In an earlier post I mentioned that the first time we took the car for a drive on actual streets it made a lot of noise. This was because, among some other things, the fuel pump was vibrating against the steering box due to bad front motor mounts. Well, that problem is fixed now.
I ordered up a pair of new, aftermarket, motor mounts from 190SLparts.com and we put them in on Wednesday. It was super easy to do. It can be done from above so there was no need to put the car up on a lift. We jacked up the engine to relieve the weight, unbolted and slid the old ones out, and slid the new ones back in. The old mounts were totally collapsed. The right one had even come apart. Now that the new ones are in, the engine sits almost an inch higher. It needs rear mounts, too, but the supplier was out of them.
Since I had the car in my friends' shop for this, we put it up on the lift anyway so I could check for leaks and see how everything looks. The car has about 40 miles since its resurrection and new leaks are likely to turn up. The last time we had it on the lifts I spotted a leak where the fuel line attaches to the gas tank. I tightened a fitting and hoped for the best. This most recent inspection shows the leak has been healed. I am losing a little brake fluid somewhere and we saw a spot on the right rear wheel that indicates a possible leak. We didn't do anything about it yet. The only other possibility is that brake fluid is leaking into the air chamber in the brake booster. That's a pain to fix. I hope it isn't the booster.
After changing the motor mounts I took it for a drive. So quiet and smooth now! It really made a difference in how the car feels. I drove it on a few errands and then took a longer drive out a mountain road to see how the car handles. It was great!
It's mid-December now and I picked the warmest day of the week to take the drive. It was in the mid-60's. Not warm, but not bad, either. There is still no fabric on the convertible top so that may be the very next thing I try to do. With the top on I could drive it in cooler weather without freezing my ass off.
Another project in the car's near future is to get the heater working. I haven't even looked into this. There are some cardboard air channels that are not in good shape. I may have to repair them rather than get new ones. I don't know if the fan works or if the heater core is sound. The work goes on!
