Good to know, that'll certainly be easier than swapping the cam, which will likely still get swapped out due to the wear, and my spare engine has a good cam with no odd wear patterns, but that's a big job from the look of it.

I can probably at least remove the vac pump today. it does still make vacuum, but who knows about the bearings like you said.

the car has such good power, better than any om617 I've driven until I put the 4 speed and new turbo into the grey car.

the rough idle is probably the cam or rack damper bolt, which I should be able to swap out today.

Thanks for all the ideas guys! I'll try to get some stuff done on it today and see what I find and let you know!

__________________
1982 300D (w123, "Grey Car")
1982 300D (w123, "Blue Car")
2001 Ford F150 "Clifford" (The Big Red Truck)
1997 Dodge Ram 2500 12V Cummins
1996 Dodge Ram 2500 12V Cummins
Previous Vehicles:
1995 E300D, 1980 300SD, 1992 Buick Century, 2005 Saturn Ion