher Jones try and remove. THis guy is supposed to be dirt cheap and sub contracted at that Mercedes dealer full time.
My buddy had just bought that SL from a Brabus mechanic at the Irvine Brabus shop. The mechanic recommended my buddy to this guy at Fletcher to remove a little ding on one of the doors it's a buddy of his.

[Vetruck]

Since do not allow female garage helpers, also ordered new toeplates from Longacre that are the deluxe units. I have alot of measuring to do on this car and its hard to get a decent helper I can trust to hold the other side toe plates I currently have against the wheel accurately. the ones I have coming I can set a cinderblock on the opposite side and they have magnetic holds of the tape measure ends. THis way I can bump the cars front and rear toe completely through suspension travel when I pull the coils all out each axle at a time. THat is going to be a full day, but is very important to get the suspension correct for lowering prior to actually adding springs and determining ride height. I will be doing this then putting it right back to OEM- and then order what springs I will try based on that data.

[John Jones Jr.]

Ah, that's a far better photo. :D See what you can do if you try? :)

[Vetruck]

Test fit the rears yesterday. No spacers needed- they barely fit the inside fenderwells AND the clear the outer lip. These are staggered wheels 8.5"x18 fronts and 9.5"x18 rears.

The lugnuts stick 3/4" out the OEM wheels, but the bores of the new wheels are thinner and sitck out 1.25". I need to buy new chrome lug bolts from Gorilla. Going to 1.10" thread lengths rather than 1.55". The locking lug bolts I am going to are part # 48172N-20 for the entire set plus socket.

[John Jones Jr.]

Nice one. What you need now is a set of AMG wheel spats.

[MikeD]

Why on earth was I under the impression that you had a gold car? This is going to look good on a white car

[Vetruck]

Nice one. What you need now is a set of AMG wheel spats.

I think you are forgetting I'm the guy that bought the Brabus body kit that was for sale on this site. They are not on the car yet. I need to swing by and pick up the CR-S siideskirts locally (the factory is about 30 mins from me) and then those and the Brabus front and rear bumpers are going to paint to replace all the pre-facelift parts currently on my car.

[John Jones Jr.]

No, wasn't aware you were fitting a kit. Looking forward to photos.

[Vetruck]

Why on earth was I under the impression that you had a gold car? This is going to look good on a white carTy, It's been white and is staying white. I was a little goldish last week before I had the paint rubbed out..LOL Amazing what a good detail does to bring paint alive. The car was always garaged (I know the previous owner well) but it still takes a toll over the years. he never had it professionally details so I took it to have the clay bar it so it is now vivd white like the paint was new.

This is kindof the look I am after, except for I do not want 20's on and I do not like completely copying someone else. I fought the idea of Lorinser LM6's on a Babus bodykit, but I really like the fan blade wheels on the SL's and such. I am not going to put the car that low, I am more into function and road race capable since I am a suspension guru- its ride height will be limited to function first and foremost.

[Sulaco]

I'm damned anxious to hear what ends up happening to this car. That interior shot takes me back. My beloved 1994 C280 had 14k miles on it when I bought it in 1999 and had the exact same interior. Damn, I miss that car. My C43 is nothing like it.

[Vetruck]

I was able to get a whole afternoon on the car today. I completely speced the geometry of the frontend. I have not done anything in the rear suspension yet so that will be next when I get some more free time. I will start a thread tonight or tomorrow morning in the suspension forum and will link it to this thread. A little preveiw...
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[John Jones Jr.]

Looking forward to the new thread.

[Vetruck]

http://www.club202.com/forums/showthread.php?18385-Ultimate-suspension-geometry

[John Jones Jr.]

Top man. Great stuff Dean. Now, the hard part comes in understanding it all! :D

[Vetruck]

Im scratching my head with this car. The Koni robound dampering still feels soft which means I have to go up quite a bit on the spring rate. Looking at the C43 SuperSport springs from H&R. The 2" front drop will be fine on the lighter weight motor and should only go down around the 1.5" I am looking for- the rear however is a different story. The rear of my car is sitting lower than the front as it is by 3/4". The 1.9" rear drop will be extreme, so I will most likely be looking at the 13 or 17mm rear pads to get it back up 1-1 5/16" after the drop to keep it around the 25 1/4" I want. Its going to take some time messing with online ordered again. I am ordering the springs first then trying them WITHOUT spring pads to see where Im at for a better reference to try and take an exact needed measurement of spring pad chooice both front and rear to get it level. I have a feeling I am going to end up with this car a little lower than I was originally thinking based on the wheels and tire choices I am going to, but its going to have that look like the black one I pictured above.

[Vetruck]

Also, I was going to work on the car more today-right now- but she is out with the girls and decided to drive instead of the plans of one of the others picking her up (I guess someones car is broken unexpectedly) Makes it real difficult to work on it when its not here :( But I am not about to let here drive my other cars, she can not handle larger vehicles well. So I have been sitting here for the last hour researching spring options on the internet and figuring measurements. Time for a bike ride to the beach...

[Vetruck]

Rear shocks got here today. Ill put them on tomorrow- so it means I will also bump the rear of the car to see what specs I get out if it like i did the fronts. Having a hard time trying to decide on springs. I want the stiffest ones I can find, but not too low. looking for about 25"-25 1/4" ride height on both front and rear. right now Im at 26 3/4"front/26"rear. Worried the Supersports will be the rate I want but too low a stance. Who makes the stiffest spring, Eibach prokit?