More Jewels for Miss Daisy

[Mark DiSilvestro]

I posted awhile back about getting a set of near perfect California bumpers off Ebay, for 'Miss Daisy', my '60 220S Finnie. Later, when I contacted the seller about the other chrome on the car that donated the bumpers, he told me it was all perfect but the car had been scrapped!
More recently,'Gympie' offered to save the near perfect tailfin chrome and other bits off a Finnie in a yard near him in Colorado.
He carefully removed the pieces and hid them in a nearby '85 BMW until he was sure I wanted them. When I gave him the OK he went back to get them, only to discover the BMW had been hauled off and crushed!
Well tonight I won an Ebay auction for a pair of (allegedly) perfect chrome trims for the rear roof pillar vents.
And my batch of 24 fin 'tips and strips' from last months' Ebay auction arrived today. Some of it near perfect. Most of it better than the cracked and pimply castings on my car.
I guess I should start thinking about a 'makeover' for "Miss Daisy'.
I have some enough presentable pieces to do my car, and some decent ones left over (but not show quality) if anyone here is interested.
(And thanks again to 'Gympie' for his efforts on my behalf)

Happy Motoring, Mark

[joshhol]

Mark, what are you going to do to preserve the new chrome?
Coat the back with some POR 15 perhaps?
By the way, what color is Miss Daisy?
Mine is a nice Graphite Gray.

[Mark DiSilvestro]

joshhol,
Well first, the 'new' chrome is staying safe and dry for awhile, in my house until I get into re-doing Miss Daisy. (Those California bumpers look real pretty on my living room floor! My brother suggested the smaller fin bits would make nice earrings!) Ironically, the worst of my chrome looks pretty good on the underside. It's the visible side that looks crappy. Funny you should mention POR-15, as I asked about the stuff on the 'Tech Forum'. What's your opinion on POR-15? Pros? Cons?

Happy Motoring, Mark

[joshhol]

Hey Mark,
I'm haven't applied it yet to the trunk of my 300D so I cant really tell you.
I try not to take that car out in the rain right now so I'm not too worried about it.
The stuff does look really good. It bonds to the rust and doesn't allow moisture through. It also remains flexible and wont crack. As you know, paint allows moisture to pass through its pores.
It is a little expensive but given the terror of rust I think its not too much to pay.
I plan to coat the inside of the bumpers with a clear or silver batch of POR 15. There are some rusty patches in there and I hear a lot about how these bumpers rust from the inside out with just the chrome plating holding things together.
I hear a lot of good things on this forum about POR 15. Nothing bad.
My goal is to thoroughly wage a campaign against rust on that Fintail so if I ever have to part with it, that will be my legacy.
There really is hardly any but you know how it just gets in all those seams and the bottom of doors and rockers etc. . .

BTW, what color is she?! :p

Josh

[Mark DiSilvestro]

'Miss Daisy' is what I believe is called Forest Green, with a Chocolate Brown leather interior. I got the car from the original owner, an elderly friend, who I'd helped out with her car problems for several years. At 81 years, she was still driving this car (with a stickshift and manual steering!) When she passed away, she left it to me. Her daughters would often refer to their mother as 'Miss Daisy' so I named the car in her memory. While the exterior suffered from many years outside, mechanically it's in pretty good shape.

Where do you get POR 15? Someone on the Tech Forum said "shipping is brutal" for the stuff because it requires a hazardous materials permit. There's also an alternative called RustKiller. The manufacturer claims it's the same formula as POR 15 but cheaper.

Someone else on the Tech Forum recommended Waxoyl over POR 15 for enclosed spaces like rocker panels but the Waxoyl site I checked didn't say if it was OK on rusted metal. Also Waxoyl states their product is not for sale to private individuals! A Waxoyl clone caled Rustfree was also mentioned but I haven't found any details on the stuff yet.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[joshhol]

Hey Mark,
I would have posted it before but didn't have it in front of me. It is: www.por15.com
The number:800-457-6715 they are in "joisey".
For $21.70 I bought a starter kit which include a degreaser, metal "etcher" and a small can of POR 15 capable of covering 12 sq. feet. Plenty for my trunk.
Six small cans for 36 bucks covers 72 sq. ft.
They do list a gallon in the catalog for 96 bucks so I could understand looking into alternatives. But that must cover a lot of area. Small cans are better cause once you open one, you have to be careful the remnants dont dry out. I don't know about Rustkiller. don't know about those other products either. I don't think it is outrageously priced and doesn't seem worth experimenting with imitations.
I don't know what would be wrong with putting POR on an enclosed space. In fact, the stuff is light sensitive so it would do better. Topcoats are needed in exposed areas.
Someone was saying something about a home brew Waxoyl that they were using as an undercoating. Might be on the Diesel disc.
BTW the shipping was only 6.75 (included in the quote above) seems nominal to me.
I recommend you buy a starter kit and see if you like it. Other people on the boards speak highly of it. (No I'm not a salesman!)
I wish I could say for sure, but I haven't tried it yet myself. I just hate rust! well at least I live in Cali


Forest green sounds really nice. Dont see a lot of those! Is it posted on the heckflosse page or should I just search the forum for some pics!?

[Mark DiSilvestro]

I don't have picture posting capability on my WebTV so you'll need to check the Heckflosse site. There have been a couple of 220s of the same color, on Ebay in the past two years. In fact, if I didn't have this one, I would have gone to look at a green '65 220S in New Jersey that finally sold on Ebay, for about $2000. In the photos it looked much better than mine, had AC, power steering, Front disc brakes and the rare factory manual floorshift.

How often do you drive your 220S. Finally the recent rains have washed away the snow and salt so I can start driving 'Miss Daisy' again. After a year of getting used to manual steering and drum brakes I now prefer driving my '60 220S over my '72 250, mainly because the 220S manual-shift feels more responsive than my 250's slush-pump automatic. The 220 also takes me back to my high school years and my first Mercedes, a '61 180b, but without the 180's biggest flaw - lack of power. I did install one concession to driving in modern traffic - front seat lap and shoulder belts.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[joshhol]

I only drive it a couple of times a week. More often on the weekend.
I don't like commuting to work in it due to the heavy traffic.
Also, I'm not driving it in the rain cause the rocker rusted through behind the right front tire. Also leaks were the windshield wiper goes into the cowl.
I don't have the problems of salt fortunately.
I should drive it more. It seems like I worry too much about taking it out, but people in California are some of the worst drivers.
Also, I need to replace the water pump and should rebuild the master cylinder. It is early 63 so it only has the single circuit brake system.
Would converting it to the dual circuit offend the purist?

I really enjoy it on the open road, nothing compares to seeing that star standing up there on that hood with those chrome wipers.
One thing I don't like is city driving. That first gear is so short and second gear synchro seems a little worn, makes it slow to get going.

How often do you use Miss Daisy?

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Sorry for the delayed response. I've been distracted by other projects and out of town for almost 2 weeks.

Weather permitting, I try to drive 'Miss Daisy' 2 or 3 times a week, sometimes more. If the weather's awful or I'm on a job, I might not drive her for a week or more. It's not an everyday drive to work vehicle and I never drive her if there's snow or salt around. I'm not worrying that much about other drivers yet. That paranoia will come when I finish restoration.

This week, more Ebay treasures arrived for 'Miss Daisy'. A pair of decent sunvisors from Oklahoma for $21 + shipping. 'Miss Daisy's previous owner often complained that persons at the repair shop were vandalizing her car. One time she claimed her car was returned with a big rip in the headliner and the drivers sunvisor looking like a fist had pounded it into a 'V' shape. All the foam had long since disintegrated in both of them. The foam and frames are still intact in both of my 'new' ones and the covers are in fine shape and the color matches my originals perfectly. Wish I could get a quality restoration shop at a bargain price on Ebay.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[joshhol]

'Miss Daisy's previous owner often complained that persons at the repair shop were vandalizing her car. One time she claimed her car was returned with a big rip in the headliner and the drivers sunvisor looking like a fist had pounded it into a 'V' shape.

Wow, I hope she did more than complain.
Thats just unbelieveable and I couldn't imagine if someone did that to my car. I'd like to see their head pounded into a 'V'shape.
Sorry for being violent.

Mark- take some before shots so we can see the resto!

[Mark DiSilvestro]

There were other times when she claimed that vandals had broken her outside mirror and ripped the chrome off one of the fins and I could see that it was from branches falling off the old tree she used to park under. Another time she claimed burglars had stolen her Mercedes keys, until they turned up in her daughter's car, so I wasn't sure about the shop damaging her interior.

I got a big folder with receipts with the car so I do believe that her shop was ripping her off. They charged about $800 for a 'new' radiator that's obviously a recore job, including $200 labor! (I had my 250 radiator recored for under $200. If $600 is what a recore costs for a 220S radiator, fine, but they did write 'new' on the bill) When she got the car back, she called me up in a panic because the 'new' radiator was spewing antifreeze. I rushed over and refilled the coolant and everything seemed OK after that.(But unacceptable for $800!)
The last time she had her car towed to that shop I drove her back there to pick up her car. They charged her almost $300 for a tune up and charging system check and the car still wouldn't start. It turned out the battery was no good and thay charged her an extra $95 for an Interstate brand battery that didn't fit right and another $90 for oil, filter and lube. (Later, she only paid about $50 for oil, filter and lube at the local MERCEDES DEALER!) Then the shop owner stepped in, glanced at her final bill and tacked on an extra $50! After the bandit had walked away, I asked the book-keeper to go over the bill and she removed the extra $50. I should have made a big stink there, but sometimes I wasn't availible to help solve her car troubles and she had been going to this shop for years and they seemed to be the only ones around here, other than me, that were willing to work on her ancient Mercedes.

I would name the shop but don't want to risk getting sued. Needless to say, 'Miss Daisy' won't be going back there!

Happy Motoring, Mark

[joshhol]

I definitely want to pound their heads into 'V' shapes now!
It seems like their rate of overcharging was 3 times what it should have cost. $200 dollars to replace the radiator!? What, to take like 6 bolts out?!

I'm normally very laid back. I'd like to see some big angry Marines go to the shop and do an audit on their service records.
Well, I suppose they will reap their Karmic benefits eventually.

Josh

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Yeah! Maybe those 6 bolts were rusty and don't forget those 2 tough radiator hoses.
I tell everyone that asks, to stay away from that particular shop.

The various repairs I did for Elouise Powell, Miss Daisy's former owner, over the 6 years I knew her were relatively simple. I met her 8 years ago over a bad fuel leak. She'd been told that she needed new carbs, but her immediate problem was a loose fuel line fitting that took maybe a minute to tighten.
Later she was failed on inspection by the local Va state safety inspector for a hole in the drivers floor. The shop told her that she needed to fix all the rust for thousands of dollars but, for $60, I fabricated a patch panel from heavy guage galvanised steel that made her and the inspector happy.
When I moved the car from the street to the driveway to repair the floor, I noticed how poorly the engine was running. I cleaned 2 gas fouled plugs and adjusted the idle mixture a bit but didn't bother to tell Elouise. 2 days later she called me up, all excited, to tell me how amazing it was that her car had started running like new again. So then I had to explain to her why that wasn't so amazing.

As for the tree damage, I was able to straighten the mirror shell and get a replacement glass and retainer from Mercedes, and also straighten the mangled fin strip for which I fabricated some clips with stainless studs and nuts to replace the rusted out originals. I guess she appreciated me so much, she left me 'Miss Daisy' and I've discoverd how much I can still enjoy a 43 year old car. (But with all the crappy cold and rain forcast for the rest of this week, not until the sun returns!)

Happy Motoring, Mark

[joshhol]

Thats a good story.
What a honest natural way for the car to become yours.
No haggling with sellers or other suspicions.

The way that my 220S came to my hands is similar in that the seller just liked the way I approached him about the car.
I had seen it on ebay when I was just perusing the sites. It immediately caught my eye as I had never seen a mercedes like that. (Actually, in my earliest memories I may have seen a fintail but don't really remember)
Especially unique were the European headlights which I definitely hadn't ever seen.
I watched as the auction came and went, hoping that one day I could find a mercedes like that.
Then a few weeks later it came back up for auction!
Seems the first bidder had flaked. On the second auction, strangely only one picture had been posted, it seemed the others didn't work. This was an advantage for me, and no one bid on the car.
I then contacted the seller and explained my interest and appreciation of the car and proposed a way for me to make payments.
Long story short, he held on to the car for several months for me as I gathered the money to buy it.
He said he dearly loved it but was retraining for a new career and needed the money. He just wanted it to go to a good home and didn't like the way other prospective buyers were haggling and quibbling with him about the price.

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Joshhol,
Were you able to inspect the car in person first or did you buy it sight unseen? (except for the Ebay photos) How far did you have to go to pick it up?

I had driven 'Miss Daisy' very little while Elouise was alive. It was kind of scary driving it home for the first time.
After new motor mounts, one brake hose and a few weeks of practice, I'm now used to the manual steering and drum brakes. I find she performs and handles amazingly well for a 43 year old. (and I'm sure the modern radial tires help) The drum brake self-adjusters still need work (I'm thinking of converting to manual adjusters) and the brakes 'judder' when stopping (but see my post on the 'Fintail' site) I can imagine how nice this car was when new.

I'd love to have the European headlamps but, aside from the cost for a pair of decent ones, you menioned about California having the worst drivers. Well....we have some pretty bad ones here too! Yesterday, I was almost nailed in my Honda, by an old T-Bird that ran a stopsign! (Hence, Miss Daisy's lap and shoulder belt project) And unlike the Euro lamps, I can pick up replacement sealed beams at Walmart.

Happy Motoring, Mark