Man, if you didn't have bad luck, you'd have no luck at all! I don't know if I would've persevered like you did, but good on ya!

Sadly, I no longer have my Monty, sold it a couple of weeks ago to someone who's definitely going to give her a good home (he's restored Landcruisers in the past). But now I have a 1986 Mercedes 420 SEL to tinker with. Found this beauty on eBay, 100K miles, one non-smoking owner, $2400, solid 9 out of 10. Changed the air filter, plugs, and wires last weekend. Getting the rear brake pads, rotors, and fuel filter done tomorrow, new AmFm iPod head unit this week, and probably newer 15" MBZ alloys with new tires next week. I'm sure I'll be missing that Monty the first nor'easter we have, or snow fall, or other bad weather.

Hopefully, the worst is behind you...knock on wood...!