Let the great experiment begin!

I've always liked Courier font. There's something so newsy about it. As a boy, I'd often lay awake at night setting type in my mind. I know this is different from your normal boy, but then again, I was no ordinary...okay, sorry. Let's start again.

This is my blog. My first blog. Ever. And probably last. In fact, this may be the only entry, knowing me. But I'll try to overcome that tendency and write at least two. I don't know what you're expecting from this blog, but I'm going to keep it respectable. It's PG-rated. Possibly PG-13 at times, but only if it is something my character would really do. No gratuitousness. Unless you go with the second meaning of gratuitous: "given or done free of charge." In that case, it's all gratuitous.

Alright, enough self-aware rambling. Go read Salinger for that. Um...okay. Oh yeah! My car. I have a 1975 Mercedes Benz 240D. Really it's a 240D 3.0, for those in the know. NO, it's not a factory 240D 3.0. It was made as a regular 240D with a 4-cylinder 2.4 liter engine in it. But someone at some point installed a 5-cylinder 3.0 liter engine in it, but left everything else the same. My good friend Peter (a.k.a. Pierre) Hedary down in Orlando helped me with a lot of things, one of which was to put in the corresponding rear axle out of a 300D. I can never remember the ratios...I think it was a 3.4something and now it's a 3.3something. Or not. Anyway, since the interior package and a few other things are still a 240D, that makes it more or less a 240D 3.0. With a 4-speed manual. Eat your heart out all you automatic-diesel-driving schmucks. Mine has pep. At least as much as an old Mercedes diesel can have.

Okay, so, I've had this car for a couple of years now, and have taken good care of it. The paint is not original and has always been dull, not to mention poorly done, since I've had it. Also there are various dings and rough spots, as well as the all-too-common quarter panel rust on one side. Then the other non-rusty quarter panel got smashed in along with the rear door one night in a parking lot. Hit and run. That has since been repaired but not painted. So for the last 8 months I've been driving around with a gray primered quarter panel and rear door on the driver's side.

Well, now that school's out (I'm doing a master's in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Maryland) for the summer, I'm going to go into full-blown restoration mode. I thought it would be fun to document it with this blog and some photos in order for a few of my friends and family to follow along. For you non-enthusiasts out there, which I anticipate are most of you, I'll try to make it somewhat interesting. But I can't guarantee anything. For those who happen upon this and are contemplating doing a restoration, or those who have already done one, comments and questions are more than welcome.

I've been polishing this and replacing that with a better/cleaner one since I got the car. The steering wheel is not original, I put in euro headlights, the front seats have been switched out for ones in better shape, the instrument cluster is a conglomeration of the best parts of I think three different ones. The list goes on and on of little things that I have switched out or just made nicer. But now that I've set my sights on doing the body work and repainting, I'm seeing ALL KINDS of things that I need to do. The scope keeps getting wider and wider. Here's a list of what I've done in the last few days:

-Strip paint off, sand and prime a replacement trunk lid that I found (mine is rusty).
-Pull all trim off.
-Pull rear bumper off.
-Pull trunk seal and grind rust around edge
-Pull rear seat and disassemble back part (there is no padding left in it and the frame is rusted)
-Probably more that I can't think of at the moment...


Here's a list of things that I need to do as far as I know right now:

-Fix the rust in the trunk and around the trunk seal and repaint the inside.
-Replace the trunk seal
-Repair or replace the back of the rear seat and reinstall.
-Fix torn ceiling liner by back seat.
-Run new tail light wiring.
-Run new vacuum lines for the locking system.
-Have the rust cut out of the quarter panel and a new piece welded in.
-Grind out all the rust I can see which, incidentally, is almost everywhere in spite of what decent shape the car is in.
-Strip ALL of the paint off the car.
-Straighten dents and dings as much as possible.
-Fill the imperfections with body filler.
-Spray the whole thing in self-etching (acidic, rust-inhibiting) primer.
-Block sand and look for more imperfections.
-Fill and sand those.
-Spray the whole thing with high-build primer to smooth things out.
-Sand the whole thing completely smooth.
-Pull windshield and back window (backlight).
-Paint it.
-Put windows back in with new seals.
-Put all the trim, lights and bumpers back on.
-Buff to a shine.
-Drive and smile.

Here are some pictures of what I've done in the last few days...








Stay tuned!