I Scored Good!
 

Well, I now have my newly aquired '76 300D officially registered and inspected. To my surprise and delight, this 29 year old auto passed gov. safety inspection with flying colors! Absolutely nothing wrong- not even a bad bulb! Got her for $3500 on eBay, sight unseen until a friend delivered "Pearl" to my doorstep. I've named her in memory of Janice Joplin, and she's white, and it seems as if the Lord has indeed "bought me a Mercedes Benz." (Sorry if I sound hokey, but I'm pretty excited!)

Had to do a little plastic surgery around the rear wheel arches- very easily accomplished and already done as of today with some fresh metal, a bit of Bondo, and some white spray paint (I can hear you Concours types cringing as you read this). I'm not out to win shows- just want to preserve Pearl and keep her on the road forever.

The only mechanical issue I can see so far is that the oil pressure guage is pegged at maximum all the time the engine is running. It survived 1200 mile trip this way to get her to her new home, and runs fine, so I'm assuming this is not serious. I think I've seen references already to a grommet inside the oil filter housing that could cause this. I'm going to take her to an independant MB Mechanic this week for an oil change and have this investigated- hopefully that's all it is- or perhaps a bad guage / sender unit.

Just sharing my joy!

No Airbags
No Catalyst
No Computer
No EGR
No Emmissions Testing where I live
Just Eat My Smoke!

Dave

do you have any other MB vehicles or is this your first one ?

Good Luck with it. these are truly great cars... :)
Be grateful for this forum. If it wasn't for these guys I would never have owned this great machine.

Either I'm nuts, or this is completely to be expected. The only time mine isn't pegged at 3 is when the car's warmed up and I'm at a dead idle.

Thats exactly what it is supposed to do, your engine is in good shape.

Your oil pressure sounds normal.

There is no grommet inside the oil filter, but there is a filter disk in there that you clean and re-use. Pay attention to which way is up with the disk. The whole thing is spring loaded inside the filter cannister. It's really not hard, but it can be quite messy. Your mechanic may disown you if he hasn't changed one of these filters before. If he gets in a hurry, he's in for an oil bath.

Coldwar,

I hope that was $3500 Canadian you paid. Its seems like a high price for a '76 300D with rust on it. Rust is like an iceberg, what you see is 1/7 of what is there.

Keep it out of the road salt or it won't last very long.

P E H

pegged!
 

No- with mine it is always pegged right against the pin, even when completely warm and at idle- that lovely slooooowwww barely ticking over but still smooooth idle. I am going to get this checked out- the oil filter internal assembly I mean. Needs an oil change anyway, so I'll get my first one done by qualified pro, to make sure all is well, then do my own oil changes from then on.

Dave

No it was US$3500, but seller paid the full federal and provincial sales taxes. The car was never driven in winter it's whole life- entire service history was in the glove box, and there are no recepts or fulfilled cupons for winter months. The rusting was very minor and superficial. I had a good look underneath while it was being inspected. Everything is solid. I don't think I paid too much.

I will not be driving it in winter either- I have a nice drafty old red barn in the back yard where she will hibernate from end of November to end of April.

Dave

Want to have fun? take the car to JIFFYLUBE! they will have a mess on their hands when they drop the filter cannister, then they'll probably stick you for an extra $12 for the filter "because its German"
Ha!
Dieseldiehard
1971 220 (gas) 4-spd manual 106441
1979 300TD w/ ’85 turbo engine 295530
1983 300D 243280
1985 300TD 217300
1987 300D 258230
1976 300D will be sold for the first $200 that anyone offers for it

What's the story on your '76? Any good parts left? I'd really love a set of map pockets for the front doors! Actually tell me about the whole car- here's my eMail if you wish-

average_saxon@hotmail.com

What's the story on your '76?
 

Email sent!
I basically have not had the energy or time or money to put anything into this car. I bought it for the wheels (Bundts) that were on it and swapped the almost new Kumhos from my 220 onto it.
It is presently registered but soon to expire, and has a clean title.
The engine runs but hardly over 10 MPH due to a rod knock. PO ran it low on oil. Trans shifts ok, it doesn't seem to have any flair and the fluid is clean. Fairly new alternator. The starter is flaky due to solenoid sticking, probably full of carbon dust and easily cleaned out in my experience but starts OK after a few trys.
I never ran the cruise control or A/C but both are there. The brakes are good.

I was offered an engine with low compression on one cylinder but I refused to go that route, I'd rather have a decent engine to use with all the work necesary installing one.
The car looks good - its silver but could use a repaint on the front rt finder which was replaced (no bondo) and the PO used a paint that not only didn't match but is coming off in a couple of places (probably no primer!). I have looked carefully and find no chassis rust, not even the trunk or floorboards.
Electric antenna runs up and down fine.
Black interior, but one doorpocket is gone, not sure about the other one. Seats need restuffing.
Basically this is probably going to be a parts car, local Bay Area here's your chance! Any offers, please?!
DDH