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More people help out.
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The "Bad
Luck" Award Winner .....
Jim Villers' "Vacation" at the Convention
Driving
a 190SL on an extended trip begins with the apprehension of whether it
will go the distance without difficulty and the planning for the
contingencies if it does not. Spare parts and tools are stuffed into the fender wells,
spare tire void and other crannies. The risks of being stranded are real but we have headed off on
long trips before with only minor difficulties and those just provide
the "war stories" that add to the reflected enjoyments of
these past excursions.
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Jim Villers begins to pull the head.
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With everything packed and expectations high, we headed off from Virginia
Beach for the 1400 mile run to the 190SL Convention in Minneapolis.
After two days of driving, we stopped Thursday afternoon in
Chicago to have dinner with club members Don Drabik and Brian Parker.
David Hay arrived late Thursday evening in his 190SL and David
and I headed on to Minneapolis Friday morning. About 250 miles out, my water temperature started to rise.
We stopped, added water and headed off. Next stop, more water and a cell phone call to Star Quality for a
head gasket with Saturday delivery to the hotel. We drove on, adding water about every 25 minutes until we finally
pulled into the hotel parking lot.
In consultation with an assemblage of 190SL experts, it was decided that
the head would have to come off (in the hotel parking lot). The head gasket
arrived about 8:00 AM Saturday, and with lots of
help and encouragement from John Jacobson, Tom Riegger and others, the
head was quickly removed. An inspection revealed corrosion in the aluminum head at the water passage
between the number 2 and 3 cylinders.
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John and Tom working on the head.
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Without a lot of repair options on Saturday, we epoxied the
corroded area, cleaned up the mating surfaces with utility blades and
sandpaper, and reinstalled the head. After a second torqueing on Sunday morning, we were off with
the other 190SL's for a driving tour of the city. After lunch with the group, we went off to tour the University of
Minnesota Arboretum outside of town. A wonderful arboretum, worth the entire trip!
Then the epoxy failed. We limped back to town, adding water every mile and
trailing a white cloud of water vapor. With the seriousness of the situation apparent, I began
visualizing a U-Haul drive home. Then I talked to John Jacobson. With
his encouragement, I decided to fix it again. Within an hour, He arrived with a car trailer and the sick 190SL
was carted off to his garage. We left the car at John's for the night and headed back to the hotel in one
of John's fine Mercedes automobiles. (There are advantages to the car
collecting hobby).
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John's Garage, a good workspace.
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Monday morning, I ordered another head gasket from Star Quality and arrived
back at John's house to again pull the head. It was off about 11:30 when John returned home for lunch.
He took the head with him back to work at 3M while another 190SL
guy named Louie stopped by with a NOS head gasket that he had had in his
garage for about 15 years (sometimes you are just lucky). John returned from work
about 5:00, with the head in hand. The 3M maintenance guys had heli-arc'ed the head, shaved off the
excess bead and had resurfaced it with fine sand paper on a flat
surface. The head was reinstalled and running that evening.
With John driving, the engine was put through its paces with
smiles all around. It had never run so good. Until ... a loud CLUNK .. followed by .. clack .. clack .. clack
.. and quiet.
On the side of the road with flash lights, we pulled the valve cover to
discover a broken cam shaft. This
occurred about a mile from John's house and we were able to push and
coast it back to the garage. The failure was caused by my not torqueing the cam chain sprocket bolt (that
will not happen again). We checked the engine by pressurizing each cylinder with compressed air and
determined that everything was in good condition. I just needed a new cam shaft.
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John tightens the fuel line.
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The phone in the hotel rang at 8:00AM Tuesday, John asked if I knew Sam
McCready? He runs Eurocars in Madison Wisconsin; he had a cam shaft.
With help from Sam and Northwest Airlines, I picked up the
replacement cam at the Minneapolis airport on Tuesday afternoon.
Back at John's, the cam was cleaned and installed by 7:30 that
evening. Another test drive and with everything looking good, we headed off to the hotel with John's
torque wrench in hand.
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Jim after replacing the cam shaft.
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The final torquing occurred at 4:30AM Wednesday morning and we headed for
home. We drove 13 hours on Wednesday and 14 hours Thursday; the car ran beautifully for the entire
trip. With two blown head gaskets and a broken cam shaft, it was great to be home.
Reflecting back on the trip, I used just about every tool in my bag, from
compression gage to timing light. The cell phone and Star Quality catalog were indispensable.
Most important was the support and enthusiasm from the many
"car guys" that provided the critical encouragement and
assistance. The fraternity of "car guys" is strong and there was an outpouring of
assistance from all.
While I pray that all who ventures out in old cars will do so without
difficulty; I hope that if failures occur, that they are near enough to Virginia Beach so that I
can begin to repay the debt I owe to the "car guy" fraternity
who so freely supported me.
Betty and I hope to see you all at next years 190SL Convention in Leadville
Colorado. We look forward to driving our car there with "war stories", tools, parts and
the readiness to help anyone in need.
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