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  #1  
Old 06-05-2016, 12:43 AM
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Location: Tucson, AZ
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You can run but you can't hide!

So I've basically retired from the mechanical world I've been immersed in for the last 40 years. I went back to school, packed up and stored my shop equipment. Been piddling around doing some minor stuff for friends and re-engineering the fuel/ignition systems on my older Benzi (es?) but basically keeping my nose (and hands) clean. I have no classes this summer semester so I've been kind of wondering what to do which doesn't involve the 4 page "Honey-do" list which my wife keeps slipping onto my desk.

Desert Panther swung by the other day and we re-charged his A/C unit. Ordinarily I pull whatever car I'm working with into my work area and close the gate (6 foot tall wooden affair) but for some reason I didn't close it.

So DP and I are just shooting the breeze discussing his newest acquisition ('85 SD), letting the Freon fill and a guy walks up.

He's a member of a crew which is in the neighborhood re-furbishing the old gas lines and just happened to see us holding down the car.

"Say", he says, "You work on old Mercedes?"

"Only as a hobby"

"My brother-in-law has an old 230 his father left him and I wonder if you know anything about them"

Now here is where I should have remembered the "Honey-do" list and said "No" but the thought of spending the summer crawling around on my hands and knees, replacing trim, re-finishing drapery hangers, stripping, sanding,refinishing floors and all the half-arsed plumbing which needed updating was more than I could bear.

So, we swap phone numbers and I figured that was that. Figured I wouldn't hear from the guy for a couple of weeks and by then I'd be elbow deep in something I couldn't get out of.

Finish up DP's car and away he goes. Wash up, make a sandwich and plan to have a bit of a siesta (111 here today). Comes a knock on the door. He's back AND he has his brother-in-law with him!

So now I don't have to worry about being bored this summer. Just gotta figure out a way to keep the wife happy while I'm not doing all the stuff she wanted me to do.

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  #2  
Old 06-05-2016, 02:21 AM
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...like a shield of steel
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Somewhere in the Netherlands
Posts: 14,461
So you bought it or you've just started out as an independent mechanic?
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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!
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  #3  
Old 06-05-2016, 08:43 AM
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Kind of an "indie" but we all know where this leads. It starts out as doing minor repairs, leads to some hefty repair bills due to deferred maintenance, guy becomes discouraged, I end up with the car in lieu of payment...
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  #4  
Old 06-05-2016, 10:50 AM
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...like a shield of steel
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Somewhere in the Netherlands
Posts: 14,461
...oh good plan!

It starts out as someone else's car and the wife is calm. And then before you know it - well what can you do - not your fault!
__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!
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  #5  
Old 06-05-2016, 11:13 AM
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I think it's a bad plan.
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  #6  
Old 06-05-2016, 11:38 AM
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It's not a plan at all. I'm hoping it doesn't work out that way but this isn't my first rodeo. This has happened to me more times than I want to recall.

'Course it would happen to be just a sedan. Now, if it were a SL.....
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― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now
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  #7  
Old 06-10-2016, 11:34 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Tucson, AZ
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Non-starter. Poor old neglected beast is just too far gone. Danged shame too.

Good straight rust free body. Glass is all good, interior is trashed. Car obviously hasn't run in 4 or 5 years. Air filter and hose missing, Stromberg carb open to the elements, has the EPA head (Thermactor, air injection lines, etc.), automatic transmission, A/C systems appears to be complete but the belt is missing.

Somebody has been messing with it relatively recently (within the last 5 years) as the valve cover has been off and they used the good blue silicone to seal it. Didn't appear to be a "slap-dash" job as it was properly applied. Just enough to seal it without gobs of goo squeezed out. The coil/trigger points wiring has been replaced. Newer plug wires, cap, etc.

Oil was full and clean, radiator empty (or at a level below the core) but clean. Didn't check the trans fluid because I'd seen enough at this point.

Explained about the possible costs he'd be looking at. His eyes started rolling back into his head before I even got to what it could cost if there were nothing wrong with the engine.

Ah well, you can't save them all.
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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now
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  #8  
Old 06-10-2016, 05:12 PM
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...like a shield of steel
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Somewhere in the Netherlands
Posts: 14,461
Shame I was getting all in bunch about the lack of pictures in this thread - now there's no need...
__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!
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  #9  
Old 06-10-2016, 06:11 PM
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Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 5,134
Did you say Indie? Does that mean I can drop off my two 6.3's , 450SEL 6.9 and a couple of old BMW's. Transport from TX to AZ is cheap
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With best regards

Al
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  #10  
Old 06-10-2016, 06:43 PM
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Location: Tucson, AZ
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No hablo de Texas!

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