Introducing "Dolly" - 1962 Fintail 220b - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

JeffreyNMemphis · #16 08-24-2015, 03:06 PM

Hi Peaches,

The glove box lock was gummed up badly so the pins would not move when the key was inserted. I soaked the lock cylinder over night in lighter fluid then wiped it clean with cotton swabs. Then I rinsed with alcohol and finally lubricated it. It is working correctly and ready to be reinstalled.

After cleaning:

That is the same lock! The little things make a huge difference in the looks of a vintage car. One system at a time, it will come back to life.

DHW · #17 08-24-2015, 04:05 PM

Interesting that the prior owner left a log book with all that information. My 1964 190d has the same thing. I have every fill up with mileage and cost as well as maintenance from 1964 until 2004 when the car was parked. I wonder if it had to do with fuel tax or something? The prior owner drove all around the west coast from Oregon all the way to Palmer, Alaska, Bozeman, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Washington, all around the Pacific Northwest. I wish I could recreate the trip. Very cool stuff.

JeffreyNMemphis · #18 08-24-2015, 04:22 PM

I am guessing the log had several benefits: maintenance is done by mileage, so he kept a log of oil changes and maintenance. He was probably reimbursed for expenses, so he kept how many gallons and mileage. Taxes! You could write off your expenses under certain circumstances. My original owner was a career military man. He must have been reimbursed when using person vehicle for Government business.

JeffreyNMemphis · #19 08-25-2015, 08:56 AM

Hi Peaches,

The dipstick shows super clean oil that looks and smells fresh out of a container. The battery is an Autozone Duralast manufactured January 2011. Although the car has not been registered since 1984, it appears to have been maintained somewhat.

This is very good news. Buying any used car is a gamble. Buying a fifty year-old car that has been off the road for 30 years has risks and certainty. The risks could be stuff like a seized engine, or transmission. The certainty is replacing rubber: tires, brake hose, clutch hose, fuel hose and fan belts. The brake booster is highly likely. Rust repair is another certainty; the extent is not yet known.

It took about sixty seconds to spot evidence that Dolly had a bad re-spray before 1984. The exterior rubber gaskets all have paint on them. I remember commercials on television for Earl Schieb who would "Paint any car any color for $89.99". That type of paint job would be quick and dirty. Treating rust would not have been included, so I expect some rust to be hiding underneath. Long term plan is to remove all the bright stuff, repair metal and perform detailed preparation for paint.

Short term plan is to make run, stop and not leak. Cosmetics come after mechanical issues. I am in the planning stage. Making lists of tasks and researching part numbers. I have a spreadsheet to collect what I am spending, time and projected costs. I follow the auctions, hemings, eBay and Craigslist so I have an idea of market values. Spending $35,000 on Dolly would not make her worth $35,000.00. My restoration has to have a budget that does not exceed value. I don't have enough information to know what it would cost to achieve different levels of condition or what is practical. But I am having fun.

joshhol · #20 08-25-2015, 10:36 AM

Just curious why lighter fluid to soak the lock?
Also, there's a lot of bright work on a fin, does most of it come off easily? My long term plan for my fin may be to strip everything myself so that a thorough and proper rust repair/repaint can happen.

JeffreyNMemphis · #21 08-25-2015, 12:09 PM

Hi Josh,

Lighter fluid, kerosene, gasoline are all solvents that dissolve gummy grimy lubricants. I just happened to have lighter fluid handy.

Removing trim is not that difficult. It is typically held on with metal hardware or plastic clips. The problem is that metal hardware is often rusty. If you soak the rusty clips and screws with something like PB Blaster they will come off. If they get destroyed in the removal process the Classic Center sells them (not cheap). Some of the trim holders use rivets to attach to the body. The plastic ones that hold the windshield lower trim are two piece plastic ones that are available is they are destroyed in the removal process.

My plan is to consult the workshop manual before starting so I know precisely were each is located and have the right tool to remove it. It does not hurt that I am parting out code blue and learning how each piece is fastened.

0-60Motorsports · #22 08-27-2015, 02:21 AM

Beautiful Find and buy. Good luck with the restoration and looking forward to your progress updates.

vwnate1 · #23 08-27-2015, 09:21 PM

That looks to be a nice car you have there , I await the details as you go through it .

NEVER consider what it might be worth as restoration co$t$ rarely meet sales value .

I used to restore cars in the 1970's as a labor of love or for Customers , I always told them it's cheaper to find a 5 ~ 10 year old full restoration .

FWIW , I'm old so I remember old ' Uncle Earl ' himself on the T.V. saying ' $29.95 ! in by 8 , out by 5 ! , no ups , no extras , $29.95 ! ' .

We'd use Earl Scheib on our used cars , we'd strip off the trim , bumpers and rubber stuff , then they'd actually look pretty darn good .

Skid Row Joe · #24 08-28-2015, 01:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffreyNMemphis

I am guessing the log had several benefits: maintenance is done by mileage, so he kept a log of oil changes and maintenance. He was probably reimbursed for expenses, so he kept how many gallons and mileage. Taxes! You could write off your expenses under certain circumstances. My original owner was a career military man. He must have been reimbursed when using person vehicle for Government business.

How would that work being reimbursed because he kept a log? Never heard of that one in the Military. Especially taxes AND using your personal vehicle as a business use vehicle overseas.....?

JeffreyNMemphis · #25 08-28-2015, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe

How would that work being reimbursed because he kept a log? Never heard of that one in the Military. Especially taxes AND using your personal vehicle as a business use vehicle overseas.....?

Hi Joe,

I was guessing. I know that he was an officer in the Air Force when the car was purchased. The Major was a chaplain and used the car when he returned to the U.S. when he traveled to perform his duties. An enlisted soldier probably does not get reimbursed for transportation expense. If he was being reimbursed for expenses, documentation would be required. You are correct that personal use would not have tax implications.

Forgive me for Olympic quality conclusion jumping and speculation .

JeffreyNMemphis · #26 08-28-2015, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwnate1

That looks to be a nice car you have there , I await the details as you go through it .

NEVER consider what it might be worth as restoration co$t$ rarely meet sales value .

I used to restore cars in the 1970's as a labor of love or for Customers , I always told them it's cheaper to find a 5 ~ 10 year old full restoration .

Quote:

FWIW , I'm old so I remember old ' Uncle Earl ' himself on the T.V. saying ' $29.95 ! in by 8 , out by 5 ! , no ups , no extras , $29.95 ! ' .

We'd use Earl Scheib on our used cars , we'd strip off the trim , bumpers and rubber stuff , then they'd actually look pretty darn good .

You have a great memory! You reminded me of the rest of the Earl Scieb pitch.

I often find myself rationalizing when making decisions about my hobbies that become irrational at some point. I see a lot of cars for sale. One aspect of the collecting and restoring as a hobby is looking. When I see the same listing of an overpriced car for twelve months it usually has a tale of outrageous fortune being spent (invested some say).

Before I buy a car, I consider what the purchase price is and what it might take in blood and treasure to restore it to my satisfaction. There are various levels of difficulty and expense to achieve grades of quality. I believe that I am creating value while I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.

My first Mercedes Benz was a 1972 280SE 4.5 V8 sedan that I loved. I was 24 years old. It was a romantic and irrational experience. The car consumed my money in restoration expenses and I was ultimately overwhelmed by the estimated cost of major engine work. I could not afford it and sold the car for much less than I had spent. There was no Internet or Peach Parts to learn about Mercedes repair at the time. The experience put me in a Honda!

I decided years later to return to classic Mercedes Benz with a commitment to learn how to do my own work. If you have to pay someone to change your oil on a fifty year old car you have to have deep pockets. I wasted my hard earned money when I was 24 and that experience factors into my current philosophy. If an average example of a classic type I like sells for $10k, and excellent example of that type sells for $12k, then I don't want to own one for $35k. I want to buy that same type car for $1,000 or $2,000 and spend $3,000 in parts plus my labor to have what I believe is worth $10,000. If I win the lottery then I might change my mind.

It is good advice to a customer that buying a complete restored car is better than buying something that needs retail priced everything... I will go further and say to buy the excellent example instead of the average. Most often the difference in price and quality between average and truly excellent is a few dollars. We could not get the average priced car to be truly excellent for the few dollars difference in original price.

joshhol · #27 08-28-2015, 09:14 AM

I don't know if things were different back then but nowadays either enlisted or officer can get reimbursed for personal use of a vehicle IF the personal use is advantages to the GOV or if preferred by the member for certain situations where the reimbursement does not exceed what it would have cost the GOV to fund the travel. In cases like moving to a new duty station, the member is given a mileage flat rate but they don't need to keep logs because the distance tables have already been calculated.
I don't think Chaplains travel that much for regular duty, besides around the base and in the local area. If a GOV vehicle was available for regular duties, he would NOT be reimbursed for travel expenses.
The guy was probably just particular and liked keeping track of his Benz's maintenance needs.

JeffreyNMemphis · #28 08-31-2015, 02:30 PM

Dolly got four new tires from Wal-Mart. All four tires cost about $200.00 plus tax. I paid that much for one tire on my E430.

I got a surprise when I removed the front wheel. Dolly has drum brakes up front. I was expecting discs in front and drums at the rear.

I have a set of front disc brakes from my parts car available. I wonder if the value of originality is greater than the value of better technology available on the higher priced 220Sb. Dolly has the Pierburg 34 carbs that make 95 horsepower instead of the Solex carbs that make 110 horsepower. Again, asking myself if originality is preferred over higher quality Mercedes Benz options that poor Dolly didn't have from birth. The 220b model wheels have body color paint rims with simple hubcaps, I have extra sets of "beauty rings" that the higher priced models have. Do I dress up Dolly or keep her original?

Penny for your thoughts...

meltedpanda · #29 08-31-2015, 04:12 PM

I spent a better half of a year getting "Pearl" back to original as possible. The PO had "spruced her up" I like period original , but the underside needs to be safe, I'd have no trouble putting on front discs, newer shocks, ect

Radios, trim , tires, hubs , all original for me

JeffreyNMemphis · #30 08-31-2015, 04:34 PM

Hi Ron,

Thank you! I respect your opinion.

The original owner upgraded the radio and added a CB. The Emerald Bullet has the "delete plate with 220S logo". I hid a stereo under the dash instead of mounting it front and center.

There is a trim repair that I will be addressing. See if you can spot what is wrong with this picture:

I will also have to do some body work to repair a door ding:

No complaints. The car will need paint at some time soon anyway.