If any project really burned me out for a while and took me off the forum, it was the restoration of my 300D. After I swapped the engine, I suffered a fire, a blown transmission, a melted wiring harness, a destroyed interior, two cracked windshields and then I painted the car, not once, but twice due to my poor selection in paint.

I remember when I painted it with cheap aqua blue first, I couldn't believe my eyes and I woke up upset one morning and I spent three days stripping it with a grinder at an empty lot a mile from my house in 100 degrees and 100% humidity and then I redid the paint job again two weeks later at 3 in the morning with the neighbors asleep and two compressors chained together in ..my kitchen....and the fenders and doors in the living room.(my wife was away). I remember I hid my cat and dog in crates at my office for three days to spare them the paint fumes.and mixed the paint and clearcoat in the downstairs bathroom to boot..The neighbors though they were hallucinating as the car changed from grey to bare metal to primer to agua to bare metal to primer to dark blue in the space of two weeks...

After those two hot summers, i was just burned out and worn out...

This is the car two years later. it turns eyes. I thank Jimmy Layton and Brian Carlton and Hattersguy and that guy in Florida and Leathermang and Larry Bible and all you Shop Forum members who have put up with my antics the past few years...

This forum has been my greatest inspiration and motivator. I can't thank you enough for your help..and now that I am recovered I am off to planning my next project.

Diesel and greasy tools and old paint are starting to smell good again... See you all around soon..Its time to uhhhh find a another project car

Good to have you back again. I hadn't seen any posts from you for awhile. How are things down in the Seattle area?

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1987 300TD 309, xxx 2.8.2014 10,000 mile OCI


Be careful of the toes you step on today, as they may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow. anonymous

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

Its not motorhead friendly but I see a lot of 30 year old cars on the road--MB's, VW Bugs, people appreciate old cars but he resources to fix them are scarce because they are very GREEN out here.................

There has to be another diesel Volvo out there that needs rescuing!!
Wow do we remember that Aqua paint! Seems like I remember some purple doors too.....
It was almost a year ago when you had gone missing for awhile.
Where is Carrameow????
You may have been gone but not forgotten.
So, now that we have Carrameow located for awhile we need to find INeon. For a young guy he had a little something..... Wonder if he still has Mr. Shlomo?

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Boy, Carra, you are one determined individual! It looks like your hard work has certainly paid off.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Glad to see you back, Richard.

The W123 still looks terrific.

Great story. The first I heard of it! I know it wasn't funny at the time but I got a good laugh out of it. Sounds like something my Dad would have done in his younger days. Car looks good now though.

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1983 M-B 240D-Gone too.
1976 M-B 300D-Departed.

"Good" is the worst enemy of "Great".

Your car still looks great! Glad to have you back!

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Richard,
I am really glad it turned out looking so nice.... and glad to have helped in some way...

NOW...

This thread needs to include what lessons you either learned... or which things someone else should not attempt ... I will start the process....

1. Do not grind off paint. Too much labor. Too much harm to your lungs.
USE liquid STRIPPER... like Aircraft Paint remover... easy, cheap, safe compared to grinding... and does not take a chance on messing up the metal under the paint like grinding...

2. You really don't want to inhale those fumes from the paint... can cause immediate death...or long term damage... OR those fumes inside a location like that can be ignited by something like a water heater pilot light.... even in someone else's part of the neighborhood....

3. Do not try to paint at night... in fact....do not attempt to paint until the ' dew has burned off the grass' ... at night you can not count on your thinner leaving the paint properly ... you need a certain temperature ... shoot for over 85 but not much over that... and be sure to adjust which thinner or reducer you use to match the temperature you are shooting at...

Richard got lucky on several things... he was on the edge of the envelope... if you try it and get caught you will be unhappy with the job or have to do it again...and it is way too much work to have to do twice just due to not following the rules of physics...
Greg

Great job! I'm suprised that it came out so well though with Seattles Relative humidity index! We had to use dehumidified air when painting just to avoid the usual problems of Orange peel, tiger stripes and fisheye, all which come from other causes but get amplified in humid weather!

Yeah, who ever thought that too green could be bad, but it's true. Those green folks forget that the car they are driving takes more energy to make than it will consume in it's lifetime, but hey, stylish is what Seattle is all about! That's why I'm glad to be gone! Been their and one that, HATED IT!

He painted it in Jersey (said with my best NJ accent).
You hated Seattle, are you kidding me? I would have never guessed that from all your posts. If you had moved up to Bellingham, or over to Sequim, you may have never moved to Hell, I mean Arizona. If you start about it being 70 degrees, me and the kids are hoping on a plane and coming to visit for a week. Well at least we agree on biodiesel.

Chris

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1987 300TD 309, xxx 2.8.2014 10,000 mile OCI


Be careful of the toes you step on today, as they may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow. anonymous

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

yeah! I liked Bellingham, Spokane too! It's not 70* anymore, were into the low 80* now and it will be that way for awhile! If you want to come down to Arizona, do it! My house is kinda cramped right now, (kitchen remodel and maybe too much stuff!) but there are campgrounds with Cabins less than a mile from here and prices are cheap compared to Washington! You should bring the kids during Lost Dutchman days, it's a real cowboy ho-down! We are still the ole' wild west around here. It's not like I had to fire off a round from my 12 guage to break up a bar fight or nothin'! Good thing I live next door to the Sherriff and that we are good friends!

It's amazing how much a Winchester pump action shotgun can bring things to a halt!

I always remembered Joizey bein'a little like Seattle in humudity though.

Hope to see you really active again on site. Statistically something unusual or very interesting will occur. It is inevitable in my opinion as long as you are busy at restoration, repair or whatever.
Give yourself a break and get something pretty good to start with. You still will not lack for things to do. A 124 for instance might turn your crank.
To me it seems to have greater potential than another 123. You are just too familiar with how that type attacks now in my opinion.
The last statement as I typed it reminded me of that famous speech president Kennedy delivered before your time. . Ask not what you can do to a 124. Rather ask what a 124 can do to you. I might not have paraphrased this correctly as it has been awhile.
Your events and descriptions seem to be sitcom level or better. I still feel they are merchandisable. If not just spectacular in themselves. I know they left a permanent imprint on my brain.
I Also like your habit of approaching things under a full moon when others are sleeping. Well thought out stratagy in my opinion as it provides more time for unobserved damage control. Wish I was that smart.
Any new member can bring up your old threads. I almost think they should be compulsory reading.
Hope all is going really well for you and your family out west as well too. Thanks for sharing your experiences in the past. Speaking for myself I am looking forward to your future posts with perhaps a western twist. .

Right !! And think of the advantage of having almost no traffic in the middle of the night for the emergency vehicles to deal with....
LOL

Glad you're back! You left just about the time I joined so I missed most of your threads. The ones I read had me chuckling for a long time. I agree, your escapades are stand up comedy material.

John

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Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
2002 F250 powerstroke with Plantdrive WVO conversion
1983 300SD 190K miles ,sold
2006 E320 CDI