Phil “The Mercedes” Mangan

Buy a Mercedes-Benz from Studebaker? Yes you can. 



My mentor and best friend Phil Mangan was there at the start of that partnership. He was working for Handler Motors that was a Studebaker dealership in Des Moines, Iowa at the time. He told me that story many times.

When I moved the shop a few years ago I found his certificates that he had earned from Mercedes-Benz dated from 11/58 to 10/76. It was shortly after the last testing, working for the dealership who took over selling Mercedes-Benz, Dave Osterm Imports, that the union crew went out on strike. The strike was short lived as people crossed the line and broke the union in the shop. All of these striking workers joined up and started an independent shop that was also short lived. All
of these guys went on to open their own shops with Phil partnering up with Bob Altamari to open A&M Imports. This is when I would meet Phil and my life, as they say, was changed forever.

 

Of all of his awards from Mercedes-Benz his "Meister Mechaniker Award" that he received on 3/23/64 was his most prized. It's unknown to me just how many ever received this rare status but I'm sure there were very few. Along with the award came a cap proclaiming his status that he wore on special occasions. I always told him that when he passed on I would like to have that cap. After years of working side by side with Phil (15 years by this time) I got the surprise of a life time. It was during Christmas one year that I opened my small present from him to find my own Meister Mechaniker cap with the very same patch. It seems he had a couple extra patches that I never knew about. His statement to me at the time was "I think you've earned this now." Needless to say I was blown over and even though I don't wear caps I do wear this one when I go for independent Mercedes-Benz training. Of course everyone wants to know how I got such an award and I proudly tell them of my friend Phil “The Mercedes” Mangan and how the award came about.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos but I didn't want to take them off the wall here in the shop and remove them from the frames just to get the shots. When I was getting the awards framed I was trying to figure just where I was going to put them. After some thinking it hit me, I would hang them in the shop area where Phil belongs. So he may be gone now but he still is in the shop with me looking over me making sure I do it right. And every now and than I look up at him and ask “Phil I could use some help here.”

fasthair

PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! and yes I know I've been gone awhile... more on that some other time

Good Bye Ol’ Friend

In the past couple of weeks I’ve watched as two of my customers with high miles and years of service work leave the shop for the last time. While one of them really kind of leaves a hole in my heart it was time and I actually made the call on both of them.

I’m going to start with the one that I am probably most proud of, Mrs. Clay’s 1984 300SD Turbo Diesel. I’m not really sure when I started to work on her car but I know I have been working on it for over twenty years. Phil and I opened PT Service in February of 1987 and it wasn’t too much longer after that this very nice (dare I say old?) lady showed up wanting to get some work done to her car.

Over the years Mrs. Clay became one of my most loyal and valued customers. There were times when she would winch at the cost of a repair but always fixed the car because she knew it was worth the investment from a reliability point of view. She loved this car, it was one of the last things her late husband bought her before he passed away. The one owner 300SD had around 75,000 miles at the time they bought it and over the years she drove this car everywhere and I mean everywhere. Mrs. Clay was never one to fly somewhere when she could drive. There was a time when she had so many speeding tickets she had to take driving school to keep her drivers license.

I really never knew when she would call or where she was at when she did call. As she often does sometimes she just shows up to either ask me questions or to show me something she deemed important. On two of those occasions she stopped by just to show me the odometer on the 300SD. The first land mark mileage she stopped in front of my shop with exactly 400,000 miles showing on the odometer. Again some years later she stopped in to show me 500,000 miles proudly displayed on the odometer.

 

 

But likHowever like all cars they really don’t last forever in these parts of the country. Our winters and all the salt they use on the roads slowly eats away at the metal. Even though Mrs. Clay had fixed all of the rust as it popped up and even fixed it from running over Bambi, twice, other things are not as easily fixed. This was the occasion the day she showed and as soon as I seen the car I knew things were bad.

This day was already a bad day for me. First thing that morning a gentleman walked in to my shop “pissed because my car don’t run” as he put it to me. You see I had just spend the last three months putting the motor in his car back together after some other “shop” had “fixed” it. This car had 200,000 miles when it drove in that day wanting me to check the cam timing on it because he didn’t think it ran like it should after this other placed worked on it. I’m not going to go into that long story now but let’s just say I spend sixty five hundred dollars on this car and had it in prefect shape for him and the drive back home to his place in Washington state. When he walked into my shop and said those words my first thought was now what the hell is wrong with this thing. I was never so glad to see a pair of tail lights in my life as I was when this 400E left. It wasn’t until he reached into his pocket and pulled out the packet of photos of the car that my heart really sunk. Yes he walked away from this mess of twisted metal.

Now I have Mrs. Clay in the drive and I knew before I even looked in the left front wheel well I knew what I was going to find. The rust had chewed away at the front suspension and broke front anti-roll bar. While that may not have been that big of a deal on other cars this was a major deal on this Mercedes. Without going into major how-to’s and why-for’s I’ll just say this part helps locate the front wheel and is a major job to replace. Now completely deflated at the end of a pretty crummy day I had to stop and take stock in what was going to happen. I got Mrs. Clay into a rental for the weekend so I could stop and think about what the next step was. But I knew in my heart that the 704,000 mile 300SD wasn’t going to get repaired this time. I was broken hearted, Mrs. Clay was broken hearted, but I knew it was time. Time to find her a much newer car for which she could start her high mile adventures again. It took some time but I did find her a very nice one owner 2001 E320 (gas this time) in Los Angeles, California. When the seller asked me about getting it shipped back for her I told him there is no way she would even think of not driving this car back. So a few days later after, as she put it, “a very nice train ride” to the west coast she pulled up to the shop to show me her new car.

While we were both sad that the ol’ 300SD was no longer on the road she was delighted with her new car. While I had lost the shop high miler to rust it’s heart will still live on. You see Mrs. Clay sold the 300SD to a nice older gentleman form Sioux Fall South Dakota. He builds custom hot rods for a living and has a 1949 Ford pickup that he is going to put the motor and drive train in. How cool is that? A Mercedes five cylinder turbo diesel in a old Ford pickup.

This is the last time I will see this great ol’ car in this form. It has taught many, many thing over the years. In a small way I will miss seeing it as it rattles up to the door and looking at the odometer to see how many more miles it has rolled up. But a small part of me finds comfort in knowing that it’s heart is still going to be giving life to something else even older. Maybe on of these days I’ll hear the familiar rattle that only a Mercedes OM617 five cylinder turbo diesel has and look up and see this noise coming from a 1949 Ford pickup. One can hope and dream can he?

fasthair

 

 

Bridges of Madison County

This last weekend was the Madison County Covered Bridge Festival in Winterset, Iowa. Yes it is the same place the movie Bridges of Madison County with Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood was filmed. The "Duke" John Wayne was also born in this little town. It's your basic small town USA gathering with the locals hocking their wears of hand made quilts and rugs to pottery and art work plus of course a parade and food.

While all of that might be of interst for many, it isn't really anything I find myself getting all gaga about. I go their to ride some of the better roads we have around it, namely the Cumming's highway. Yes it is a real town here spelled just that way. The little town of about 250 people have had some fun with their little slogan "I Y Cumming Iowa"

But back to the reason I went to this little town, the car show. The weather was perfect so the turn out of cars was big. While there were many types and styles the old cars and Mopars are what get my attention.

fasthair

Quick One

Not a lot has been going on in my world. Went to Chicago a couple of weeks ago for some updated training on Mercedes. I go to this class every year and enjoy it very much. The instructor is just a guru and he always makes learning so easy. Then several suppliers show up to hock their wares and spend money on us for a change instead of the other way around. It's great because it only cost me class, gas and hotel for the weekend. I've long since learned it is pointless to fight with these guys over who's buying drinks and dinner. There egos are much bigger then mine so I just sit back and reap the rewards :-)

Quick funny story. While having drinks across the street at the Golden Pheasant, which will surprise you if you didn't know better. In the front is more or less a biker bar but the back room fine dining at it's best. All homemade very good food. Bone in Prime Rib, Oysters Rockefeller and everything in between. Anyway I put my coat over a chair and this guy Dave yells "Hey Team Slut!" He seen my patch and the points cover on my bike that says Team Slut and knew whos bike it was. After stating he has never seen a chain like the one I use on my bike, I Told him that is what happens once you've had one stolen.

So we're laughing and having a good time talking about bikes and such. When I ask Dave what he rides he tells me a 93 FXSTC. Funny cause that is what I had before some low life piece of sh*t stole it. But I regress. He asked me about my tank size and how far I could go on a tank. Told him 5 gallons and Whiskey will go around 170/180 on a tank. Then he tells me he can only go about 130 before he needs gas. I knew that wasn't right and asked are you filling both tanks? Dave says his left gas cap isn't a cap but just a dummy cap. Stock tanks I ask? Yep he responds. Tell him he has 5.2 gallon tanks but he insist it only holds 2.5 something. We go outside I grunt and groan but I get his left gas cap off and the look on his face was that of amazement. He had own the bike for 3 years and never knew that cap came off. Needless to say he bought me a couple of Shastas'. Then he and his buddy Dennis took me around and showed me some of the sites and we had a blast.

Dang, I guess this one wasn't a "Quick One" after all. I guess I'm not as bored as I thought I was!

fasthair

I'm Just Sick

Seems the saga of this little 400E just will not end. But after last night the little devil will be causing no one any more trouble.

The owner of the car lives in Washington state. He flew in last week and spent a week here with family and to drive it around making sure it was ok before heading home in it. He walks in to the shop this morning stating "I'm pissed my car doesn't run." Needless to say my heart sank and all I could think of what the hell is wrong now. Then he reaches in his pocket and pulls out a packet of photos. Only 120 or so miles in to his trip home and... well I think the photo says it all. The good news is the car did its job and the gentleman is walking today with just a sore body and a headache.

He was slowing for another accident on I80 near Omaha doing about 35MPH and watching the road, when this semi wasn't paying attention. The truck hit the little 400E at 60+ tossing it another 200 feet down the road. There was already State Troopers waving flashlights and the lights on the cars going. How this trucker didn't see the mess is beyond me.

I feel real bad for this guy but like I said at least he was not hurt and the car can be replaced. I put a lot of work in to this car and had a lot of pride in it after how screwed up it was when it showed up. The owner did tell me that the car drove better then it has in years and was happy he spent the money on it. I was really looking forward to seeing this little car go another 200,000 miles.

fasthair

It's Out of Here

I was beginning to wonder if that 400E would ever leave. But at long last this past Friday it drove out of here and I was never so happy to see a pair of tail lights in my life. Happen to run into the customer on Saturday out driving around in it and he is thrilled to have it back and running like it should. He has been without it for nine months (not my fault the other shop had it for over 6 months) so needless to everyone is happy.

In other news, ok there is none really. My brother's birthday day was yesterday (April 28) so Happy Birthday Noel. Sorry you were at work when I called but I hope you got my message and know I was thinking of you. My big day comes next week, May 6. The weather is trying to really try to be spring so with any luck it won't be raining and I can ride to go out for dinner. With any luck I will round up a date with this really nice lady I've met and all will be right with the world. If not, well it will still be ok and I'll be happy to have just made it another year getting to spend it with my family and friends. It would be nice to go the NHRA race in St. Louis this weekend but it's not in the cards. I'll just have to wait until Chi-Town I guess.

fasthair

Getting Closer

Well this pain in the ass car is almost done. It seems that it doesn't want to leave but it doesn't understand I am sick of looking at it and I want it gone.

After the happy dance of it starting late last week it started to show some of it's other problems. The worst being the electronic throttle control. Of course the problem is part design flaw and part having been torn all apart. The bad design part is the wiring used in this device was mandated by the European Nation to be easily recyclable. Only problem is it did just that and started to recycle itself under the hood as the car aged. Once this happens and the harness gets moved like it did while I had the engine out and all apart,the insulation falls off shorting the harness out ending the life of the almost dead part. It's a cause and affect kind of thing. So what's another grand after spending over 5K now? Ugh.

Other news. It looks like ol' man winter has finally decided it is time to get out of Dodge. It seems official now... spring is here! Nice day here and I need to go for a ride just to clear my head and enjoy the sound and feel of my bike. At this point I don't even care where just as long as it is no where close to here. After having a little bomb shell dropped on me this morning I think it is just the ticket I need.

I'll try to blog a little more often, not that my life is all that exciting or I think anyone really cares.

fasthair

Past Due

First thing I guess is my employee Pete has moved on. He found a new job that can provide him with the things I couldn't. While I'm sad at loosing him I can do nothing but support him with his choice. We've had a lot of good times working together and I would like to think I taught him a few things just like he did me. I must say I am going to miss working with him. Best of luck my friend!

I've also been struggling with a repair on this one motor. This has been a pain since it rolled in the door. I'm fixing this car after another shop (for lack of a better term) just did a hack job on it in every sense of the word. Every time I turned around there was something else they had screwed up on this engine. I've drilled out 7 cross threaded broken bolts. Broken bolts are bad enough but when they are cross threaded too it is a major pain in the ass. That is just the start of what they wrecked. Harmonic balancer hammered on 45 degrees off smashing the woodruff key, broken head gaskets, missing/loose bolts and oil leaks from every possible spot that it can leak. After removing the engine and taking it down to the short block to fix all of these problems I can see the end in sight. The engine is back in and 90 percent bolted up. All I am waiting for now is a special tool so I can time the camshafts. The bad part about that is the tool has to come from Germany. It's been a week now and the tool still isn't here. It will be a very happy day when this thing is done and out the door.

I did get the Harley out last week and have been riding almost everyday since. Oh that feels so good! Now if it would just warm up in the mornings so I don't freeze on the way to work I would be as happy as can be. I have got to figure out why when riding in a heavy rain it drops a cylinder. I've tried every secondary ignition part there is on it with either the good parts I took off when I hopped up the engine or new. It will run fine in the shop with a garden hose soaking everything. But as soon as it either rains real hard or I power wash it it drops the cylinder and nothing will bring it back other then getting it dried out. The only thing I haven't tried is a new crank sensor. While I find it hard to believe that the crank sensor will drop just one cylinder I've not ruled it out. I've seen it on Mercedes before where the crank sensor gets wet and causes all kinds of weird running problems. To top it off the local HD dealer has them on stock and they don't stock anything. At about 60 or 70 bucks I guess it is worth a gamble.

fasthair

New Mercedes-Benz

Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon stopped by the shop Monday to show off their new car. This is their sixth Mercedes-Benz but their first brand new one. It is a 2008 E320CDI BlueTec diesel.

Since they brought it out I just had to drive it, of course Mrs. Sheldon insist I drive it. Who am I to say no? This engine is amazing. If the first thing that comes to mind if you think of diesel is tons of black smoke, a loud knocking engine and poor acceleration then you are in for a surprise.

The first thing you notice is nothing. No knocking noise, no black smoke and no sluggishness. The only way to tell the engine is running is to look at the instrument cluster to see the gauges are showing activity, it is that quite and smooth. Once put in drive it moves away from a stop like it was a gas engine. No turbo lag or laziness and in fact when the turbo does spool up it is so linear you never feel the "bang" of the turbo coming on. Simply just steps up and gets with the show. Having driven many late model gas Mercedes-Benz I think their claim of this engine being able to out run a gas motor of the same size to be true. I couldn't really romp on this car since it only had 350 miles and not even close to being broken. I kept the engine speed below 3000RPM but that was still plenty and zoomed the car to almost 80MPH before I got to the end of the on ramp and that was up hill! Mrs. Sheldon reports it does 100MPH with no effort. Impressive to say the least.

There was a time in my shop that almost every car I worked on was a diesel. During the mid 90s' that turned to mostly gas engines as Mercedes-Benz enter the horse power wars with BMW and other German car companies. While I don't really miss those old oil burners it will be nice to see if this engine puts Mercedes-Benz diesels back on the map. I think they have a hit on their hands. If the sales this dealership says they have are true with this diesel then I know they have a hit on their hands.

fasthair

Shop Logo

Got a bit of news today about the logo I had designed for my shop. It seems it has been picked and printed in The Big Book of Logos 5. This is the 3rd in the series (no I have no clue why #5 instead of 3) by David Carter all of which have been in the top 1% of all books in print America in recent years. Needless to say I'm a bit surprised to say the very least.

A friend of mine who owns the graphics art studio Sayles Graphic Design did the work. As you can see from his web site he has won many awards and is a much sought after speaking and instructor. So here is my shameless plug for John and his partner Sheree Clark. Needing some simple work or over the top designs the staff can do the job. Not to mention they are great people to work with!

After I received the draft of the four designs they did I posted them on the iATN forums for approval from my peers and asked which they liked. Some of the world best automotive technicians and owners are part of this group. It was split 50-50 over this design and another one of the four. The under 50 crowd liked this logo (me included) and the over 50 bunch liked the other logo. Just goes to show sometimes you just have to trust your gut.

fasthair