...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.

When I last left off, I was preparing to replace the car's clutch - which I did.

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.

Then I repainted the brake booster:

...and installed a new brake master cylinder as well as rebuilt calipers, new pads, and new rotors on all four corners:

Although I didn't get pictures, I also replaced the clutch hydraulics with new parts.

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:

Before buttoning-up the front end, I replaced the front shock absorbers, the steering damper, and the tie rods:

Before moving under the hood, I added a third brake light to the car and installed the long-absent trunk trim:

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:

Then I removed the water pump and thermostat housing:

Then, it was off with the intake and exhaust manifolds to clean them up and replace the gasket:

Once that was done, the thermostat housing (with new thermostat) and new water pump went back on:

Pretty soon, the engine was buttoned-up again:

Then the new exhaust system went on:

At that point, I replaced the fuel primer pump and the underhood fuel lines:

...and before I knew it... THIS:

...became THIS:

The dust settled. What I'd begun three and a half years ago back in 2012 was done.

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.

For all of you who've read along, here's a test drive of the car:

The daily driver search and Mercedes project update

As is to be expected, it's been a busy month for me, in terms of my automotive life. I've been going back and forth on whether I should fix the Subaru (this would require, at bare minimum, a used engine), or replace it with something else.

Logically, the easiest thing to do would be to find a better EJ22 Subaru. I kept this one around so long because they're generally very easy to work on and because I know them in and out. But, this second one, which I've had for almost two years now, has been trouble since day 1. Here's the list of stuff I REMEMBER replacing since buying it two years and 45,000 miles ago:

• muffler
• front CV axles
• radio
• rear portion of the steel brake lines
• rear brake rubber lines
• tires
• spark plugs
• wires
• alternator belt
• alternator (several times, due to defective rebuilt units)
• rear brake pads and rotors
• timing belt
• water pump
• driver's side cylinder head and head gasket
• valve cover gaskets
• intake manifold gaskets
• ignition coil

...and that's just what I can remember off the top of my head. I'm sure the list is longer - MUCH longer.

So, I'm not really keen on trying to fix the car again. Seeing as how even damaged Subarus tend to have surprisingly high retail values around here, I'm leaning towards selling it and getting something different, especially as my cylinder 2 misfire returned yesterday.

I've looked at a Toyota Camry. I liked it, but found the seller was a dealer posing as a private seller on Craigslist. I walked away on principle. My search has shown that most local Toyotas (and Hondas) on Craigslist follow this pattern. So, there's not much for me to choose from in the way of cars genuinely for sale by private owner.

I looked at a 1999 VW Jetta, but it wouldn't even start. Last, but certainly not least, I've been looking at Volvo 850s and V70s. The ones I've found in my price range so far have been a bit lacking in terms of condition. I may go back for a second look at one of them. 

Basically, my second choice after a Subaru is a FWD car with a reputation for reliability. I know the Jetta doesn't quite have THAT, but at least I know VWs. Bottom line, the search has been occupying my time, and keeping me away from the Mercedes.

But, I did get a lot done this past weekend. I finally started in on welding and closed up the rivet holes left by the previous owner:

I did most of my work outside, to minimize the risk of fire and because of some fumes from the welding.

Hopefully, if I'm not too occupied with the car search, I can get back to the Mercedes this weekend and continue with repairing the passenger side bodywork. Here's some video from this weekend:

Yet more cleaning...

I got to "work" on the car a bit this past weekend. I started by bleeding the air out of the brake lines I fixed last week. I used my vacuum bleeder bottle and got the air out of the lines in no time. I tell you, one of the things I love about working on these old Mercedes is that bolts are rarely seized (unlike when I work on my Subaru). The rear brake bleeder screws you ask? - they came loose instantly, allowing for quick, trouble-free bleeding. :)

When I bought the car, this label was on the door:

Going...

Going... gone:

Once that was done, I started cleaning the underside of the floors. It was cold, wet, filthy work, but has been yielding good results.

[B]BEFORE[/B]:

[B]AFTER[/B]:

I'm doing this mostly so I can uncover rust I need to take care of, and that so when I'm done, I can throw some fresh undercoating over the whole (clean) floor.

I got the passenger side of the floor clean, and will tackle the driver's side next weekend. Once that's done, I clean the trunk and the interior. The car already smells MUCH better without all this rancid old crud on it. I greatly look forward to the day I have the new interior in and can drive it.

Keep in mind that all this cleaning is being done with scrub brushes, bottles of degreaser, and a garden hose.