APRIL 14TH EVENT CANCELLED

Cancelling the get together for April 14th - we're this late into the year and we're getting a forecast of snow! Go figure.

I'll update again with a new event date.

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Mercedes Enthusiast Group Meet Up - Sunday April 14th

Here's the facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/278928956335201/

It's that time of year again, CME meet ups - April 14th. Bring whatever you want! A grill will be on site for you to use and like last time, I'll have pizza's coming around noon. All I ask is that you respect the property, no burnouts. Do rev, blow up your engine, etc doesn't matter... just don't do a burnout. This is a rain or shine event, it's only water!

Don't be bashful - most of my cars barely have paint on them!

On some GPS the location shows up as a lake - we're directly across from Fisher Rd, it's hard to miss. 1 block west of the Volo Auto Museum on Rt. 120.

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Testament to unparalleled reliability and formidable stupidity

Most people would think of Moab, Utah as an offroader paradise, and they'd be right. Those same people would also consider taking a vehicle that was properly capable of offroading to Moab, and they'd be right again. This is where my sense of adventure comes into play (read: stupidity) and where my little donkey of a W123 wagon somehow manages to do mostly everything I ask of it. While 0-60 times under 6 seconds and properly working cruise control are still out of the question, this little gutless wonder managed to impress in every other aspect.


My initial plan with this car was to just restore it and get it out of my life, but the "get it out of my life" portion of that seems to have taken a back seat. I've been putting this car together in stages, slowly putting the best of what I can find on it before I'm ready to tear it apart and get it painted/fix some of the body rust problems it has.

This is what it looks like for the beginning of the journey. While I didn't have time to get my lift springs installed in the front, it does have the largest spring pads available installed. The rear has lift springs and functioning SLS - definitely taller all around than a standard wagon.

First leg was to meet the group at a start point and make the non-stop drive from there. Here's a friends lifted, all-terrain tired, skid plated TDI VW - I don't know what model, they all look the same to me.

We'll skip the boring drive and head into the good stuff - trail pics.

  

Me and the donkey

 Some of the views from the trail were just insane. 

It's a good thing I had a skid plate on the car - it was getting utilized to the fullest. Once I get the car back in the air, I want to see where the car was bottoming out and repair those areas. I'd like to make sure the fuel and brake lines running from the rear are better protected as well.

Funny thing, a day after the trail driving was done I had to get a bulb for a blinker for the donkey. The SECOND I opened the door to O'Reillys the counterman "IT MADE IT OUT?!" 

Yup.

Apparently some of the adventure trail riders and Jeep guys made their way through there and were talking about an old Mercedes wagon doing the trails.

With all the trail driving, hiking in Arches, and expensive dinners sorted in Moab the gang's weekend haul was just about over with. I split off from the group and headed south to pick up a bar stool from a friend in Vegas and attempt Rt. 66 all the way back home.

Reality is, I gave up on Rt. 66 - was not what I was expecting it to be. All the typical Rt. 66 flair you see on TV and in movies was just replaced with I40 and depressing little towns with no sights. At some point in New Mexico I decided to shoot straight north to drive the million dollar highway and make my way back home through Montrose and the Monarch pass. I'm glad I did, because the views changed dramatically.

Coming around a corner and..

This road was amazing - not sure what it was, but if I ever drive it again I'll make sure to mark it. I need rip through it in a Porsche.

I did stop along some of the hiking trails to stretch my legs a bit - there were some short 2 mile hikes for Indian ruins.

I see why anybody would have chosen this spot.

I noticed my fuel gauge running down rapidly while on a random desert road - I pulled over and the engine was covered in fuel. One of the injector return lines completely disappeared! Nowhere in the engine bay - the fuel did a pretty good job of cleaning some old oil leaks though. I carry misc. parts with me all the time, I cut a new section of return line, took a picture of the car's current condition, and finished the 60 mile run out of the desert. 

Once I got out of the desert, I was on million dollar highway roads through the mountains. At this point, I thought I was in the alps. Turbo glowing red from the climbs and me nearly crashing at every turn from the sights.

This is the blue mesa reservoir - I was here late summer a few years ago and it's gorgeous. The change in scenery from ice and snow is remarkable

and the regular Monarch pass "stupid car that shouldn't be here" customary picture. I love driving through this pass on my way home, it's like a final hoorah for a trip. The car earned it's stripes, yet again.

The entire trip covered just under 4000 miles in 8 days - between the mountain climbing, Moab trail driving, 90+mph highway drives, etc the car only had 2 things go wrong. A turn signal bulb went bad and an injector return line failed - for a car that's nearly 40 years old, I'll take it.

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