I Found A Cool Fintail Wagon - Page 12 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Squiggle Dog · #**166** 12-24-2012, 10:05 PM

It's been a while since I have updated this thread. I moved from rainy Washington to dry Arizona and after 6 months of living here, I am loving it. It's Christmas Eve and bright, sunny, and nearly 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It rarely got that warm in Washington in the summer, and it would rain almost every day. Now I have the car in a better climate.

As my roommate and I were detaching the car hauler trailer (not a tow dolly, but the 2,000lb thing with four wheels) which the Universal was to be loaded on, the tongue dropped onto my foot and despite wearing steel toe boots, it crushed my foot and broke four toes. It also got infected and I was in the hospital with an allergic reaction to the antibiotics, but I digress...

I still ended up driving the 26' Penske moving truck from Washington to Arizona in throbbing pain with two large dogs (a GSD/husky mix and a Great Dane) in the cab while pulling the Universal behind it on a trailer. What a drive that was. It took 36 hours of on-the-road time.

There were some tricky situations I got the truck and trailer into; at one fuel station there wasn't quite enough room for me to turn out and clear the pump, so I had to hop/crawl out of the truck, get to the trailer to see how much room I had, go back to the cab, back up the truck, get out again, etc. until I could pull out of the station. Of course no one offered to help guide me out (one guy even decided to walk behind the truck as I was backing it up).

Dealing with the dogs and a broken foot was a difficult combination. I had to stand on one leg, lift each dog out of the cab and set them down. Then I had to either hop on one leg or try to walk them with crutches, but of course the Great Dane wouldn't go potty in a strange place. When I got to the first Motel 6, it ended up being a smoking room on the second floor. Believe me, getting my things for the night and two dogs up to the second floor with one broken foot was not easy. The second Motel 6 was a better experience, other than being woken up by the Great Dane peeing in the room early in the morning after only having been asleep for a few minutes.

Due to the weight and California's washboard roads, the truck and trailer tended to bounce, and I am glad I checked the wagon because the wheel straps had loosened up and caused it to slide backwards. I was able to ratchet the straps tight.

I later found out that if I had purchased the $6 personal injury protection (I did purchase insurance for the equipment), it would have paid for my medical bills instead of having to pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket (on time) since I have no medical insurance (or job yet). At least it was my left foot and I can finally walk again.

I got rid of the junky W110 front sheet metal as it was all rusted through and hardly any original metal was left. I am going to get a rust-free W111 with sunroof as a donor body on which to transplant my station wagon sheet metal. I put on my spare W111 fenders and hood for fun and also the doors from my old 200D since the original doors were junk.

I removed the red interior and installed the brown and tan interior from my 200D. I kept the old door panels and seat skins to use for patterns if I make new ones.

I sold the original 230 engine for extra money and put in the OM617 5 cylinder turbo diesel engine. It fits well (even bolted up the the stock transmission) other than having to reroute the oil canister and a few other small modifications. I have a set of factory skid plates and other things under the hood since for now the car is being used as a storage unit.

I made a drawing of how I plan for the Universal to look when I have it restored and in use as a daily driver. I want it to have a sunroof, roof rack, two-tone brown and tan paint job, and whitewall tires.

Carpenterman · #**167** 12-24-2012, 11:37 PM

Good to hear from you, Scott.

I really like what you're doing with the wagon. I can't wait to see it completed.

Zacharias · #**168** 12-25-2012, 12:21 AM

Hell of a trip you had. Hang in there. I have two collie/aussie shepherd crosses. I don't think they would have made it in the truck cab, over that distance... not the female, anyway. The male chills out after a few miles... until he spots a bicycle.

Don't give up on the Fintail wagon. You won't forgive yourself later, if you do.

Voice of experience....

mercmad6.3 · #**169** 12-25-2012, 01:31 AM

Well, You Know the Trosch brothers so when it comes to ressurecting a rusted wagon you are in good company. Glad to hear the foot has or is begining to come right .

Squiggle Dog · #**170** 12-25-2012, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercmad6.3

Well, You Know the Trosch brothers so when it comes to ressurecting a rusted wagon you are in good company. Glad to hear the foot has or is begining to come right .

Haha, yes! I recently saw that wagon in person (along with a few others).

Palolo · #**171** 12-25-2012, 01:46 AM

Cool update!

Great to see the car getting the love...

Mojoan · #**172** 12-25-2012, 07:02 AM

I love your project!

That colour combo looks quite good, hang in there and finish it and it will be worth it!

And I wish you a fast recovery from that foot injury.

Greetings from germany,
moe

meltedpanda · #**173** 12-25-2012, 06:51 PM

wow on the trip
double wow on the foot
triple wow on the car

2013's gotta be better for you - especially with a Finny project!

Ozarkdude · #**174** 12-26-2012, 05:33 PM

Congrats on the healing process, the car, and the move. After 50 years born and raised in Minnesota, I finally wised up and moved 700 miles due south three years ago. Not any better off financially, but climatically its a different planet.

71inka02 · #**175** 12-26-2012, 09:43 PM

Congrats on the progress with the Universal. I really admir your determination and drive -- Keep charging forward and keep the positive attitude...Things will fall into place!

Now - I must ask...You drew the picture? WOW...that's impressive, and totally cool.

Squiggle Dog · #**176** 12-27-2012, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 71inka02

Now - I must ask...You drew the picture? WOW...that's impressive, and totally cool.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Yes, I drew the picture. I was excited about moving to Arizona and the thought of restoring my Universal, so I felt like drawing something to celebrate.

Below is a drawing I did a few years ago of how I wanted my 300SD to look once restored. I still want to use this two-tone color scheme (it used to be brown before it was repainted black and now the clearcoat is peeling off and it looks horrible) and have the seats done to match.

I used to spend my lunch at school drawing pictures in the hallway. I drew this one when I was in the 6th grade.

This is a picture of a 1955 Pontiac that I had when I was a kid, and no money to restore it, but it was fun to play around in. I drew this when I was about 13.

I am very interested in vintage bicycles. When I was a kid in the mid 1990s, Schwinn reissued its 1949 Black Phantom, which was the bicycle I had to have when I saw it. Unfortunately, it had a $2,500 price tag and there was no way someone my age would have been able to afford one. I drew many, many pictures of the bicycle anyway.

I saw this neat DeSoto when I was visiting relatives in Arizona (was just there this Christmas since I moved here) and decided to draw it. It was actually a coppertone color, but I wanted to draw it red.

Squiggle Dog · #**177** 12-27-2012, 01:31 AM

Here's another drawing I did when I was obsessing over the Schwinn Black Phantom.

This is a 1967 International Travelall that I used to have as a daily driver. I would use it to haul bicycles. I sold it when times were tough (used the money to pay rent and rode a bicycle 10 miles to work) and eventually got a 1965 Travelall to replace it.

I drove the 1965 from California to Utah--an eventful trip; I almost died when the wires on the new high beam dimmer switch installed by the previous owner popped off when I tapped it with my foot, causing me to lose both headlights simultaneously on a pitch black night with no other cars or buildings around while I was doing 70 MPH on a curve. I went off the road down a steep embankment and got bounced around so hard that my foot went through the floorboard, and then when I stepped out of the vehicle I fell into a ditch.

Later on, I ran out of gas going up a hill and started to roll backward. I popped the car into gear and it caused the rear differential gears and axle shaft to break. Luckily, I was able to make it home on the front axle by putting it in four-wheel-drive.

I drove the Travelall to Washington when I moved, pulling a UHaul trailer behind it. It was a decent vehicle that got around 18 MPG, but eventually the rusted and battered body (it was a goldminer's truck in Montana where it got used hard up in the mountains) was too far gone for me to realistically repair, so I sold it to a guy who owned a bus garage and I drove diesel Mercedes instead.

I like to draw dogs, too. I admit that these drawings are quite a few years old now. Sometimes life gets so busy that there isn't much time to draw.

This picture is fairly recent. I was thinking about dogs and bicycles and longing for the desert on another rainy day in Washington, so I tried out a new marker set that I got.

suginami · #**178** 12-27-2012, 12:13 PM

That black and white drawing of the german shepherd looks real.

You should find a career doing this.

Are you still in school?

Squiggle Dog · #**179** 12-27-2012, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suginami

That black and white drawing of the german shepherd looks real.

You should find a career doing this.

Are you still in school?

Thanks! I graduated high school a few years back and have been trying to make ends meet (many years were spent nearly homeless scrounging for change under drive-through windows at night so I could eat the next day, riding a bicycle while my car sat broken down).

I was finally able to get work as a bus driver and got free CDL training. From there I was able to get better jobs and now that I'm in Arizona I'm hoping to get a decent job driving small tanker or garbage trucks.

I've wanted to be an artist or musician my whole life, but I've been so busy trying to survive that I haven't been able to practice enough to make a career out of it.

vwnate1 · #**180** 12-27-2012, 10:03 PM

Don't ever stop your artworks ! .

They're nice .

I wish I could draw or paint , tried and took lessons but no dice .

I spent many miles in an IHC Travelall in the early 1960's.... good trucks .