Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

fintail

Lovely day today, around 60F, no need for heat. Took the car on maybe a 25 mile drive earlier, ran fine with no issues, started right up as usual. Had 3 or 4 people approach me when I stopped asking the year, etc. Gratuitous pic taken from a distance and some elevation, showing a fun two tone effect in the sun:

lemko1968

Those are the base Cadillac wheel covers for 1980. People typically sprung for the wire wheel covers, turbo vane covers and genuine wire spoke wheels were available.

sda

@lemko1968 you must know my dad. When he bought his 78 Sedan DeVille d’elegance and later his 79 Eldorado diesel, he wouldn’t consider them if they didn’t have the Cadillac wire wheel covers. He bought both cars used. I replaced several of the spokes on the wheel covers on the Eldorado, a fairly easy job. Those wheel covers, especially on the Eldorado were quite heavy.

sda

fintail said:

My friend's 300CD is approved to be fixed:



Only comparable the insurance company could find was 25K (which my friend knows is more than his car is/was worth), so it got the nod. Wreck apparently damaged a tie rod, and the car has a couple other issues that will be dealt with while it is being repaired.

Any update on your friend’s car? Hopefully it will be repaired.

fintail

No news is good news, I just sent a request for an update.

I know it was greenlit - with the only comp at 25K, it should absorb some work. I suspect paintwork will be the only real delay - good body shops in the Seattle area can be booked out weeks or more.

sda said:

Any update on your friend’s car? Hopefully it will be repaired.

fintail

Didn't plan to take the old dear out today, but other plans fell through, so I had the time and desire. Got a few approving nods/thumbs up, and at a parking lot, a younger guy in a late run Town Car asked if he could take pics of the car. Something I have noticed, I think the car is smoking less - maybe the long drive in October helped it. Usually, when the car moves away from sitting for a long time at a hot idle, it'll puff just a little smoke - haven't noticed it lately. Also when the car is cold/warming up - no smoke (but ample fumes). Gratuitous pic because of course:

andres3

Had to take the car in today for a check scan on the infamous CEL light that went on when I was about 75 miles from home coming back from Pahrump the Sunday before last.

Apparently the car thought it ran slightly "lean" one time and that kept the CEL on for at least 3 starts since it came on 8 days ago. Runs fine; we decided to clear it and then monitor if it happens again.

Total Cost $0.00 for now.

sda

andres3 said:

Had to take the car in today for a check scan on the infamous CEL light that went on when I was about 75 miles from home coming back from Pahrump the Sunday before last.

Apparently the car thought it ran slightly "lean" one time and that kept the CEL on for at least 3 starts since it came on 8 days ago. Runs fine; we decided to clear it and then monitor if it happens again.

Total Cost $0.00 for now.

Which one of your fleet triggered the dreaded CEL?

andres3

sda said:

andres3 said:

Had to take the car in today for a check scan on the infamous CEL light that went on when I was about 75 miles from home coming back from Pahrump the Sunday before last.

Apparently the car thought it ran slightly "lean" one time and that kept the CEL on for at least 3 starts since it came on 8 days ago. Runs fine; we decided to clear it and then monitor if it happens again.

Total Cost $0.00 for now.

Which one of your fleet triggered the dreaded CEL?

The TTS, not during the track weekend event, but coming home from Pahrump, NV, to San Diego, CA, in Menifee, about 4/5 the way home after some serious stop n' go crawl through the mountain pass due to LA traffic going home from Vegas on Sunday afternoons and evenings. LA folk can't drive. The CEL has since not been retriggered. Might have been a one time event.

Someone said the VP Racing station in Pahrump was watering down their gas.... could that cause a lean mixture?

fintail

Nice thing about the old dear living across the street is that it is convenient to go out for a spin. Went out earlier, no issues, even got to honk at a dingbat in a Sequoia who blew a 4way stop. Today's question from a bystander was about the YOM plates - he remembered they were issued by county back in the day, and wanted to know where they are from. Gratuitous pic:




Shortly after I got back on the road, the leading edge of a predicted storm started impacting the area - high winds, blowing dust, the car got dusty, I cleaned it off after I parked. Visibility now probably under a mile.

gsemike

Long Island 3 grand challenge: was talking to friends recently about how much do you have to spend for a decent beater. Here are some contenders:
Presentable Maxima

96 Accord with 74k Paint is poor but besides that...

Don't know about a V-dubs with 160k but always thought these were nice looking and this looks clean

4runner

xwesx

gsemike said:

Long Island 3 grand challenge:

Just don't try driving the Maxima or the Accord at night.

gsemike

xwesx said:

gsemike said:

Long Island 3 grand challenge:

Just don't try driving the Maxima or the Accord at night.

I'd bet you could get repro headlights cheaply enough for either now

stickguy

Accord is probably the best buy (explains why it was sold). 4runner might be good too at that price (those seem to get silly money). The VW is probably the nicest car, as long as you don't mind constant problems. At least the CEL is already on, so you won't be getting surprised the day after you buy it!

sda

As nice as the VW CC is, I would avoid one with that kind of mileage. The 2.0t can be a real trouble maker and expensive to repair. They also tend to burn a lot of oil.

texases

sda said:

As nice as the VW CC is, I would avoid one with that kind of mileage. The 2.0t can be a real trouble maker and expensive to repair. They also tend to burn a lot of oil.

That's all true, but for $2000 it could be a 'junk it if it breaks' buy, assuming it's in good running shape right now. A PPI definitely in order.

stickguy

ad mentions it needs a throttle (which is reason for CEL and ESC lights being on). I have no clue how expensive that part(s) is, or hard to put in. And of course, if that is all it needs!

Seems like a good car for a guy like JRGo

texases

Oops, that's what I get for just looking at the pretty pictures!
Run away!!!

fintail

Here's an interesting project. This early/1959 fintail was just recommissioned after being off the road since 1973. Owner claims it is an original paint car, interesting tires with the whitewall close to the wheel. Looking at this car, it might have seemed pretty modern and elegant by 1959 standards. It is in Switzerland, where things indeed look like that:

ab348

Speaking of such things, here is a period pic I came across online with a Fintail sporting that same style of whitewall tires.

gsemike

ab348 said:

Speaking of such things, here is a period pic I came across online with a Fintail sporting that same style of whitewall tires.

I can't help myself with carspotting in old pics. I catch reruns of Adam 12 mostly for just the carspotting

fintail

Maybe a 59 Impala beside the fintail, which is an early W110, 1961-65.

bhill2

The trunk badge is a little fuzzy, but is that one of them neck-snapping diesels? I make the fuzz out as 200D.

kyfdx

sda said:

@lemko1968 you must know my dad. When he bought his 78 Sedan DeVille d’elegance and later his 79 Eldorado diesel, he wouldn’t consider them if they didn’t have the Cadillac wire wheel covers. He bought both cars used. I replaced several of the spokes on the wheel covers on the Eldorado, a fairly easy job. Those wheel covers, especially on the Eldorado were quite heavy.

My aunt had a '78 De Ville with those covers. They were expensive, too!

fintail

As it appears to be an early car, I think it might say 190D - roughly 50-55 hp to throw you back in your seat.

bhill2 said:

The trunk badge is a little fuzzy, but is that one of them neck-snapping diesels? I make the fuzz out as 200D.

bhill2

fintail said:

As it appears to be an early car, I think it might say 190D - roughly 50-55 hp to throw you back in your seat.

bhill2 said:

The trunk badge is a little fuzzy, but is that one of them neck-snapping diesels? I make the fuzz out as 200D.

Yes, that would be consistent. My mother's cousin had a 190D fintail (about '62 I think). Shortly after he bought it, he drove it up from Northern California to our house in Seattle to visit us. Must have been a interesting trip. I think that predated diesel pumps in most service stations, so you got to know the truckers who drove that route. You also got an unhurried chance to enjoy the scenery.

steine13

A friend hat a 240 D with automatic from the late 70s for a while... this was in 1985 or so. It wasn't fast but not problematic. I had the pleasure of riding in a mid-70s 200 D with a 4 speed.. THAT was pretty slow. I remember it had 55 hp then, making the 50-55 for a 190D seem high. Of course, I'm talking Euro horsepower ["PS" in German], which I think are not quite the same as US hp of that era. For what it's worth 75 PS = 55 kW in socialist units.

fintail

I think they'd cruise all day at 65-70, but it would take awhile to get there, and getting to such a speed in an automatic might be measured on a calendar, 0-60 in 25-30 seconds I suspect.

bhill2 said:

Yes, that would be consistent. My mother's cousin had a 190D fintail (about '62 I think). Shortly after he bought it, he drove it up from Northern California to our house in Seattle to visit us. Must have been a interesting trip. I think that predated diesel pumps in most service stations, so you got to know the truckers who drove that route. You also got an unhurried chance to enjoy the scenery.

fintail

I found data claiming 55hp, also 60 "gross" (SAE) hp, not sure what that makes in modern horses.

Funny to think the fintail has more than twice the hp - it also accelerates more than twice as fast, so there's that.

steine13 said:

A friend hat a 240 D with automatic from the late 70s for a while... this was in 1985 or so. It wasn't fast but not problematic. I had the pleasure of riding in a mid-70s 200 D with a 4 speed.. THAT was pretty slow. I remember it had 55 hp then, making the 50-55 for a 190D seem high. Of course, I'm talking Euro horsepower ["PS" in German], which I think are not quite the same as US hp of that era. For what it's worth 75 PS = 55 kW in socialist units.

Michaell

I know I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but my folks had a ‘72 220D for a few years when I was in HS and college. I think it had 65hp, and you needed an hourglass to measure 0-60.

We drove it to visit friends in Northern California, and my dad let me drive a stretch of I-5. No cruise, and the throttle spring was as tight as I’d ever driven, before or since. Loved driving it, however, and I took it to LA with friends a couple of times, surreptitiously.

Of course, it helps to destroy the evidence of said behavior - I left the parking ticket from the Bonaventure hotel on the dash, where my mom found it.

bhill2

fintail said:

I found data claiming 55hp, also 60 "gross" (SAE) hp, not sure what that makes in modern horses.

Funny to think the fintail has more than twice the hp - it also accelerates more than twice as fast, so there's that.

steine13 said:

A friend hat a 240 D with automatic from the late 70s for a while... this was in 1985 or so. It wasn't fast but not problematic. I had the pleasure of riding in a mid-70s 200 D with a 4 speed.. THAT was pretty slow. I remember it had 55 hp then, making the 50-55 for a 190D seem high. Of course, I'm talking Euro horsepower ["PS" in German], which I think are not quite the same as US hp of that era. For what it's worth 75 PS = 55 kW in socialist units.

As a (pretty rough) estimate, figure net hp = 0.8*(gross hp).

As another Mercedes "D" story, I got my first god-I-spent-a-long-time-in-college job in the LA area. I decided that if I lived on hot dogs and tuna helper for a couple of years I could afford a 240D. I went down to the localest dealer and took a test drive. It was a 4-speed, and I loved it. But on sober reflection I realized that I had to merge onto the 210 at rush hour twice a day. So I gritted my teeth and passed on it. If spending another year or so on hot dogs and tuna helper would have allowed me to pull off getting a 300D I would have done it.

fintail

.MBs were known for the heavy throttle. I remember my W126 also had a very stiff spring.

The Bonaventure is another famous movie filming location, I think several were set there. One immediately comes to mind, the cult classic comedy "Midnight Madness", which I probably watched about 300 million times in the 80s even recorded it on VHS. There's a little evidence on YT:

https://youtu.be/xVPRB0uLzt8

I recall seeing an early W115 220D at a Seattle MBCA event years ago, I think this car is a 71, it was a low mileage time capsule and I think it won an award, never saw it again:

Michaell said:

I know I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but my folks had a ‘72 220D for a few years when I was in HS and college. I think it had 65hp, and you needed an hourglass to measure 0-60.

We drove it to visit friends in Northern California, and my dad let me drive a stretch of I-5. No cruise, and the throttle spring was as tight as I’d ever driven, before or since. Loved driving it, however, and I took it to LA with friends a couple of times, surreptitiously.

Of course, it helps to destroy the evidence of said behavior - I left the parking ticket from the Bonaventure hotel on the dash, where my mom found it.

fintail

Good chance that 240D is still roadworthy somewhere (although maybe not in daily use anymore).

My friend with the still-being-repaired coupe also had a 240D 4-speed, he bought it as a neglected car where he could see the potential in it. He gave it a tune up and tended to deferred maintenance issues, spent about a week giving it an intense detail, and it then presented like a 30K mile car, even though it had ~250K on it. The body and interior were extremely straight and intact, just needing TLC. Here it is with the coupe at a show some time ago - he later sold the 240D, as storage was an issue. As one can see, he's a fan of accessories, especially vintage ski racks (he encouraged me to get one for the fintail):



I rode in it several times, it was fine around town, but highways required planning, and mountain passes were stressful. Funny thing, he drove it back and forth to LA several times for school, never had an issue, just kept to the right lane.

bhill2 said:

As a (pretty rough) estimate, figure net hp = 0.8*(gross hp).

As another Mercedes "D" story, I got my first god-I-spent-a-long-time-in-college job in the LA area. I decided that if I lived on hot dogs and tuna helper for a couple of years I could afford a 240D. I went down to the localest dealer and took a test drive. It was a 4-speed, and I loved it. But on sober reflection I realized that I had to merge onto the 210 at rush hour twice a day. So I gritted my teeth and passed on it. If spending another year or so on hot dogs and tuna helper would have allowed me to pull off getting a 300D I would have done it.

fintail

Another nice spring day for a cruise, started and drove as well as usual. The old dear received a few waves and compliments, and when I took a couple pics, an older guy out for a walk wanted to know all about it. I've found my good cruising route too, much of it along this scenic residential road with many parking areas, good
road surfaces, and not a ton of traffic:

sda

fintail said:

Another nice spring day for a cruise, started and drove as well as usual. The old dear received a few waves and compliments, and when I took a couple pics, an older guy out for a walk wanted to know all about it. I've found my good cruising route too, much of it along this scenic residential road with many parking areas, good
road surfaces, and not a ton of traffic:

Are you sure your car isn’t Christine? Each new picture the car looks newer and transformed. Careful with that girl.

fintail

Probably the over-processing from the quirky camera on my Note 20, which produces inconsistent results. And I do give the car a quick wipe down detail before every drive.

How I've wished I could say "show me" and have the car restore itself

sda said:

Are you sure your car isn’t Christine? Each new picture the car looks newer and transformed. Careful with that girl.

fintail

Out on the road again, hard to resist when the car is across the street and the weather is dry more often than on the west side. Temps close to 80 today - unseasonably warm, car seemed like an oven if sitting still, not used to the warmth. Car ran fine , got a lot of attention, a few waves, including from a guy in a white 356, and another from a guy in a Speedster (assumed reproduction, had no plates). Stopped at a yard sale where an older guy wanted to talk about the car, his prior MB, and his old Porsches (has a 914, just sold a 912), and while there a lady asked if she could take a pic of the car, I should be flattered. Highlight was a little girl who spotted the car from maybe a block away, I could see her eyeing it, and as I approached, she pointed at the car and waved, yes I waved back. Color looks different in bright light:

kyfdx

@fintail Are you sure you aren't photoshopping the same picture onto different backgrounds?

ab348

kyfdx said:

@fintail Are you sure you aren't photoshopping the same picture onto different backgrounds?

Shhhh!

fintail

I know the car's good angle

Snapped a pic of the rear, too, which somehow makes the car look bigger than it is:

fintail

This showed up in my feed, so I thought I'd take a browse - that's not a Corinthian interior

A certain someone here had one of these, tragically lost it, maybe should replace it

Lots of mass/size per dollar

A bit scarce

Looks lovely, excuse me on the price

Sad, maybe some bits if cheaper

Aero

Where we're going, we don't need crumple zones

Probably easy to live with

Surprised these have a 6 digit odo, looks like grandma's baby

Seldom-seen

xwesx

@fintail You're certainly helping it to age mighty well.

Mine still haven't melted out of their snow prisons....

stickguy

the lemans wagon is kind of cool.

bhill2

fintail said:

This showed up in my feed, so I thought I'd take a browse - that's not a Corinthian interior

A certain someone here had one of these, tragically lost it, maybe should replace it

Lots of mass/size per dollar

A bit scarce

Looks lovely, excuse me on the price

Sad, maybe some bits if cheaper

Aero

Where we're going, we don't need crumple zones

Probably easy to live with

Surprised these have a 6 digit odo, looks like grandma's baby

Seldom-seen

Re: item 2. Yes, someone is tempted. That was by far the best car I've ever owned. This one even has leather (mine didn't).

sda

The white interior of the Mark is so typical as they get older, they just don't age well. Dingy even when clean. I kind of like the Peugeot wagon. Looks clean overall, needs paint or perhaps a good polish, clay, wax. The 86 Olds, I really like the interior, dull color on the exterior. Dark blue or medium blue exterior with the gray interior would have been better.

texases

If you're going to ask a NUTS price, at least take some decent pics of that Caddy!

That 380SE - only 70,000 miles in 37 years? Less than 2,000 miles/year? Maybe odo was replaced.

fintail

Seller gets a lot of donated estate type cars. If it really checked out, an offer of 7500 or so would probably be fair. I haven't seen the car in person, but it looks good in pics (stock head unit, interior looks clean, wood not faded, etc).

bhill2 said:

Re: item 2. Yes, someone is tempted. That was by far the best car I've ever owned. This one even has leather (mine didn't).

fintail

I suspect the MB sat for awhile. Interior wear supports the miles from what I have seen - the left bolster on the driver's seat can show wear as the miles rack up, and the wood doesn't look faded. Stock stereo also helps. I'm almost tempted to look at it, if I had money burning a hole in my pocket and a place to keep it. I think it would be too nice to ruin as a DD, especially with some of the rough roads around here.

texases said:

If you're going to ask a NUTS price, at least take some decent pics of that Caddy!

That 380SE - only 70,000 miles in 37 years? Less than 2,000 miles/year? Maybe odo was replaced.

fintail

I suspect the white interior on my mom's big T-Bird looked similar, as the car was used a lot and there were kids in the house. You'd need to be a meticulous single person to get away with that one. I like the 505 too, never see those anymore, especially the wagon, and that one is from the end of the run.

sda said:

The white interior of the Mark is so typical as they get older, they just don't age well. Dingy even when clean. I kind of like the Peugeot wagon. Looks clean overall, needs paint or perhaps a good polish, clay, wax. The 86 Olds, I really like the interior, dull color on the exterior. Dark blue or medium blue exterior with the gray interior would have been better.

fintail

After a winter or two out in that, I fear my car would simply dissolve.

xwesx said:

@fintail You're certainly helping it to age mighty well.

Mine still haven't melted out of their snow prisons....