No, I’m not dead! And no, the CLK isn’t running yet, but it will be soon! I was at the tail end of a loooong engine rebuild when my wife and I decided to pack up and move 3000 miles to the other coast. We are now settled in to the new place and the CLK is already getting some attention from me. The new garage is like a surgical suite compared to the 100 year old shack I had in Portland.

I am now in the Raleigh area of North Carolina (Wake Forest, to be exact), and I guess I should start calling this site TarheelBenz, but nah, I’ll stick with StumptownBenz.

Stay tuned here, on Facebook, and on the StumptownBenz YouTube channel for updates as I finish the wiring and get this thing fired up soon!

I decided to fire up the ‘ol YouTubez again with a series of 5-minute updates as I do the engine build in preparation for next race season. Who knows, maybe I’ll keep at it this time.

You should go subscribe. Like, right now.

I took the CLK out for one last Test-and-Tune event over the weekend and got a new personal best: 10.75@129!

It took all season to get a good, clean A-B pass, but it was worth the wait! The car is going in for a roll cage this winter so I’ll be legal all the way down to 8.50 next season. I’ll be putting some Viking double-adjustable shocks, a 77mm fixed supercharger pulley, a flex-fuel tune, and a bigger tire on the rear. If it all comes together like I hope, I should be able to run a 9-second pass next year on the stock long block.