Happy Easter

Getting closer to the first real trip of the season.

Today I got some time to tinker between cooking the Easter dinner and playing with my son.

Finally decided to dig in and complete the Mercedes horn installation.  I had an aftermarket horn in there for the past year and I hated the anemic sound of it. Couldn't hear it at any speed. I had grabbed the pair of horns from an older Mercedes E420 I had before it went bye bye and they have been sitting in my garage mocking me since.

Installed the horns behind the grille on the passenger side of the radiator.  Installed a relay right aside it and wired it up to the horn switch and got that sweet German horn sound back.

Also installed Porsche washer fluid squirters, moved to these as they slide into existing VW holes and offer two adjustable directional squirters over the Vanagon singles.  While in there I replaced all the lines in the squirter system with new lines.  Easy since I had the grille off and was in the dash for the horn power.


Found me a good rear bumper yesterday.  Have been happy with my 4x4 piece of PT wood, but the wife was bickering about the amount of stickers I had plastered on it.  So what?  Well I came across a decent one, had the bumper ends and the bumper strip in the garage.  Love it when silly shit comes together for free..

Also finally installed the left hand hinges in the last door on the recently installed cabinet face.

Got some new floor mats, all weather type to protect the carpet a bit better from my son.  They need a little fine trimming to be perfect. 

Have received a set of front fender flares that were recreated from a stock Doka. Company out west called Terrawagen is reproducing them.  Awaiting the rears to show up and get them all installed. They look good and will protect the arches nicely. 

I have lots on the to do list, and too little time.  Pictures to follow.

The wheels on the bus

So my S420 is nearing the end of its usefulness for me.  In searching for its replacement, I decided to find the balance between the comfort and road worthiness of the Mercedes S Class, and the utility of a soccer mom vehicle.  Ended up slapping a deposit on a pre owned GL450 that has just come off a lease.  That being said, the dealer wouldn't give me any more money for the AMG wheels and new Michelin Pilot Sport tires than for the stock alloys and half used Michelin MXV4's.  Cool, lets see if they fit on the Thingamajigger!

The wheels are an 18x8 AMG replica.  The tires are a Michelin Pilot Sport255/45 zr18 with a load rating of 99.

The good news is that they fit, with minimal adjustments.  The front needs a 4 or 5 mm spacer to clear the control arm.  And the rear fit right on without need of a spacer, but the track is off compared to the front, so a 10 or 12 mm spacer will correct the aesthetics.

The bad news is that with a footprint of over 9 inches, it is double the width of the stock tires.  This size difference really exaggerates the need to rebuild the front end.  Also need to put in the higher springs, the edge of the tire is flush with the wheel arch of the van and a good jolt to the suspension will cause a rubbing.

For now - its fun.  I do not want to go staggered as it will limit my rotations and longevity of tires.  I will probably put them on Flakeslist and see if I can cover the cost of some 225 or 235 tires as I foresee that size as being optimum for the gearing and the torque of the Zetec engine.