My Poor old '64 190d Help!?!?!

Hi anyone...
This is my first post since joining last week.

I have owned a 1964 190D fintail for 15 years or more.
It was an excellent summer only daily driver till divorce hit my house.
I don't want to bore you with the details but the car has not been run in several years. I started to restore it
(more like fix it up) hoping to put it back on the road again.
The engine still turns freely.

I have no manual for it. and in 15 years I have just never needed to do anything to it as it ran perfectly well. Just minor maintenance. Rad hoses and fan belts and oil and lubes and fluids.
(Unlike my Jaguars!!!)

I may be interested in selling it, trading it or??
(my kids will beat me in my sleep)

I will leave this as is and see who responds.

Talk to me !!! My kids will love you if you can help??
(Yeah they just like this car having no seat belts )

So what do you say?...after 15 years ya know this is tough!

[Aaron]

A few questions come to mind:

1. Was the car stored inside or outside?

2. Did it run when parked?

3. Any rust that you know of?

4. Are you prepared to spend big sums of money to put it back on the road correctly?

5. In your heart, would you rather sell it or keep it?

Let us know! I'd be interested in it if it's not rusted out. But I wouldn't buy it until you got a US title.

[300SDog]

Me too, I'd like to know more about it..... but cant make any promises as am gonna be jumping jobs in another month. Otherwise i'd be all over it like a bum on a baloney sandwich.

First thing I would do is drain the fuel tank, add fresh diesel fuel and new batttery. Then squirt oil into the chambers, letting the piston rings marinate overnight before starting it up.

[pj67coll]

Hmm. You've piqued my curiosity. How about some more details and posting some pics? Exterior/Interior, underneath, details of interior of fuel system, you know that sort of thing

- Peter.

Hope you can figure this out I haven’t figured out the font issue here yet...


OK Aaron asked:

A few questions come to mind:

1. Was the car stored inside or outside?
*****
Both, since fall of 97 it was garaged, this past winter was outside covered.

2. Did it run when parked?
*****
Like an absolute champ!! It ran like it would never quit.
In fact I had just driven it home from work to find out that it
was finally lawyer time. Would you believe that it was a Friday the 13th? That was when I parked it.
I parked it because it was technically the wife’s car and I thought it would become an issue with the property settlement.
That is also the reason I didn't touch it for maintenance. I felt it would be wiser to let her look after it if she wanted it.

BTW, my sense of humor here, she was visiting the kids with her new husband recently and I asked her in front of him if she wanted to buy the Mercedes... she threw a hairbrush at me!!
Boy that was funny...her husband even thought so.
Anyway back to car's


3. Any rust that you know of?
*****
Oh yeah...but I know that rust can be seriously hindered by a good "Krowning" and if the car ran it would be an excellent daily driver. If I were to put it back on the road I and if I were to do nothing at all but drive it I could get many years of enjoyment out of it as long as I kept on top of little things. And if I chose to drive it "as is" a good rustproofing would give me a very cool car that people would wave at even as they were choking on the diesel smoke, (hence my name "Smokey")
And every one would smile and ask the same question...
"Why don't you fix it up?"

The doors shut perfectly and it has never been wrecked.
It has apparently an original 80.000 miles on the odo.
Believable considering the car.
The suspension points are solid and the floors were repaired
The interior is a blue striped velour thing that reminds me of the "Beach Boys" (wow, what was dey thinkin)
but this is not and never was, a show car.


4. Are you prepared to spend big sums of money to put it back on the road correctly?
******
Truthfully no. I "won" the divorce case and it left me broke.
Cost me three Harley Davidson’s and 15 vintage bikes...
all the money I had etc... but I did get the Mercedes...
I have both my kids full time for a long time now and I really
can't spare the cash at this time. Complicated by this
upcoming move which is really prompting this posting.
I wish I had found this place a couple of years ago, I would probably not be discussing this issue.

5. In your heart, would you rather sell it or keep it?
*****
Oh boy it tears me. I did purchase it for my long gone wife.
in the fall of 1988.
But I ended up driving it mostly.
My kids love it, but I think I would be happy if someone took it and was going to treat it nice.

Let us know! I'd be interested in it if it's not rusted out. But I wouldn't buy it until you got a US title.
***
I am moving to the U.S. as I said, but if I could sell it in the next couple of months I would do it cheap just so not to have the hassle of trailering it across the border.

I would swap it for anything that runs including a vintage motorcylce. Or a reasonably good laptop to a good home.
If I end up shipping it south this may all change.
I would eventually like to get another old Merc, but I doubt I could get one anywhere near as good as this for even twice what I would let it go for, but I believe in miracles so hey...

But anyway Dieseldog suggests the maintenance thing and I have gone out to the car several times and looked at the engine (and the stupid mess made by BUDO motors) I close the hood and walk away. SO that may answer more clearly the earlier question about what my heart tells me to do with it.

Oh yeah and one last thing, I will try to get pic's to post but right now I do not have any on this computer and my scanner has been buried in the back yard next to my kids guinea pig.

Thanks guy's for getting back to me.

BTW Peter, I had several 70's Cadi's. I LOVE em.

[pj67coll]

Love em too Smoky. The only cars that exist next to the Teutonic Wunderwagen IMHO. Though they are almost non existent here now.

- Peter.

[300SDog]

That blue striped fabric (if original) is actually worsted wool.... common among Euro models, arguably more comfortable than MB-tex.

By any chance does the car have a reclining front bench seat that folds all the way down like a bed?? This is actually extremely rare and highly desirable feature, entirely unique to taxi model 110's.

For cryin out loud, get the car running in Toronto..... this will improve your options of what to do next.

RE Front seat:

I believe the seat does fully recline I have never tried to do it though.

RE seat Fabric:

That is a relief to think it may be original,
I was never in a hurry to change it as it was comfortable.
Especialy on hot summer days.
Toronto gets hotter than Africa in the summer.