Another old German project

CarreraDan · 05-29-2007, 07:44 PM

I have happened to know where this old Mercedes was sitting in a barn waiting to be resuced for the last few years and decided to make an offer on the old girl. I asked my future mother in law if she would sell the fine piece of German steel to me for the large sum of $0, yes free, as in I will take it out of the barn just for you if I can have it. She was even nice enough to throw in a new battery. To the astonishment of all three of us after the new battery was installed the old girl fired right up on the first try last week and proceeded to fill the barn with diesel smoke.

So, today was the day of the retrieval. Time to go rent a trailer at U-Haul and bring the old Benz home to take a look and see how big of a mistake I have made. Of course, being excited I forgot the camera so no pictures until it is back at the house.

I now know that the Jeep can in fact pull over 5000 lbs--notice the rear squat. After a very cautious tow home I dragged the Benz around to the garage, yes dragged as you see the rear calipers are frozen. Here is a better picture before the off load.

This afternoon I replaced the return lines on the injectors (large leak) and did a quick detail of the car. The original owner had a very high quality respray done about ten years ago and the paint is almost flawless. I would rate it a 9 out of 10. The interior is also in incredible condition except for the dash has a few cracks. After about an hour with the pressure washer the crud is off the bottom and now I should be able to find where the oil is coming from.

The good news is the motor runs fairly well, got the turbo working this evening and mainly the car's vacuum system is what needs the most attention. All electricals seem to work and even the tach decided it wanted to work somewhat tonight--hasn't worked in 6 years. My girfriend drove this daily for 8 years and we parked it in the barn three years ago--it needed more attention and $$ than they were willing to give it. Here is the last picture for tonight.

The plan is to redo the brake system, change all filters/fluilds, and drive the old girl and see what happens. I am hoping to have it somewhat reliable for under $1000. The car is an 82 300D, has 127k miles and I will be the third owner. This should be a fun summer project.

speedracing944 · speedracing944's Garage

I heard these things run 300K + miles. Good score man.

Speedy

kycarguy 935 · 05-29-2007, 11:58 PM

My good friend is really into those. I think he loves them because he has about 15 of them. He is always telling me how reliable they are. We drove six hours to Cedar Point a couple of years ago and it drove like a champ.

Good find.

CarreraDan · 05-30-2007, 05:41 AM

Thanks guys, with diesel being 30-40 cents cheaper I figure it will pay for its self by the end of the summer vs driving the Grand Cherokee daily. The a/c works (needs some more r12) so I think I got a very good deal as long as the motor doesn't grenade on me. I have a fair amount of blow by right now (take the oil cap off and pressure comes out). I know it did this when it was driven daily. I am hoping that with a valve adjustment, diesel purge, and some driving it will decrease some or so I have read on the Benz forum.

notfarnow · 05-30-2007, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by CarreraDan
I have a fair amount of blow by right now (take the oil cap off and pressure comes out). I know it did this when it was driven daily. I am hoping that with a valve adjustment, diesel purge, and some driving it will decrease some or so I have read on the Benz forum.

Diesel Purge is great stuff. I have little or no faith in most miracle cures in cans, but this stuff is the real deal. I've had two VW diesels that ran like dogs after years of storage, and after a can of diesel purge they stopped smoking and worked great. Get the good stuff that you actually run both fuel lines into, not the stuff you just add to the tank.

I doubt it will help your blowby though. Once you get the fluids changed, a good tuneup and everything is working well, I'd just drive it HARD for a couple days. It could be carbonned up from being babied.

CarreraDan · 05-30-2007, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by notfarnow
Diesel Purge is great stuff. I have little or no faith in most miracle cures in cans, but this stuff is the real deal. I've had two VW diesels that ran like dogs after years of storage, and after a can of diesel purge they stopped smoking and worked great. Get the good stuff that you actually run both fuel lines into, not the stuff you just add to the tank.

I doubt it will help your blowby though. Once you get the fluids changed, a good tuneup and everything is working well, I'd just drive it HARD for a couple days. It could be carbonned up from being babied.

Jake,
It was babied as she only drove the car to school and around town, was never on the interstate. I am going to look for DP today and give it a try.

pookie · 05-30-2007, 07:18 AM

Maybe I missed it but you might want to replace the glow plugs too if they haven't been done in awhile. I hope the 300 is faster than the 240 I had a 240D and it couldn't get out of its own way. Once you got it up to speed that thing would cruise on the interstate like a champ.

Racerbvd · Racerbvd's Garage

Very cool, I had one with 450K on it and it was still going strong when I sold it.