Some updates:
First of all, I took the car to Watkins Glen for opening weekend.
I went down with a crew of over 250 cars from The Little Speed Shop in Rochester, NY. We had some really choice whips, and a few rust buckets like mine. I went down with a friend of mine who recently purchased a 1967 Corvair coupe and we had a blast. Perfect day for a drive, and the Benz made it without a single incident, although getting up over 80 mph was nearly impossible. There's always next year!
Second, I completed my rear bumper install and the car looks much less haggard.
Basically, all I had to do was drill out a blocked off hole on the driver side, clean out some waterproofing or panel adhesive, and assemble. If you end up like me and need to source bumper brackets, I am happy to report that they are still made by M-B.
I have more photos and a detailed description of the install process
on my blog.
For the past week, the Benz has served as my daily driver, averaging 150 miles per day, and anywhere from 13-18 MPG. (Oddly enough, the 18 is on 35-45 MPH country roads, and the 13 is highway) To be honest, I'm really impressed with how this car has held up. Now that the weather is nice, I have some big plans to address some of the other problems it has... like tracing down the broken vacuum line that prevents the doors from locking and unlocking.