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  #1  
Old 12-20-2007, 11:30 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 81
Smile A Star is Born, Again! (the 300 SDS is BACK!)

Dear Folks,

Imagine, a new 24 year-old car. . . . .

Good News, and just in time for Christmas: After a nine month gestation, the unique 300 SDS I bought last year, that was totaled in March from a bad rear end hit, has been resurrected and is back in service again!

It is a facsimile of the same car, and mostly is in fact the very same car. It has a new body; is more modestly badged as a 300SD; and is officially a model year older now, an '83. It still has the custom manual transmission!

Here is the unveiling of the original version of the '84 300 SDS in a November, 2006 thread:

my new 1984 300 "SDS" Turbodiesel ??

And, here is the March notice of it's sad demise:

My SDS sadly rear-ended!

All the Forum encouragement to rebuild it has come to fruition! Last Wednesday I boarded a train with a one-way ticket to Absecon, New Jersey. Upon arrival, I was delivered to Ditmire Motorworks, where my reborn car awaited in the manger.

It is hard to express the emotion of seeing this car for the first time in nine months, and seeing it appear as a brand new car, with no trace of it's former death. I nearly cried when I popped open the pristine trunk lid. I'll admit, I am happy again!

Here are new pictures of the "SDS" in the "manger" where it was reborn, and a few nice settings I found for it this evening.


To make a long story short, to put this unique car back on the road, a donor body was found for all the salvageable parts from the SDS. As near as I understand it,
the engine,
transmission,
wheels and tires,
entire interior upholstery,
the four doors,
the hood,
and the custom headlamps,
all came from the former SDS. The rest was from the new donor '83 SD.

It seems like the same car again, but there are some improvements. The drive train behaves smoother and better. The clutch assembly is new. The speedometer and odometer are accurate now. The OEM cruise control, coupled uniquely to the manual transmission, works for the first time! I'm delighted.

I am grateful to Bill Ditmire for his vision and fortitude seeing this immense reconstruction project through on a reasonable budget; and for his talented staff: Gus, Kurt, Zack, and others who did and managed all the labor.

Enjoy!

Garth

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2001 E320 4MATIC WAGON desert silver/tan, 169K
1986 300SDL black on black, 240K

1984 300 SDS (stick-shift) 209K.....now reborn as a 1983 300SD (stick-shift facsimile of the former 84) 274K

1982 240D (sold!) 264K

Last edited by Apotheoun; 12-21-2007 at 01:32 AM.
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  #2  
Old 12-20-2007, 11:40 PM
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Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 2,220
That's awesome! It really seems like its come back from the grave. The true soul of any car, of course, is the engine. It looks, with the exception of the "SDS" omission, like the very same car. Reborn.

You must be pleased, it looks nice.
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  #3  
Old 12-20-2007, 11:47 PM
Unofficial wormcan opener
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Ashland, MA
Posts: 2,602
Wow

That is one sharp 24 year old car. They did a great job bringing her back.

Enjoy!
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  #4  
Old 12-21-2007, 12:20 AM
TheDon's Avatar
Ghost of Diesels Past
 
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awesome.. Now you need a new SDS badge
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  #5  
Old 12-21-2007, 12:22 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 81
"Wow" pretty much sums up my emotions too.

Thanks so much DslBnz, Bio, and The Don!

The timing of the return of this classic is amazing yet slightly poignant. Two weeks ago, our Dodge Caravan was stolen, disappearing into thin air, and has not been recovered. While it was perfectly good transportation, I was never passionate about it. On the other hand, I wonder if the renewed passion for this Mercedes can ever diminish? It feels so great to drive this again!
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2001 E320 4MATIC WAGON desert silver/tan, 169K
1986 300SDL black on black, 240K

1984 300 SDS (stick-shift) 209K.....now reborn as a 1983 300SD (stick-shift facsimile of the former 84) 274K

1982 240D (sold!) 264K
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  #6  
Old 12-21-2007, 12:28 AM
TheDon's Avatar
Ghost of Diesels Past
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 13,285
You know what I just remembered.. I had a 300SD trunk badge that I pulled from the pnp.. I used it as a practice piece to polish with my new dremel, but then I grew bored when it wasn't working( the polish) so I cut the thing apart.. I need to see if I saved the SD part... I might have
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  #7  
Old 12-21-2007, 12:29 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2006
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDon View Post
awesome.. Now you need a new SDS badge
I still have the SDS badge, but it lost that last S somehow in the turmoil. I'll have to find another spare S to braze back onto it. (Thanks again; I think we just cross-posted.)
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2001 E320 4MATIC WAGON desert silver/tan, 169K
1986 300SDL black on black, 240K

1984 300 SDS (stick-shift) 209K.....now reborn as a 1983 300SD (stick-shift facsimile of the former 84) 274K

1982 240D (sold!) 264K
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  #8  
Old 12-21-2007, 01:01 AM
JimmyL's Avatar
Rogue T Intolerant!!!
 
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Location: Sunnyvale, Texas (DFW)
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Just a beautiful car again Garth!! Worth every penny you spent to bring it back to it's former glory. Sounds like the folks that did the work for you are simply first rate.
Was the donor body originally the same color as your last one?
Keep those pics coming. I would love to see the interior and under the hood. Heck, considering the aftermath of the wreck, a trunk shot wouldn't be bad either.....
Congrats and enjoy the heck outta that truly unique W126!

**Oh, and I vote for keeping the rear badge as an SD. It is simply "proper"...**
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'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John
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  #9  
Old 12-21-2007, 01:05 AM
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Rollin' on 16s
 
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Location: Vancouver WA
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Glad to see it has been re-born. Get that SDS badge back on!
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1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine
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  #10  
Old 12-21-2007, 01:22 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 81
Transmission compatibility?

Thanks, JimmyL, and bgkast!

Incidentally, that 5 speed manual on eBay intrigues me. I wonder if it would fit this car? It has the older ('74-'81?) cast iron type 240D 4 speed at the moment, and it is in need of some rebuilding soon. (it seems to have a bad noisy bearing on the counter-shaft, but otherwise works fine.) I wonder if that 5 speed could offer better gears for 25 MPH, or 35 MPH? If it is the same length, it may be adaptable.

What does anyone think?
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2001 E320 4MATIC WAGON desert silver/tan, 169K
1986 300SDL black on black, 240K

1984 300 SDS (stick-shift) 209K.....now reborn as a 1983 300SD (stick-shift facsimile of the former 84) 274K

1982 240D (sold!) 264K
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  #11  
Old 12-21-2007, 01:38 AM
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Location: Sunnyvale, Texas (DFW)
Posts: 9,675
I don't believe it is the same length, and I don't think that one on ebay has all it's parts.
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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John
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  #12  
Old 12-21-2007, 02:27 AM
Benz'n'thusiast
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: new jersey
Posts: 74
If you're sure you have a noisy bearing on the countershaft, that's not a difficult fix. Could you describe the noise and when it occurs, and what makes you think it's the countershaft? Does it only happen in reverse, first, second, third and not in fourth? If that's the case, it's definitely something syncro or countershaft related because 4th gear should be 1:1 direct, and in direct no powerflow goes through the countershaft. If it indeed IS a countershaft bearing, all you need to do is drop that sucker, take the rear countershaft bearing seal out, inspect and replace with a new or reman roller bearing. It's not all that hard then again I do disgnose mack 18 speed tripple countershafts so anything under a 10 speed is a walk in the park

But again, how do you know it's a countershaft bearing issue? Describe the problem a tid bit more
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.:1982 300D "The Ambassador"- R.I.P:.
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  #13  
Old 12-21-2007, 02:34 AM
Jim B.'s Avatar
Who's flying this thing ?
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: N. California./ N. Nevada
Posts: 3,611
Thumbs up Good going, Garth!!! Welcome back to the fold.

Oh this is just great, a wonderful Christmas present for you to enjoy. I remember so well this tragedy about this car, and was one of the claque cheering you on and hoping you got her back on the road.

A lot of less aware and savvy people than you would have just given up.

It is a beauty, reborn, and at a time when cars like this are spiralling up in value as people realize the inherent goodness and intrinsic value in a good W126 Mercedes Benz diesel, in these times of rising fuel prices and interest in biodiesel.

Plus it is probably still a one-off, ultra-higly desirable manual shift conversion, making it highly covetable for just that reason by itself; a car that was WELL worth saving..

It's the PERFECT car for the times, though we never worked out what SDS ever meant - it is the only one that has ever been seen.

Just curious, how did the insurance issues work out? Does the car have a salvage title on it or not? Did you get a rental car, a fair bodily injury recovery, and any pain and suffering recovery for this?

Looks like you are gonna have a happy holiday, with this good news, but here is wishing you one anyway!!
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1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

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Last edited by Jim B.; 12-21-2007 at 02:54 AM.
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  #14  
Old 12-21-2007, 04:36 AM
TylerH860's Avatar
KHAAAAAAN-gress
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Wichita, Ks
Posts: 5,187
And I thought there was only one resurrection in all of history. Can your SDS drive on water? I know my benzes seem to have healing powers with me.

I'm probably going to get struck by lightning after that joke
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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
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Last edited by TylerH860; 12-21-2007 at 04:48 AM.
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  #15  
Old 12-21-2007, 06:43 AM
DeliveryValve's Avatar
Chairman of my Benz
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Central California
Posts: 4,159
Garth,

That is awsome that you had the drive to make this car alive again! I was just wondering not too long ago what was happening to the SDS. I am glad to see it again. Get that SDS badge back on!

So the question I have is... officially is it still an '84 or is it now an '83?

Richard

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