James, thanks! At this point I will stay with the 300E (W124) chassis search. In my spare time, I need to spend a few hours on the EPC to discover what parts MAY be common to yours. I'm sure that most are, but crossmember, driveshaft, pedal cluster, etc. come to mind. Other folks may be interested, what are you asking?
In the "ahem" department, was a 396 an option in 96 or do you get visits from the "originality police"?