Actually getting the car was a stupid and unnecessary adventure. The first time I drive out there (about 90 min-2 hour drive) Boxy really did not approve as the water pump started puking up coolant on the way over. Naturally, I only notice as I pull in to see the white car I am about to buy. Luckily, the car was located at a small airport so aircraft techs were there and willing to give me a couple water cooler jugs of water. I filled each of them (10 gallons I think?) up with water and stuffed rags in the top. It is amazing I didn't get pulled over on the way back for having thirty gallons of molotov cocktail-looking things buckled into the rear seats. I limped the car into a street parking spot where I spent the next week out in the cold replacing the water pump after working all day--eventually I fixed it despite only having about 30 minutes of daylight left by the time I could get out there.
Next adventure was the shipping guy. I used Uship which is a fairly reputable site for finding companies to ship all sorts of large and heavy things across the country. A few folks bid on my car with the condition of shipping it within 3 days, and I settled on one that had good ratings (this was a Thursday). I told the seller I'd get the car out of the way on Monday, so three business days or 5 regular days to set up a shipping time. I call Thursday, no answer...leave voicemail...friday I get an answer but its "We're real busy now can we call you back in a bit?"...no call back...I call Saturday, no answer, call Sunday a couple times and the guy picks up and bitches at me for interrupting his dinner. Hmm...communication seems to be an issue. Finally I get it to be picked up on Tuesday after a lot of teeth pulling. They were supposed to come out by 11 am and pick it up, so I only took a half day from work. At 12 the guy calls me and tells me he is just getting going from DE, a couple hours away. Finally at 3, I get a call and he asks "ok how do I get there, I don't trust my GPS" *facepalm*. I had to give him directions for a place I had only been once before. He eventually does get there, quite possibly the dumbest guy I've met in person and I begin to question whether my car will reach the 250 miles where I will be storing it...My father (on the receiving end) tells me the car almost fell off the trailer but after blocking traffic on the street for an hour they got it off. WHEW! Now I could start working on it!
This summer my project was to take the engine and transmission out of Boxy and put it in the white car (had yet to be named). I was able to do it in 3 days, what a breeze! Getting everything else swapped over was a bit more difficult, replacing all the brakes with my new ones from the other car, an entire interior, climate control, etc. It was a fun project, nothing is easier to work on than these old Mercedes, period. Only a week and a half ago, I got my temporary tag from teh DMV and took it out for a maiden voyage. Even after 211k, the chassis is without a squeak or rattle! The only point of concern now is a rust spot below the battery, which is a tough location due to the swaybar support bracket about 1" away. It appears a mouse lived in that little spot and blocked the drain hole, letting water build up.
No comments:
Post a Comment