Back in the saddle (or, at least, garage) again

Yesterday afternoon, I finally collected my 220S from sitting in front of this guy's shop. Finally!

It took two days to get him to collect up the few bits that were taken off the car. And even then, I had to ask about the carb rebuild kits that took him five weeks to acquire - he had to run back into his shop (which he had just locked up as I arrived) and hunt them down. Brilliant!

Amusingly, when I called AAA to arrange for a flatbed truck for the transport, I ended up speaking with the same woman I talked to two months ago when I had the Merc towed down to the shop to begin with. She remembered the whole situation, and didn't even have to be reminded about my need for a flatbed. 

Now, to begin in earnest.

Since getting a look at the underside of the car, and the horrid condition of the rubber/bushings on the rear end and the differential... I've decided that I'm not even going to try and get the car running yet. Considering my desire to fix this car up top-to-bottom, I'm just going to go right into disassembly.

One amusing bit - after hanging out with my neighbors (mentioned in earlier posts) looking at the car again, I went to my workstation and fired up eBay. We had been chatting about various parts and their availability, and I told them there was a fair bit of stuff available on the auction site.

I'm poking around the related offerings, and I found an auction for one of the wood dashboard pieces - the one that sits above the steering column, with the mount holes for various switches. In an earlier post, you'll find photos of the original piece from my Merc - and I believe I discussed a large horizontal crack, and my concern as to whether that was repairable.

And lo and behold, here is that same part on eBay - the high bid is all of $20 - and the auction ends in FOUR MINUTES.

I win the auction with a final bid of $20.50. *laugh*

This is wonderful, as the other wood dashboard pieces I've purchased from other sources, I paid far more for - $200 for the full-width top piece, $75 for the pair of end pieces. So this was a steal!