THE HUMANITY

Oh, the humanity of it all! Johnny Carson relegated to a grocery getter.

After taking Johnny to the local self-serve car wash for what is probably his first full-on bath since renovation, my darling Avril asked if we could stop by FF on the way back to pick up something for dinner. Seeing as how Avril helped with drying Johnny off after his sponge bath, I had no grounds for refusal. More so, after never being fully satisfied with Johnny's trunk alignment, Avril pointed out while she was toweling off the lip around the trunk that the seal on the left side was turned inside out. Neither I nor the shop ever noticed this before. Or at least if they did they didn't mention it.

It's a new seal put in after the repairs to the rear window as the original had perished and it was obviously not installed properly. So back to the shop he goes.

I just got him back a week ago because I wanted the power steering pump hoses replaced as they were both leaking. At the same time, I had the door seals replaced as they were perished. Is it just me or does anyone else think the body shop should have noticed the seal was skew-whiff, especially after taking the car back specifically for the trunk alignment?

DEFUSED

Today I finally took the time to replace all the aluminum fuses in Johnny's fuse box with proper brass ones. I could say BIG BRASS ONES, but that would just be bragging. I was pleasantly surprised to find the contacts were relatively free of corrosion even though the fuses themselves showed obvious corrosion on the surface.

Afterwards we went for a short drive, but first I put some Liqui Moly Valve Clean in the nearly full gas tank. I know there is a lot of debate as to whether this kind of fuel system treatment does any good or not, but I could swear Johnny was running just a bit smoother than before after adding the Liqui Moly.

Once back in the garage a little spit and polish was required to remove the dead bugs and a quick dusting with my California Car Duster and Johnny is ready to go back under the cover once the engine has cooled. I must say I was a bit skeptical of all the reviews I read about the California Car Duster, especially considering how much it costs, but I will say it is by far the best dusting tool I have ever used. They've been around a long time and I now wish I would have purchased one a long time ago.

There is a small leak from the engine bay and I'm not sure at this point if it is from the power-steering pump or where. I need to get Johnny up on a lift to investigate further. I know it's an old car, but leaks drive me to drink, so I will have to do something about it.

In other Mercedes-Benz news, we got my E350 Cabrio back from the body shop on Friday. It was in to repair a large dent in the driver's side door that some neanderthal put in it when she opened her door into ours at the vets office a couple of weeks ago. There is no way she did not know what she did, but the bitch and her dog drove off anyway. Of course the vet's office would not give us her name. I thought about calling the police because it was obvious the cost of repair would be significant, but I didn't. It turned out to be $600, $100 of which came out of my pocket and the rest out of the insurance company's coffers.

I also had the rear bumper resprayed at my own expense. It had been resprayed three years before by another shop because of a poor repair when it was with its previous owner and some of the paint had gone a bit off color, which was really annoying to me. Plus I put a big gouge on the top of the paint when I carelessly haul by suitcase out one day, so it was time. That job I paid for out of my own pocket.

Anyway, I decided to take care of a number of rock chips on the hood/bonnet and having purchased the correct white touch-up paint from the dealer last week I went to town. My technique is to use a toothpick to dip in the paint and fill the chip and then lay a small piece of Saran Wrap (cling wrap) over the spot until it is fully dry dome hours later. I may leave it on overnight this time, just for grins. I find as the paint dries the wrap helps smooth the paint out and helps it dry level with the surface of the undamaged paint. These are just small chips and I have not tried this method with larger gouges or scratches.

That's about it for here in the Old Dominion.

Cheers!

At times like this you wish you had a gun.

DEBUTANT

Out of the shop on Friday and onto the display grounds on Saturday (14 April).

The final items addressed were the timing chain, guides and tensioner (all replaced), the recalcitrant right seat belt retractor (still not cooperating), the cruise control, (new amplifier required/replaced), new water pump, thermostat and associated hardware (I decided to have this replaced prophylactically while the radiator was out for the timing chain replacement), new suspension pump (the old one was leaking) and the EHA Valve was replaced (leaking as well).

The car was then detailed and put aside until showtime.

Johnny's first show was the WBCC British & European Car Show held last Saturday on High Street in Williamsburg, Virginia. There were about 150 cars total in attendance and and about six or seven MB's, including Johnny. Unfortunately, Johnny did not drive away with any hardware, but considering the competition that is no surprise.

The day was warm and very windy, which exacerbated the amount of yellow pollen in the air. We found ourselves dusting off our cars every 20 minutes or so. In hindsight, I probably made a mistake leaving the front windows and trunk open for display purposes as the pollen got into every corner and crevice. I spent this morning cleaning that up.

A few shots below:

Departing for the show. 

 Showtime at the Apollo

In good company 

The green 300 SL to Johnny's right is a hand built reproduction.

It is truly amazing.

Good neighbors

First responders. Thanks for all you do.

Popular attraction. We received a lot of positive comments and WOWs!

Look close and you can see the layer of yellow pollen on the black seats.

We had a few naysayers and doubting Thomas' question Johnny's provenance.

Fuck 'em.

FINAL ITEMS

Johnny is back in the shop having the timing chain and guides replaced. The cruise control will be addressed as well along with one or two panel fitting issues.

Aftre all that Johnny should be ready for the upcoming show and driving season.

HOME AGAIN, NATURALLY

Alright, I know I was supposed to get this out a lot sooner; however, I do have a real job and posting on this Blog was OBE. That said, here is the latest on "Johnny."

As you already know, Johnny came home on December 14, just over one month ago. He has been out and about a couple of times, but the latest stint winter weather has managed to keep him garage-bound for the most part.

Now for the technical stuff. After seven months in captivity the biggest jobs, including paint and body work are now complete. The paint and body alone was over $8,000, which included replacing the rear bumper assembly, damaged in a minor rear-end collision back in 2010, repair of the right rear quarter (from the same incident I assume), and repaint all the body cladding in white for that "mono look." In addition, the left rear quarter window and section beneath the battery tray required rust mitigation and repair. This included replacing the left rear window quarter with a Mercedes-Benz factory replacement panel, which required the R&R of the rear window and a new seal. New trunk lid weather stripping was installed and all wheels were refinished. Thanks again Malcolm.

Inside we replaced the headliner and recovered the rear package tray. A refurbished Becker Grand Prix was installed, which required a lot of wiring repair due to a previous very amateurish installation of an aftermarket POS head unit, and now works perfectly along with the new antenna mast. Johnny received new headlight frames and headlights along with a new cap for the upper rear brake light. On a whim we installed an LED light for the third brake light, but now it triggers the light warning on the dash, so I either have to install a resistor or go back to a conventional bulb.

Four new Michelin Defenders were mounted and balanced and finally the car received comprehensive detail by Reflections Detailing in Williamsburg, VA.

When you add in the previous work listed in posts below you you don't have to be a math whiz to clearly see the final cost far exceeds the true value of the vehicle at this point in time. Will there be a time when I can recover the costs? Frankly, I don't know and I really don't care. I didn't buy this car because I wanted an investment. I bought it because I wanted the car and I plan to keep it for the duration, whatever defines that for me. As a plus, my wife Avril likes "Johnny" as well, which is probably the first time she has been properly enthusiastic about one of my "collector" cars. Avril even likes driving it! Uber Coupés rule! (Don't get me wrong, Avril is a huge supporter of and very tolerant of my car hobby, she is just not a "car person.")

In addition, Santa was very good to Johnny, bring him a battery tender, car cover and cocoa floor mats.

For sure there is more to do. Eventually I will have to source a new dash to replace the cracked on and have the interior wood trim refinished, although it really isn't in that bad of shape. The cruise control needs attention as do the door seals. I need to fully recondition the seat leather, which too is in really good shape, but as a hedge against future deterioration. I have a list of about 20-odd things I will attack prophylactically and a few more irritants which need to be addressed, like going back to the body shop to have the trunk fitment adjusted a wee bit, but that is about it. Johnny will in all probability make his debut at the WBCC's British & European Car Show this spring, although he has already been spotted at one CVS MBCA event and a C&C.

More to came, eventually...

Williamsburg C&C (December 2017)

CVS MBCA Benz & BBQ - Richmond, VA (December 2018)

Local Driveabout (December 2018)