Sept Winery in a 1972 Mercedes 350 SL

Touring and discovering some region in a classic car is always pure pleasure; few days ago, along with my close friends Alison and Kamal, we decided to drive through the region of Batroun, exploring a unique place, a not so common winery.

At the exit towards Batroun, with the scenery starting to change, a quick stop to take off the soft top of the red 1972 350SL becomes necessary.

The wind slapping us from all sides, the unexpected on the move sun tanning, the feeling of being in a far away country, on vacation, detached from all the hustle bustle of every day's tasks and duties and the roar of the V8 engine under the big red hood creates a unique sens of freedom and ignites a lot of positive feelings...

Driving through the small curvy roads of the very traditional village of Nehla leads us to Sept Winery; a dream made true by Maher Harb, who in 2010, against all odds decided to go back to his hometown, pay tribute to his late father and put his heart and soul in the vineyards - that he describes as his "babies".

Maher is proud of calling the different types of white and red wine he produces "Un Vin de Lieu" that has a unique flavor expressing the rich diversity and unique character of the Lebanese soil.

Our favorite white was that produced through the "Obeidy" grapes - a typical Lebanese type of grapes that left us amazed by its imposing yet smooth taste.

The view from Sept is stunning, over-viewing the northern part of Batroun heights at around an altitude of 900m above sea level.

Despite the heat on that day, exploring new regions in a car that was destined to be scraped but ended up restored is a truly remarkable experience...

Some of the parts are still the original ones, some have been changed and others restored; I made it on purpose to keep the hubcaps untouched with the original paint on them, the steering wheel, the dashboard, the radio, the engine, the gearbox...etc. all are still the same doing their "job" since 1972.

That's a big part of the pleasure behind driving a restored car; one lives the blessing of the second chance that has been given to a beautiful machine thanks to patience, hard work and artistic talents...

Thank you 2015...

2015 came to an end; it was a year full of surprises, unexpected events and thanks God a lot of happy moments…

Breakfast on a beautiful spring day at the Matars' place 

On the Classic Cars side, this year witnessed a lot…it started with me being able to decipher the “how does the Becker Mexico tube radio works” and thus gained a certain advanced competency that allowed me to fully restore my 1961 Mercedes-Benz 180’s radio and enjoy its warm sound…

Becker Mexico Tube Radio fully restored along with the Reims SW Adapter 

Then came the time when social media, with its growing power allowed me to connect with amazing people with whom we started organizing classic cars rides. 

From our first Cars & Coffee in downtown Beirut

On our first ride to the Chouf region with Sary Najjar and Samer Halwani's 450sl

The fun grew and these people became part of my daily life. Finally, and thank to Sary Najjar, a classic car enthusiast I met online, I got the guts to buy my 2^nd classic car, a 1972 Mercedes-Benz 350SL. 

Layers of dust covering the old and cracked burgundy paint

The R107, an early model, had been unused for almost 20 years; rust has eaten out most of its floor pans giving ways to big holes! But the car was all original; a challenging project that I hope will add fun, experience and stories to 2016.

Beautiful R107's rear

I have thought a lot about how to proceed with the 350SL’s restoration; I wanted to find a way that would establish a certain “Best Practice” that I would follow in all other projects.

Therefore I created the following steps:

1^st: I examined the car thoroughly; other than the sever rust in the floor pans it is all complete with the original radio and original manuals and documentation. 

Complete documentation/ owner's manuals

However, the interior is shot; the dashboard is sun fried and the seats are covered with an ugly non-original material.  

unoriginal non-original seats covers, rusted out floor pans

2^nd: The mechanic examined the engine and succeeded in running it after 20+ years of sleep! To my luck, the engine appeared to be in excellent shape along with the gearbox only needing the normal maintenance work.

Complete and well running 4.5 litters V8 engine with electronic Bosch injection system

3^rd: Came the long discussion with the body expert; practically, the car needs to be dismantled piece by piece and stripped to bare metal. The rusted out floor pans will be cut and rebuilt along with the other visible and non-visible rust spots; a process that would take between 3 to 4 months.

4^th: The dashboard will all be dismantled, taken to a specialist for restoration. The plastic pieces will be repainted with the exact color, using a special paint. This will be a good opportunity to check all the AC/ wind flaps and ducts for any wear and repair accordingly.

Faded yet complete interior; can't wait to have it back to its former glory

5^th: The seats and the doors covers will be restored using the original matching red/ burgundy leather.

6^th: The soft top will be replaced by a German reproduction using the same material as the original.

Finally, re-chroming of the front grill and of the bumpers will be left to a later stage (after the body work is over) if used ones in good condition cannot be sourced.

Advanced rust on the rear bumper

So here is my exciting 2016 Classic Car project; I hope to be able to ride along with my wife Dona in a very special 40+ years old classic convertible. 

The very rare early rubberized steering wheel

Testing the Bavarian Masterpiece

As I grew up loving and admiring classic cars, constantly cherishing my 1961 Mercedes-Benz 180, I wondered why BMWs were always aging badly. In fact, in Lebanon, once a BMW becomes old, it passes through what I call the “gigolo modification process” whereby it receives a series of changes that seldom make it an awful, non-original, unattractive, charmless vehicle. 

Few days ago, I came by chance through an original 1973 BMW E9 3.0 coupe that the classic cars’ expert Serge El-Khazen (www.minimemotors.com) has been offering for sale. Serge and I have been following each other’s on Instagram and Facebook for a while. I couldn’t resist the car’s original, never modified look coupled by its beautiful classic shape; after exchanging few messages with Serge, we agreed to test drive the car on a sunny holiday morning.

Gorgeous classical shape standing the test of time

Special sensation behind the BMW E9's wheel

So here I am, heading towards the MonteVerde region to test drive the car… At first, sitting behind the big black wheel with the flamboyant BMW logo gave me a sensation of mastering both the road and the car. The dashboard, despite being made of the typical 1970s leathered black plastic and thin clear wood, gives the feeling of being in a top of the line car; the gauges are well arranged and easily visible and the “vide poches” spaces are abundant.

Finally, the typical Blaupunkt radio is there, placed in the center, easily accessible to both the driver and the front passenger.

In love with the black wheel

Plenty of space to empty the pockets

Setting the gear lever on 1^st, I start climbing a small hill linking MonteVerde to Hammana; the engine roars gently barely audible inside the car even with the electric windows open. 2^nd then 3^rd gears engaged and the car becomes extremely smooth with a firm but comfortable suspension filtering well all the road’s irregularities. True, the car’s handling is exceptional taking all the turns easily constantly assuring the comfort of the four passengers that can be easily accommodated with their luggage; a privilege almost absent in many coupes of the same period.

Most comfortable rear seats with a typical sporty look

The trunk can accommodate at least 3 pieces of luggage; notice the misc box on the right 

I drove with Serge from MonteVerde to Hammana and back on a mountainous green road that I took for the first time. I didn’t feel any discomfort for a second; the driving well-being is enhanced by the charcoal velour seats that embrace the driver and gives the impression of sitting in a couch.

Very comfortable ride

Looking at the car’s engine and bay, one can’t but admire the Bavarian engineering; all is well arranged and easily accessible for repairs. This E9’s engine seems untouched since new, with most of the original decals still present.

The engine is still as it was in 1973; notice the original red fan

None of the bits and pieces are missing

To conclude, the 1973 BMW E9 is a luxury sports car by all means designed for every day’s use and capable of adapting to different types of roads. It is like most of the German cars; built to last.

Simply love the E9's aggressive yet classy look

Discrete taillights with the flamboyant BMW Logo

Serge will soon begin restoring his E9 to make out of it a car in show condition and to mostly repair the few rust spots on the 40+ years old paint.

Beautiful line and design

Good luck Serge, you are about to start an amazing project. 

About the Patience, the Love Affair, the Desire and the Dedication

"It takes the patience of a panda breeder and pockets as deep as the Mariana Trench to own a classic car".

That is how Ms. Jodie Harrison, the editor of MR PORTER's Journal (http://www.mrporter.com/journal) described the owners of classic cars.

She is partially right; partially because I never thought about what I have already spent on my car during the past 20 years (yes time flew since I first acquired my 1961, Mercedes-Benz 180 in 1995) but truly I had the patience of a Panda breeder despite the so many feelings of resentment, discouragement and irritation I lived every time my car refused to start, or that malignant oil leakage didn't stop despite hours of work, or this rattling when passing on a small bump re-appeared again...etc...however, at the end, always, something unexpected happens, a certain luck, or coincidence brings the solution to the problem, makes me learn something new about my car and allows me to meet new experts enriching my mind with new stories...

Small villages' roads makes me live the Pontons era

Then comes that sunny spring day on that open road with the special one whom you know is just enjoying the ride because you do, that day that makes one forget all the pain and value the fact that he owns a superb classic car. Nothing compares to the feeling of driving on that small mountainous road, with an awesome scenery and some nice music radiating from the Becker Mexico tube radio...On these roads one values nature, values the machine he possesses and feels how each and every one of its component is performing.

Beautiful drive and weather with rejuvenating mother nature

Last Sunday, I decided to go on a road trip with Dona. We decided to visit the Barouk Cedars Reserve and the Chouf region surrounding it. 

With the famous 2000 years old Cedrus Libani

I drove my Mercedes-Benz 180 all the way there; at an altitude of 1500 meters above the sea level, we enjoyed the clean air, the old cedars and the few stone houses that have passed the test of time...

At 1943 meters above sea level 

After every road trip, every drive, every reparation, maintenance, waxing...etc. I become more and more aware that truly "classic cars are a love affair; they require consuming desire and dedication..."

Becker Mexico Alive

After rebuilding the power supply, time came to rebuild the radio. Again, these units are made of simple electronics components (resistors, capacitors and some semi-conductors) in addition to the tubes. The Becker Mexico contains 7 tubes and complex circuits that are much difficult to follow without the correct schematics. 

The Becker Mexico view from above; 2 tubes and the Wunderbar mechanism are visible

Thanks to Jeff Miller for posting on www.mbzponton.org the schematics of the various Becker Tube radios (Mexico, Brescia, Europa and LeMans), without them I couldn’t perform any reparation accurately. 

Here is a quick history of the Becker Mexico installed in my car:

1.  I bought it in 1999 from a retired taxi driver who had kept it for more than 35 years untouched, unused to replace the original Becker LeMans (AM, LW) radio which was beyond reparation
2. I was 19 back then and had only very basic knowledge in electronics, no schematics and no testers. I only had a soldering iron and an ohmmeter. To my luck, visually a tube was broken (replaced it), cleaned the vibrator pins and plugged in the radio listening to beautiful music.
3. I changed the power supply's vibrator in 2004 after finding a solid state replacement in Canada.
4. The radio worked well from 1999 up till 2014 when problems started appearing:

              a-      The radio’s sound started becoming unclear (bad quality of sound)  
              b-      Then the Wunderbar (automatic electromechanical search system) stopped detecting any  station              
              c-       Finally, the radio died on the FM band followed by an extremely weak AM reception

I sent the radio to two repairmen (one of them mentioned in a previous article on this blog) who both failed to do the repair after leaving it at their shops for more than a month; I lost hope and decided to give it a try myself.

I started by studying well the schematics; understanding the different currents, how things work and how the radio is designed. I was lucky enough to find a very interesting website on old radios’ restoration (http://antiqueradio.org) that Philip Nelson runs. I exchanged few emails with Phil who suggested I start by replacing all the electrolytic and paper capacitors and see if anything changes.

The radio contains the following electrolytic capacitors:

• One 50uF 350V
• Two 10uF 25V
• One 5uF 30V
• One 100uF 25V

Replacements were easily found and installed; of course the new capacitors are much smaller making their installation easier than expected. 

100uF new electrolytic capacitor installed

New 4.7uF electrolytic capacitor installed

After replacing these capacitors I turned on the radio to only hear a hum from the speaker.

I continued recapping and changed the several 0.022uF and 0.01uF paper capacitors; the replacements are the smaller much more efficient orange and green drop models that are not polarity sensitive (no + or – connections as the electrolytic ones).

Green drop newly installed capacitors along with an electrolytic one

Orange drop newly installed capacitors

On a side note, always make sure to install the new capacitors in a way that makes them look nice in these “board-less” circuits.

Once this job done, I powered the radio without succeeding in getting anything different than the “hum” on the AM and very far FM reception (barely noticeable and accompanied by the hum).

At this stage I was starting to lose hope; the resistors were the only left components that I didn’t test thoroughly; the tubes were out of any suspicion since I tested them all on my working Blaupunkt Santos radio.  

Before doing so, and to get an idea on the status of the old capacitors, I placed each old one on the tester only to discover that the 100uF capacitor had drifted in value to 500uF and the 50uF one was shorted. 

The old paper and electrolytic replaced capacitors; notice the bottom of the Blaupunkt Santos tube radio

I took few days off then started again examining the values of the many resistors. After 3 long hours of examining and noting values, I found a 500K resistor that seemed completely open! This resistor (R104 on the diagram) connects Tubes EF89 to ECC85 indirectly; hence it plays a major role in the FM Band’s operation.   

The famous 500K dead resistor

100K resistors were the closest I found among the ones I had on hand; I connected 5 of them in series, soldered them to the respective points and powered up the radio…Eureka! Music was heard on the FM with very strong reception and excellent quality of sound!

5 x 100K resistors installed temporarily in series. Notice the 6 new orange drop capacitors
and the new 47uF electrolytic capacitor

5 x 100K resistors installed temporarily in series. Notice the 6 new orange drop capacitors
and the new 47uF electrolytic capacitor

I bought few 500K resistors, installed one adequately and started tackling the AM issue. The AM issue wasn’t as difficult as expected; a good hour spent on testing resistors showed that a well hidden (under many wires and other components) resistor R9 (70K - 2W) was completely fried! I wasn’t surprised when I found out that, especially that it is directly connected to the 50uF capacitor which was shorted. I changed the fried resistor and got strong signal on the AM.

70K Ohms (2W)  fried resistor

Finally, I addressed the Wunderbar issue which was extremely easy as it needed a bit of calibration (calibrating potentiometers P2 & P3 and variable capacitor C126) as indicated in the second page of the radio's schematics. 

Rheostat P3 surrounded by 2 resistors. Watch out this area as it contains high voltage 
(Photo courtesy Becker Autosound)

I tested the radio for few hours and was very satisfied with its performance. I lubed the Wunderbar mechanism, assembled it all and installed it in my car ready for additional years of playing music...

To conclude on this Becker Mexico Tube Radio adventure; I can say that most of these radios are easily repairable and can live for so many years. All what one needs is some logic, basic electronic knowledge (resistors, capacitors), specific testers, a soldering iron and a lot of patience. I admit it was a challenging project/ job to complete but on the other hand, I learned a lot and covered an additional aspect of maintaining my car and all of its components in a perfect shape. 

Enjoying the sound of the Becker Mexico Tube Radio

Rebuilding the Becker Power Supply

The Becker tube radios that fit the Mercedes-Benz pontons and other models are composed of two pieces: The radio itself and a heavy power supply that is mounted under the dashboard. The two are connected via a thick cable. 

A diagram showing each component of the 1950's Becker Sound System 
(Ref: mbzponton.org) 

The power supply as it appears

As a start, let’s talk about the role and the components of the power supply:

The power supply contains 2 transformers (1 big and 1 small), a buzzer or vibrator (a metallic can that has 6 pins, a vacuum tube (EL84), a 50uF capacitor (in a metallic can too) and a selenium semi conductor unit in addition to many paper capacitors and resistors. The power supply transfers the 12V DC current to 220V AC allowing the several tubes to operate. The radio then sends back the current to the power supply which amplifies it and transfers it to the speaker for the final output (music, news...etc.) 

The power supply is a critical component for the correct operation of these radios; hence rebuilding it is always a necessity.

Big transformer (from 12V to 220V) - small amplifier transformer - vibrator removed in this pic

As a rule of thumb, all paper/ can capacitors should be changed, regardless of what they measure on the capacitors’ tester. If they still haven’t failed, these 50+ years old capacitors will soon do.

Luckily, they are all still available, much smaller in size and much more efficient.

As a start, the first capacitor to replace is the big 50uF can capacitor. The available replacement measures 47uF, which is OK. 

Here is the new (much smaller) 47uF capacitor installed (brown). I kept the old capacitor in its place (far left) for the purpose of originality of appearance

Then comes the time to replace the 100uF ones; always make sure that the voltage on the new capacitors is equal to or more than that on the replaced ones. 

100uF electrolyte and 0.022uF paper capacitors before replacement (in red boxes)

...and after replacement

Finally, I replaced two 0.022uF paper capacitors that both played a role in determining the quality of the sound.

I took the opportunity to test the capacitors I took off and they all tested badly; some of them were even shorted! 

After replacing the capacitors and installing them in what I see as an artistic and safe way, time came to tackle the vibrator issue. For this problem, two choices are available; a permanent one – which is to buy a new solid state vibrator from several online suppliers (much recommended) and a temporary one – which is to open the can (break it) and clean the vibrator points. Prior to finding the solid state vibrators, I used to clean the points of the old vibrator every other year; fortunately, this is not needed anymore after finding the solid state replacement. 

Solid State Vibrator installed

I had bought earlier this year 3 solid state vibrators, so here it goes; I picked one and installed it in the place of the old Kaco vibrator.

With the capacitors and vibrator replaced, it was time to try to operate the power supply. I didn’t touch the EL84 tube as it looked good and tubes rarely fail in these units.

I connected the working Becker Europa corresponding tube radio, a speaker and a 12V source to the power supply and turned the radio on. Few long seconds passed and the sound started radiating from the speaker. A look at the Ampere-meter showed that the power supply was drawing current much more than it should. A quick test showed that the Selenium Semi Conductor was overheating. 

Replacing the Selenium Semi Conductor

As I still haven’t dealt with such a situation before, I tried swapping it with one from a donor power supply; the result was amazing and the Ampere-meter read something between 1.5 and 2 Amps; the magical current that these radios should draw when in use.

I let the radio play for a moment and verified the new capacitors, the resistors, the new vibrator, the transformers…etc. for any sign of overheating or melting but all seemed fine.

Capacitors, Vibrator, Selenium Semi Conductor that have been replaced

I re-installed the power supply’s cover, tightened the 2 screws and felt proud of having a power supply ready to be used for hopefully another 50+ years …