R63 AMG The Unicorn of my Destruction

In reply to onemanarmy:

It's all finished, runs absolutely perfectly, MB tech says it sounds MINT. Yep all the right oil, coolant, etc, just needed a couple TORX bits. Its not as hard as MB would have you believe.

In reply to Donbo:

Yes! Well done. Feels good doesn't it?

So I had this great comment all typed up and hit the add post button, just to be told new members have to wait 24 hrs. bummer.

Anyways, I caught this back when it was on MSN front page. Read it through till I was current on page 80 something. Then read the Grosh thread till I was finished (great job!). Then real life happened and I kinda forgot about it. I was cleaning the basement and ran across some license plates (you need any for the Grosh bathroom?) and wondered if you had gotten it back together and running. So now Im back and wanted to say congrats! with all you have done, I was looking at craigslist and found a 96 Firebird with a blown headgasket. I am sitting here thinking...I could fix that. Thanks for the inspiration! Haven't heard back from him yet, so maybe it is gone.

Missed out on a 70 Fiat racer for $300 though.

In reply to csmith1510:

Find something. Buy a manual. Ask questions. Fix it. I can say with a large degree of confidence, if I can do it, so can you.
And thanks, driving the kids to school in the van feels good. Taking apart the cabover engine in the air conditioned Grosh feels good. Learning new stuff feels the best.

csmith1510 wrote: So I had this great comment all typed up and hit the add post button, just to be told new members have to wait 24 hrs. bummer. Anyways, I caught this back when it was on MSN front page. Read it through till I was current on page 80 something. Then read the Grosh thread till I was finished (great job!). Then real life happened and I kinda forgot about it. I was cleaning the basement and ran across some license plates (you need any for the Grosh bathroom?) and wondered if you had gotten it back together and running. So now Im back and wanted to say congrats! with all you have done, I was looking at craigslist and found a 96 Firebird with a blown headgasket. I am sitting here thinking...I could fix that. Thanks for the inspiration! Haven't heard back from him yet, so maybe it is gone. Missed out on a 70 Fiat racer for $300 though.

I did exactly the same. Arrived here a couple of weeks back from the Doug video, read through the entire R63 and grosh threads, typed out a heartfelt and endearing comment, couldn't post it, then lost it when my browser crashed. Sorry MazDeuce, no carefully crafted gushing fan comment for you!

I've now read through the COE and Rice Rod threads, and eagerly awaiting updates! I've got a few other threads open, but they're full of photobucket upgrade pics, so I haven't got to reading through and trying to open the images yet.

Really loved following this thread Deuce, you made modern cars approachable in my mind (only really tackled cosmetics and bodywork of my modern car before). As a 25 year old, I want to be the kind of person and do the kind of things you are/do when I grow up. Can't wait until I can afford some garage space!

In reply to rich_27:

Thanks for the kind words, even if they're not the ones you meant to write. There is some amazing fabrication going on here, and I'm not part of that at all. On my best days I just take stuff apart and put it together again. There is a lot of joy in taking a car that someone is ready to throw away and bringing it back through hard work. The best examples of that here are the driveabeater threads by Dusterbd13. The best part of these sorts of rolling restorations is that they don't require much money and they don't require garage space. Lots of us have done lots of work lying on our backs in the dirt.

mazdeuce wrote: In reply to rich_27: Thanks for the kind words, even if they're not the ones you meant to write. There is some amazing fabrication going on here, and I'm not part of that at all. On my best days I just take stuff apart and put it together again. There is a lot of joy in taking a car that someone is ready to throw away and bringing it back through hard work. The best examples of that here are the driveabeater threads by Dusterbd13. The best part of these sorts of rolling restorations is that they don't require much money and they don't require garage space. Lots of us have done lots of work lying on our backs in the dirt.

Great advice, thank you. I'll check out duster's threads - is there a way to search by a users threads rather than posts? I have just bought my first flat (completed today actually) in an apartment block with communal parking and have two cars already, of which I'm not sure I want to sell either, so parking will be a limiting factor and I'll have to think carefully before purchasing another!

I do love the idea of buying a car for a steal that needs a quick fix to run, then improving it. I think to start I may buy an old engine and strip it and reassemble it; the new place has a shed that may be able to house such a project, and it would be great to learn.

In reply to rich_27:
Love the 'B' mate ...what vintage?

rich_27 wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: In reply to rich_27: Thanks for the kind words, even if they're not the ones you meant to write. There is some amazing fabrication going on here, and I'm not part of that at all. On my best days I just take stuff apart and put it together again. There is a lot of joy in taking a car that someone is ready to throw away and bringing it back through hard work. The best examples of that here are the driveabeater threads by Dusterbd13. The best part of these sorts of rolling restorations is that they don't require much money and they don't require garage space. Lots of us have done lots of work lying on our backs in the dirt.

Great advice, thank you. I'll check out duster's threads - is there a way to search by a users threads rather than posts? I have just bought my first flat (completed today actually) in an apartment block with communal parking and have two cars already, of which I'm not sure I want to sell either, so parking will be a limiting factor and I'll have to think carefully before purchasing another! I do love the idea of buying a car for a steal that needs a quick fix to run, then improving it. I think to start I may buy an old engine and strip it and reassemble it; the new place has a shed that may be able to house such a project, and it would be great to learn.

Not that i know of. And also, i feel honoured to be put in the same category as mazduece. Very humbling. Hes a lot better at this stuff than me.

Best way to find stuff jere that i know of is google. Such as "dusterbd13 challenge car grassroots motorsports forum" you may also be able to add in "started by". That works, but isnt nearly as accurate as i thought it would be.

Dusterbd13 wrote: Not that i know of. And also, i feel honoured to be put in the same category as mazduece. Very humbling. Hes a lot better at this stuff than me. Best way to find stuff jere that i know of is google. Such as "dusterbd13 challenge car grassroots motorsports forum" you may also be able to add in "started by". That works, but isnt nearly as accurate as i thought it would be.

Wonderful, thanks. Can't say I've read enough (read: any) of your stuff to have an opinion, but if mazdeuce thinks you're top notch, you probably are - I look forward to reading!

759NRNG wrote: In reply to rich_27: Love the 'B' mate ...what vintage?

Thanks! '69. I've had it for coming up on 3 years now, dailyed it for six months to start. Surprisingly reliable, great fun to drive. Can't beat the smell of it, petrol through the carb, old leather, etc. Odo reads 7X,XXX, but i think it's probably 17X,XXX. Think it'll be a keeper!

This is the El Camino driveabeater.
Dusters skill set is wildly different from mine and some of the way he attacks problems are things I never would have thought of. It's good stuff and quite frankly the Elco turns out great.

Dusterbd13 wrote: Not that i know of. And also, i feel honoured to be put in the same category as mazduece. Very humbling. Hes a lot better at this stuff than me. Best way to find stuff jere that i know of is google. Such as "dusterbd13 challenge car grassroots motorsports forum" you may also be able to add in "started by". That works, but isnt nearly as accurate as i thought it would be.

if you're using google, make sure to limit it to the grm website... site:grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum dusterbd13 drivabeater that should turn up things. So far, haven't figured out how to search for threads started by a person.

In reply to mazdeuce:

Ive learned a lot of problem attacking methods from you as well. Thanks for the compliment.

In reply to rich_27:
while here in the forum scroll to the top and hit the 'spy' glass and type in Dusterbd13 ...then after that uncheck all the categories except 'forum' and hit enter again .....voila....enough to keep you awake till sunrise sorry MazD any time I can speak to a fellow 'B' owner....

Mazdeuce: I started reading through this post back around New Year's Day, very impressed with your work, how humble you are despite your skills, and the great sharing of everybody in the GRM community. Kudos to all of you. Very happy when I saw the people mover finished and rolling again. I remember at some point you mentioned something about being willing to buy a CLA AMG if MB came up with an interesting offer. I was talking to someone I know in a MB dealer in FL and he is a car enthusiast, and was so impressed with your awesome story that he said he would try his best to work something out with you. His name is Juan Castaneda and he is in MB of Pembroke Pines. Just tell him who you are and that Alejandro gave you his name. Anything I can help with, would be more than happy to. Thank you for your encouraging work and for sharing it! Best,

Ale

By the way, I hope everything goes well for you and all the GRM community with hurricane Harvey. TX strong!

Epic thread! Very late to the party, I only started reading on Saturday, after it was linked to from one of the U.K. Mercedes forums. Sir, I doth' my cap to you

In reply to Aarango:

I'm glad you enjoyed the thread and thank you for the offer of help getting a new MB. Life has it's twists and turns and it's probably not a great idea to add to the fleet right now. After my wife broke her toe this summer she did mention that we should have bought one. Please pass thanks on to Juan.

In reply to Notwen:

Thanks man, I appreciate the kind words. The internet is histories greatest source of information and entertainment and I'm glad I could contribute to both of those things in my own tiny way.

I'm sure you would have posted, but since I know you're in the Houston area just wanted to ensure the grosh, Unicorn and Caddy are all above water.

Oh yeah, you and the family too!

In reply to 91Eunos:

We made it through in great shape. Water is so unpredictable. Just outside our neighborhood was higher that it's ever been, but somehow we stayed 1/2 inch higher that the water in the yard. Many of my friends weren't so lucky. Boat rides, drying out cars, and one who is still stuck, but dry and with power, so he's feeling lucky too.
We took the R63 to the Astros baseball game yesterday and it continues to be spectacular. Maybe not the ideal vechicle to be driving during a gas shortage, but spectacular nonetheless.
Thanks for checking in.

I've seen this suggestion on another board a few times now: find a race gas supplier and see how much it'd cost to have their lowest octane 55gal drum delivered with a pump... (maybe you've thought of this before, but I'm sure the Unicorn would run well on some 100!)

In reply to LSxDreamer: 

We're back to having gas in most places in Houston already. Not exactly cheap,  but not terrible. I was able to fill up with premium after dropping the kids off today.  

The last thing I hadn't fixed was the running light bulb. It was just so far down my list of things that needed to get done that I ignored the message that came up every time I started the van. Luckily this bulb is very easy to get to so all I needed was motivation.  It was so easy that I changed both running lights and now they work and match. This is what this thread was supposed to be like. Driving the kids around in the super van, changing bulbs, completely boring.   Anybody know offhand if the door for the tow eye is generic to Mercedes of this era? The tab on mine broke when I had to remove it to winch the van in. I hate to be "that guy" who drives around with a hole in the bumper. 

Race van.

The0retical said:

 

 

Race van.

Hasn't seth had enough shrapnel with this already?