This is almost an unbelievable gruesome story.

1. Car running fine as daily driver (2004)

2. Engine went due to mistake on my part. Oil ran low because of blocked breather hose that I caused by experimenting. (2004)

3. Replaced Engine myself. ($500) (3/2005)

4. While testing, car caught on FIRE due to short in Instrument panel. Fire Department left 100 gallons of water in it. Melted dash, melted harness, melted windshield. (4/2005)

5. Replaced dash, wiring harness, cracked windshield. ($100, windshield and dsah from junkyard)

6. Transmission went

7. Replaced transmission myself. ($300)

8. Got car running.

9. Car runs well, replaced coil springs ($100)

10. Found rust in floor

11 Welded steel to replace rust. (Welder, $300)

12. Replaced interior with interior from another car, looks great ($150)

13. Car runs and used as Daily Driver.

14. Bought new tires. ($300) (5/2006)

15. Powdercoated rims out of boredom. ($200 ) (5/2006)

16. Neighbor's kids crack windshield ($100) (6/2006)


17. Use car as daily driver $2000 dollars spent, not to mention man hours--could have bought a used Honda Civic!!

18. Needs paint to look respectable. Thinking of painting it.


STOP, Rich, leave the car alone ! Enough is enough !

The urge to overfix is great, but the time to do that is not there. I'm keeping Blue for a long time, but hopefully I'll allow him to age gracefully.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Nope you gained a world of knowledge and had fun doing it....well except for the fire part.

How the heck did you get the car dried out?

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1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair

If you had bought a Civic, what would you have done with all the extra time? Spent it on the computer downloading porn? Learned to speak Hebrew? Negotiated with Iran to eliminate nuclear weapons?

I view my time in the garage as therapy, and my daughter knows how to do brakes, oil changes, rotate tires, and is now an expert and handing tools.

I ENJOY puttering in the garage tinkering and fixing things, I don't enjoy fixing things when they are broke.

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2000 C230 Kompressor "Frosty"

2007 PT Cruiser
2001 VW TDI Beetle
1999 Landrover Discovery II
1971 Corvette

Gone: 97 Cabrio, 83 240D, 93 VW Eurovan, 95 Volvo 850, 93 Chevy Astro Van, 77 VW Bus, 99 VW Jetta, 74 VW Bus

Well i justify it...I have had a lot of fun, and i dont regret it (SOMEDAYS)

After the FD left, the interior wasnt that bad because it was TERRIBLE to begin with. Remember most of the carpets are just those mats.Water drains pretty easily. After I put in the new interior a year later, you would swear that its a different car! Its unbelievable!

As for TIME, obviously you have been unselfish with yours amking those webpages and I REALLY RESPECT you for it...

I see this as Therapy too! Truthfully, i am never happier than when i am doing this! Any maybe I went $600 to $900 overboard, but i doubt i woulda used it to spend time parking my Butt on a beach in the Caribbeen or Bermuda..

I wrote before on a similar topic. From a purely financial standpoint...
If you spent 2K on a Civic, would the Civic be paid for or was that a down payment? Puttering around my car keeps me out of trouble (not that I'm prone to getting into trouble) and keeps my hands and mind busy. I get to learn things, which is very enjoyable in and of itself. There is the tangible reward of doing the work yourself and driving the result of your labor of love. If you enjoy the admiration of others, most are really impressed that you can work on a mercedes-benz.

Enjoy the fruit of your labor. Your kids (if you have any at home) also get to learn that working tirelessly has it rewards and sets them apart from their piers. They may also get to proudly drive the fruit of your labor and brag to their friends that he/she helped in the maintenance and restoration.

clint

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81 300D N/A 130K miles (Nelly)
87 300D Turbo 80K miles (The Scalded Dog...because it runs like a scalded dog)
95 e320 Wagon 104K
2003 Sprinter 47K miles.
1999 Tandem Bicycle
One beautiful low miles wife (who likes diesels) (that's my wife holding the sign)

My son and I fixing Nelly's odometer

uh-oh. Only thinking of painting it now? Beware- this will eat up a lot of time if you wet sand. And I think you will wet sand. And buff. And buff.

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)