Ya BA Da Ba Doo !
Done . . .!
Took it for a spin and an Italian tune up.
Got that engine Real hot !

It had a bit of trouble starting ( had to use the Quick Start which I don't like doing) and it smoked some on start up though it was dark by the time I finished and hard to make comparisons.

When I got back to my driveway I stuck my nose halfway up the exhaust and damned if I smelt anything at all. Not a trace of diesel or oil.
I'm starting to get optimistic about this car. I bought it last week from a dealer who advertised a 6 cyl Mercedes for $1,995. That's cheap where I live. It looked pretty good in the picture and when I phoned him he told me it only had 195k. He had absolutely no service records for it so I knew I was taking quite a chance but now that the engine seems to be OK I'm half way there.

Thanks Jim for explaining about the valve clearances. It makes sense to me now.

jim