Newbie with a 3200gt you'll love to hate!

[Jhc32gt]

Hi, newbie here.

I'm Joe, from cornwall UK, I drive a 3200gt.

I bought it cheap, it's had a hard life and with no history, unknown mileage, and a write-off in its past I thought it would be perfect for me to have a play with.

It had some cooling issues which were presumed to be hgf, but turned out to just be a very leaky water pump. So first off it had a full cambelt service to put my mind at ease, and a new pump to fix the problem. It came with the throttle body replaced with the contactless (volvo?) modified unit, and I've since replaced the old pedal potentiometer with a contactless one too.

Thankfully it seems (so far) to not have any other major issues, but the list of little things to fix is a long one! (I'll leave that for the relevant section)

The bodykit is an unknown to me, but seems to be reasonably common on these and 4200's. It was fitted after the car was written off (not by me) and the car was resprayed at the same time. Future plans include a retrim inside and a full respray to tidy up the bodywork.

It's not a car for the purists... But I feel they can rest-easy knowing I'm doing all these terrible things to a car that would probably have ended up as spare parts eventually...

I'll be posting looking for some advice in the near future, hopefully you will be able to help.

Anyway, here it is.

 

[Oneball]

Great to see a 3200 saved. Superb effort. Boot looks a bit impractical though!

 

[Chrisb2015]

Good luck to you and thanks for sharing. I am pleased it has been picked up by someone who will love it and keep it on the road and crucially, enjoy it.
No one has a monopoly of what is right or wrong or in good or bad taste. Keep us posted and fingers crossed many happy miles of motoring to come.

 

[allandwf]

Nice one, I'm sure I remember that car , with the body kit, from a few years ago. Nice to see it in a good home.

 

[Chrisb2015]

Out of interest, what colour is it?

 

[Lozzer]

Nice one, I'm sure I remember that car , with the body kit, from a few years ago. Nice to see it in a good home.

Me too, remember it being for sale maybe 2-3 years ago. To be fair the guy that brought it back from the dead seemed to have done a really good job on the bodywork. It being in the North East (Cleveland?) back then rings a bell?

 

[jasst]

Out of interest, what colour is it?

Blu med

 

[Jhc32gt]

It was bought from a salvage company by the guy who had it repaired and then sold to the people I bought it from up in Telford.

I've since spoken to the guy that repaired it and got pictures of the damage and repairs. It wasn't too bad, just a big scrape down one side.

The repairs were done pretty well, but not perfect. There's still a bit of a ripple in the bodywork, and the paint isn't the best, but that's me being picky more than anything else.

I think the colour is blu Mediterrano, but haven't confirmed that.

 

[Ewan]

“ ”

(speechless)

 

[EnzoMC]

congrats.
nice colour, one of the best for the coupe.
looks like very hard suspension being that low.

 

[midlifecrisis]

View attachment 95530

I'm pretty sure the air ride installer could have been more sympathetic to the needs of luggage space. But I'm just nit-picking! What's underneath the 'spare wheel' cover?

Welcome to the forum. Good to see a 3200 'updated'. Does the bodykit actually do anything?

 

[2b1ask1]

Looks to me that it is a compressor MLC.

Congrats on having the car, if it works for you then that is great. It is always going to be marmite.

Enjoy it and have fun playing with the twins…

 

[Jhc32gt]

congrats.
nice colour, one of the best for the coupe.
looks like very hard suspension being that low.

Looks to me that it is a compressor MLC.

A what now?

View attachment 95530

I'm pretty sure the air ride installer could have been more sympathetic to the needs of luggage space. But I'm just nit-picking! What's underneath the 'spare wheel' cover?

Welcome to the forum. Good to see a 3200 'updated'. Does the bodykit actually do anything?

Yeah it's not the most practical of installations! It's just temporary though until I do a proper 'install'. Don't worry, no max power fibreglass and TV screens... Just a neater setup with room for spare wheel etc.

I don't imagine the bodykit does anything aerodynamically, just cosmetic.

 

[CatmanV2]

It's on air suspension so I can set the height it sits at. I don't drive it this low.

I used the standard shocks with sleeve-over airbags so it drives very close to how it was stock.

Well it's sure marmite, but you do you. How does that make it drop? I can see how it would be able to raise it but....

A what now?

Ummm, the bit that compresses the air that goes into the tank that then goes into your airbags....

C

 

[mjheathcote]

Good it is saved, even if not to everyones taste.
I just don't get the side skirts on that body kit.
Smooth curved doors meeting a slab of 4 by 2.
The GS skirts at least are flowing!

 

[Vampyrebat]

Hi Joe

Well done! Hats off to you for saving another lovely 32. I wish you the best of luck with getting it back to its former glory.
Secondly, very envious of where you live. I lived there for 2 years, firstly in Portreath and then Porthtowan.........The best years of my life, but don't tell my wife!! Keep us posted on your progress.
Stu

 

[philw696]

Welcome along and have seen a bit of your car on Facebook too.
Glad your enjoying it.

 

[EnzoMC]

It's on air suspension so I can set the height it sits at. I don't drive it this low.

its obvious now i know what the thing in the boot is

 

[Jhc32gt]

Well it's sure marmite, but you do you. How does that make it drop? I can see how it would be able to raise it but....



Ummm, the bit that compresses the air that goes into the tank that then goes into your airbags....

C

Yeah that makes sense now that I see MLC is short for midlifecrisis. Oops. (coincidentally, that's what the wife calls my car)




These are the airbags on the factory struts.

Good it is saved, even if not to everyones taste.
I just don't get the side skirts on that body kit.
Smooth curved doors meeting a slab of 4 by 2.
The GS skirts at least are flowing!

Not gonna lie, the skirts are a bit ott for my taste too, but they were on there when I got it and I don't dare take them off to reveal what horrors may lurk beneath. Too many rusty Mercedes have made me paranoid about what lies beneath trim panels!

Hi Joe

Well done! Hats off to you for saving another lovely 32. I wish you the best of luck with getting it back to its former glory.
Secondly, very envious of where you live. I lived there for 2 years, firstly in Portreath and then Porthtowan.........The best years of my life, but don't tell my wife!! Keep us posted on your progress.
Stu

It's definitely a nice place to be, I grew up in Norwich but have lived down here on and off for most of my adult life.
We're right down at the end of the world in Penzance, it has its issues as everywhere does but on a sunny Summers day at the beach they all pale into insignificance.

 

[CatmanV2]

It drops by letting air out of the airbags so they squish down. I've got video that shows the range of travel but no idea how to attach it here!

This is at full height. I drive it somewhere about halfway between this and its lowest.

Yeah, my point is how does it drop below the standard ride height if you've got the original springs on there....
.....but reading back I see you have the standard shocks. Mea culpa

Kind of odd since most (AFAIK) air springs have the damping built in, but whatever floats your boat.

C