Andy_K 

santa fe 2926 

Standin' on a corner
Suitcase in my hand
Jack is in his corset, Jane is in her vest
And me I'm in a rock 'n' roll band. Huh
Ridin' in a Stutz Bearcat, Jim
Ya know, those were different times
All, all the poets studied rules of verse
And those ladies, they rolled their eyes

Robvolz 

Quote:
Originally Posted by chain_whipped
1970 MB 220 or 280? No tags, at the curb, I'll take it.

Quote:
Originally posted by Panzerwagon
Likely a w108, so 280. Someone move those bins and scrap metal from the way before they get sucked into the intake.

W109

Y'all know about the 1970 Red Pig? Took SPA? 6.3 V8. Boom. Although, her name is "buttercup" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_300_SEL_6.3
Woulda made a better team bike than an orange VOLVO.

Robvolz 

Merziac said: "revved up" or "wrapped up like a deuce, another runner in the night".

Springsteen's original version was "cut loose like a deuce", reference to 1932 Ford Deuce coupe.

I hear:

"Racked up like a ******, another loner in the night"

or

"Held up like a loofa by the foreman of the night."

merziac

chain_whipped

Think you meant 'a better team car' other than an orange Volvo.
Anyways, impressive sleeper. The origin of the 6.3 is interesting. In short, a few engineers secretly were developing and then swayed the board members and head of marketing after a surprise joy ride on a test track. The 6.3 was also instrumental for the early years of tuner AMG.

Had the luxury and pleasure years ago usage of a '78 6.9. Brawny and beastly for back then. Though also have test driven the 6.3 which I definitely preferred over the 6.9.

seagrade 

The criteria for Molteni team cars in the early 1970s were probably:

1. Do the rear windows wind down to flush with the door frame?
2. Can we buy at least three for less than the cost of Eddy’s 300 SEL?

PhilFo 

I saw that W109 out with the rubbish DeRosa. I gave away my 1972 220D (W115) a couple months ago. Had that car for a few days under ten years, drove it across the continent a bunch of times, and really loved it, but the salt from PA roads had taken too much of a toll on the floorpans until I was singing the Flintstones tune. Now the garage has all the bikes.

Robvolz 

Back to the bike…

Jeff came down with some NOS star washers for the brakes.





after trying to install them, it was determined the holes had done paint blocking the bolts.

out came the lil round and half round files





Finally everything fits

repechage

Doing the self ejecting brake pads?

Andy_K 

I'm just glad I'm not the only one who does that. I can't tell you how many times I've posted pictures of a bike I just built up and had someone here point out that I had done that. It's like posting pictures is my final safety check.

Robvolz 

I swapped pads before I even posted.

There was a raffle for how long it would take someone to comment.

Jeff won.

repechage

service those calipers, they need cleaning and the pivot hardware on the rear, the 13mm nut and the outer washer are flipped.
‘and clean up the rust.
the outer washer should have radial “knurling” and the chamfer facing out. If the parts are wrong, you appear to have enough extras to assemble things correctly.

Robvolz 

Got my first scratch.

You know, the one that hurts the most.

Anybody want to guess where and why?

Robert

merziac

Seat stay, cluster, screwing around with the SP/saddle height?

panzerwagon 

TT: bare handlebar
Or DT: front brake arm
Caused by fork unexpectedly turning

Talk about my most common scratched-during-new-build mistakes..

Sedgemop 

Just means that it's actually your bike now.

Steel1

Inside of NDS chainstay. Rear quick release not tight enough when first taking off in small rear cog.

Robvolz 

Winner. I always put a lil painters tape where the handlebars could whack the TT, but after installing the front brake, I forgot the lil rubber donut doesn't line up with the DT until the cable holds it in proper position.

So, yes, fork turned and brake arm smacked the DT. Boo Hoo.

Robvolz 

Yes, this build is going slowly.

Yesterday I tackled the downtube shifters.

"What?" you say, "that should have taken you 20 seconds tops."

Well, except I've been a bit busy, getting my Benz ready for sale. Within 20 minutes of posting, I had 50 calls/texts/emails. It went to a good home to a guy with a library of cars whom I've known for some time. Bonus, he says he trusts me to borrow from his collection every now and again and to use his SHOP every now and again, as long as I bring a bottle of something "interesting."



Goodbye Buttercup


Ok, back to bike. Which campy levers to use, the ones that say "Vicenza" or not. Velo base didn't really help. Campy catalogue #17 on Mark Bulgier's site didn't really help. Looking at my own collection, my Molteni Merckx had been drilled out. Two different Colnago's had been panto'd. And my ziplock back of levers and parts didn't offer any clues.



Thanks for nothing Team Molteni.


Plus I noticed Bulgier's site had that 1981 Bikology catalogue. There went 4 hours. $7 Campy hoods, and my fav part, the sale section where they are discontinuing the older style (globe logo) campy seat posts in any size you want, for $20 because they (Bikology) stated "the record with its one bolt was the only way to go."

Anyway, I went with the Vicenza levers. Seems the non Vicenza came out in 1982, but I don't trust the research enough to annotate.

Next, The trouble with installing the stops. Too much paint? Brazed bosses too big?

There is only one solution, an hack I remembered from the teen years. Using a socket extender and placing the socket part over the boss, one lil whack and it popped in place.


Notice protecting tape to chip doesn’t get worse. Doh!!!




Next, part #661. Are they steel or nylon? Nylon seemed too thick I guessed steel. But, I did use the nylon cone washers because they hold better in my opinion.


Sure enough, nice friction, no need for me to find a load of Wonder bread. All is good in a days work.

Today, brake levers, bar tape and maybe cables.

Also a poll: RIMS: Nisi or Martano? No I have both and a set of high flange campy hubs from 1973.

repechage

This is the correct set up for your period of bike.

Piff 

Great thread, loving all the pics and commentary!

Nice tip regarding installing the shifter stop, had this issue recently and had to gingerly tap it into place.

mpetry912 

yes that was a good tip. Never had that particular problem but a great pragmatic solution

Like something the late John Pergolizzi would know.

/markp

Robvolz 

OK, from that photo, I see I use the proper levers, but I cannot tell if the steel or nylon inserts are used and corresponding thumb bolts

repechage

you need to look closer. All metallic. The later nylon compression pieces matched to the chromed conical outer presser washer, slightly longer screws and one to two lock washers, Campagnolo packaged one per side to begin with and two later. Note the backing plates with the cable guides. The later simplified lever design paired with the aluminum base washer as you installed.