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Greetings, Friends:
For years, I have been enjoying reading through build threads, and watching the clever ideas that everyone develops, the bold moves people make, and then the antics that make the purists go nuts. Even if it is not my style, I can respect that someone took the time to make their vision a reality.
With that inspiration in mind, I thought I would share my build with you. It is my low-budget (cue the famous song by The Kinks), rat-rod-esque, static 1986 Mercedes Benz 190E 2.3-16. With this thread, I will share some its history, and bring you along for the ride for the next adventure. Or, you can watch with me as it disintegrates into dust – whichever comes first.
Here are a few recent pics:
Here is where it began…
That fender was even worse than the pic suggests. Thankfully, the seller had another 2.3-16 specific fender. Aficionados know that the regular 190E fenders are different than the 2.3-16 190E fenders. The actual fender does not flare out. The added fender flares, which are a part of the body kit, only give the appearance of the flare.
Got the new fender painted and installed. Here we are at the James Dean Festival. Next step, remove the cheap, aftermarket grill that is flimsy and falling apart!
The heart of the beast.
Back to original grill. This is more my style.
Early morning shots:
A/C delete!
About this time, I had decided to really go all out and make this a performance dedicated car. I swapped the wheels to lightweight CLKs…
I gutted the interior…
I made the pilgrimage to Southern Worthersee (for the last year that it existed, that is)…
I knew the car had rust when I bought it. But, I did not realize that it was getting this bad…
At this point, I knew that I could not, in good conscience, thrash this car around the curves and corners, etc. I made the decision to just drop it down. That would involve first pulling the body kit.
More rust…
And you have to pull swap the fenders too. Here is a pic with the wheels that eventually landed on the car.
Made it down to Water by the Bridge 2016. (Why the promoters do not print up decals for Water by the Bridge is beyond me. That would seem to be cheap, and effective advertising.)
Always loved stinger pipes. Decided to give it a run with my car. I am sure purists love it too. =)
On the way back from Water by the Bridge, I found an interesting spot…
And it seemed like there was a graveyard behind the antiques building…
The trip to Water by the Bridge was the first real opportunity to get out and stretch the cars legs with the recent lowering. First thing that needed to be addressed was ride quality. Front was alright. In the front, I was running the r129 strut mounts, the customary Bilstein sport B8 application, cut stock 16v springs, and 4-nub spring shims. The front was good, but back was miserable.
Seeing some of you install the Ford Ranger shocks on the rears of your 190s, I thought I would give it a whirl. Note that these shocks are from the FRONT of the Ford Ranger – NOT the rear.
Having heard that the Ford Ranger shock is a viable alternative for those wanting to go LOW, I decided to give it a shot. Given the inexpensive price of the Gabriels from Summit, I thought it might be worth a try.
Luckily, I had some extra bushings lying around. Otherwise, I would have to beat the old ones out of my Bilsteins.
As you can see, there is significant shock travel gained by swapping to the Ford Ranger front shocks.
Because there is not much clearance, I knew these wide wheels were not going to work for long. So, it was back to my 16” SL wheels.
Here we are gearing up for Eurohanger 2016.
Made it to Eurohangar 2016. However, there were a few bumps along the way where I was literally checking in my rearview mirror to see what fell off. Totally expecting to see exhaust pipes. Surprisingly, the only thing I lost was a jack pad. Unbelievable. This is static, mind you.
Decided that the stinger pipe just wasn't right for this car. Swapped to something a little more in line with the mood of this car... with some junk I had lying around.
Update on the rear shocks. The trip to Eurohangar convinced me that the cheap Gabriels were simply NOT going to cut it. It was time to invest in some proper Bilsteins.
Thankfully, Bilstein makes some for the front of Ford Ranger. P/N 24-022361. Here, you can see it compared against the typical Bilstein recommended for the 190E.
The experiment started with the Gabriel shocks for the Ford Ranger. The purpose of the experiment was to observe the ride quality with the increased shock travel in the lowered application. The increased shock travel certainly helped, but the generally poor quality of the Gabriels necessitated the upgrade.
We all knew that the Bilsteins were lightyears ahead in quality. But, there is really nothing look going from something like a cheap Gabriel shock to a Bilstein to REALLY make that improvement that much more noticeable. The Bilsteins are SO much more firm and controlled. Now, it actually feels like I am driving a Mercedes again – in spite of its LOW ride height. Also interesting to note, the rubber bushing inserts from the Gabriels were already loose – and there was barely 1,100 miles on them!!
Stay tuned for more to come. This build is really never going to be finished. Well, when the shock towers finally rust apart, then this build will be finished. I am not going to bother spending the time to weld in new metal when you can get a 2.3 190E rolling shell for about $500. At that point, I may just tear out the drive train and drop it in to a cleaner car. We’ll see. Until then, keep watch for more on the ROSTIG, LANGSAM, UND GESUNKEN 190E 2.3-16.
Deutschland201
For years, I have been enjoying reading through build threads, and watching the clever ideas that everyone develops, the bold moves people make, and then the antics that make the purists go nuts. Even if it is not my style, I can respect that someone took the time to make their vision a reality.
With that inspiration in mind, I thought I would share my build with you. It is my low-budget (cue the famous song by The Kinks), rat-rod-esque, static 1986 Mercedes Benz 190E 2.3-16. With this thread, I will share some its history, and bring you along for the ride for the next adventure. Or, you can watch with me as it disintegrates into dust – whichever comes first.
Here are a few recent pics:
Here is where it began…
That fender was even worse than the pic suggests. Thankfully, the seller had another 2.3-16 specific fender. Aficionados know that the regular 190E fenders are different than the 2.3-16 190E fenders. The actual fender does not flare out. The added fender flares, which are a part of the body kit, only give the appearance of the flare.
Got the new fender painted and installed. Here we are at the James Dean Festival. Next step, remove the cheap, aftermarket grill that is flimsy and falling apart!
The heart of the beast.
Back to original grill. This is more my style.
Early morning shots:
A/C delete!
About this time, I had decided to really go all out and make this a performance dedicated car. I swapped the wheels to lightweight CLKs…
I gutted the interior…
I made the pilgrimage to Southern Worthersee (for the last year that it existed, that is)…
I knew the car had rust when I bought it. But, I did not realize that it was getting this bad…
At this point, I knew that I could not, in good conscience, thrash this car around the curves and corners, etc. I made the decision to just drop it down. That would involve first pulling the body kit.
More rust…
And you have to pull swap the fenders too. Here is a pic with the wheels that eventually landed on the car.
Made it down to Water by the Bridge 2016. (Why the promoters do not print up decals for Water by the Bridge is beyond me. That would seem to be cheap, and effective advertising.)
Always loved stinger pipes. Decided to give it a run with my car. I am sure purists love it too. =)
On the way back from Water by the Bridge, I found an interesting spot…
And it seemed like there was a graveyard behind the antiques building…
The trip to Water by the Bridge was the first real opportunity to get out and stretch the cars legs with the recent lowering. First thing that needed to be addressed was ride quality. Front was alright. In the front, I was running the r129 strut mounts, the customary Bilstein sport B8 application, cut stock 16v springs, and 4-nub spring shims. The front was good, but back was miserable.
Seeing some of you install the Ford Ranger shocks on the rears of your 190s, I thought I would give it a whirl. Note that these shocks are from the FRONT of the Ford Ranger – NOT the rear.
Having heard that the Ford Ranger shock is a viable alternative for those wanting to go LOW, I decided to give it a shot. Given the inexpensive price of the Gabriels from Summit, I thought it might be worth a try.
Luckily, I had some extra bushings lying around. Otherwise, I would have to beat the old ones out of my Bilsteins.
As you can see, there is significant shock travel gained by swapping to the Ford Ranger front shocks.
Because there is not much clearance, I knew these wide wheels were not going to work for long. So, it was back to my 16” SL wheels.
Here we are gearing up for Eurohanger 2016.
Made it to Eurohangar 2016. However, there were a few bumps along the way where I was literally checking in my rearview mirror to see what fell off. Totally expecting to see exhaust pipes. Surprisingly, the only thing I lost was a jack pad. Unbelievable. This is static, mind you.
Decided that the stinger pipe just wasn't right for this car. Swapped to something a little more in line with the mood of this car... with some junk I had lying around.
Update on the rear shocks. The trip to Eurohangar convinced me that the cheap Gabriels were simply NOT going to cut it. It was time to invest in some proper Bilsteins.
Thankfully, Bilstein makes some for the front of Ford Ranger. P/N 24-022361. Here, you can see it compared against the typical Bilstein recommended for the 190E.
The experiment started with the Gabriel shocks for the Ford Ranger. The purpose of the experiment was to observe the ride quality with the increased shock travel in the lowered application. The increased shock travel certainly helped, but the generally poor quality of the Gabriels necessitated the upgrade.
We all knew that the Bilsteins were lightyears ahead in quality. But, there is really nothing look going from something like a cheap Gabriel shock to a Bilstein to REALLY make that improvement that much more noticeable. The Bilsteins are SO much more firm and controlled. Now, it actually feels like I am driving a Mercedes again – in spite of its LOW ride height. Also interesting to note, the rubber bushing inserts from the Gabriels were already loose – and there was barely 1,100 miles on them!!
Stay tuned for more to come. This build is really never going to be finished. Well, when the shock towers finally rust apart, then this build will be finished. I am not going to bother spending the time to weld in new metal when you can get a 2.3 190E rolling shell for about $500. At that point, I may just tear out the drive train and drop it in to a cleaner car. We’ll see. Until then, keep watch for more on the ROSTIG, LANGSAM, UND GESUNKEN 190E 2.3-16.
Deutschland201
Great work man
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