The Classic Car

Our Classic 1967 Mercedes-Benz 230

Pictures and details to follow after we pick the car up in Portland. So the story is that a professor at the University of Oregon purchased this car in Madrid, Spain in September of 1966. He brought the car back to Oregon where he used it for many year. In the early 1990's he donated the car to a non-profit. In 1995 my brother purchased the car from the non-profit. He has owned it ever since. My brother moved to Portland after graduating and used the car for a few years. In late 2000 my brother moved to Asia for business and has lived their ever since. He stored the car in a friend's barn and it stayed there for ten and half years. At the end of July 2011 my kids and I towed a trailer all the way from Southern California to Portland to pick up the car and bring it back. I am glad the cars is staying in the family. Getting the car was an adventure and getting it running again, even more so. Updates and pictures to follow.

Newest Addition- 1985 Mercedes 380 SE

We were not looking to buy another car, this was definitely a God event. I occasionally peruse the old cars in Craig's List to see what is selling and what prices owners are asking for, mostly out of curiosity, partly for a good laugh. I had a saved search that filtered for Mercedes cars under $4,000, that were made before 1986. One evening in late October or early November of 2019 I opened that search. As usual, this returned an interesting mix of old junk and very expensive collectibles. Neither we were interested in. That evening, however, one car caught my attention. The owner was only asking $1,100 and the car had only 50K miles. I knew something was wrong. I was right. The owner explained that the car did not run and had not in many years. I was intrigued, however, and asked if I could come and see it. He agreed and we scheduled a visit for the coming Sunday afternoon. Our kind neighbor said he would go with me to pick up the trailer and we could go and see the car together.

So, we made the trip at the beginning of August 2011. It was rather epic. Since we had to be back for other reasons the trip was rather rushed. We left Friday evening at 7:30pm and we walked back into our front door on the following Tuesday at 7:30pm. The second day was the most difficult, we traveled 766 miles in one day. The picture was taken of the car on the trailer that we used to transport it back to California. I took the picture at our friend's house in Portland, Oregon on Sunday afternoon. We left later to spend the night in southern Oregon. The total miles were 2258. All this was done in four days, which I would not recommend. It was a shame to pass so many beautiful places in Oregon and not have much time to spend there. The photo on the left shows the car in the barn in Oregon, after the cover was removed.

I prayed for wisdom in this decision and sometimes even wondered what we were doing, after all, we don't really need another car. I asked God for wisdom all week and he waited to answer. Sunday morning, after the message during the service, God said, "Don't go." I was a little surprised and began countering. I responded, "But it's a great deal, it looks like..", he replied, "Don't go." Again I countered, "But I'm only going to look and...", again, "Don't go." Finally, I responded, "But...", he again spoke softly and firmly, "Don't go."

During the summer of 2012 we removed the old fuel tank to clean it and coat it with an epoxy to prevent further rusting. We replaced all of the rubber fuel lines and rebuilt the carburetors. We got the engine running.

During the summer of 2013 we replaced the rear pinion seal on the differential, removed the passenger side, half axle to replace the seals and repacked the front wheel bearings. We also replaced all of the fluids in the vehicle. We polished and waxed all of the original paint, cleaned up the interior and treated and repainted some of the rust areas inside the passenger compartment and in the trunk.

I called our neighbor and told him what God had said. He said, "Okay". I texted the owner and explained, "After much prayer I am convinced that God does not want me to do this at this time so I am not coming. If you are not able to find a buyer please feel free to contact me. I may be interested later. Thank you." The part about contacting me later was just because I was disappointed, not because that is what God wanted me to say. I was convinced that God's response of, "Don't go" meant "No". He never said, "No", I just interpreted it that way.

Two weeks later I noticed that the car was still for sale, but now the price was $700. I contacted the seller again and agreed to meet him on Black Friday of 2019. I prayed again to God and asked if I should go. Silence. I decided to go by myself this time, no trailer, no family or friend, just me.

When I arrived the car looked good, see the photos below. The clear coat had begun to oxidize and peel but the body was straight with not dents, there had been one repair because two panels had much better paint though they were repaired very professionally. I opened the hood, that was when I saw the problem.

The seller told me that another buyer was coming later in the day to buy the car for parts. I kept that in mind, I could see why the car had not sold and it might be sold for parts.

If you look at the photos below you will see that a rat had been living under the hood. There were rat droppings where the battery had been, long since removed when it went dead. There were also electrical wires and sensor wires that the rate had chewed through. It was a dirty, smelly mess. That scared me, I had never repaired wires that had been chewed through. this also meant the car had not run or moved in almost ten years!

Summer of 2014, we replaced the throw bearing in the gearbox. We put the car up on jacks, disconnected the drive shaft and all the lines connected to the gearbox, disconnected the gearbox from the engine, and removed it! We discovered that the flex disk that connects the drive shaft to the gearbox was worn and cracked. It was replaced as well. We also need to replace the rear main seal on the engine, but since the leak is minor we will just live with it and check the oil level regularly. We also have a slight leak where the fuel pump attaches to the engine block which will be easy to repair. Lastly there is a small crack in the exhaust manifold that we will live with for a bit since removing it to repair it may cause irreparable damage on a part that is difficult to find. The work on the gearbox is done and it is all back together again! What a job. What would have cost as much as $2,000 to pay a shop to complete, cost us about $250 in parts! That is very rewarding. The car is also much smoother now and quieter. We have all missed driving the car since it was up on jacks in the garage for about three months, it is even more fun to drive now.

After many years of work this is what the car looks like. There is still more to do but that makes the journey all the more enjoyable. These photos were taken in the spring of 2014.

As I looked through the rest of the car it was complete. Of course it was dirty and smelly, but it was all there. There was dirt caked on some parts since it sat on the drive way next to dirt and trees. Of course there were leaves in every outside gap and the dirt had turned to mud in the frequent rains of that fall. The drivers window was open about an inch though.

I decided I had better ask God again, I was not sure if this was good idea. So, I excused myself to go and get some lunch and go to the bathroom since it was almost 3pm and I had been there for more than an hour. Before I left I told the seller, "It would be a shame to sell the car for parts, if I buy it I want to put it back on the road." Then I left.

In a market parking lot nearby I parked and used their restroom. I came back and prayed, "God, what do I do?" His response was quick and surprising, "I love you, your dreams matter to me." What? I have always enjoyed restoring old cars, this would be the third car I had picked up that was not running and had to be brought home on a trailer. So, my dreams matter to God, what a humbling recognition. The maker of everything, including the oxygen I breath, tells me my dreams matter to him. Wow!

I returned and told the seller I would like to buy the car and offered $500. He told me the car was his fathers and that his father would let us have the car for $500 because we were going to put it back on the road. We signed papers, I gave him five crisp $100 bills and I left elated. I called my wife who told me that God has said "Yes" to her a while ago, she just wanted to make sure He was saying yes to me. My doubts came later.

On the drive home I wondered what I had done. I had very limited experience with electrical wiring, most of it ended in a small fire and melted wires. I realized if He said yes, I could trust that he knew.

Our wonderful neighbor with the large truck and our daughter came with me the next day to pick up the car. Interestingly enough, neither this car nor the other cars ran when we picked them up. The brakes worked on both of them thought. I the last two cases our daughter was there, and both times she was asked to steer the car as we pushed them up, onto the trailers. She was the one who remembered that.

The car took over an hour to load up since it did not run. The rain began just as we finished strapping it down. As we said goodbye to the seller we promised to come back when it was running. That is a promise we will keep when COVID is over.

Six weeks later after help from two friends who had much experience with wiring, the car was running again and passed smog on the first try, after all, it only had 50,000 miles on it when we go it.