Angelfish

I guess I didn't get the angle quite the same but looking at the clearance over the rims they look pretty similar.

Are there correct exhaust hangers available? I was looking at some of the pictures of similar cars (thank you Lance) but I can't see the hangers in any of them. The exhaust was missing altogether so I don't what the hangers look like. I assume I can use universals over the axles but ahead and behind the mufflers looks like something else, and behind the resonators.

I still have the old socket rails from when I had a soft sided tool bag under the seat of the truck. I've moved on to a more permanent location and it would be nice to have the sockets easy to hand and not have to pry them off the rail with a screw driver, or to have them fall off the rail and roll deep under the work bench.

Thank you, I've been without the car for a week now due to a significant exhaust leak, looking forward to having it back. I have a 1000 mile trip coming up soon and I'd really like to have it ready, beats the old GMC Yukon for sure.

Front brakes for both sides with discs, pads, pins, soft lines, wheel bearings and shocks was about $280. But not to worry, I have no doubt that Mercedes prices will be in my future.

Dual row timing chain confirmed, I'm told the color of the chain guides indicates that they don't need replacing at this time.

The stance on your car looks very nice. I thought mine was sagging in the back but now I think it might be high in the front, it's still at the muffler shop waiting for seals and not available for pictures, but I'll get one up here for comparison. I put about 120 miles on it and it's limbering up, you can tell there's a beautiful car underneath trying to get out. Nimble in town, smooth and solid on the highway, and that's with hard rubber bushings, soft shocks and rough brake discs. My initial impression is that this is a car I will keep for many years and put a lot of miles on. My high school age son has taken a liking to it as well and with any luck he can have it when I'm done. If he hasn't scrounged up his own by then.

I had all kinds of little things. Fuel pump in the old Ford truck failed in the driveway Solenoid died in the lawn tractor Weak spark plug in the motorcycle Broken spring in the grass seed spreader Head fell off the garden hoe, this one I haven't fixed yet

Penetrating oil and patience, that goes without saying. I've had good luck with a cordless impact wrench. Turn the power all the way down to the lowest setting and work on them a little bit at a time. Oil, impact, oil, impact. Might take a few days.

Almost afraid to say it, but I've had a Drill Dr for many years (maybe the earlier ones are better?) It's a moderate pain to set up, it's best to wait until you have several bits to sharpen and do them all at once, and it's not much use for anything smaller than about 3/16. But if you follow the instructions and be sure to split the points I've had good success with it. It's a homeowner grade tool, but it works for what I need it to.

I guess I was thinking a complete testing kit but it seems like it would be easy enough to use this to construct my own.

Or at least in the lower end of the scale. I need to test for 3.5 psi, it would be nice to have something scaled accordingly.

I assume these are part of the exhaust hangers, I have these and a new exhaust system with mufflers and resonators.

With any luck I'll be back to the Buick for a while. The last few months weren't all wasted, I did manage to write and produce a western melodrama play with my daughter and a number of her friends from high school, got a some things done around the house including the decorative ceiling in the library, missing trim pieces and a new floor in the garage. AND I picked up a 1982 Mercedes Benz 380SL. Needs a few things here and there but it runs and drives nicely, (and the vacuum locks work!) I have to say I really like the little thing. It's currently at the muffler shop with a severed Y pipe but should have it back soon. As far as the Buick, on to exhaust. I could use some pictures of the routing and hangers, if anyone had something handy. And the gas tank. I tumbled it last fall and it's clean and ready for sealing. I have the Bill Hirsch gas tank kit, but I'd accept advice for the outside. Current plan is to remove the surface rust and shoot it with cold galvanize, then maybe undercoat the underside for rock puncture protection.

Thank you for all the good advice, it's possible I will call on you for more in the future. I'm happy so far. My wife is looking at an SLK for herself, we may end up with a pair of them.

Well gentlemen, my life has been easy, my marriage has been strong and my future has been secure. On balance my life has been somewhat sheltered and predictable. So why not throw all that away for the sake of a 40 year old Mercedes Benz? I brought it home yesterday. I drove it a couple days ago, it started and ran well with a little bit of idle surge, +/- 100 rpm. Got it on the road and it drove and shifted nicely, the brakes were confidant, and it died every time I came to a stop sign. Put about 15 miles on it, it died and restarted several times. Brought it back, parked it, the owner just handed the cash back and said he'd work on it and put it up for sale again when the weather improved. And that was the end of it. I drove home, announced to the family that we did not own a Mecedes, and I was at peace. Then the phone rang. It was the seller. I thought about not answering. He said he bypassed the fuel pump relay and it was running well, and he'd knock another $1000 off it. I told him I'd sleep on it. So here I am. This morning I bought oil, filters, transmission fluid and brake fluid. The weather is lousy so I'm relegated to sitting in the shop trying to figure out to operate the climate control. The timing chain has already been replaced, although it was long enough back that the guides are uncertain, the subframe is not cracked, but still requires the gussets, the engine room is clean, the leaks are minimal and only in the places that don't really count anyway, the engine sounds good and the car is overall in very nice condition. The more time I spend with it the better it looks. I don't expect the real alcoholic depression to set in until at least May. A lot of people say they're underpowered, and while it's no BMW M3, I was pleased with the performance for what it is. The drive home was fun and the car did grow on me. And it has a very nice V8 rumble. The radio is missing so PM me if you want to part with one, only has one key and it's well worn so looking for a new one, the clock doesn't work, which might be a sign that I don't want to know how much time I'll have into it, and there's a dead spider hanging in front of the odometer inside the instrument panel.

Looked at one this morning. 1982, 115,000 miles. Under $10,000. Good set of service records, cosmetically very nice, no damage, looks like the soft top was never used and no yellowing in the rear window, hard top like new, clear coat peeling on the hood and trunk, interior very nice, radio missing. Timing chain replaced at 100,000, cranked over a few times before it started, once warm it started easily, 1 tiny bit of a valve train tick and a little bit of a surge at idle that leveled out but didn't go away entirely, no rust, electrics worked except for antenna and cruise control remains untested, heater fan turned on at least, steering box felt tight. 9 inches of wet snow precluded a test drive, hoping to remedy that in the next few days. I would drive it regularly, commuting and the occasional road trip.

Would be nice to see it rescued, but it won't be me. What a mess.

I've been told that Ettore Bugatti once received a letter from a customer explaining that his Bugatti was hard to start when it was cold. Ettore wrote back saying that if he didn't keep it in a heated garage, he didn't deserve to own one.

This is one of those things that I like to ponder from time to time. The term "museum quality," and it typically refers to an item in pristine condition. Firearms in particular as an example, but cars as well. There are very rare and valuable original Colt pistols that have never been fired, much like a perfect car that is never driven. But how interesting is a 150 year old Colt pistol that has never been out of the box? A well worn Texas ranger's pistol will have much better stories to tell. Museum quality often times means that it has never done anything. Some of these pictures are nearly heartbreaking. But what good is a car that spends its life in a heated garage and the occasional trailer ride?

It would make a good parade car. I swore off driving in parades due to the overheating and clutch riding. And it's not unlike just being stuck in traffic. But this would serve nicely for someone who liked that sort of thing. I hope they didn't destroy a good running car to make it.

If the choice in this case is between parting out or restomod, I have to go with the second. I hate to see any car hot rodded but it's better than seeing it scrapped. That fact that you're asking indicates that you understand what it means to cut up a good car, but a questionable car gets a little murky. Could you find a period drive train that could be made to work while keeping the car more in the spirit of its manufacture? A Chevy flathead 6 would be easy enough to find and would at least look the part. I know where there's a Chrysler straight 8 needing a full rebuild. As mentioned, the basics of structural integrity, interior, glass, drive train need addressed regardless of your course. Maybe a tasteful restomod using period (or at least not overtly modern) parts, with an eye toward the original spirit of the car even if the letter cannot be strictly adhered to. That could be a lot of fun, really and you'd be the only one to have one.

Would it be possible to see a closeup picture of the brushed pattern in your stainless dash trim? I really like that one and I need to see if the stainless shop can copy it.

I work in the retail end of the construction business and we see tools and trailers getting stolen on a regular basis. The owners agree that it is the unmarked trailers that get stolen and they are turned into meth labs. The contents, well that's fair game regardless. In the era of cordless tools it's impossible to keep someone out, all you can do is slow them down. Puck locks are harder to cut than a regular pad lock so they just cut the door around the lock. On a job site they use a large hole saw and reach in and open the door from the inside.

I'm just looking forward to my daily ration of crickets.