At 3:31 PM -0500 9/21/06, Kaleb C. Striplin wrote:
If anybody has any great tech articles that can put into a web page
format ready to upload to the servers, that would be appreciated also.
Proper credit will be given.
Here's a classic of mine from 1999.
-MMM-
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Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 18:50:21 -0500
From: "M. Mitchell Marmel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [MBLIST] Rommel: The Horn Blows At Midnight. And Noon. And 10:45 AM.
And...
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Extra Credit Trivia Quiz: Name the radio comedian to whom the title
of this epistle refers)
Longtime students of the M. Mitchell Marmel School of Improvisational
Mercedes Repair will recall that Rommel has been operating since the
spring with a horn button hoseclamped to the turn signal stalk, as
well as said stalk being somewhat wonky in the wiper control
department. Things came to a head last night, when the wipers,
already limited to high speed only, began cutting out entirely when I
signalled for a right turn.
Time for me to apply the replacement stalk, steering wheel and horn
contacts I got from a late, lamented '70 250C at Lou's U-Pull-It.
This morning dawned clear and chilly, so, after the cable guy had
come and gone (I have finally broken down and gotten cable in my
bedroom), I commenced working:
1) Remove screws holding left kick panel in place.
2) Remove bungee cord holding left kick panel in place. (The phrase
"jerry rigged" was coined with Rommel in mind.)
3) Disconnect old stalk plug. Before pulling, check replacement
stalk by plugging in. Huzzah! It works!
4) Undo center nut in steering wheel.
5) Lose nut and socket in steering wheel bowl.
5a) Curse Daimler-Benz engineers.
6) Pull steering wheel with gentle tug.
7) Pull steering wheel with firm tug.
8) Give big honking yank. Steering wheel pops free.
9) See 5a)
10) Examine horn slip rings and contacts. Yick. The shift column
has, true to its nature, shifted a bit and the tip is digging into
the outer ring. Brass shavings everywhere.
11) See 5a)
12) Unscrew stalk, attempt to pull out. Fumble with plug until I get
it to pass through the steering column cover.
13) See 5a)
14) Install replacement horn contacts.
15) Try to thread replacement stalk cable through column cover. Plug
doesn't want to get with the program.
16) See 5a)
17) Get plug threaded, stalk screwed in and horn contact wires connected.
18) Go to plug stalk cable in.
19) Discover that cable is three inches too short to reach the socket.
20) See 5a), grand slam redoubled in spades. Vow to make hefty
contribution to the "Track Down 114/115 Engineers and Slap Them
Silly" fund. Consider that, given some of the design features of the
114/115, this may be redundant, as the engineers were obviously more
than adequately silly.
21) Unbolt socket bracket.
22) Discover that socket slides into bracket.
23) See 5a)
24) Detach socket, connect to plug.
25) Carefully positioning replacement steering wheel, place on splines.
26) Give gentle push.
27) Give strong shove.
28) Whack the hub with a large socket and 1/2" extender.
29) See 5a)
30) Using mystic finger contortions, retrieve socket and nut from
original steering wheel.
31) Bolt steering wheel down firmly.
32) Turn on ignition key.
33) Horn sounds continuously.
34) Turn off ignition key.
35) See 5a)
36) Unbolt steering wheel from hub to see if ring is the problem.
37) Ring ain't the problem.
38) Rebolt steering wheel to hub, unbolt hub nut and gently yank at
steering wheel.
39) See 8) and 5a).
40) Glare hatefully at the tip of the shift lever column. Wonder if
Phil is finished with Iltis yet.
41) Spend fifteen minutes or so fiddling with bits of wood, plastic
and so forth to make an insulating cap for the shaft.
42) Finally strike on a bit of plastic pipe left over from an 80's
vintage Erector set.
43) Slice a 2.5 mm chunk off.
44) Eureka! It fits.
45) Reinstall steering wheel as above.
46) Lose socket in bowl again.
47) See 5a)
48) Unbolt wheel from hub; retrieve socket.
49) Reassembly of wheel and kick panel in reverse of above.
50) Turn on ignition switch. Everything works flawlessly. Damn, I'm good.
And so, Rommel has a working horn ring, uncracked steering wheel,
fully working wipers and a good turn stalk.
A good morning's work, says I.
-MMM-
'68 Mercedes 220D "Rommel" http://www.dhc.net/~pmhack/mercedes/220d681.htm
'67 Mercedes 250S "Entchen" http://www.dhc.net/~pmhack/mercedes/250s671.htm
'71 Mercedes 250/8 "Iltis"
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/grad/marmelmm/250/250.htm
WdHel: "Zur Hoelle, es laeuft!"
MBCNA Delaware Valley Non-Section
MBCNA Virtual Non-Section
