balthazar

The judges are going to give it to you, ROg, as you got the concept quite right... tho this is the car pic I saw that sparked the question :

I was just out on 422 last week. Lots of vintage iron sitting out that way. No coffee here either- never been a fan, so that alone wouldn't get me over there from this side of the Delaware, either.

Once commonplace, a great many cars had rear license plates that could be swung downward, as the fuel filler pipe was concealed behind them. When you finished refueling & let the plate go, it returned to it's flush-mounted position, obviously so it could be read when the car was in motion. But there was a GM car that the rear plate would (by design) swing downward while the car was in motion. What, when & why did this occur?

Quite true- mercedes has an abysmal private ownership rate in Germany. This is where mercedees falls short and what they need to repair.

I disagree with the ideal that 'it MUST be the BESTEST EVR!!!' This is stated over & over with each new upcoming generation, and all it does it set the stage for "See, it didn't make it, again". It's a lot of self-fufilling nonsense. Too many of the criteria for buying Car A over Car B is subjective; ergonomics, seat comfort/support, etc etc. In the same vein, performance stats, while certainly influential, are intangible to the buyer, IE: these cars are not raced heads-up. Chasing the hardcore fan boys is futile in any arena, those are a strict minority demographic anyway. No; be competitive with vehicle dynamics & amenities, stylistically modern (and unique if you can also) & quality-driven... the buyers will follow. The CTS has already proven that.

I restored a Clemson reel mower a bunch of years ago. They're tricky to properly sharpen, but the give the best cut when they are.

^ It's butyl rubber based, not asphalt (unless they have that line too). I've also read numerous comments from those who've used 'Peel-n-Seal' asphalt-based product that it doesn't smell. Still, I would avoid putting it on the roof or doors in case excess heat made it move. I did pick some of that up but haven't installed it. This would be totally simple if money were no object.

^ That may very well be. Question I have is; is there a competitor that delivers -say- 75% of the performance for less money? Maybe I should do the firewall/floor/ rear bulkhead with D-M and the doors/roof with something else. Problem remains- the B-59 is still so freaking huge. Aforementioned floor area is over 55 sq ft.

I've read numerous car forums on the subject, but there's ALWAYS differing opinions. I double-checked, and I can get 100 sq ft of FatMat on eBay for $150, which is a hell of a lot better than 450. I still haven't found a apples-apples comparison of the two, tho. I'll check the LHF thread, DF.

^ 10:1 its a mower.

Was talking to my buddy, for some reason he has a new Jetta. He's also into stereo competition. So today he says he wants to tear out the entire interior and Dyna-Mat the pass compartment & trunk. He found Dyna-Mat on eBay for $150 for 36 sq ft., says he'll need a bit over 1 'kit'. As I would like to do the interior of the B-59 also, we discuss splitting a kit. I dont want/need to do my trunk, and I really have no 'pillar area' to cover, plus the roof is rather small (shorter than it is wide), but I wonder exactly how much area the B-59 has inside. While I'm obviously aware my car is somewhat wider than a Jetta, perhaps without the trunk I might be closer than I think. I go home & measure & calculate. Adding a bit of overage to be safe: 94 frickin' sq ft. Not looking to shell out $500 for this, so it's back to researching alternatives. FatMat is a competitor, & it's cheaper, but not radically so. Lizardskin, I'm not yet convinced of the results. Anyone here use any sound deadener products?

Generally, I dislike O-61s. Front ends are meh & I dislike skeg fins (on the '61-62 Caddys, too). But this IS a 2-dr hardtop, the colors are right (tri-tone interior), and it's in EXC shape. Cheers.

Agree with bobo; it's my recollection & observation that the pillars / window frames were unique on the FBs. The SDVs had parallel frames- the FBs had a narrowing taper- it's not just the vinyl roof at work here. This was a styling cue carried over from the previous gen FBs.

I have not heard about NEL, but Paul's has gotten enough good word-of-mouth via numerous forums, that I believe it's one of the top chrome shops in the country. NaziJersey has just about outlawed chrome operations in the state. I painted the entire chassis of the B-59 with POR-15. Make sure the metal has some decent texture; it doesn't like really smooth surfaces. If it is, rough it up with a grinder. Also be wary of leaving any seams from different painting sessions. In other words, try and paint the entire area in 1 session. I like the stuff, but if I were to do it again, I would strongly consider Rustoleum (brush). I've used much more of that, outside in the elements, and it's still really tough. POR-15 goes on like any brush paint.

The weather here has been fantastic, I've been working outside my shop; raking, getting rid of junk, scrapping metals, trimming trees, etc, generally making it more pleasant to be in/around. Also straightened up & did some purging in the 'workbench isle' in the shop & ran the shop vac thru there for the first time in a bunch of years. I am 80% done outside, then it's full-bore inside, with a prime directive of purging what I don't need/want. I think letting things go in there put a subconscious damper on me wanting to work in there on the B-59. The clutter.... • • • I did just put new tires on the Silverado, was nice to use the 'free money' via my GM card toward them; $500 off! Next, it's due for it's trans service, which is on the short list.

They were mediocre and outside what the luxury market was demanding THEN, which is why Cadillac dominated mercedes THEN (this is the period you claimed BMW & MB were 'world class' & 'leaders'). There are numerous reasons why mercedees is outselling Cadillac now, tho frankly shooting for segment saturation should never be the goal, IMO (and I include Cadillac's record-setting volume in the late '70s here).

Well of course it's going to be the same relative size- it's already the same size as the 5-series it's supposed to be positioning against. No one expects the next one to gain 10". Whew.

The mainstream mercedes cars in the '60s were just as horrible as BMWs. There was little discernible differences in interiors between the volume product & VWs of the period. On top of that, when you're pushing a 110 HP 4-cyl with crank windows ('72 220), you NEED to pull out the stops with an overpriced sedan at the top to try and bolster the sales of the pedestrian stripper boxes you depend on to keep the factories cranking. In mercedees' case, it seems to have worked. I know this first hand; my '59 Buick used to bunk with a '68 mercedes and I sat in it a few times. The 10-yr older Buick was more luxurious, better attention to detail, more plush, and at least had the potential for more equipment (mine was mid-line with only a few options). Mercedes spent a LOT of time & money studying American players who were 'taking holding back their sales', the result over time being that they added more & more equipment, features & amenities they never offered before. Mercedes was FAR from the luxury 'world standard' in the 1960s. And here I thought we were making progress that the 1980s was too recent...

^ dark, cheap, penalty boxes.

Nonesense, smk already testified they were "world class luxury cars". lol

'78 IIRC...

^ GM less expensive models, perhaps, but not an expensive luxury car. The BMW interior is akin to a VW Rabbit of the day interior. This isn't the be all, end all of interiors, but it was a LOT better equipped & luxurious than the claimed 'world class' BMW shown above. Cadillac circa 1980:

Impossible; it's FWD generica !! Nice color, nice turbine blade wheels, and this one has the muted 'crystallized' tails with the LEDs beneath, right? Classy; you don't see the discount, off-shelf strip of LEDs most of the others think look fantastic (Caddy too, since). Those tails were totally distinctive, I was disappointed they didn't continue/spread with Cadillac.

SO many today ~ '37 Ford coupe, black, driveway, not running circa '48 Plymouth coupe, driveway, runner '48 Nash coupe, black '53 Buick coupe, black w/ red scallops, parked pair of '53-55 Ford F-100s, under carport, stuff piled on '58 Edsel, under low sort of tractor shed, sitting for years 1st gen Corvair flattop sedan, junkyard '63 Olds 88 coupe, junkyard '69 deVille convert, project car there were a bunch of others.... I frickin' love rural PA...

Well, obviously the truth lies somewhere between tight interiors, (some) larger cops, and a vest/ belt/ gun/holster/ laptop/ equipment..... but yea; let's just call them all 'fat'.