Just so Bogy ;
Our 1982 240D only had 350,000 miles when the engine's power got *so* low and the fuel economy dropped off so sharply I decided to pull the trigger and have it and the tranny both gone through, then I plan to have it painted and hopefully Tom will give me a hand replacing the broken lower spring base in the driver's seat, then I'll replace the rear seat belts those darn kids broke my carelessly slamming the rood on and she'll be ready for many more years .
I've already dumped way too much $ into my poor old Diesel Sports Coupe but when it's running fine (occasionally) it's sweet and out running the Sports Cars in the Sta. Monica Mountains is nice too
.
Plus, when I'm traveling I can sleep in those seats .
Looks sharp to me and my Son's pals all have begun telling me how much they like it, they're all Racers ad *much* more talented than I ever was but they like seeing it with the "
5150 " decals next to the rear tag as they catch me up in the middle of nowhere .
Keep at it, take care of your 'Benz and it will take care of you up to sacrificing it's life to save yours .
I don't know if anyone has ever seen the M-B factory test photos of then new 114's driving into the back of parked trucks @ full tilt boogie ? car is demolished, driver opens the door and walks away, NO SAFETY GEAR USED .
Impressive stuff .
-Nate
Bogy wrote :
I got her off the stands and back on the ground last week. The speedo thingy I built works like a boss. And I think this tranny has a different first gear ratio because it seems to pull off the line a bit stronger now than before. I'm very happy with it. I haven't done a mileage check with it yet. But I suspect that the lower first gear ratio, if it really has a lower first gear, will improve my in town mileage since I won't need to push so much fuel into the engine to get it to start moving. We'll see.
I got asked today when I was going to let it go. It was an interesting question. I can't ever see me letting it go. As long as I can turn a wrench, I can keep it running. And it's going to be cheaper to find good used engines, trannys, and diff's, that it would ever be to find another car. And as long as that is true, then the only reason to let her go is if the unibody or frame gets weak and breaks or the thing gets irreparably or unusably damaged by t-boning or the like. In which case I will pull the power train for use in another jeep or 4x4 truck project and sell off the good bits. I can see me getting another w123 if I have to. But this lady and I have been together since 03. We have a lot of history together. I have used it to retrieve other 300Ds from nearby states with a tow dolly and only lost 3-4 MPG. That means I am pulling twice the weight with the same engine and still getting 85% of the standalone mileage.
As of now, I have replaced both the engine and tranny. Show me another used car that you can do that to and I might think about it. Show me another car that you can buy when it is 23 years old with 250,000 miles and 14-15 years later (at 36 years old + or -) have 384,xxx miles on it, and still get 23+ MPG, still have the doors close like they just came off the assembly line, and still starts in 12 degree weather with only one cycle of the glowplugs. With the block heater it starts well below 0 degrees F. When something besides the drivetrain breaks I will recycle her. Until then she has been more faithful than either of my wives and has so far outlasted all of my human female relationships combined. And given me far less grief. As Forest Gump said when he was told he would never have to worry about money again - "One less thing." (to worry about). And in 4 more years, when it is 40 YO, the registration goes down to $10 per year.
You don't just let something of that kind of substance go for light or transient reasons.
Thanks to everyone for your comments and support over the years.
Bogy.
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