SHOW & TELL and SHIFTING GEARS

Alas, Johnny did not reap any trophies yet again at the Williamsburg British Car Club's Annual British & European Car Show in April. It was probably not a Stirling presentation on my part, nor did I stick around the car to talk to the judges, as I was gadding about talking to all the other owners and shop reps. Oh, well maybe next year. I'll be retired by then and have plenty of time to prepare the proper "sales pitch."

I skipped the Fredericksburg car show this year, as I did last year and all years previous. With the short amount of time I have off between trips it just seems to be too much of a haul up and back. That said, several of my fellow MBCA Section members brought home some spoils.

Johnny's transmission has been what can only call a bit clunky since purchasing him over two years ago. I was able to live with it and I'm sure it would have carried on for quite some time before letting go, but with an unknown service history, and the desire to have the car drive and act like a proper Mercedes-Benz, I decided last week to have it rebuilt. Simon at Auto Haus pulled the transmission and they shipped it off to a Swiss gentleman in Missouri City, Texas who specializes in just this type of rebuild.

Unbelievably, as I was typing this, I talked to Preston, my service rep at Auto Haus, and he said the transmission is already back and Simon installed it last night. Damn, that was quick. Remove the transmission, ship to Texas, rebuild, ship back and reinstall all in less than two weeks. Pretty impressive. I'll have Simon change the brake fluid while the car is there as well since its been just over two years since it was replaced.

The weather has been absolute crap here this Spring with a lot of rain, more than I can remember in the 27 years we've lived here, so it is a great opportunity to tic off some of the items on the to-do list. Still to go is finding a NOS dash, have the wood trim refinished, maybe reupholster the seats with new bolsters, and possibly new carpet. All are relatively simple, except the dash, which is NLA from Mercedes-Benz, and a PITA to remove and install. While I'm in there I'll replace all the vacuum diaphragms as well.

Also, I need to find a replacement digital clock, also NLA from MBZ, and an aerial for the cell phone. The phone no longer works, of course, but seeing as Johnny Carson probably had some very interesting conversations on that very phone, it is very much a part of the history of the car. It needs a new cord as well, but I'll have to figure out how to break open the case on the handset without damaging it in order to do so. I did have someone tell me recently there are now kits out there to retrofit these old cell phones with modern electronics so they look original, but will actually work. Not a high priority, but maybe something to look at in the future.

That's about it for now. I'll let you know how the transmission turns out.

Hals- und Beinbruch!

Brad

RADIO GAGA, DRAINED & PADDING UNDER THE HOOD

Johnny has been getting a little exercise lately and some TLC to boot. There was a brief interlude recently where the refurbished Becker radio was killing the battery. Once that was discovered and the radio sent back to Becker (out of warranty of course), all is well. Later, the horn gave up the ghost at the exact wrong moment, and just after I collected Johnny from his mandatory annual "safety inspection." Some shithead in a Cadillac Coupé decided to change lanes right into me, forcing me off the road and onto the shoulder. I laid on the horn button, but nothing sounded. It was obvious the clueless bastard never even saw me out of the POS Caddy with no visibility.

On a brighter note. I had a deteriorating wire harness repaired and a new hood pad installed. Now the heater is operating somewhat erratic, so that will be something to address in the near future.

Other than that Johnny is running just fine, although he now resides part-time in a large climate controlled storage facility, brought out for high day and holidays, or whenever I get the urge if the weather is nice. Spring is starting to poke its head out in places, so I hope that damned Pennsylvania rodent was correct and it arrives early.

That's about all for now. I'll try and be a bit more regular with my posts as I know I have been neglecting my duties of late.

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)

TIME FLIES

I know I said I would publish something last week as soon as I got the car, but as usual my best intentions were OBE. "Johnny" came out looking great, as you will see below. That Saturday he made his debut at Williamsburg Cars & Coffee in the 25ºF cold and then we headed up to Richmond to rendezvous with the Central Virginia Section of the MBCA for "Burgers & Benz." Fortunately, the temperatures soared into the upper thirties by the time the burgers hit the grill. It was a small turnout, quite unremarkable for Johnny's initial event; however, with the "refurb" taking longer than expected the idea of a late summer/early fall coming out became moot. Never mind. We've been on a few good outings since then, including our initial drive to WoWs (Wise Old Winos) and just a few spins along the back roads nearby, one of which concluded just minutes ago.

I stopped by Auto Zone today hoping to score some ceramic-brass fuses to replace the ceramic-aluminum ones still in the fuse box, but Auto Zone doesn't even carry them. I ddi not feel like all over hell's half acre looking for some, so I'll just check on-line or head to the dealers and pay stealer prices for them.

There are a number of things yet to do - and I keep adding to the list of items required; however, the heavy lifting is complete, for now. In the next several days I hope to list all that was done (not previously listed) during "Johnny's refurbishment. For now let's just say I spent a lot more on the car since acquiring it than I spent acquiring it.

Ready for launch 12/14/2017

Delivery 12/14/2017

Motley Crew

C&C Williamsburg, VA 12/16/2017

Burgers & Benz MBCA Central Virginia Section

Richmond, VA 12/16/2017

Today

Pretty Boy

THE TIME IS NIGH

I received an email earlier today saying Johnny is ready to come marching home. Unfortunately, I’m in California so the pickup will have to wait until tomorrow. I’m pretty chuffed about the whole thing as the last time I checked in the car looked fantastic. Certainly, there are a number of things yet to address, such as the dash and wood trim, the cruise control and timing chain guides (to be done prophylactically), but the worst of it is over. Simon and the body shop at Auto Haus Classics have been able to wash away many years of differed and poor maintenance and outright neglect. We’ve also added a few touches to make it my own. I’ll be posting some pictures here tomorrow night after the pickup and short (or maybe long) drive so we can get reacquainted after seven months of separation.

IT'S SO CLOSE I CAN ALMOST SMELL IT

A most amazing thing happened this week. On Monday I sent the Becker Model 754 radio back to Becker via ExpressMail along with an explaination as to what happened. Remember, this is after I called them last week and talked to then ablut the Model 754 being incorrect for a 1988 SEC. Late yesterday I received the "new," i.e., correct Model 780 radio back with a note saying to the effect Becker are comping me for shipping and the extra cost of the Model 780 over the Model 754. I think that is a damn, fine, splended gesture and it just goes to show you there are still companies out there that believe in customer service. Although the radio came too late to take by the shop on Friday, my darling Avril will deliver it to Simon on Monday as I am off to slip the surlies yet again.

Am hoping by the end of this coming week we can finally say: Hereee's Johnny!

Stay tuned.

If you don't know where you are going any road can thake you there.

Hals und Beinbruch!

ALMOST THERE

It's been a while since I updated this Blog, simply because there was not a lot to report. Sure, I could have provided step-by-step progress reports over the past seven months, but that would be boring. Things are coming together, albeit a bit slower than I hoped, and we are about to come to the great unveiling. That doesn't mean all is finished by any stretch of the imagination. There will be the dash and wood trim to do in the future and a number of details to address over the next several months, not to mention normal service requirements, which will be more along the lines of Bimmer Guru Mike Miller's Old School BMW Maintenance Schedule© than anything you see coming out of a Merceds-Benz service manual.

There are a number of reasons the car took seven months to get where we are today. First and foremost I take full responsibility for the amount of mission creep, which added to the timeline. If you don't know what I mean by mission creep, it is a well known term in military planning and execution where the expansion of the project, objective or mission expands beyond its original goals, usually as a result of early successes. Well, once I saw the how rapidly things were improving I could not help but to ask for more and Simon, Ian and their team at Auto Haus, Williamsburg were ready and willing to deliver. I'll detail all jobs in a future installemnt.

Simon did take several weeks off during the height of the summer to go back to Austria on "Holiday," as they say over there, which resulted in about five or six weeks of downtime. One other leading setback was the headliner. It took a while to get the car into the upholstery shop and when it came out I was not thrilled with the look of the material they used. The lesson learned here is to make sure everyone is on the same page, including the sub-contractors prior to executing the work. In this case I just trusted all would be okay so I was not too specific about materials. The shop installed an Alacantra type material, which did not look at all original and to my eye was a bit untidy and low class. After much searching by Ian and myself, we came up with a better solution. It is a material that looks far more original and has a clean, sharp appearance. All that took time and when the car came back from the upholstery shop the second time there was a problem with the sunroof opening without binding. It appears the shop simply covered over the previous fabric thus making the assembly too thick to slide back into the roof. Back to the shop the sunroof cassette went and that is where we are today. Holidays being what they are I don't expect to see the sunroof cassette assembly back until sometime next week. Another minor setback is the radio. It turns out when I sent the radio Malcom gave me gratis (thank you again Malcolm) to Becker they sent back an off the self replacement Model 754. The problem is the radio changed from the Model 754 in 1987 to Model 780 in 1988. Who knew? Simon apprised me of this after he tried to install the one I provided. Diligently, Ian found the right numbers and after a bit of investigation I called Becker and explained what happened. Tom at Becker Auto Sound, LLC was extremely helpful and they will take the radio back in exchange for the correct Model 780, with only a small up-charge for the extra amplifier connector that is intrinsic to the newer radio.

BTW, the new grill Simon installed looks fantastic and Reflections Detailing on 2nd Street in Williamsburg did a sensational job detailing the car after all the body and interior work, including the engine compartment, which if you know these 560 SEC is a major league PIA to get clean especially if neglected over time.

So there we have it. There are just a few more niggles that Simon will address, including alignment of the trunk lid and replacement of the upper brake light housing, but then all should be well and we will finally be ready to say: "Hereee's Johnny."

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 Kind of like waiting for JC to step from behind the curtain on the Tonight Show.

 License plate number is the same as Mr. Carson had on the car in California.

 Right side of the trunk lid is just a wee bit lower and in need of further adjustment.

Here's looking at you kid.