New England: somebody save this w116 300SD
 

That car is beyond rescue. The cancer has spread too far.

She's dead, Jim
http://www.durfee.net/startrek/images/TOS012.jpg

20 minutes away from me...looks like quite a basket case. if had another 116 id be all over it as a parts car.

if someone wants a proxy inspection ill take a look...

Its a parts car, that thing needs $20k-$30k to make it right. I wouldn't touch it.

If it was a 6.9 maybe.

The way he keeps saying Biodiesel, and how much money he saved, hints that he has been running it on straight Veggie until it got too cold. Not great for the engine ...

he should keep it and put a 4.5 V8 in it.

Scrap value is above $200. And just think of all the parts.

P E H

Y'all tellin me that nobody wants to buy it for $200 - $300 and clean it up?

This configuration of 300SD is rarest MB diesel. Was built only couple of years and USA export only. At the Australian 116 forum there's folks in Belgium and Netherlands calling it their ultimate dream car, same as we might look at 4-spd w116 3.5

Personally I'd like to grab every 1979/80 w116 300SD knowing they will go nowhere but up in value over the next 5 yrs. Its a damned shame to see em parted out and taken off the road.

I think I've got tetanus just from looking at those pictures.

Those of us who have 'em (PEH and 300SDog) really love 'em. But that's no more than a parts car, plain and simple. Looks like the rocker panel is hinged on that variant.

If the milage where true could be a real good parts car. Seldom is though. The more time I have in with older diesel mercedes the more suspicious I become.
Even the ones I think might have accurate odometers still leave me Wondering. In the car world it is a well known fact you cannot put miles back into a car.
Might be possible with excesss spending but even then it is not the same. I really believe there is not another brand of car out there with more odometer problems and manipulation in general than the 123 series has experienced.
Nice to see the liquid crystal type of odometers in later years on other models. . Even these are changeable. Fortunatly the device to do it has been expensive and the risk greater if the new owner finds out. Hopefully this has slowed down the practice somewhat. Just do not count on it.
Check out any expensive cars background carefully before handing money over. I still have no clear picture of expected lifespan of the average 300d engine. All I suspect is it might be pretty high.

So far that is Line of the Week Jim. Nice!
:laugh3::laugh3:

I bought a 116 300SD with a little less exposed rot that this example, but once you looked up under the wheel wells it was a disaster and would have require massive welding and sheet metal work to restore it. I can't even imagine how bad this one looks underneath.

That said, there's probably a few good pieces in there to be had. The rear deck looks unfaded (probably for lack of heat and sun in that region) which is more rare on the southern models which have been well cooked and are various shades of white. Might be other bits and pieces inside and out that would warrant $200-$300 and the effort to pull it apart.

this is one for the WVO crowd. (low blow):D

jshadows,

I bought a 300SD parts car with a body worse than that but it was in good running condition. Even had new pads and rotors on the front. So I took off the rotors and put them on my better 300SD.

It ran so good I started driving it as a winter car. It lasted 8 years and ~80,000 miles and I spent next to nothing on it to keep it going. I finally had to make it a real parts car because rust weakened the body too badly. Its still has many parts left but the engine and trans have been installed in another car. The car was well worth what I paid for it.

I never had any plans to restore the parts car. It was way beyond any economical body repair.

P E H