Despite the fact that I've driven the Mercedes all over the place now, it hasn't really been completely drivable. The rear defroster doesn't really work, the shift from 2nd to 3rd concerns me, the throttle linkage sticks, and the car sputters off-idle. The last of these means I can't really drive it in traffic, because it's easy to stall, and it makes for slow getaways from stop lights.
This isn't really a problem—it just means I can't drive it every day.
But today, I pulled the air cleaner housing off to figure out why the throttle linkage has been so sticky. I figure even if I can't figure out the sputtering, I can nevertheless make the car easier to drive.
It turns out that the part that the front carburettor's accelerator pump linkage was jammed, causing the throttle linkage to bind. You can see the wear on the linkage circled in the picture above—the pump linkage on the rear carb wasn't jammed, which is why it doesn't show the wear.
I'm glad to report that unjamming the pump has unjammed the entire throttle linkage, but more importantly, it's completely transformed the nature of this car. Instead of being a pokey retiree hauler, it's now a damned spritely little cruiser. And getting the engine to actually move off idle has awakened the best of the performance curve.
I actually managed to burn out earlier. Holy shit.
Congratulations on getting the car running, you've been working on it for a long time, it's good to see it running.
Oh man, tell me about it. To be completely honest, most of the work that I've done has been in small spurts and I've probably done as much work on the interior as I've done on the fuel delivery system...which is proabably why, nearly a year after buying the car, it's now somewhat usable.
But hell, it runs.
Speaking of which, any recent progress on the plane?
Life goes slowly on the plane. I'm mostly at a point where I can make a decision. Either get into a serious amount of debt, or take a hiatus and save the cash for it. The second option sounds like the best to me. Plus I'll be starting my PHD soon so that will make everything work out.
i was reading about your carburetor experience and was wondering if you know where i could get a float for one of my carbs. They're the same as yours and i've tried glueing it together, melting it together with a soldering gun etc. Are yours Solex or Zenith? Any help would be greatly appreciated.thanx
Where are you starting the doctorate?
Technically I've already started. There are a couple of other logistics I have to work through, like getting accepted, getting the advanced study program from work, etc. :)
Where damn you, where?!!??
Robert-
Sorry for the slow response—it looks like your comment was automatically flagged as spam.
The carbs I've got are (as I remember) Zenith-Stromberg 36/40s. The floats on them are indeed plastic.
You may want to try the guys over at BuyMBParts.com. They don't list any carb floats, but they may be able to point you in the right direction.
Beyond that, I'd say to ask any local carb shops. In the pacific northwest we've got one or two that specialize in carb tuning and rebuilding, and I'm sure they'd be able to help you out.
Best of luck!
--Dan