Sunday, April 29, 2018

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.

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