Here's part 2 of my exhaust modification on 'FrankenBenz'!!! Like I said previously, I don't intend to make my exhaust loud as this is my daily ride... So what I'm doing is make it freer flowing but minus the noise!!! So how am I going to do that??? Easy just use back the original 'Merc' muffler which is extremely quiet but very restrictive!!! 

 Original 'Merc' muffler... What I'm planning to do here is beautify it... Very ordinary looking I must say...

How to beautify it??? Simple just cut off the twin outlet and custom it with an exhaust tip that I like... As simple as that... But by doing this, I don't get any benefit of gaining power nor torque... Just to make it a tad nicer when looking at the backside of my 'FrankenBenz'!!! At least it look more powerful with the exhaust tip on!!! Haha...

Aligning the exhaust tip... I chose this design because it was being used by 'AMG' on their 'W124' car as well... I wanted to get the 'AMG' version but too bad I can't get it... Most 'AMG' model sold here came with an oval tip instead of rectangular!!!

 One up and the next is ready to go...

I asked them to spray the piping black so that it look original... Wanna make it as original as possible...

Ta-dah... Finish and I'm loving it... Sound level is near perfection but too bad the exhaust system is still way too restrictive!!!

To be continue...

Another blog post on how I got stranded!!! This time round, I'm more fortunate as my relatives is following me on another car... Coincidently, there's a petrol station just beside me so I just put my car in neutral and guide my car to the petrol station... So I just park my car there and hop on my relatives car and off we go shopping!!! Haha...

Since it was a Sunday, I got limited choice on where to buy the radiator hose... Only those in shopping centre were available but I'm not in luck as most of them don't really carry radiator hose... I bought a normal PVC hose and thinking of fitting it in temporary so that I can drive my car back instead of leaving it there... But the more I think about it, I decided to do otherwise as the PVC hose are not designed for high temperature and also pressure...

Got no choice but to left my 'FrankenBenz' overnight there!!! I was so worried that I might not see my car the very next day!!! But thankfully, there it was right where I parked it!!! Phew...

  This is the condition of the original radiator hose... It virtually exploded!!!

Got this the very next day from a reputable shop... Beware though as there are a lot of fake 'Samco' hose around... If you got yours for less than RM200, then for sure those are counterfeit as original one cost way more!!! As I'm using 'Mitsubishi Evo 3' radiator, I got the 'Samco' hose for the same model as well as there is a section that can be cut and fit onto my car nicely... Thinking of getting the black colour one but too bad they don't carry other colours other than the normal blue one... Don't really wanna bling up the engine compartment as I'm trying my best to make it look as stock as possible...

Fit in nicely!!! As for the remaining 'Samco' hose, I ask my workshop to modified and replaced the old bottom radiator hose of mine as I scare this incident might happen again in the near future!!! 

To be continue...

One of the most effective modification to free up lots of horsepower (especially turbocharged car) is by simply changing to a freer flow exhaust system... If you're driving a naturally aspirated car, you really need to choose your exhaust setup wisely... As for turbocharged car, changing exhaust is as easy as 'ABC'... Normally people will tell you to go with the biggest diameter allow for your engine and the less resistant the better (meaning straight all the way without any resonator)... 

At first I'm planning to go 3" all the way but decided to go against it after much consideration... Now I'm running 2.5" only as noise is my biggest enemy... I like to set it up as quiet as possible as this is my daily drive and I need to ferry my customers occasionally... So I've got no choice but to opt for silent exhaust...

The normal 'Merc' exhaust system was way to restrictive... After changing the piping all the way, I felt my car got a bit more power especially at higher RPM...

One way to solve the noise issue is to use back the original 'Merc' muffler... With this on, you can barely hear anything!!!... Okay, the noise have gone up a notch with the new piping but still very much habitable... Most people will think that I'm running on stock eventhough my exhaust is straight flow all the way (good thing about turbocharged car as the turbo helps to muffled out a lot of noise!!!)... With the original muffler on, I'm very sure I've lost some power but this is a trade off that I must accept!!! Currently I'm really happy with this setup and I don't plan to do anything to the muffler for the time being... 

To be continue...

Here's what I have to endure for more than one week!!! The whole interior looks really ugly and not forgetting scary as all the wiring loom can be seen snaking all over the place... Before this, all my interior lighting were off except the meter (thankfully if not I really don't know how to drive at night!!!)... So I took this chance and send my car for checkup... The wireman found a short circuit and replaced the wire and now the interior is back to normal except my boost meter!!! Will need to recheck this when I'm free...

This is the looks on my interior right now... All wood parts had turned into carbon fiber instead!!! In my opinion, it looks so much nicer if compared to the original wood trim and also the carbon fiber sticker that I had some time ago...

Thinking of buying some epoxy and hardener for my carbon trim as I ran out of those and some of the part is still not perfect!!! I still need to sand it and reapply at least for one or two more times!!! But too bad I ran out of the epoxy and hardener and I need to live with imperfection now I guess... Anybody know what kind of epoxy and hardener suitable for carbon fiber??? Will those used on fiber kit works???  

To be continue...

Recently, my 'FrankenBenz' have been behaving badly giving me lots of headache... But I don't blame it as this is the life of modifying car!!! If you want peace of mind, then get a new car and you can basically forget about it except for the usual servicing...

Things that I've changed recently was a rear arm and a drag link up front... I felt 'FrankenBenz' a bit unstable when boosting... Sometimes a bit too much that I dare not push it more than 130km/h!!! The car will be moving around and I need constant steering correction to keep it going straight!!! Lots of work and definitely not entertaining!!! Send my car to a reputable 'Merc' workshop and have them checked thoroughly... Found the culprit!!! Firstly the front drag link (unfortunately without pic!!!) and a rear arm... 

As you can see from this pic, the bush on the rear arm is definitely not in a good state... To be honest, I can barely see the bushing anymore... I've always wanted to change all my bushing to those performance 'Polyurethane' one but too bad they don't make it for my model!!! Guess most 'Merc' owners wanted comfort rather than outright performance!!!

Besides changing these two items, I get the foreman to re-tighten all the bolts and nuts including the steering box as well... Send my car for another round of alignment and I'm proud to say that 'FrankenBenz' totally transform into another car... Very good steering feel and no more correction needed when driving in a straight line!!! So the next right thing to do is drive up 'Genting' I guess!!!

To be continue...

This was the original state of my 'FrankenBenz' center console... The wood was in a very poor condition when I first took over the car... Most of the wood were either chipped or cracked... It looked really ugly and I really can't accept it...

Hair line cracked was all over the place... I needed to do something to it and the easiest way out was to stick carbon fiber looking sticker over it... 

Sticking the carbon fiber sticker over it was really easy... It transformed the center console totally!!! Now it looked so much nicer and not forgetting sportier... But unfortunately, after a few months of application, the carbon fiber sticker started to peel off and making it unsightly!!! 

In my previous blog post, I posted something on a 'DIY' carbon fiber kit... I'm going to use the kit and skinned it on the center console... First thing that I needed to do was to prepare the center console... Last time I was lazy and did not do a proper job of sanding the wood thus hair line cracked can be seen even after applying the carbon fiber sticker!!! This time round, I'm taking extra effort on the sanding part...

 I've even bought a wood filler to fill up most of the chipped area and making it smooth!!!

 After applying the wood filler, let it dry and sand it smooth... 

Time to prepare the carbon fiber cloth... Make sure that the cloth was sufficient before cutting it and remember to align the pattern accordingly... 

Before cutting, stick a masking tape on the area that you wanted to cut... The reason for doing this was to prevent the cloth from disintegration and also make it easier to cut!!!

 Put on the supplied rubber gloves and I'm ready to roll!!!

Mixed the supplied epoxy and hardener with the ratio of 2:1... Two parts epoxy and one part hardener... Mixed it thoroughly and used the brush and lightly coat the parts...

Placed the carbon fiber cloth on top of it... Remember to place it properly as you can't lift it once you place it down as it will spoilt the carbon fiber cloth!!! After that, used the brush and apply a thin layer on top of the carbon fiber cloth... Left it overnight for it to dry up... You don't have to cut out those area yet... Let it dry and it will be super easy to cut later on... This was the part that I got it wrong... I cut out those area before the epoxy and hardener mixture turned hard and disrupted the carbon fiber cloth!!!

After leaving it overnight, cut off those excessive part and sand the parts with sand paper... The reason for sanding the parts was to ensure that the area was totally flat but don't over do it as you might sand off the carbon fiber cloth pattern...  

After making sure that the parts was flat, mix the epoxy and hardener with the same ratio and apply another layer... Let it rest for a few hours and apply another layer...

 Let it dry overnight...

As you can see from this pic, I disrupted the carbon fiber cloth but thankfully, I have left over and I redo this part all over again!!!

Again mix up the mixture and reapply on the parts and let it dry overnight... Used a very fine sand paper and sand it... Cleaned up the parts and apply polisher on it and buff it up so that it looked shiny...

Ta-dah!!! This was the outcome!!! I don't have enough epoxy and hardener so that some of the parts were not covered properly... But still much better compared to carbon fiber sticker!!! Now 'FrankenBenz' looked so much sportier and I'm loving it!!!


To be continue...

After waiting for half a day, my parcel have finally arrived!!! This is a birthday present for myself... Getting the kit is easy but what's waiting ahead is something I'm quite scare of... I plan to redo my 'FrankenBenz' interior wood trim with this... Actually I've already did something to the wood trim in the form of carbon fiber sticker... Looks nice in the first few months but after that, it started to look cheap and not forgetting untidy as the sticker started to peel off itself...

Saw something on the net on skinning carbon fiber and I found someone selling this kit in 'Mudah' and I decided to take the plunged and try making carbon fiber myself... Not the real carbon fiber mind you, but definitely looks the part... 

This kit consist of all the things that you ever need in making your own carbon fiber parts... All you have to do is follow the instruction correctly and get your hands dirty... 

 Epoxy resin, hardener, polisher and compound for making the surface hard and shiny!!!

Carbon fiber cloth that looks real when you do it correctly... Can't wait to get my hands dirty!!! Going to start my project tomorrow by prepping the wooden center console!!! Wish me luck...

To be continue...

After fixing the alternator and long shaft problem, 'FrankenBenz' has another problem waiting for me to tackle!!! Radiator giving me problem again even though I've just change to a new aluminium one!!! Luckily I have the habit of checking the water level almost everyday cause I'm shocked to see the water level on that day... Almost half of the tank empty and when I poured water in, I realized there was a pin hole leak from the bottom of the radiator!!! I got no choice but to drive it around as the leak was still okay for short distance driving... Just need to top up the water after every drive... Drove around searching for a radiator repairer that can fix aluminium one but it seems like it was not something easy... Searched the net and forum and this product caught my attention...

'Bar's Leak - Radiator Stop Leak'!!! You don't have to guess the purpose of this as it was written all over it!!! At first I was a bit sceptical trying out something like this as I got mix reviewed from the net... Some claiming wonders while some advise to stay away from it... I was sceptical because this product will stick to the radiator and block the leak... So if it can stick to the radiator, can you imagine where else can it stick to!!! A lot of places I'm afraid... But still I bought it and pour half bottle in my radiator... From the instruction, pour half a bottle in if your car is a four cylinders one and whole bottle if your car is six cylinders or more... Although 'FrankenBenz' is six cylinders, I decided to pour just half bottle as I don't want it to mess with my system... Start the car and let it idle for 15 minutes or more and you know what, it works!!! 

Next morning before starting my car, I did my routine job of checking the radiator for water and to my horror the water level was low again!!! In my mind I was thinking of $$$ flying off again as I might need to replace the whole radiator... Since I got nothing to lose, I took the remaining half bottle of 'Bar's Leak - Radiator Stop Leak' and poured it in my radiator... Top up the water and let it idle... Obviously, the leak stopped after a while... 

Fast forward a few weeks later, I believe the stuff works as my radiator is working fine now... No more leak... So if your radiator has a small leak, you might wanna give this product a try but make sure to pour the whole bottle in if you're driving a six cylinders car!!! 

I don't have any pictures left for my 'Project FrankenBenz' so I decided to steal some from my buddy!!! Here's my 'FrankenBenz' in her full glory!!! I know you can't see clearly from these pics but currently 'FrankenBenz' is wearing a replica 'AMG Version 2' bodykit... The bodykit comprises of front and rear bumper, side skirt and a duck tail spoiler... Even though this is a replica unit, the attention to detail is just awesome... 

Choosing a bodykit for 'FrankenBenz' is not something easy... I've consider a few and ended up with this... 'AMG Version 2' bodykit is my first choice so I'm not surprise that I went with this... I'm also considering 'AMG Version 3' and also 'Wald V4'... Since both 'AMG Version 3' and 'Wald V4' are design for 'Masterpiece' version of 'W124', I decided not to install these to my 'FrankenBenz' as it is not the newer 'Masterpiece' version... I personally like the 'Wald V4' a lot!!! 

As you can see, beside 'FrankenBenz' there is another 'W124'... Don't let the look fool you!!! This is a 'pan chu sek lou fu' car!!! But you won't recognise the car now as it has undergone some drastic change...

'AMG' duck tail spoiler which is not really visible from this pic... Will try to snap some when my car is clean as it is super duper dirty nowadays!!! Really don't have the time to keep it clean... Although I've just painted my car, the amount of swirl on the paint is unbelievable!!! Luckily this can be rectify fairly quickly... 

Introducing 'Meguir's DA Microfiber Correction System'!!! With these, you can have swirl free ride almost instantly... I'm very satisfied with the outcome and how I wish my car shine like this everyday!!! If you have the same problem please consult 'Goodwell Car Detailer'!!! I'm very sure they can help you... 

Front bumper being massage by the BOSS!!!

Goodwell Car Detailer

No. G-6, Jalan C180/2, Dataran C180, 

43200 Cheras, Selangor.

03-9074 2567

To be continue...

Since I lost all my 'Project FrankenBenz' pics, I've been really lazy to blog about the progress of the project because I need to search the net for the all the pictures that I need!!! 

This modification is a really tough one if you ask because the W124 engine bay will not fit a original 'Toyota 1JZ-GTE' radiator... So what the workshop did was to modified the original 'Toyota' radiator to fit in the 'W124' engine bay... Since the last incident where I blown my head gasket, my radiator gave me a lot of problems... The radiator keep leaking and no matter how I repair, it will still leaked and it was really beyond repair... 

Aluminium radiator is the way to go because of the extra cooling ability and not forgetting 'bling bling' factor!!! The only problem that I need to face is to find one that can be fitted into the engine bay without any modification... All the hoses inlet need to be in the correct place... The first radiator that I tried was from 'Nissan S14 Silvia'... All the inlet and outlet hoses were in the correct place but when I took it back, I realized that the intercooler hose came into contact with the upper hose and I don't intend to change to another intercooler piping... So off the 'Nissan Silvia S14' aluminium radiator... Looking at the dimension another aluminium radiator that can be fix into my 'W124' was from 'Mitsubishi Evo 3'... The height of the 'Mitsubishi Evo 3' aluminium radiator was a tad shorter for my liking... But the width was spot on!!! Unfortunately, the top inlet hoses was on the wrong side!!! But my mechanic told me that he can modified so I stick to the 'Mitsubishi Evo 3' one as I'm really lazy to change it again!!! 

After changing to a aluminium radiator, the temperature stay at a constant 80 degree Celsius as compare to the normal 85 to 90 degree Celsius... If you ask me, I will definitely recommend this mod to those who wants to lower down their car temperature... This is a very good investment for me... After replacing the head gasket and radiator, my overheating problem is no longer a problem for me!!! 

To be continue...

I've always wanted to try how good a 'PIAA' silicone wiper is... The main reason I hold my purchase till now is rather simple... If you compare 'PIAA' silicone wiper to other makes of silicone wiper, you will notice the huge price difference and this is the only thing that hold me back from buying it... 

Most cars uses two wiper but my 'FrankenBenz' only uses one!!! So basically my 'FrankenBenz' is the perfect platform for me to try out expensive wiper because I only need to buy one instead of a pair!!! I know I'm cheap and you can call me a cheapo!!! 

This is the wiper that I'm looking for but unfortunately, I couldn't get my hands on one... The design looks really nice and sleek... I got no choice but to buy those conventional looking one instead... But overall I'm really happy with the performance of the wiper... Much better compare to my previous 'Bosch' wiper... Now my windscreen always look squeaky clean and no more irritating sound emitting from the wiper!!! 

A word of caution for 'W124' users... The longest wiper you can get is a 22" and not a 24"... Looking from the chart, our 'W124' suppose to use a 24" but it is way too long for our car... A 22" fit just nice... 

This is the manual boost controller that I've been talking about in my previous blog post... Some of my friends ask why do I change it because to them this is downgrading... True in a sense but sometimes manual is better... Not overly complicated and work just as well... In fact, better if you ask me... Just like manual cars... I like it more than an automatic car and I will take it over an automatic/dual clutch/automated manual or whatever name they decided to call... I don't even have to think about it!!! So no regret here if you insist on asking!!!

To be continue...