PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - 2,000 Mile Trip Planned For 1968 W110 200D

Squiggle Dog · #64 07-01-2010, 06:33 PM

Pictured is part of historic Heber City, which is home of the Heber Creeper, a steam train which is still in service.

The split at the top of the radiator opened up again, but it did not lose much coolant during the drive. The engine lost (or should I say, leaked) 1 quart of oil to Utah, and 1 quart of oil returning to Washington. There is definitely leakage coming from the lower half of the engine and I dread pulling the engine to reseal it.

Pictured is my solution to the stuck heater valves. I was trying to find hose pinchers; something that would collapse the hose so the coolant wouldn't flow through the heater cores. No one seemed to understand what I was asking for and kept showing me hose clamps, so I went to the hardware store and used C-clamps with large steel fender washers and rubber washers to help protect the hose. It works until I can fix it the correct way.

You can see that the engine was running too rich by the soot on the back of the car. I definitely need to fix the problem.

I arrived home on June 30th. I covered about 2,000 miles in my 42-year-old car that was neglected and barely drivable only a few months ago. I probably spent about $160 total in fuel, so that's not bad. 16 hours of driving one-way is a lot, though, even when it's split up into 8 hour increments!

These old Mercedes fintail diesels can be great daily drivers as mine is, though there are still issues to work out. I use it for everything since I don't have any other usable cars, but I am working on a 1980 300SD that I hope to be driving next year.

There is a certain amount of satisfaction from getting a worn-out antique car and getting it roadworthy enough to drive 2,000 miles through 4 states, knowing I did all of the labor myself.