Coolant on my driveway

I am amazed at how my car always starts. If you look at the dirty rusty engine covered in grease and oil you would think it had gone to the big wrecking yard in the sky years ago. But without fail it starts up every time. It can be sitting for months and it will start with little trouble.

The starting isn't the problem. It's what comes after it has been running for a couple minutes. Last year it was a ruptured power steering hose. This year it was a coolant leak and of course an overheating problem. Sometimes the car gods are kind. I tightened a few bolts on the water pump. Swapped out the old thermostat and everything is leak free and cool as can be.

The Tale...

This page will be the ongoing story of my Merc's rise to power and fall from grace. It will document my never ending struggle to keep this car on the road and out of my driveway.

Strangely my story doesn't start the usual way. I didn't have a father who was into cars. I didn't grow up idolizing Steve McQueen. In fact, at the time i knew nothing about cars. I didn't even have a Hot Wheels collection until my early thirties. All i had at the time was a love of taking the road less traveled and a cinematic vision of carving down mountain roads with the top down on my late 60's Triumph TR6. WTF? So how do you get from a 2 seat convertible British sports car to a heavy lumbering slow American made Detroit cruiser? Good question.

Well, after looking at over five TR6's i decided that the tubular frame rot that comes with those cars was going to be a pricey undertaking. Even as a novice car enthusiast with no mechanical knowledge i knew my money was better spent on a pint at the local pub.

So, What about the Merc? One morning on my way to work I spied an old heap of a car at a local train station in Mt. Airy outside of Philly. It was in rough shape. The train station had been converted into a bookstore and the shopkeep was interested in unloading the car for $800 bucks! Keep in mind that an average to poor TR6 sold for around $5000 at the time. I thought i had found the deal of the century.

It wasn't what i was looking for, in fact, it was the complete opposite. Looking back on it i'm not sure why i decided to buy it. I think it may have been the tail fins. Many a man has been blinded by a good set of fins. I guess i am no different. A handshake later and a signed check and the car was mine.

The first time i climbed into the musty old front seat i knew i made the right choice. The second i saw the big white sticker on the dash that said "Old Man Car" i had second thoughts. The shopkeeps daughter thought it would be funny to name the car for her father. "Old Man Car" was not what i pictured in my head.

Coolant on my driveway

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