Volume 45 - Vol 2 | April 2023

View Through The Star

by Gary Edwards, President

Why I like MBCA and why I like the Peachtree Section

Though a long-time car enthusiast, Mercedes are new to me. I didn’t buy my first Mercedes until 2005 and joined MCBA soon after. It seems pretty obvious to me that if you have a special car, you should join the car club for that marque. I have always had special cars and have always been a member of single-marque car clubs. MBCA is the only club, however, where I’ve gotten involved to the point of running events and serving in leadership positions. Why is that?

In some clubs, when you show up as a new member, you find yourself standing by yourself at events, feeling isolated. MBCA isn’t like that – what I see is that newcomers are welcomed and helped to feel comfortable with the group. I have found it to be friendly and welcoming and I don’t think I’m the only one. That’s influenced me to want to play more of a part in the organization. It is always easiest to talk to the folks you know and it takes extra effort to reach out to those you don’t know, but I see our people doing just that. It makes me feel good about the organization.

I think Peachtree is unique in that it’s maintained a welcoming attitude and a high standard of excellence for a long time. When you start up an organization and immediately put it on the right path, things go well, and the successors just need to make incremental improvements. We are 45 years old this year, and our founder, Jim Partain along with our other founding members who shaped our section, started us on the right track. According to former Peachtree President and long term member Roger McKissock, Jim had exactly that trait, of making new members “feel welcome as MBCA “family” members”. I think we continue that, and we also maintain a high standard, that of doing things well and excellence in events. Read More

by Jane Brown, MBCA Peachtree Member

The Peachtree Section of the MBCA began 45 years ago because of the energy and interest of Jim and Sarah Partain.

“I can’t begin to tell you how much fun we had in the first years of Peachtree Section,” Sarah said recently from her home in Blairsville, Georgia. “In the early 1970s, my husband loved to tinker with old, well-built Mercedes cars. People stopped him in parking lots and at shopping centers, and they talked about cars and kicked tires together.”

Eventually Jim and several other Mercedes owners decided they needed a local chapter of MBCA. “We had our first Peachtree Section organizational meeting in 1979,” Sarah said, “with 60-plus members to start with. Most of them owned older cars, as they knew if bad weather set in, the older cars would get them to work and back home again.”

Both Sarah and Jim took part in making Peachtree Section a reality. “At that time I was a legal secretary, and my boss did the paperwork for us to apply to MBCA,” Sarah said. “Jim knew all the Mercedes dealers and mechanics in the area, and he insisted that we include all of them in the club.” Among those is Sports and Imports, an auto body shop that was begun in 1981 by Peachtree Section member Gene Hamilton and is now owned by his daughter, Michelle Coombs. Gene Hamilton was Jim Partain’s brother-in-law. “I was just a little tyke,” Michelle said, “and I remember doing the fall rides with Peachtree Section and seeing Uncle Jim and Aunt Sarah.” Read More

Tensioner Replacement Tech Session - 4/19

Gary Edwards, Event Planner

Join us for a Tech Talk ZOOM video-teleconference on Wednesday, April 19th at 7:00 PM (EDT) when Peachtree President Gary Edwards will present “Mercedes Serpentine Belt Tensioner Replacement."

Gary will cover the replacement of the "version one with external damper" serpentine belt tensioner he recently did on his 1992 300CE-24. This tensioner, with a threaded adjusting rod and nut, is also used on the early W129 300SLs and is essentially the same as those used on the subsequent M104, the M103 and the early M119 engines.

PCA Autocross - 4/30

Gary Edwards, Event Planner

For those of us not going to the Spring Fling weekend event in Chattanooga, the first PCA autocross of the year is on April 30^th at the huge parking lot at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Great fun, a great way to become a better driver and to learn your car’s medium speed performance limits in a safe environment. 

Register now, don’t doddle; they tend to fill up quickly. The dates for the rest of the year: May 28, June 25, July 23, August 13, September 24, October 8 and November 5.  

These are well run, safe events that typically give you 10 runs – much better than most autocrosses, time to actually learn the course and experiment. You should plan to bring a helmet, though they do tend to have some loaner helmets available.

This is going to be a truly fun weekend with a variety of different activities for participants to choose from.

If you are planning on attending and haven’t yet reserved your rooms at the Marriott Courtyard please don’t delay. Our block of fifteen rooms guarantees a rate of $169.00, that rate is good until April 4^th. After that the rate goes up to $309.00 on Friday and $319.00 on Saturday. If we exceed our room guarantee before April 4^th the hotel will guarantee the negotiated rate of $169 until the 4^th. Reserve your room here: Book your group rate for Mercedes Benz Club of America-Peachtree Section

CLICK THE REGISTER BUTTON FOR ALL THE DETAILS AND THE WEEKEND ITINERARY OF FUN!

Mark Your Calendar

The Bruno Sacco Car Show will be here sooner than you think!

June 3rd 2023

Sam Kamber, Concours Chair

The largest collection of “Bruno Sacco” vehicles will be on display at Halcyon in Alpharetta GA on the 3^rd of June. In addition to the Live Show we are for the first time hosting a Virtual Car Show for those not displaying their cars at the Live Show at Halcyon in Alpharetta, GA.

This is a charity event with the recipient being Bert’s Big Adventure which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides a magical, all-expenses-paid, five-day journey to Walt Disney World^® for children with chronic and terminal illnesses and their families.   

We are anticipating a large field of entries so to avoid disappointment please register early, the fee is only $40 per vehicle, all proceeds will be donated to Bert’s Big Adventure. Mercedes-Benz Vehicles manufactured from 1976 through 2006 could be eligible. See list of Bruno Sacco car models and years below.  

Do you have one of these cars? All Bruno Sacco designed cars are welcome to participate. For those who cannot physically be at Halcyon on June 3^rd, please enter your car into the Virtual Car Show.   All entered car are eligible for People’s Choice selected prizes (Live and Virtual). Please enter your car! 

Serpentine Belt Tensioner Replacement

by Gary Edwards

I recently had to replace the serpentine belt tensioner on my 1992 300CE-24 Coupe (W124 chassis) and I don’t think I appreciated how poor my understanding of these was until I had one sitting in my hand – and I have quite a few cars with this tensioner! The factory workshop manual (WSM) calls this a “version 1 with external damper” (from WSM 13-3200 Removing and Installing Tensioning Device). It was used through around 1994 on many engines including the M103, M104 and M119. My problem was a belt squeal that I couldn’t make go away even with a tensioner adjustment, complicated by a missing pointer which is supposed to help you set the correct tension. I drove all the way home from Ft. Lauderdale with almost no belt tension, and it’s amazing that the car kept going.  Read more

by MBCA Peachtree Member Brooks Metzler

Did you miss Brooks' Technical talk on how you can DIY the replacement of your Mercedes-Benz headliner? Watch the recording of this very informative Tech Talk!

Peachtree Celebrates 45 Years!

MBCA Executive Director, Katie Carruth letter to Peachtree Members

On behalf of the entire Mercedes-Benz Club of America organization, I extend hearty congratulations to the Peachtree Section for completing 45 glorious years of success. You have always been on the top of the list for serving the Mercedes-Benz enthusiast community with wonderful events, opportunities to connect, and genuine fun!

Sections like yours with a brilliant team of friendly and dedicated volunteers who aim for high results, achieve them.

With your commitment and sincerity, the larger community has also gained much; you have kept an eye on philanthropic service and made member satisfaction your priority. I believe this is why the Peachtree Section has remained vibrant and continues to grow. Not only do you provide a learning platform for new members, but also offer a real community and home for their passion for the Mercedes-Benz to thrive.

We wish you all the success for many more years to come.

And we are so proud you're part of the MBCA Family!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to our two 2022 Section Award Winners!

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing Teams and Drivers Sweep Opening Weekend of GT America

March 6, 2023

Debuting Mercedes-AMG GT3 drivers Memo Gidley and Jason Daskalos combined to give Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams and drivers a sweep of the GT America powered by AWS season-opening doubleheader this weekend at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Daskalos scored a last-to-first victory in the No. 27 CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to win Friday’s first race while Gidley won Saturday’s second and final race in the No. 101 TKO Motorsports/Flying Lizard Mercedes-AMG GT3. The solid weekend of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing competition at St. Petersburg also saw Scott Smithson win the pole in Friday’s qualifying session in the No. 08 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.. Read More