Just from seeing him start it up at ~20 degrees and then by the end of the 2ish minute long video he revs the thing up quite high from the sound, I realize my speakers may not be as accurate as my ears think, and by that time oil has reached everything, but man I try hard not to thrash my stuff much until its all warmed up good.
Knock sounds bad. I had the knock in my blue car I determined to be a worn out cam and followers, I replaced the vac pump as well, but it was not nearly as noticeable as the sound this car makes.
I sure wouldn't give the asking price for it. I gave 1300 for my grey car, could have driven it home but was told it had a bad transmission, so ended up towing it, the blue one was given to me because of the knock.
I love these cars, but they are not nearly as valuable monetarily speaking as most people seem to think, at least not to me.
On the other hand, what would it take for me to sell one of my cars? A lot more than its "worth", because I'm attached to them.
EDIT: adding a few more thoughts below:
He says he fixed some areas where clear was peeling, one looks like the antenna area, which in my experience usually rusts out bad, the paint doesn't match at all, possible rust repair?
Drivers side light/hood/fender doesn't line up right. also interesting that all the lights, grille and that was replaced. possible collision damage?
The underneath does look quite solid. i'd poke it though, as my grey car looked like that but your finger would go right through it
Was forsale in NC as found via googling vin number:
http://classiccarsmarks.com/mercedes-benz/98729-1984-mercedes-benz-300td-base-wagon-4-door-30l.html
Seats have been replaced, is apparently grey market car, trans was rebuilt but slips 1-2.
Here it was in california for sale:
http://findclassicars.com/mercedes-benz/108392-classic-1984-mercedes-benz-300-td-wagon.html
has only done 5k miles in the past 2 owners worth from CA to NC to NJ? if they drove it between those places, that's 3100ish miles.