Clara

I'm still waiting for the clocks to return from their rebuild and the back box for the exhaust is being fitted shortly (as it is getting rather noisy!), so I thought I would take stock and see what's left to do before Clara is in even better shape than she is now.

Well for starters the front seats and armrest are in need of some fixing:

Split Seat
Front Armrest
Split Seat

Come to think of it the bolster on the driver's seat is looking rather tired, too. I'm hoping that something can be done for these without a complete interior retrim - especially as the rear seats and armrest are pretty much perfect. An interior trimmer I know said that a whole new hide would need to be bought and a complete retrim would be required as it wouldn't be possible to fix the seats and without a complete new hide it would be impossible to match the colour... I think I need a second opinion!

For some reason the wheels currently in use don't match the spare wheel - I suspect that the originals were stolen. The data sheet for the car says that the wheels originally specified were fifteen hole alloys: the wheels in use are not MB originals - they are copies of an MB eight hole wheel that wasn't yet available when she was built. I'm grateful to the person who alerted me to the fact that there are two types of fifteen hole wheels, too - one with rectangular holes and the other with rounded holes. I must make sure to get the correct type!

Currently in use:

Current Wheel

The spare:

Correct Wheel

As is common on the W124 coupé the trim covering the seatbelt butler has lifted and - as is common across the model range, I suspect - the dashboard is cracked.

Seatbelt Butler Cover
Cracked Dashboard

I'm rather hoping that the trim over the seatbelt butler cover can be glued back down somehow and that the dashboard can be filled and colour-matched and that I don't have to have a complete new dashboard!

The central locking doesn't work. I can hear the vacuum pump running but only the door being unlocked with the key works. Also vacuum related, the rear headrests don't drop at the moment - I suspect that there is a problem with the vacuum lines which drop them...

Rear Headrests

I discovered a pool of water in the boot after some recent heavy rain (this is Britain, after all!) and when Silchester investigated it for me it transpired that the rear screen seal is not in the best shape:

Rear Screen Seal

Some sealant on the rubber has proved to be a good fix for now but I will try to get the seal replaced sometime - and maybe the screen as well as not all the elements in the demister work and it is just starting to de-laminate - another common problem.

Interior Light Switch

I'm not sure what is going on with the interior light: it works, but doesn't come on when the door is opened no matter what setting the switch is on...

The varnish on the wood around the selector lever and window switches is cracked - at least I am hoping that it is the varnish! I think that this is a pretty common issue too...

Cracked Wood

The other niggle that I have is that the lever on the manually adjustable driver's door mirror has broken off. The last time that I enquired of MB about this part I was told that it was still available - at £600! So that's £200 more than the price of two new front wings...

None of these things really detract from my enjoyment of Clara - it would just be nice to get them all fixed so that everything works as it should! Since her new head gasket and wings she has taken on a new lease of life - it is so nice not to have to worry about her oil level - so, unless something else critical breaks(!), I shall soon be able to start concentrating on the mainly cosmetic things that I have mentioned here. I'm looking forward to it!

Exhaust And Balljoint