Tackling two Mercedes Benz restoration projects in 2016

There's something about me and giving new life to vintage/things from the past. It gives me great sense of achievements every time I finished some restoration projects.

In 2016 I have a plan to restore two Mercedes-Benz, one is W110 190c from 1963, and the other one is W123 200 from 1986.



I was commissioning the restoration project of W110 to the wrong mechanics, that's the main reason I wanted to redo the whole process



Based on my experience the engine is so lack of power and I have problems every time I have to tackle hilly roads. So that's the main reason why I wanted to swap to engine to a better performance engine.

At first I was focusing to by japanese car manufacturers engines. Legendary engines like Mitsubishi 4D56 and Toyota 7K was my first options.

But after several discussions I decided to swap engine with Mercedes Benz engine from newer era.

At first I was looking only at the engines available in many junkyards, but eventually I decided to buy a project car with good running engine.



So it was actually unplanned for me to restore the Mercedes Benz 200. And I have a good opportunity to acquire an OM 617 300 D engine in a very good condition, which I planned to install it in this W123 200 car

The body of project car surprisingly very solid, the floor deck is intact with only minor rust near the throttle pedal. The side panels, trunk, and engine bay are in perfect conditions. The only negative side the car doesn't have interior, because the owner already sold it due to high demand thus high price.

Wish me luck guys :)

From Intra to AMG Penta

When I bought my car from dr Dharmawan the rim was already using 14 inch Intra wheel which is commonly used in W123.

I really like the comfort ride of Intra an the classic design of it.

But when I saw a good friend of mine Handaru's car, I was having love at first sight with AMG Penta rims. The design was so captivating that I told myself that I will have it someday and install it in Tigor a nickname for my Mercedes-Benz W123 280E.

I was so lucky when an old friend of mine told me that his family planning to sell it, and to my surprise it's a 16 inch AMG Penta which is a rare version of it. Not a second thought, I immediately seal the deal. The condition was immaculate, I had it checked and restored to make it look smart.

Last week I had the chance to bought the tires, based on some research the ideal tire size is 225/45/16, apparently it's quite difficult to find it, so I ended up by buying 225/50/16 from Multistrada.

After balancing and wheel alignment process done, I tested it by taking toll road and it was smooth sailing experience I had. The stability is better than Intra and total appearance of my car significantly changed!

Alhamdulillah for this blessing :)

Entering 40 years old

July 1^st 2015

It’s been five months now after broken arm accident due to practicing Silat Cimande. The pain is subside now and I can move my left arm freely. As mentioned before I rely on ancient Cimande way of fixing my bone without surgery and bone joining installation. Seems everything is going back to normal now, on June 24^th I can do pushups and feel no pain whatsoever. However am planning to go to doctor end of July to check it with x ray.

So far I’m very happy with the result, though am not allowed to lift heavy weight yet. The whole experience really reminded me of how fragile we are as human being and how lucky I am to be loved unconditionally by my lovely families.

December 28th 2015

Now my left arm is totally recovered, and I can use it normally, my Cimande teacher told me that I can only have bone strengthening training on February. Honestly I still have trauma after the accident, but I need to keep on moving.

2015 is a great year for me, my family and my business, this is the year we experience quantum leaping growth, Alhamdulillah. And in this year I reached 40 years old. I thank to Allah for all the blessing and seek his forgiveness for all my wrongdoings and ask for his guidance.

40 is the age where Muhammad was appointed as a rasul, a very huge burden he has to take spreading risalah. 

رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِي إِنِّي تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

"O my lord, please guide me to always feel blessed for all the bounty you have given to me, to my parents and guide me to always be able to do amal shalih, the one that you please (ridho), please give me all the good things by giving all the good things to my children and grand children.

Verily I seek refuge to you, and verily I am part of the people who are surrendering to you." (QS. Al-Ahqaf: 15)

Elitery and Inotech achievements in 2015

Indeed 2015 is a very difficult time for businessmen, I noticed that due to regional economic downturn, some of out clients (financial institutions) for Elitery was cancelled their plan to add more racks in our data center. This is the main reason why I decided to start explore another opportunities from government sectors to offer them data center consultancy services.

For Inotech, the opportunity rises, IT is considered one of the most effective way for businesses to run efficiently. Revenue wise our target in 2015 is doubled compared to 2014 but somehow we managed to achieve it.

For Elitery, we were quite surprise that on August we were announce that we won projects in Badan Pemeriksa Keuangan and Bank Indonesia. It was a huge achievement for us knowing that we were competing against big companies.

Alhamdulillah our efforts were paid off, thanks to great teamwork, smart strategy and good execution.

For 2016 am planning to double revenue for Inotech, and start to offer new services for Elitery. Bismillah.

Muhammad Raka Suryakusuma 12th Birthday

Assalamu'alaikum Aa Raka,

In a couple of hours you'll turn to 12 years old. It's been a great parenting experience me and Bunda had in raising you.

You are very imaginative, full of creative sometime crazy ideas and very loving and caring person. We are so proud of you and would like you to know that we will fully support your dream of becoming scientist.

We bought you a Skywatcher BK 909AZ3 telescope, please enjoy the gift and as the tagline said "Be Amazed" of what you'll see in the sky! Praise to Allah who made all the glorious sky objects Allahuakbar.

We love you son!


Ayah

• Diameter/Aperture: 90 mm
• Focal Length: 900 mm
• Multi-coated achromatic objective lens
• Aluminum tube
• Dew cap/Sunshade
• Adjustable Objective-lens Cell (available in 2001)
• 6x30 finderscope for easy location of objects
• Pre-assembled tripod for convenient and quick assembly
• Smooth rack-and-pinion 1.25" focuser
• 65% more light gathering power than 70mm
• Perfect for serious beginners

Dealing with pains

As mentioned in my previous blog, my left arm was broken on February 15 2015 while practicing bone strengthening technique of Cimande martial art. Going to share with you my experience of going through the pain up to this date.

I decided not to go to doctors but ask my Cimande guru to fix my broken arm, his name is Pak Mulyadi and he had lots of experience in fixing broken bones.

He came to my house at 5 PM on the same day, and carefully examined my left arm. What worried me was his face looked really concerned. He immediately hold my arm and pull it gently, I feel pain but I started to fell my left arm again and able to move my fingers. Shortly after that, he massage my arm using  Cimande oil it has very funny smell, and mixed white yolk with Cimande oil and secure my arm with four blocks of small wooden cast and wrap it with bandage.

The first three days was excruciatingly painful, it was difficult for me to get some sleep because of the unbearable pain even though I had some pain killer pills. Practically the first week was really intimidating, every small movement impacting in major pain. My biggest concerned was that my companies had set new target revenue and I need to do a lot of things to making sure that we achieve the target.

Entering the second week the pain was more bearable and I decided to started to go to work, there's one project I had to pursue in Malaysia, so I decided to flew on February 27 to Kuala Lumpur, it was a round trip travel. I took the earliest flight which force me to arrive at the airport at 4 AM. The meeting was at 10 AM KL time. The meeting went well our team had a great chance to win this project. While waiting for our flight back home I decided to take my partner Pak Daniel Lie to go to Batu Cave. What I had in mind was pushing my physical endurance during my recovery process. We need to take a very steep and long stairs up to the hill but it's all worth it. After that we were rushing to go to KLIA using the train, it was very tiring but I had a great time.

After one month I started to be able to lift my left arm with minimum pain, and it's an amazing accomplishment. I started to play guitar but it is still to painful for me to twist my left arm on the guitar neck.

On 25th and 26th April I had a business trip to Solo, Jogja, Kebumen and Banjarnegara selling Elitery and Inotech products and services, my left arm already functional now and it's really help in enhancing the experience quality.

These are the list of most valuable lessons I got by having this fractured bone experience;

1. Support from your loved ones is critical, my beloved wife taking care of me so patiently and I couldn't thank her more. My mom and dad also checking me every now and then, their genuine concern really shows their love to me.
2. You will realize that health is the greatest wealth, the first two weeks when I can move my left arm was really frustrating episode of this experience.
3. You will learn about commitment, whether finishing my tasks at my business life and continuing practicing Cimande.
4. You will be remember that Allah is the one to ask for health and speedy recovery since you have more solitude time on your own.

Fully restored Mercedes Benz W123 1986

My Mercedes Benz W123 restoration process was completely done in October 2014. My heart was filled with great sense of achievement, it was a long and tiring process because I had to deal with so many people.

It’s really great car to drive, I love the suspension works it’s so soft, almost feel like driving a tank above the cloud J.

Cimande Martial Arts, an amazing journey of commitment

Me and Pak Cun Cun Wahyudi

It was in October 2013 when I and my wife decided to search for martial arts courses four our sons. Part o f this decision was sparked by the fact that many students getting bullied in Jakarta. Our first son Raka was became the victim in early 2013 while he was in 5^th grade.

5 boys from 6^th grade were trying to intimidate him, but he managed to punch two of the boys and flee. We did some research on what kind of martial arts courses they should take. The obvious and preferred option were; Jiu Jitsu, Karate, Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu, but after further intensive research we decided to chose Pencak Silat Cimande.

The main reasons were;

1.       It’s West Java heritage and full of deep philosophy.

2.       Very effective.

3.       Very famous and respectable form of martial arts both in Indonesia and abroad.

4.       Proximity.

5.       Instructor’s skill and experience

Rasyad climbing hay

So in December 2013 we enrolled Raka and Razan, it was fun to see them practicing Cimande happily. After the 2^nd week they were asking me to join in, I was instantly said yes and immediately asking my wife too. So it became weekly family event and it was a very fun way to build our character.

It was on the second month that we found it is very hard to practice it when our instructor introduced us to bone strengthening drill where we have to clashed our bones with other students, and the climax was when our instructor hit our arms so hardly that it made a huge bumps in our hands.

Pak Mulyadi

But however we did enjoy every process; it’s a great quality time for our family. In 2014 we had the chance to visit our elders Pak Mulyadi, Wa Darma, etc in Cimande Tarikolot. It’s a beautiful village populated with humble and warm people, it was an amazing experience we had. Our children fell in love with the great outdoors, paddy field and gardens.

On February 15^th 2015 I had an accident, while practicing Ketig (explosive punching technique) I broke my left arm, it was excruciatingly painful. Pak Mulyadi from Cimande immediately came to Jakarta to fix my bone; btw I decided to heal it with traditional Cimande method, using Cimande Oil, white egg and massage.

My beautiful wife

The first three days was very hard, the pain was so killing me, then in day 4 I feel my hand easier to move and the pain is more bearable Alhamdulillah. While resting I tried to relook at my journey in exploring Cimande, sometimes the thought of stopping continuing the journey crossed my mind, part of it because I’m reaching 40, and the healing process will took longer.

But looking how fun it is, and how it built our character I decided to carry on. We love Cimande, and we are committed to practice it!

  

Pak Mulyadi and Owen