Some of you may remember my catastrophic engine failure from a few months ago. It's an 89 420sel, apparently dropped a valve and destroyed the #4 cylinder. I've been looking for a replacement engine and found a whole car today, finally. The car is an 87 420, black and gray. The owner said that the transmission was "frozen but the engine runs good". The body is straight and rust free. Interior is very clean. He wanted $700 for it so I offered him $500 and he took it. The car has been sitting for about six months so the battery was dead. I had the car towed to the shop where I do most of my work. I put a battery in it and it started right away. No smoke or chain noise. Lifters made some noise, a little tapping for about five minutes the quieted down. While the car was running I noticed transmission fluid pouring out of one of the cooling hoses attached to the radiator. I turned it off and replaced the hose with one from my other car. I then restarted the car and started adding transmission fluid. 5 quarts later I got in and shifted through the gears and it worked! I made sure it was full and decided to try and drive it. Guess what? It shifted just fine! I was shocked. The PO told me that the tranny was completely shot. He said he had the car towed home after the tranny completely froze up. Everything works in the car, even the a/c blows cold. Sorry for being so long-winded but I just had to tell you guys about this. I'm thinking my old car just became my new parts car. I think I'll just change the oil, tranny fluid and filter, timing chain and top rails and tune it up, then enjoy it as long as I can. I like the black and grey better than my tan one anyway. What do you guys think? It feels like Christmas!!
