From owner-fsj-digest-at-digest.net Sun Oct 9 23:22:00 2011 From: fsj-digest To: fsj-digest-at-digest.net Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:22:00 +0000 Subject: fsj-digest V1 #3821 fsj-digest Monday, October 10 2011 Volume 01 : Number 3821 Forum for Discussion of Full Sized SJ Series Jeeps Brian Colucci Digest Coordinator Contents: fsj: project or panic? fsj: Re: [db] Just for John FSJ Digest Home Page: http://www.digest.net/jeeps/fsj/ Send submissions to fsj-digest-at-digest.net Send administrative requests to fsj-digest-request-at-digest.net To unsubscribe, include the word unsubscribe by itself in the body of the message, unless you are sending the request from a different address than the one that appears on the list. Include the word help in a message to fsj-digest-request to get a list of other majordomo commands. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 8 Oct 2011 23:08:53 -0700 (PDT) From: john Subject: fsj: project or panic? should this be a project or should I run in sheer panic? http://johnmeister.com/DieselBenz/CARS/99-ML320-bad-trans/ http://johnmeister.com/DieselBenz/CARS/99-ML320-bad-trans/ALL.html the guy selling it is flaky, major flaky... he's pretty much abandoned this thing at a dealership... they can't get a hold of him... he put the ad up on CL as a '91... supposedly that's what the rebuilt title says... he couldn't figure out how to send me a picture, was supposed to meet me at 11am today... I was there, he wasn't, just happened to have enough info to figure out which vehicle it was... he's asking $850, supposedly all it needs is a transmission... claims he covers the seats when travelling with his pit bull... oh yeah, a pit bull that doesn't bite or growl... but some how or another he blew the transmission chasing after the dog up in the mountains when it ran away. I'm going to have to assume that the engine and electricals will have issues... both mirrors are held on by tape of some kind... he calls this color "cream"... it's kind of an orange tan... wish it was gray, I might consider using the seats... after cleaning. I don't know, knowing that this thing has an EPA rating worse than a full size jeep, and that electrical issues are manifold... and that this thing doesn't even have a matching pair of tires... I'm thinking that this would be a good frankenstein project... thought about getting an ML270 drivetrain or cobbling an I-5 under the hood... but electronics could get bizarre... and expensive... If if just fix the transmission it'll cost about $2k for a used one... he claims $1600 complete at a shop somewhere... I've seen friends spend $2k on a rebuilt american trans and they brought the transmission to the shop out of the vehicle... but let's say I get the ml320 for $850 or less, drop $2k into a trans... I'll spend time and money cleaning and fixing stuff... will likely have $4k into it before I pull it out of the driveway... or, I could just part it out... or maybe swap in a complete drivetrain out of a jeep... like from my J10... but things just aren't adding up... others have looked and walked... the other option is to offer the guy about $500 and see if I can make it work... but even if it does work and well, I might see 18-19mpg on the road with it after a lot of work. typical ml320s of this vintage are selling for 3-6k around here... so, project or panic run? :) I started rattling off some ideas to my wife, did some quick math and looked at her and she just smiled... because even if I could pull off a miracle and put it back on the road it won't have full market value and I'll at best break even... thinking it's time to run, unless y'all see or know something I don't. :) john ----- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -o|||||o- fahrvergnugen y'all Snohomish, Washington - where Jeeps and VWs don't rust, they mold http://AMSOIL.com/redirect.cgi?zo=283461 http://JohnMeister.com HTTP://WAGONEERS.COM http://fotomeister.us - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Oct 2011 23:12:55 -0700 (PDT) From: john Subject: fsj: Re: [db] Just for John nice. but no sign of an a/c... not sure anyone could stuff an a/c unit in there... :) wonder what it'll go for. if it were closer to Seattle I might jump into the bidding... getting it out here would be expensive... could do a conversion on a wrangler for much less... I'm looking for a nice TJ with a 4cyl/automatic/hardtop and ac. then when my J10 is finished I'll look at doing an OM617 in it. Actually a 603 or 602 would be better, hydraulic lifters and a bit more power... thanx for thinking of me chuck! :) john ----- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -o|||||o- fahrvergnugen y'all Snohomish, Washington - where Jeeps and VWs don't rust, they mold http://AMSOIL.com/redirect.cgi?zo=283461 http://JohnMeister.com HTTP://WAGONEERS.COM http://fotomeister.us - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -o|||||o- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ vehicle city/hwy engine/trans/xfr - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1987 Mercedes 300D (124) 25/38 mpg 3.0L Turbo Diesel/AT 2002 VW Jetta GLS TDI 34/45 mpg 1.9L TDI/AT 1983 Jeep J10 long box (SJ) 11/15 mpg 5.9L AT/NP208 (best mpg 17.68) - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1983 Jeep J10 Stepside (SJ) (Superdawg)- under construction since 1999 getting '80 Scout SD33T Diesel, TF727/NP208 mpg: 20/24 expected - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -o|||||o- http://wagoneers.com/johns-vehicles.html - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of fsj-digest V1 #3821 **************************