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Garage => Test Drive => Topic started by: kenny on 19 June 2006, 02:34 PM

Title: noob checking in
Post by: kenny on 19 June 2006, 02:34 PM
Hi to all.
I am kenny.
I have a 1978 450 SEL 6.9
I live in the Houston, Texas area

Been reading the board for a long time and am impressed with how much knowledge there is here and how civil everybody is to each other.

My car had an overheating incident and I am presently having the car painted and the engine rebuilt.

Thanks to all who have helped in the past with their expertise.

Kenny
Title: Re: noob checking in
Post by: kenny on 19 June 2006, 08:21 PM
The car overheated a few years ago from a faulty (brand new!) thermostat. Fixed and had no problem of any kind for about 5 years.  6 months ago the car overheated on the week I had scheduled to put the car in for paint. The short version is that the block had a crack at the #7 piston and water entered the cylinder and scratched the piston skirt and the cylinder wall.  The block was welded and a suitable replacement piston located and the cylinder was re-sleeved and bored.
While my mechanic was at it, he rebuilt the heads and, since we had the block apart, he is doing the big end bearings and mains. The front and rear seals were shot so those are new and he showed me the difference between a new chain sprocket and mine (at an indicated 175K miles) so we're replacing those with the chain, guides and tensioner.
My mechanic is very slow and some of the parts were obtained from the old country, like the rope seal at the rear of the crank. Or I believe that is its name.  My mechanic speaks Spanish and there is something of a language barrier for us.  He is very meticulous, so I am happy he is taking his time to do it right.
He has re-painted the car in the original black.  The paint is beautiful and has been curing in his shop for 6 months. HA! HA!
I bought new rubber for the doors, windshield, trunk and rear window, but those aren't installed yet.  I go and visit the car about every two or three weeks or so.  It is #4291 and delivered here in Texas to a man who was an oil millionaire.  I bought it from the millionaire's pilot who bought 3 cars from this man's chauffeur: 2 560 SELs and my 6.9.
I have had the car ten years.  I am afraid the new paint is going to show up the interior and my checkbook will be off to the races again.
I bought an AMG spoiler off ebay about a month before you offered yours on this site.
I have Euro bumpers purchased and Euro style lights already on it.
I could have cheaped out and just had the block welded, but I am in this for the long haul and I guess it really is a good excuse to redo the whole engine.  Well it is to me.

I told my wife (still married!) that I would probably run synthetic oil in the car once the engine was rebuilt and she said she didn't understand what that meant. I told her that for one thing, synthetic was was 2 or 3 times as expensive as regular oil.  I gotta learn to keep my mouth shut.

I am glad to be here.
Title: Re: noob checking in
Post by: Mforcer on 20 June 2006, 04:13 AM
We're glad to have you here!  :)
Title: Re: noob checking in
Post by: oscar on 20 June 2006, 09:11 AM
Thanks Kenny, great read.  What a car.

Cracked Block? I thought that'd be the end of it.  Glad to see you've got someone with the know how and paitience to do things right.  You're going to "redo the whole engine".  Good for you.  It reminds of a thread recently about the cost of 116's or classic status or doing up old cars?!.  Anyway, somewhere I said that this kind of expenditure is a far better investment than spending the equivalent on a newer car.  Like you say, you're in it for the long haul and after 10 yrs you're ending up with a newish 6.9 that'll not need the money to this extent spent on it again.

BTW, what colour Black, ie, original code or some other.  Just curious.
Title: Re: noob checking in
Post by: kenny on 20 June 2006, 03:44 PM
It was a hairline crack, but enough to let water in.

I don't think it is the original 040 code because there's a clear coat over it.

My wife, bless her heart, has remarked more than once that for what I have in my 28 year old car, I could have had a brand new Mercedes.  And my answer is "yeah, but look at what I'd be driving then."

She may not understand it entirely, but she knows on some level that I'll never have enough money to afford a mistress.