tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32845216416997000182024-03-14T14:50:10.014-04:00MercedesDieselGuyA collection of the fevered ramblings of a guy dumb enough to own three cars, and to do all his own work on them.MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-28895850354522849142015-11-02T22:55:00.000-05:002015-11-02T22:55:43.194-05:00...and all of a sudden, it was a car again...As always, I apologize for the long delay between posts. It's been a very productive few months. I have been working almost nonstop since the last post, and the payoff has been huge.<br />
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When I last left off, I was preparing to replace the car's clutch - which I did.<br />
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When that was done, I reinstalled the transmission. While I still had plenty of room under the car, I replaced the brake lines - the rubber lines and the hard lines. I was reasonably sure the old hard lines would have been OK, but it was easy work and cheap insurance for my safety to do the extra work at this point.<br />
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Then I repainted the brake booster:<br />
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...and installed a new brake master cylinder as well as rebuilt calipers, new pads, and new rotors on all four corners:<br />
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Although I didn't get pictures, I also replaced the clutch hydraulics with new parts.<br />
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Around this time, the driveline also went back into the car. I put the driveshaft back in with fresh flex discs as well as a new center bearing and support. I also replaced the CV axles and repainted the differential:<br />
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Before buttoning-up the front end, I replaced the front shock absorbers, the steering damper, and the tie rods:<br />
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Before moving under the hood, I added a third brake light to the car and installed the long-absent trunk trim:<br />
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Finally, it was time to do some work under the hood. First, I popped off the valve cover to adjust the valvetrain and meanure timing chain stretch:<br />
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Then I removed the water pump and thermostat housing:<br />
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Then, it was off with the intake and exhaust manifolds to clean them up and replace the gasket:<br />
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Once that was done, the thermostat housing (with new thermostat) and new water pump went back on:<br />
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Pretty soon, the engine was buttoned-up again:<br />
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Then the new exhaust system went on:<br />
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At that point, I replaced the fuel primer pump and the underhood fuel lines:<br />
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...and before I knew it... THIS:<br />
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...became THIS:<br />
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The dust settled. What I'd begun three and a half years ago back in 2012 was done.<br />
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I actually got the car on the road two weeks ago. I've been driving it. As with any project of this length, it didn't come out perfect. I'm still finding and fixing little items along the way - nothing that's keeping the car off the road (not for long, anyway). But, I'm happy to be able to relax a bit now. It's been a very long few years, and I'm looking forward to enjoying this car.</div>
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For all of you who've read along, here's a test drive of the car:</div>
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MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-10609196340969152142015-07-06T01:03:00.000-04:002015-07-06T01:03:34.132-04:00Long delayed update on the Mercedes projectApologies to anyone who has been reading along. I have been working on the car, and have kept the Youtube channel up to date, but the blog is almost five months behind.<br />
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After my last update, I finished installing all the car's trim, aside from the front end trim (waiting until I have the front end/engine work done.<br />
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After that, I pulled the driveshaft (which was challenging on its own) and did a complete rear suspension refresh (new shocks, new trailing arm bushings, new rear subframe mounts). Here are some highlights:<br />
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So, I'm deep into mechanical repairs. Now that the rear end is done and the driveshaft is out, I'm in the process of pulling the transmission so that I can replace the clutch:<br />
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At this point, I'm literally a few bolts away from having the transmission out of the car. Once it's out, the new clutch and associated components go in, at which point, I can reinstall the driveshaft and everything else under the car.MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-28773663567583055262015-02-17T23:49:00.002-05:002015-02-17T23:50:53.433-05:00February update on the MercedesIt doesn't feel like a month since my last update, but apparently it is. I've gotten more work done on the car, but not as much as I would have liked. Shortly after my last post, we started getting slammed with more snow than I've ever seen. Over the past month, this has turned into the worst winter I've ever seen. The frigid temperatures and the need to shovel snow have kept me busy. I've been in the garage, just not as much.<br />
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I did finish polishing out the paint. Although it's far from perfect, it turned out a lot better than I thought I'd be able to do on my own. I'm very happy with it. Once I was done with the paint job, I began installing exterior trim. Overall, the process has been moving along pretty quickly, aside from cleaning the trim pieces before installation.<br />
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As of now, I have both the driver and passenger side exterior trim installed. I still need to finish up the rear and front of the car, but once the trim is all installed, the cosmetic part of the project is done.<br />
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-20063850579107437082015-01-13T23:48:00.000-05:002015-01-13T23:48:22.957-05:00Update on the Mercedes...I can't believe it's been four months since I updated the blog. I'm happy to say that I've been working pretty much non-stop on the car in that time. So much so that while I've tried to keep the Youtube channel up to date, I let the blog slip. I've never suspected that a lot of people are reading, anyway.<br />
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Anyhow, as of my last post, I was on the verge of finishing up bodywork on the Mercedes. Once the work was done, I smoothed out the body as best (and quickly) as I could, and then threw paint at it:<br />
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After the car was painted, I turned my attention to the interior. First up was the dashboard. I replaced the torn-up 1983 dashboard with the much better parts from the old 1979 parts car:<br />
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While I had the instrument cluster out, I took it apart, repaired the lighting circuit, painted the gauge needles, and put it back together with fresh light bulbs:<br />
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Once that was back in the car, I installed new door seals:<br />
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Then, I got to work installing the new stereo, center console, and steering wheel:<br />
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After that, I removed, relubricated, and replaced inner door hardware as necessary:</div>
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Up next was the fuel tank:</div>
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Finally, it was interior time. I removed everything that was in the car and started by laying down carpeting:</div>
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I followed that with other various interior trim:</div>
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The seats went in next:</div>
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After the seats came the door panels and inner door trim:</div>
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That pretty much catches us up to where I am now. This week, I'm wet sanding and polishing out the paint job as best I can before I reinstall the exterior trim:</div>
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That's not a good photo. At this point, I do have a decent finish on the front end. I expect to be working on the paint job for the next week or so. I'm hoping to have the car completely reassembled (cosmetically, anyway) by the end of the month. Then, I'll jump into mechanical repairs so I can (hopefully) drive the car this spring.</div>
MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-78055631035519782652014-09-04T16:27:00.001-04:002014-09-04T16:27:55.781-04:00Progress continues on the Mercedes. Yes, seriously.If any of you are/were regular readers, you will have noticed a dropoff in new content here in late Spring. The long and the short of it is that I continued work on the car for a few weeks after the last post, and then had to take off the end of June and all of July. I resumed work on the car in early August.<br />
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After my last post, I did not in fact do any filler work on the passenger side fender (it's still on the to-do list). Shortly after that last post, I turned the car around and started work on the driver's side. While it took two sporadic years of progress to complete the passenger side of the car, it took closer to two months to repair the driver's side.<br />
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Thankfully, this was largely due to the fact that the driver side was far more intact than the passenger side had been. The floor/rocker were mostly intact, with some rusty areas I had to weld up (there is only one riveted repair on this side, due to proximity to fuel and brake lines - the rest are all welds). I also had to do nearly identical repairs to the rear wheel well on this side of the car. As for the front fender, it had similar damage to its passenger side counterpart. However, rather than repair it, I'll be replacing it with the solid fender from the long-departed '79 parts car. Reminder - I would have done the same on the passenger side, but I sold the good passenger side fender from the parts car some time ago.<br />
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Aside from a lot of details I skipped over, that pretty much catches us up. I'm on the verge of painting door jambs on this side and hope to have the whole car in fresh paint by the end of the month, once I get through a laundry list of detail items.</div>
MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-59102537373311802162014-05-20T23:44:00.000-04:002014-05-20T23:56:50.538-04:00Momentum on the Mercedes project...It's only been a couple of weeks and change since my last update, so I must be doing something right. I got the metalwork on the front passenger fender done:<br />
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I haven't done the filler work on the fender yet (I'll get to it soon), but I thought it was time to clean the car up, turn it around, and start on the driver's side:<br />
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When I got the floor coating up, the driver's side did look a little crusty at first:<br />
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But, some cleanup showed that the floor was mostly solid and the rocker was almost 100% intact. This should be easy to repair:<br />
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Tonight, I started in on cutting and patching in the rear:<br />
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That's where I left off tonight. I'll try to finish this patch (and the rest of the rear driver's side floor board) tomorrow.MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-76931837606540684462014-05-01T23:22:00.000-04:002014-05-01T23:22:47.227-04:00Still working on the Mercedes...It's been close to a month since my last update, but I've been busy. Sadly, I'm still working on the passenger side. I thought I'd be done by now. But, it's not due to lack of effort on my part. I've been working on the car in the evenings after work in addition to on the weekends. I just keep finding little details that need attention.<br />
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To recap and get you up to speed:<br />
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<li>the floor and rocker repairs are done and coated</li>
<li>the rear wheel well (inner and outer) are now repaired</li>
<li>a hole in the trunk lid, previously covered by a rubber plug (presumably from an old antenna installation) is now welded shut</li>
<li>the trunk floor is repaired</li>
<li>the hood spring perch is now rebuilt and the new hood spring is installed</li>
<li>the wheels I'm going to use on this car are now painted</li>
<li>since I was in a convenient place to do so, the passenger side door jambs are now painted</li>
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At this point, I'm working on repairing the front passenger fender. It has some pretty serious rust issues and I sold my good fender from the parts car. Right now, I'm patching up the rust holes and will soon re-mount the fender to the car. Once that's done, I can finally turn my attention to the driver's side of the car.</div>
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Some photos from the past month:</div>
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...and that's where I am. I'm trying to do at least a little work every day, which has been helping a lot to speed things along.MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-33841157054084812122014-04-09T13:08:00.000-04:002014-04-09T13:08:31.110-04:00Rust work continues on the Mercedes
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hello, everyone who’s reading. I’m going to try and be
better about updating this more regularly. As of now, I’m nearly done with the
passenger side of the car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All the patch panels are welded and seam sealed, which
includes some new patches in the trunk/rear quarter area. Despite the flux core
welder, I was able to do some pretty clean (by my standards, not global
standards – I’m well aware that a professional body man would laugh at my work)
repair work on the exterior panels. The interior stuff , with overlap and less
room to use my grinder, has yielded sloppier-looking work. But, since the
interior repairs will be hidden by carpets and trim panels, it makes little to
no difference to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve also started applying bedliner to the repaired areas.
That stuff is sticky and nasty. Can’t wait to see what it’s like when dry and
fully cured.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Over the weekend, I also received an interesting email. Around a year and a half ago, I bought some parts from a guy who lives across
town from me. Well, he emailed me this weekend saying that he’s moving out of
the area soon, and that since I was the only person to ever actually show up
and give him money for parts, that he’d like to give me the remainder of his
240D parts stash so that he wouldn’t have to dumpster it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well, on Monday evening after work, I woke the Vanagon up
from its winter hibernation and headed over there. I got a decent passenger
seat (red), a usable rear seat (also red), door panels (you guessed it – red),
headlights, side trim, side glass, a radio, a muffler, and probably more than I’m
forgetting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The guy in question is a really nice guy and a student, so I
told him that I’d feel bad taking this stuff, as it was likely I’d resell a
good portion of it. It was a nice offer, but I didn’t want to pick anyone’s
pocket. As such, I gave him some money for the parts. I still got a very good
deal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next time I’m out there, I’ll probably start on
repairing the passenger side hood spring perch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-37489849528069384012014-04-01T22:13:00.000-04:002014-04-01T22:13:58.213-04:00Not foolin' around with this car anymore...No, I'm not getting rid of the Mercedes. On the contrary, I'm finally getting some serious momentum on this project. It was January, 2013 when I started tearing into the passenger side floor. I'd say I did the bulk of the passenger side floor and rocker repairs just in this past month. I now have all the patches in, welded, and seam sealed.<br />
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On top of that, I was able to cut out the bad portions of the rear passenger wheel housing lip and weld in patches I cut from the larger Klokkerholm patch panel. It still needs a little bit of filler to even it out, but it's solid and actually looks pretty decent for what it is. I still need to weld it closed inside the trunk.<br />
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But, the passenger side of the car is nearly done. I still need to make a patch inside the wheel well and rebuild the passenger side hood spring perch. But, the floor and rocker are solid again (though they still need finishing - paint and truck bedliner).<br />
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Now that spring is here, I'm hoping to be able to work on the car most evenings when I get home from the office, which should help speed the project along. My goal is to be driving it this summer.<br />
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<b>rusted wheel well lip and formed repair panel</b></div>
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<b>rusted area cut from rear of wheel well lip</b></div>
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<b>checking fit of the repair patch</b></div>
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<b>weld-through primer</b></div>
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<b>patch piece, clamped in place for butt welding</b></div>
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<b>patch tack welded in place</b></div>
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<b>welds ground down</b></div>
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<b>front of wheel well lip - spray paint is from previous owner</b></div>
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<b>crud and dirt caught inside the panel - needed to clean it out</b></div>
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<b>patch welded in place</b></div>
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<b>repaired wheel well lip - still needs a small bit of filler to smooth it out</b></div>
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<b>patches inside the car, seam sealed - still needs final coating</b></div>
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MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-21927169897037271442014-03-25T19:37:00.000-04:002014-03-25T19:37:08.927-04:00Busy month in the garage...I really need to be better about updating this for those of you who so kindly take the time to read it. When we last left off, I'd spent the bulk of the winter working in the basement, rebuilding the seats from the 1979 parts car to use in the 1983 240D. Once that work was done, the weather started to thaw out just BARELY enough to get back to work in the garage.<br />
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I'm happy to say that as of this past weekend, I've finished patching up the passenger side floor and rocker panel. I still need to seam seal the repairs and then cover the whole area with truck bedliner. But, otherwise, that portion of the project is done.<br />
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Next up after that, I'm going to be repairing the rear passenger wheel arch with a Klokkerholm patch panel and find a way to repair the passenger side hood spring. But, I'm happy to say that I have more momentum on this project than I've had at any time since I bought the car two years ago.<br />
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When the passenger side is done, I tear apart, inspect, and repair the driver's side.<br />
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<b>front corner of rocker patched</b></div>
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<b>front corner of rocker patched</b></div>
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<b>inside of passenger rocker and floor patched</b></div>
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<b>rear wheel arch patch panel</b></div>
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<b>trunk floor patch panels</b></div>
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<b>the pile o' patch panels</b></div>
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MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-91605035139593255522014-02-27T23:04:00.001-05:002014-02-27T23:04:35.095-05:00Update on the MercedesIt's been quiet around here. Sorry about that. But, I've been busy. As per my previous posts, I've been rebuilding the seats from the 1979 parts car to use in my 1983 project. It was slow going, and in the end, I spent close to two months worth of weekends working in the basement on this. It was a very good project for the winter, as I was able to work entirely in the basement. The basement is unfinished, and isn't properly heated, but the boiler throws off enough heat to keep it comfortable down there.<br />
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Projects take me a long time, especially in the winter. If it's Saturday morning and fifteen degrees out, you can bet I won't motivate myself to get out of the house, even to the basement (basement access is through an exterior bulkhead door) until at least 1 PM. Then, I work for a few hours before calling it a day.<br />
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As such, the seats took time to complete. In the end, I'm really happy with the results. I think the memory foam I used was a good choice. Here's some shots of the completed seats cleaned, but before Armor All.<br />
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As you can see, I had to do some stitching on the driver's seat to close up a couple of large rips in the MB Tex vinyl. I also had to do some stitching on the bottom of the rear seat back.<br />
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Now that the seats are done (as of last week), I'm ready to get back to metal work on the Mercedes. In preparation for that, I spent all of last weekend cleaning up. I was in the basement all Saturday afternoon cleaning up from the seat repair project. I had dirt and old horsehair padding EVERYWHERE. You wouldn't believe what a mess these made. After that I spent Sunday afternoon cleaning out the garage. I needed to in order to get to the car. The car itself was covered with empty boxes from the Volvo project. Even worse, the floor of the garage was almost impassible. I had to step over and climb over empty boxes and tools that I hadn't put away. But, now I have a work space again:<br />
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This weekend, as soon as I can motivate myself to get out to the garage... bodywork resumes. I have an interior - now I need a place to put it.<br />
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-73063060882308799692014-01-19T22:22:00.002-05:002014-01-19T22:22:57.967-05:00Progress continues in the basement...For the past few weeks, as time has allowed, I've been working in the basement on the 1979 seats to use in my 1983 240D. My decision to use the 1979 seats wasn't an immediate one. Originally, I was going to use the 1983 interior and simply do my best to patch up the driver's seat. Then, I came across the palomino leather interior, which was pretty inexpensive and in very nice condition. For a long time, I was planning to use the leather seats. Last summer, I picked up the 1979 parts car.<br />
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Initially, I was pleasantly surprised by the overall condition of the parts car's interior. The car had been sitting in a field for around 13 years, but the interior seemed to have held up pretty well. There were some tears in the driver's seat upholstery and the padding had flattened a bit. Overall, it was pretty nice. Plus, although I really like palomino upholstery, I took a shine to the older, slightly more rare bamboo colored interior from the '79. So, to help recover a bit of cash, I sold the leather interior and opted to use the '79 interior. A little later on, I even sold the decent passenger seat out of the '83. At that point, I was committed.<br />
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My initial reaction when I started working on the '79 seats was that I'd made a mistake. All the hardware was rusted, which made disassembly difficult. I worked at it bit by bit, and last weekend, I finally finished rebuilding the driver's seat from the '79. I repaired the seat springs, added some new springs for reinforcement, added a layer of canvas between the spring frame and the padding, and replaced the dried out, crumbling old horsehair padding with new memory foam. Considering how much I'd compromised on the materials (as opposed to using brand new Mercedes OEM parts), I think the end result is really nice, and feels very comfortable after a test-sit.<br />
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I still need to rebuild the passenger seat and the rear seat. Thankfully, all this work in the basement is keeping me from having to work outside in the cold. Of course, once the seats are done, I'll be back to doing bodywork on the '83 shell.<br />
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Here's a Youtube series I did showing what I did to rebuild the driver's seat:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxTxz3tK6IkLNrathpTQwSesgm7SXGAED">http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxTxz3tK6IkLNrathpTQwSesgm7SXGAED</a><br />
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-8381901058609074102013-12-19T00:04:00.000-05:002013-12-19T00:04:19.754-05:00Back to the Mercedes... finallySorry for the long delay between updates. Shortly after my last blog post, I had some time off work, which gave me about a week and a half to work on (and finish) the Volvo. It's been on the road for a few weeks now, and my wife is happy with it. I still need to chase down a few small nagging items, but the car is in daily service and we both enjoy driving it. Here's the short list of what I did to the car:<br />
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<li>replaced the timing belt and timing belt idlers</li>
<li>replaced the water pump</li>
<li>replaced serpentine belt and idlers</li>
<li>replaced all cooling system hoses</li>
<li>replaced spark plugs, wires, cap, and rotor</li>
<li>replaced oil and filter</li>
<li>replaced coolant</li>
<li>replaced transmission fluid</li>
<li>replaced engine air filter</li>
<li>replaced cabin air filter</li>
<li>replaced rear brake calipers, pads, rotors, and all parking brake hardware</li>
<li>replaced front brake hoses and flushed fluid</li>
<li>replaced front struts and hardware</li>
<li>replaced front control arms</li>
<li>replaced steering rack boots</li>
<li>replaced tie rods and tie rod ends</li>
<li>replaced rear shock absorbers</li>
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After all that, the car more or less lives up to my hopes and expectations. Once we'd had it on the road for a week or so, I put up an ad to sell my wife's old Subaru Legacy. I really was hoping for more than a year and a half out of that car. I sold it at a big loss, but the car had problems. I might not have sold it at all, but a few weeks back, we had an unexpected Sunday morning ice storm which caused a lot of accidents locally. One driver (unfortunately) wrecked her E21 BMW. She walked away unhurt, but had to go out and buy a running car on a budget that same day, which brought her to the Legacy, which was still quite driveable, though it probably wouldn't pass inspection. I told the buyer, her father, and her boyfriend the unvarnished truth about the car, they made an offer, and that afternoon I had my driveway parking back.</div>
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After that, I was finally able to turn my attention back to the Mercedes. Now that winter is creeping in, I decided it would be a good time to start work in the (relatively) warm basement, rebuilding the seats. I'll be working on these until they're done, which is when I'll brave the cold and get back to metalwork.</div>
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As of now, I'm disassembling the driver's seat. I intend to replace the old horsehair padding with memory foam, stitch up the rips in the vinyl, repair the broken seat springs, and re-lube the seat track assembly.</div>
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-30711917701956324402013-10-20T11:22:00.001-04:002013-10-20T11:22:21.880-04:00Away from the Mercedes again, to the Swedish meatball...Last week, I had an all-too-brief chance to finally get some work done on the 1983 Mercedes. I actually hadn't laid hands on it in nearly six months. It's not that I haven't been busy. After I installed the used engine in 2012, I wasn't able to stop the unexpected leaking. So, this spring I made the decision to replace the Vanagon's head gaskets. As I've never done the job before, it took quite a while to get that done. But, I've been happy with the results.<br />
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After that, I had summer to contend with, which included a business trip and a vacation far from home. When I got back, I picked up the 1979 Mercedes parts car, which I spent six weeks or so working on and taking apart. When I was done with that, I had to deal with the unexpected steering rack failure on my wife's daily driver, which led me to decide, ultimately, to replace the car, which is what brings me to where I am now.<br />
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The obvious choice would have been another Subaru, but that's not really an option anymore, as far as I'm concerned. My relationship with the Subarus started with my 1994 Legacy L. I bought that car with 204,000 miles on it and drove it (with basic maintenance and a few repairs) for four years and nearly 90,000 miles until I sold it in favor of my (far less reliable) 1990 Volkswagen Jetta diesel (big mistake). Since then, my wife and I have had many Subarus, several of which have been amazingly reliable. However, and this is only anecdotal gut instinct, I think that Subaru may have made some sort of production change in the EJ22 engine. My 1994 Subaru was insanely reliable, and never burned or leaked a drop of oil. Similar story with my wife's 1993 Legacy L and her 1993 EJ18 Impreza.<br />
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However, as the first generation cars became scarce, we moved on to the second generation Legacies. My 1995 EJ22 Legacy L burned oil and eventually all but lost compression in cylinder 2. Although I compression tested my replacment 1995 Legacy L Outback (EJ22 again) at time of purchase, cylinder 2 started showing some symptoms this summer. Lately, it's been behaving itself. So, even though the engine and transmission in my wife's 1995 Legacy are healthy, I don't want to take a chance on another unknown Subaru that will be almost guaranteed to have serious rust issues.<br />
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So, I did some research and narrowed the list of potential replacement cars to older Toyota Camries (just seeing them on the road around here suggests to me that they don't have as serious rust issues as the Subarus), which are known to be reliable, and on the recommendation of a friend and former Volvo mechanic, old Volvo 850's or S70/V70's. As we like station wagons for their utility, combined with the fact that at this age, there's little if any price penalty for a station wagon, I opted to limit my search to 850 and V70 wagons.<br />
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I even considered the Volvos way back in January when I was shopping for a replacement car for my old 1995 Legacy. But, I couldn't find a good one back then. I've been looking for a few weeks, and finally bought THIS:<br />
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(it even came with snow tires)</div>
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It needs a boatload of maintenance and a few repairs, but looks like a solid base for a daily driver that I should have on the road in a few weeks. THEN, I'll be back to working on the 240D, unless there's another unexpected interruption.<br />
<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-82055840604161342152013-10-14T10:59:00.000-04:002013-10-14T11:13:55.712-04:00Parts car gone and another project is comingIt's been over a month since my last update, and there have been some developments. As I was nearing the end of dismantling the 1979 240D parts car, Mrs. MDG's car developed a new and unexpected problem. The power steering lines rusted through and started dumping fluid onto the exhaust rapidly.<br />
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When I investigated, I found that the lines in question were on the rack itself and that the rack needed to be pulled to replace them. The lines weren't cheap, either, costing well over $100 for the pair. Unfortunately, the steering rack and front subframe was just too rusted in place to justify attempting to repair it. So, I ended up looping the lines on the rack, thus temporarily converting the car to manual steering so that it can be driven temporarily.<br />
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Once that was done, I began a final marathon-like push to finish disassembling the 1979 and get it out of the way. I needed to get a "new" car for Mrs. MDG, but was out of space. Thankfully, I was able to get 95% of what I wanted off the parts car before calling a junk hauler to take it away.<br />
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The parts car is gone, but it will live on in the 1983 and other cars.<br />
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Then, I hit the classifieds and started car shopping.<br />
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I was willing to spend a bit more money for a more complete car, but in the end, the best car I found did need some work. I'll be bringing it home tomorrow. Until I get it home, no hints or videos as to what it is. All I'll say is that it's not a Subaru. I ended up buying something that I think will be more rust resistant.<br />
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Yesterday, I took a day off, as the "new" car isn't here yet, and went to Transporterfest 2013, a mostly VW bus show at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, MA. If you've never been there, I highly recommend the museum. It's really classy. The last time I went to that show was in 2011. Incidentally, that was the day that the Vanagon's original engine almost seized up on me.<br />
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I'll leave you with some final photos of the '79 and from the show yesterday.<br />
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-7708516749085782892013-09-08T23:19:00.000-04:002013-09-08T23:19:42.908-04:00Parts car gradually changes from car... to partsSo, I don't really have the space or the budget to simply let the parts car sit around. As such, I can't simply pick at the 1979 240D parts car as needed. I'm low on parking, so I need to disassemble the car and junk the shell.<br />
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I spent last weekend (and the one before) pulling the engine and transmission. As the parts car has a new clutch (or so said the seller), the whole assembly will be going into the 1983 project.<br />
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Last weekend, I also got the driveshaft and differential out. I'm stripping as much as I can from the car, and will be getting rid of the excess on Craigslist and eBay. With any luck, I should be able to cover a good portion of the cost of the project this way.<br />
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This weekend, I started at the rear of the car and began gutting it. I got the fuel tank out, and flushed it with vinegar. I still need to power wash the inside, but it's basically ready for transplant into the 1983<br />
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After that, I cleaned up and painted the rusty airbox, then started de-trimming the car. That's almost done. I also removed the nearly spotless front fenders for use on the 1983 and removed all the exterior lights.<br />
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I have more to do, but there isn't too much car left. Once it's picked over, I'll junk the shell and start in on the 1983 project again.<br />
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-40935696072506879222013-08-19T23:24:00.000-04:002013-08-19T23:24:58.697-04:00Big things are hereRemember how I told you in my last blog post that big things were coming? Well, big things are here.<br />
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Sorry to go AWOL for almost a month. I put the last blog post up JUST before Mrs. MDG and I took to the road for our summer vacation. We drove south, covering most of the east coast, for a week at Disney World. I even made a road trip video for y'all:<br />
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But, that's not the big news. Just before I left, I made a deal. I bought... something. When I got back from vacation, I picked up... a one-owner 1979 Mercedes-Benz 240D parts car. It had been parked on the edge of the woods since 2000, and looked the part.<br />
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The tires were hopelessly rotted:<br />
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Moss and lichens were growing on the passenger side:<br />
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So, I had it towed home... and got it to start for the first time in 13 years:<br />
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Once that was done, I cleaned it up a bit (so I wouldn't get sick taking the car apart). I ASSURE you this IS the same car:<br />
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I'm going to start dismantling the car shortly. Some parts will go to the 1983 240D. A great many will be sold.MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-90090963918998057142013-07-24T23:32:00.000-04:002013-07-24T23:32:36.427-04:00The Vanagon is alive - and big things to come...First off, I apologize to anyone reading along for the long lapse in blog posts. I'll just put this out there - the Vanagon is running and back in service.<br />
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Shortly after my last blog post, I got it up and running again. Once everything was back together, I tried to start it. It certainly fought me, but eventually it did start and run. What's more, it's running well. There were a few hiccups, but nothing really required any readjustment. I've been driving it on and off for a few weeks now, including a traffic-filled trip across the city at rush hour to pick up a heavy TV.<br />
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It's running and driving very nicely with no additional signs of leakage. I'm happy. It wasn't an easy job, and was absolutely time consuming, but the results speak for themselves. I have yet to do any long distance driving.<br />
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When the van was done, I parked the Mercedes in the garage again. Despite sitting outside for two months and its condition, it started on the first bump of the key.<br />
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I want to get back to work on the project, but the garage was a disaster. A few weeks back, I picked up some free industrial shelves which will help me get a lot of stuff off the floor. I've thrown out several large bags of trash, and the garage is closer to being a real work space again. As usual, the garage would be done already if not for the fact that I had to work last weekend. It's unlikely I'll be able to do anything the next two weekends, either.<br />
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But, I will finish the garage and get back to working on the Mercedes. And, as I said, big things are in the works. What, you ask? You'll just need to stay tuned to find out.<br />
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-19400641976132147172013-06-24T22:09:00.001-04:002013-06-24T22:09:57.002-04:00Almost back on the road...I had a good, albeit prematurely-interrupted weekend with the Vanagon. I had to go in to the office on Sunday, so I knew that I'd only have Saturday to get things done. Even then, I had to give the Outback a little attention. Specifically, I had to do solidify an exhaust patch I made the previous weekend.<br />
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As soon as I was done with that, I turned my attention to the Vanagon. I knew all the "heavy lifting" was done. At this point, I just have to power through reinstalling the remaining bolt-on items. In short order, I reinstalled the thermostat housing, hooked up all the disconnected cooling hoses, finished installing the power steering pump, and installed the intake manifold.<br />
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At this point, all I need to do is install the throttle body and airbox, install a new oil filter, fill it up with oil and coolant, and then start it. Once it's running again, I'm planning to flush the cooling system before driving it again. If I hadn't had to work on Sunday, I'd probably be done. As it is, I'm hoping to wrench on it a bit this week and, with any luck, be able to drive it sometime this weekend.<br />
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<b><i>Almost ready to breathe again. So close....</i></b></div>
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-16454951421978989862013-06-18T23:00:00.000-04:002013-06-18T23:00:44.293-04:00Update - I'm alive, and so is the VanagonApologies to anyone who's been reading along. I've been busy the past few weeks and haven't had a chance to update the blog.<br />
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I was able to finish up and install the driver's side cylinder head. While I had it all apart, I opted to do the passenger's side head gasket, too. When I pulled the AMC head, I was surprised at how much pitting there was.<br />
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I got that side done and then reinstalled the rocker assemblies and pushrods (hopefully correctly). The pushrods can hang up a bit on installation. You need to be careful to properly seat the pushrod in the hydraulic lifter.<br />
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After that, I installed the exhaust. Not in one session, mind you... but more like piece-by-piece as time allowed. In the past month, work commitments, family commitments, and much-needed work on the daily driver Subarus have kept me from working on the Vanagon. Hopefully, I'm past that.<br />
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My (ambitious) goal is to have it back on the road for the 4th of July.<br />
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<span id="goog_305037248"></span><span id="goog_305037249"></span>MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-9862453995479899382013-05-15T22:35:00.000-04:002013-05-15T22:35:13.925-04:00Still working on the head gaskets...This past weekend, I finally got the exhaust off the van... without breaking anything. I had to cut some bolts. There were copious amounts of flame and penetrating oil involved. And my angle grinder.<br /><br />But, I got the exhaust off. All the pipes survived and looked in good shape. I have new gaskets and a new bolt kit for when it's time to reinstall it. Once the exhaust was off and the cooling system was disconnected, I got to removing the driver's side cylinder head. I had everything disconnected and the head itself unbolted, including bagging and tagging all the small parts, in under a half hour.<br />
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Unfortunately, the head was stuck to the cylinders. On a Vanagon, the cylinders are 4 separate individual pieces from the actual engine block. I worked on it again Monday and Tuesday evening, which is when I eventually got the driver's side head to separate from the cylinders with some gently prying.<br />
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Once it was off, I got a good look at the cruddy, corroded surface. I cleaned it up last night (which helped a lot). Tonight, I filled the pitting with JB Weld (a common fix for this). Once it's cured, I'll sand it flat, and I'll be ready to start reinstalling the head on that side. When that's done, I'll start on the passenger side. Hopefully, that side will go more quickly.<br />
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<b>Head separated from block</b></div>
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<b>Head off block. Cylinders pushed back into water jacket.</b></div>
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<b>Driver's side head off. Dirty and corroded. Need to clean it off.</b></div>
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<b>Head cleaned up. Lots of pitting, but starting to look better.</b></div>
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<b>Pitting filled with JB Weld. Still needs to cure so I can sand it flat.</b></div>
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-4083932526597903302013-05-06T22:23:00.000-04:002013-05-06T22:23:35.687-04:00Continuing with the VanagonAs usual, I'm being kept away from working on the diesel. I'm currently replacing the head gaskets in the Vanagon. More accurately, I'm still working on disassembly. Long story short, the intake has to come off (it is currently off), the exhaust has to come off (working on that...), the coolant needs to be drained (not quite there yet), and the oil has to be drained (done) before I can remove the heads.<br />
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I had to go in to the office this past Saturday, which only gave me part of Sunday to work on the Vanagon. Hopefully, I'll get a lot more done next weekend. I'd like to have at least one of the heads off, and pending the condition of the head itself, I'd like to replace the gaskets on that side. Ideally, I'd like the van drivable before Memorial Day, so I can get back to work on the Mercedes.<br />
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<b>still working on disassembly</b></div>
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<b>passenger side pushrod tube tin off</b></div>
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<b>Exhaust bracket loosened</b></div>
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<b>Exhaust bolts soaking in penetrating oil</b></div>
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-36962976163859410212013-04-30T21:50:00.000-04:002013-04-30T21:50:43.635-04:00Breaking from the diesel for a bit - Vanagon head gasket replacementThey say there are two types of VW Vanagon owners. Those who have taken their engine out, and those who haven't taken their engine out... yet. Last year, I finally made it into the second category. When the original engine gave up on me in late 2011, I anticipated that the van would sit in storage for a few years while I saved my pennies for a more exotic engine swap (Subaru EJ22, Bostig Ford Zetec, etc). The van sat for less time than I originally thought.<br />
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In early 2012, I stumbled upon a local Craigslist ad for a used, running 2.1L VW waterboxer engine. It was dirty, and had sat for a year after being pulled (running) in favor of a Ford Zetec swap. I spent months of what little spare time I have replacing hoses, gaskets, and cleaning the engine up. As it came from an automatic Vanagon, I also had to swap over a few parts from my old engine to run this one with my manual transmission.<br />
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Anyhow, I crossed my fingers vis-a-vis the head gaskets. I could see that the passenger side had already been replaced. In July, I got the van to start, run, and drive again. I've driven it sparingly in the past year, but learned early on that the driver's side head gasket had a leak. I tried a few stop leak products that only slowed it down.<br />
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So, now that the Outback is on the road and reliable, I'm starting in on the head gasket job. I'm going to try replacing them without taking the engine out again, and hope to have the job done in under a month. Once again, I work slowly and have limited time to do the job. The new engine does run well otherwise. The leak is external, and the oil and coolant weren't mixing. I can't wait until it's done and reliable again, so I can take it camping.<br />
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Hopefully, I'll have it done before Memorial Day. I bought the Vanagon in late May, 2003, so next month will mark ten years. I can't think of a better way to mark the occasion than to drive it again.<br />
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<b>After a wash and wax last week:</b></div>
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<b>The offending coolant leak:</b></div>
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<b>Back into the garage:</b></div>
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<b>Intake manifold off:</b></div>
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-6587329918308546922013-04-14T23:13:00.000-04:002013-04-14T23:13:27.328-04:00Starting to patch up the Mercedes' floorWell, with the Outback all taken care of and the garage cleaned out, it's finally time for me to get to patching the Mercedes floor. First, I had to wake the car up. I charged the battery last week (strictly as a precautionary measure), so I hooked it up, and the car started on the first bump of the key.<br />
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I backed it out into the sunlight for the first time in 2013. The name of the game this weekend was patchwork, so I started by making straighter cuts in the floor:<br />
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Once I had the holes cut, I made some templates and started cutting patches out of my donor panels. First victim, a dented door from a Jeep Cherokee - given to me by a co-worker when I helped him bolt on some straighter doors.<br />
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Once I had the first patch cut, I fitted it (roughly) with a few pop rivets...<br />
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...and then started welding.<br />
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I worked through the weekend, and have the passenger side of the floor almost 2/3 of the way patched up now.<br />
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Hopefully, by the end of next weekend, I'll have the floor patched up, and will then move on to make the rest of the repairs to the rocker panel and wheel wells on the passenger side of the car. It's nice to see those holes finally starting to close up.<br />
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<br />MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3284521641699700018.post-18977721711997739332013-04-08T00:05:00.000-04:002013-04-08T00:05:44.836-04:00Digging out the dieselNow that the work is basically done on the Outback (well, I do want to clean up a few rust spots, but that needs to wait for better weather...), I can finally get back to work on the Mercedes project.<br />
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I was busy yesterday with installing new fog lights in the Outback, as well as repairing the gas grill, installing a new bathroom light fixture (in the house, not in the car), and installing a new in-sink garbage disposal (same story there). So, it wasn't until this afternoon that I was able to turn my attention to the diesel.<br />
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Unfortunately, a long winter of working on the cars left the garage a complete mess. I couldn't walk across the garage without tripping on something. I couldn't get to the car without pushing stuff out of the way. So, before I could work on it, I needed to do a bit of spring cleaning.<br />
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<b>BEFORE:</b></div>
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<b>AFTER:</b></div>
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It may not look much different, but I got a lot of trash out, reorganized a bit, and most importantly, have room to move around and work again. I did do one thing though... I pulled the battery out of the Mercedes and put it on the charger. After sitting for a few months, I'm sure it needs it.</div>
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MercedesDieselGuyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951696793254807126noreply@blogger.com4