Do Dieselheads secretly dislike Cars? ( my theory....) - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#31 09-29-2006, 10:22 PM

Hi, my name is Nathan and I am a Diesel-Mercalcoholic.
(Hi, Nathan)
Well, it all started when I became interested in alternative fuels. I became very interested in biodiesel. This interest led to thinking of purchasing a diesel. I soon began looking for an older diesel car. I focused on Volvos and Volkswagens. Later I also began to consider Mercedes. One day I found a listing for a 1980 300SD on EBay. I bid and tried to get it, but I did not win the auction. A few weeks later I found a 1985 300D for sale at the opposite end of the state. I call, and then my father and I went to look. The owner had a stack of records that he thought necessary to review with me. The car had not been started in six months and it took a few minutes to get it started. (Found later that only a few glow plugs were working.) The car seemed to chug along at first. I decided to buy it. (A few weeks ago my father told me that he could not believe that I planned to purchase and attempt to drive that 223,000 mile car back home) After about one hour of running, the car seemed to have really ‘cleared its throat’ and the rest of the 3-hour drive was great. Miss Margaret became my favorite drive.

Things got worse. Fourteen months later while thinking that I would get a Jetta diesel or Jeep Liberty diesel for my wife I ended up purchasing a 1999 E300. Now this summer I purchased a 1981 300D.

In the beginning Miss Margaret was a minority being a diesel amongst gassers. Now my truck and lawn mowers are looked down on because they have spark plugs. The score is now 16 diesel cylinders against 10 gas cylinders.

I know that it is getting worse. I am Merc diesel junkie. There are some non-diesel Merc’s that I would consider, but the draw of the distinct diesel sound for me has become the Siren Song. Although none of my gas powered items need replaced I do look at diesel versions for replacements. It is really bad. I get high from turning the key to cycle the glow plugs; I no longer desire to crank the engine the moment the key is put into the ignition. I do not care that I am looked down upon in my line of work. People are always getting new cars at work. I have the oldest thing in the parking lot by far.

That is my pitch. Please excuse me…after telling all of this I need to go get a fix.

Hatterasguy · #32 09-29-2006, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieselmania

What, nobody likes a Bentley??? Or how about an Audi Rosemeyer. (concept only)

Bentley's are awsome, love them along with RR. One of the guys down the marina is a big RR Bentley fan. He just bought one of the new coupes and I have to admit its pretty freaken sweet!

W12 like 600hp oh yeah.

It has to be special or rare to get my attention, and common cars that fill car shows just don't do it for me. Besides muscle cars were junk, my dad and uncle owned them back in the day. They rusted out after a few years. My uncle had some that are pretty popular these days, a Cuda for one, and a late 60's Vette. He would buy a new Z06 or Acura before buying one these days. Remember they were all live rear axle, rust buckets with drum brakes and cheap everything. Typical mass production car with a big motor. Honda Accord of there day with a monster engine.

Noe a Mercedes 500k thats worth drooling over!

#33 09-29-2006, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

love them along with RR.

I LOVE Rolls Royce. They are just too rare and expensive for a limited budget person like me to own.

#34 09-29-2006, 11:01 PM

I do have a soft spot for old cars with inline engines, especailly post WWII straight eight Packards

MBeige · #35 09-29-2006, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carrameow

Last summer at a company picnic, a coworker showed up with his 57 Thunderbird and another Antique car. What was funny was I wasn't the slightest bit interested and didn't even wander over to take a look. Similarly, I was staying a a Hotel once and their was a Major Car show across the street and everyone was going....and I wasn't the slightest bit interested. And when the office motor nuts gather together to exclaim the virtues of Camaro vice Porsche 911, I'm the last one who will join the conversation...

And yet I spend more Wrench time than anyone at work or anyone, period. And I enjoy it and love it. My collection of used junkers are all over 200K in mileage and I spend quite some time ensuring they run and everything works. And thats the reason I love my Mercedes 300D. I love it because its not a car, its kind of ....well, like the family dog. It has a life and a spirit of its own and because its an anti car and its me. I mean who else would change out the springs on a rusting old hulk with 300K + miles on it when he put one's that were slightly taller than normal on them? (its no longer rusty, i welded patch metal recently and fixed and painted all the cancer)

And yet you could hand me the keys to a 2006 Lexus or Porsche ....and i would be totally bored and disinterested.....

You probably didn't have good ventilation when you repainted the door panels.

SD Blue · #36 09-30-2006, 12:33 AM

I tried to figure out what draws my interest to some cars and not so much to others. I guess it has to be a combination of things. I like mainly cars that someone can tinker with and use a little ingenuity. Older cars mostly fall into this catagory.

If its U.S. made, for some reason, 40's and earlier are more interesting. Folks usually have had to integrate old and new and modify systems to make things work. They have learned about all aspects of the car and not just an engine that will cover a straight section of pavement fast. Muscle cars are Ho-Hum, for the most part.

Foreign cars kind of fall into the same area. Old British sports cars, older classics of any make have to be tinkered with to make them work. I guess that is why I like these Benzes.

Sure there are cars out there that are blindingly fast, but that is not necessarily the point. What gives them character is how the owners have learned and tinkered with every system on the car to make it work. And it doesn't necessarily have to be perfect. I saw an old roadster from the 20's the other day and thought how exciting it would be to get one in running shape and strap on a pair of goggles and fly down the road at probably not much more than 50 miles an hour! I would rather drive in an old Stutz Bearcat than the newest, flashiest and fastest Bugatti.

H-townbenzoboy · #37 09-30-2006, 12:37 AM

I'm a dieselhead who appreciates the older American iron. Massive cars, with V8s, they wrap around when you turn a corner. Here's some examples.

1959 Chevrolet Impala

1961 Lincoln Continental

1965 Cadillac Fleetwood

1967 Ford LTD

1971 Buick Riviera

1978 Cadillac Coupe DeVille

1979 Lincoln Town Car (I like those wheelcovers, my dad's old 85 Town Car had them as well)

These are just a few, I have more favorites.

a2t · #38 09-30-2006, 02:07 AM

Great thread!

Im a car guy, through and through. I run www.GruvenParts.com and enjoy taking my Corrado on track and flogging it at 6 mpg.

However, there is something so timeless about my 87 300D turbo that far exceeds modern cars. Its been said many of times, and now I know its true : the old benz's were built better than almost any other car. Im amazed that my 300D with 250k miles still has doors that close better than my 01 Escape XLT.

It is a different kind of obsession, but a car lovers dream still the same. Take pride in the old benz diesels, they will run forever (minus the 6 power motor seats and other interior electronics).

Now Im into WVO, and its always fun showing up in prestigious suburbs of Atlanta at family get togethers driving a vehicle thats been to hell and back a dozen times and hardly shows its age.

What I wouldnt give to have been able to buy my 87 300D turbo off the showroom floor today. You'd be hard pressed to find a better vehicle, even by todays standards.

I think that makes you more of car nut than anyone driving an 06 Civic SI with a 6" exhaust outlet.

So....Celebrate the old benz diesels! Its a token to an era that has long since passed, and in my opinion, shows you are more of a car nut than most.

Come to think of it, Id rather spend 10-15 grand building up an old benz than buying a new one.

Old300D · #39 09-30-2006, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

My suburban was flex fuel and had much larger injectors to run E85. I doubt you will be a speed demon anymore with E85. My power and mileage sucked when I dumped that stuff in the Suburban. I can only wonder how the vehicle would have worked if it was NOT designed for E85 and I put it in.

Larger injectors, and same boost level, will not lose me power. E85 has better than 100 octane, so I can run full timing. I know drag racers that run alcohol in turbo gassers, and they are much faster. Of course fuel mileage will suck, but currently my 313 RWHP 280Z gets 27 mpg cruising at 85.

greasybenz · #40 09-30-2006, 03:24 AM

I like my diesels but my first love was my dads mustangs. And they still are, as much engineering and passion there was for these MB's Ford had there share of passion and engineering in the mustangs.

Still to this day i would rather cruise around in the convertible 64 stang then the MB. They just are more "fun" then the MB, while i like the MB as the daily driver and something that i can work on often. The mustang is the family jewel and the MB would be the family dog, the mustang is priceless.

And i mean look at a fully restored mustang! much better looking then a W123 (flame suit on)

Its not my dads 64 but its pretty close, has a white top, its a caspian blue (rare color) so its a bit darker and metallic. And the interior is full blue, no reverse lights as it was a 64-1/2

Jim B. · #41 09-30-2006, 03:41 AM

H-townbenzoboy, nice collection of pictures, all of them

But the 1978 Cadillac coupe deville in your collection is actuallly a 1979. The '78 had a bigger egg crate grille. I owned a '79 coupe de ville in the same color as the one pictured. You can also see one just like it in the movie from last year "Elizabethtown"

You could even order them with a diesel engine, that horrible GM idea of one anyway, the one that was actually a gas engine that could run on diesel and grenaded constantly.

Jim B. · #42 09-30-2006, 03:59 AM

Ruben, hot chicks LOOVE old Mustang convertibles, but I bet SMART hot ones would love a Mercedes diesel. (That one you met ever been back?)

I've heard that someone in Manila, Phillipines, drives around in a '65 Mustang convertible with a diesel engine in it. Supposed to be a red one. Being in Manila, I could believe it. Fine for their endless traffic jams.

Awhile back I took a tour from Lima Peru to Southern Peru to see the Nazca lines in a 1966 Oldsmobile F85 (base Cutlass) sedan that was the taxi drivers pride and joy, maroon with a blue brocade interior. It was powered by a Nissan DIESEL engine, I took pictures of it (don' have them handy)

You would even see a "Petrolero" in Lima, which ran on a mixture of kerosine, oil and gasoline, I saw a '57 Chevy sedan "Petrolero" in Lima, it looked like a motorized bonfire going down the road, gigantic clouds of greasy black smoke POURED out of the back of that thing. Cough cough

t walgamuth · #43 09-30-2006, 05:22 AM

i am a diesel fan for sure. i love the simplicity of them, the safety of the fuel and the rattle.

i recently got rid of my 350sdl rod bender because of the finicky engine which seemed to be one repair after another.

i bought an 05 magnum awd v6. it is a nice car with a seven year 70k drivetrain warrenty. but i miss the torque of the diesel and hearing the engine. i really loved the way the 350 shifted too.

but i love the warrenty and.... bring on the snow!

tom w

Hit Man X · #44 09-30-2006, 06:09 AM

I like a gasser over an old diesel for the proverbial hauling ass. None of my gassers are stock (NOT even the MBs... the trucks are far fetched). Cruising around in the ol' comp ignition motors has it's comic relief.

I need to move again before I purchase anymore vehicles. Then I can pick up a '57 Fleetwood I have been lusting over since I missed out on a killer deal back in 2000. Maybe a 996 TT also. Simply can't beat modern technology and amenities they feature...

And to the person that said you can't make 400hp from ~5.7L is a fool. Sorry. I've seen STOCK vehicles make well over 360rwhp, down to the paper air filter with 346", all motor. With minor bolt ons I've seen this hit into the low 400rwhp areas...

Do the math with some driveline loss and you will see this is far and above the 400hp mark you speak of that is so "mystical" by your standards.

So put your bong away before you make a fool of yourself any further. Comparing a stroked BBC to a SBC 5.7 is like comparing a kiwi to a watermelon. Totally different motors you're working with.

aklim · #45 09-30-2006, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old300D

Larger injectors, and same boost level, will not lose me power. E85 has better than 100 octane, so I can run full timing.

I know drag racers that run alcohol in turbo gassers, and they are much faster. Of course fuel mileage will suck, but currently my 313 RWHP 280Z gets 27 mpg cruising at 85.

When I was contemplating blowing my Suburban, I found that there was a sensor in the tank that when it detects E85, changes the injector pulse width. Without the flex capability, the injectors were at 24pph and with flex fuel they were 38 pph. That was why if I were to buy a supercharger for it, unlike the no flex fuel version, it would not have the larger 42 pph injectors since I already had larger injectors. Also, IIRC, the injectors were different so they would not get eaten up by the alcohol in E85. I know the octane his higher and you can run more timing and if you had more compression, you could make use of it but how does it compare with the fact that it has 72% of the energy of gasoline by volume? I suppose my GM sucked on it because it was designed to run on both E85 and E0 so I would be intrested to see if running E85 in a vehicle designed solely for it would be a good thing.

Do they run ethanol or methanol?