Hello all,

I've just entered the wonderful world or Benz. I picked up a '75 300D to fix up and convert to WVO eventually. I've been to 5 bone yards around here and have yet to see another w115 300D. I need the driver's side tail light and the passenger and rear seatbelts- which of course are different from all the other Mercedes I have found.

Also, the fuel filter is a cartridge filter like the oil filter, not a spin on, and the power steering pump has a remote reservoir... it's all kinda bass ackwards. I think it's Germany's pay back for getting wupped in two consecutinve world wars.

Does anyone have one of these monsters? It's like the forgotten first born before the 123 change in '76. I can't find any parts (filters and whatnot) and the haynes manual is all the wrong info... Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I adjusted the valves, wiped the fuel filter down as best I could, put some Lucas engine treatment in the fuel, and adjusted the switch on the injection pump- it was set at 12000 ft, I dropped it down to below 4000 ft, as I'm at about 2000. I now have much more get up and go- there's no waiting for the engine to spool up, the 0-60 dropped from 33 seconds to 22... Is there anything else I can do to get rid of the whit smoke and improve reliability/ drivebility? I know it's diesel smoke and not a blown head gasket, as it lingers and gets blown away instead of evaporating.

Also, the power steering goes away intermittently and I have manual steering for a while- I think the pump may be going. Any idea if I can rebuild it, as it's not the same as the widely found w123 model? The only other prob I have is a scraping sound from the rear passenger wheel- I think it may be the wheel bearing, as it's not pulling, so I asume it's not the caliper. Any other ideas?

Thanks,
Michael