Whiew, where to start... I'm only 39... well in 5 days anyway, back in the day we lived on a farm also. and in 1980 we got an old 70 Massey furguson tractor with the perkins 4banger 2wd very nice unstoppable torque. there was nothing that beast would not do. it had the fuel tank above the motor, so with the block heater plugged in, starting and running even in the sub zero of the SD plateau (-90 some winters...BRRR) well in about the same year, we got a 79 or 80 caprice wagon in diesel. the thing was a demo model, and we got it pretty cheap we used it to tow our 28' prowler camper... HUGE thing. and we still got around 25 or so MPG... dog slow most of the time, well by the time I was old enough to drive it the thing was wore slap out, we replaced head bolts, filters, etc... we always had that spider of fuel lines pulled off that thing. but it was a good vehicle. again in the early 90's we had another one, it ran MUCH stronger, but it was more prone to cracked head bolts. and it finally got rear ended by a drunk driver... RIP. I got an 82 MB given to me because the original owner couldn't find a reliable mechanic to work on it, it stalled on the wife, so his mechanic told him to junk the car... 82 300SD NO RUST, typical leather seats. HE GAVE ME THE CAR... it needed fan belts replaced on the alternator... and a battery charge.
my respect for MB has only grown since then.
John

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!