After countless months of "too busy to work on it" and a few weeks of "we've just moved and I need something reliable," we've finally got the Mercedes back.
So the short story here is that I rebuilt the carbs but didn't catch the big vaccuum leaks that both had between the carb bodies and the cover plates. I had noticed that they were a little uneven when I first removed the gaskets but figured they'd go back together without any problems—it turns out that the new gaskets didn't do nearly as good of a job sealing the units, and so they leaked. It was difficult (nearly impossible) for me to diagnose these, since the stacks were leak-free and the carbs themselves were still dumping fuel, so I had the car towed to the local old-Benz shop (called, ahem, Benz Friendz) and had them pull it apart.
They also found out that the head has a torched exhaust valve. This really isn't too bad, as I figured I'd have to pull the head eventually to fix the shot valve stems.
But nevertheless, we've got the car back now and it's been a riot to drive. The only thing I'd like to fix Right This Moment is the damned glue that the used car dealer used to attach the temporary tags to the window. I'm planning on picking up some glue/sap/tar remover next time I'm at the parts store, but does anyone have any tricks for getting this kind of glue off?
Update: I've added a photo! Woo!
"goof off" source it at home depot.
Oh yeah, good call. I used that stuff about ten years ago to clean up after replacing the rear window seal on my mom's Explorer. I had totally forgotten that it existed.
Man, that Explorer was pretty damned cool, though.
I had a similar issue with a stupid sticker on my mom's scooter. It turns out that there were a couple of good things.
1) WD-40 loosens the goo
2) A female fingernail (with female still attached)
#2 was the secret in the long run.
BTW Thanks Dan you rock
1) Awesome. I've got that, and I'll try it before picking up the Goof Off.
2) Yeah, I think I've got one of those, too. I think right now it's covered in a band-aid and some nail polish.
BTW, no probalo.
Just buy a razor scraper. You can pick one up at WalMart for a dollar.
Yeah, I've done this sort of thing with a straight-edged razor before, but it usually ends up being a giant mess and the glue residue never really comes off.
It turns out that WD-40 and fingernails didn't do the trick, but Goof-Off and a straight razor did.