Took the block to Reardon's Machine Shop in Lancaster. They've been there since 1938, and
they did the engine work for the local Mercedes dealer back when this engine was new.
The guy recognized it right away, and he had a bunch of good news.
First, he said that these engines are extremely tough. They just don't break, and it's even rare for them
to break in a freezing situation.
Second, he said if it was going to crack, it would probably be the outside of the block, in a flat
section, that would crack, rather than the strength of a circular cylinder.
Third, he said that sleeving works, even for cylinders with pieces broken completely out.
Fourth, he looked at the pitting on the combustion surface of the block, at cylinder 2, and said that was
rust pitting. And the thin edge of deposit from the fire ring of the headgasket faded out in some
places. So he's guessing that the headgasket malfunctioned and let water into the cylinder. There's
a good chance that this was what caused the "engine didn't start" problem that left the bus sit for
all those years - enough water had leaked in between uses that the piston couldn't rise to the top of
the stroke.
So it seems like it's in good hands. He's going to put 85 PSI of air into the water jacket to check
for leaks, and if it's ok, he's going to run a hone through the cylinders and see where we are.
Cleaned large parts - front motor mount stand, block to bellhousing plate, bellhousing, transmission. I do
like seeing all that cast aluminum cleaned up. Cleaned & bagged some more small parts.
October 8
Block is ok. #2 has a sleeve in it already - whoever put it in didn't bore to a shoulder like Reardon's
does, but he thought it would be ok. He's going to clean the cylinders and do some very light decking -
can't take it down too far or the chain repeat won't yield the right relationship between the crank and
the cam. Took the pistons in for him to check.
October 15
Pulled the 4 studs from the exhaust manifold that hold the intake. I've been oiling and banging on the
heat riser shaft, but no budging yet. Also trying the same on the little pins on the manifold that
hold the heat riser spring. It'll be amazing if those little things come out & don't require drilling.
October 16
Picked up more small parts, brand new from the dealer. So far, if I can get a match on the MB Classic
website part lookup, they can get it.
Studying the carb - a 34PICB. There's a lot of slop in the throttle shaft, and the little arm at the bottom
has its hole greatly enlarged with a piece of wire holding the linkage on.
October 22
Took the beatiful afternoon off from work & went to the junkyard near my house. There is a '67 190. I
pulled out the starter (which we need), the generator (which the previous owner said was bad), the
generator bracket (ours was beat up & poorly repaired), the generator adjusting rod (ours's block
had been trashed by an SAE bolt), the carb (ours has worn throttle shaft), and the head, complete
with all studs, unbroken, the hcain tensioner, and thermostat housing. The 190 is said to have a
different, lower-compression head, although by eye it looks identical. But this one has a clean shiny
cam which actually rotates, and hopefully its profile will be the same. And maybe some other parts
will come in handy. Also brought back all the head bolts & the carb studs which I broke one of.
Everything came apart beautifully. Nothing stubborn, nothing broken.
Cleaned up the new carb & thermostat housing, and the old valve cover gasket. Probably not usable, as
it has some flaws on the bottom.
October 29
Took the M121 microfiche of 1992 to the library, printed out every page. Took them to OfficeMax for
an inexpensive binding. Hopefully this will give me current engine part #s I can use at the MB dealer,