I have never seen PNP so crowded!! Wow was it packed. Perfect weather, high in the low/mid 60's, and it warmed up from morning 50's pretty quick.
I found the Hitman right away, and we pretty much parked our stuff in one spot and took turns hanging around that general area. He was camped out at an SDL removing the turbo, so he was there for quite a while while I scoured the area.
It wasn't my biggest day of procurement. I found a W116 with decent rear seats and called Dan, but he needs bamboo. I met an MBCA member while standing at that car. Nice gentleman.
Met a couple other folks while there, one a fellow wagon dude. {very nice wagon btw, and that interior is cherry!}
The Hitman had a wheelbarrow FULL! So full I had to carry his spill overs......
My modest haul:



The Hitman was gracious to let me have a rebuilt W123 climate control unit, with rebuild sticker.



As you can see above, also got 3 cruise amps. One wasn't for 240's. I didn't notice the extra pins. The other two turned out to be INOP! Poor China remains without cruise.
Also got some ancillary crappage,



Found an early early build W123 240D. Build date was 11/76 and the chassis number was in the 15,000's.
It had a decent med. kit cover, and inside was a med. kit that had never ever even been opened. Wow!





A little warpage on the cover, but it still opens and closes just fine.






That book was cool, but is very very brittle so I didn't flip through it.

And best best best of all I think I found one Becker that the Hitman hadn't gotten to out of a W124 260E. A model 780 I believe.



And I am happy and amazed to report {it is already installed in China} that it works perfectly, all lights work, the display works, and, are you ready for this, the cassette player works!! Wow......
It was a fun day at the yards. The 50-60 person line when we went to leave is just a distant memory now.
Just wish one of those cruise amps woulda worked.
Hmmm, now I wonder who could possibly need a med kit cover for a black interior.........

__________________
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

Do you know those euro first Aid kits are illegal because some of the medicine in them is not approved by the FDA???

UFB!!!!


Haha, the following things, - thanks to US lobbyists and the government lawyers at the US DOT - are also illegal:

Euro headlights

Euro side fender blinkers

Euro Trunk Triangles (warndreick)

Euro fire extinguishers

Euro rear fog lights

Euro accessory gas cans (They don't like the nozzles on them)


Now you can see why I am a defiant person that was bent on acquiring all those things, (Mercedes Benz made them available for good reasons)?

I got them several ways: (through ebay, MB web forum members, German parts suppliers and German MB dealers while vacationing in Europe are some avenues I have used) and my goal is to make it a true euro car, one step at a time.

Now who can help me find and wire up a rear euro foglight?

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

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

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

I can see why Euro lights are illegal because they point the brightest intensity straight and left, right into the eyes of the oncoming traffic, while US lighting points straight and to the right.
It truly is a safety issue.
Other stuff, not so much.......

__________________
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

GAVIN, Sorry I missed you. I got there about 9:30 and was there most of
the day. started to to sprinkle about 3, and when I left at 4, the rain was
coming down in buckets.
I got 3 black door panels, the 2 panels L & R of the rear seat. chorme
vent coves off 2 cars. 2 almost new door actuators. my most prized
part was the plastic trim pieces that get wrinkly around the door. got all
4. this 78 280 must have been garaged it`s whole life.
I grabed a driver floor mat to get the foam backing off it, these things get
get really crappy over the years.
Plus everything I could stuff in my pockets. Maybe they should weigh me
when I first go in and charge by the pound

I might go back today the sun is out this morning an starting to motivate
to pull that 4 speed out of that rat infested 240 that`s been there since
Dec. HMMMM

Charlie

__________________
there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Not all Euro lights point straight and to the left. Only Euro lights from RHD countries point that way. As long as you get Euros from LHD countries, you're fine. Anyways, most new cars sold in the US now have light patterns similar to LHD Euros.

__________________
'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

Speaking of all the various euro bits, can someone point me in the right direction to find a trunk triangle clip? (The thing that holds the upper end of it to the trunk lid.)

I could have sworn I had seen one, or a source for them here a while back, but I can't find 'em now, and again, the P&P yard here in town is utterly worthless for European cars!

__________________
-Josh
Testing the cheap Mercedes axiom, one bolt at a time...

I went down to the Pick n Pull in East Oakland, California (near the Coliseum)
at the invitation of forum member MURDOC, who with his gorgeous girlfriend, met me there, in his terriffic orient red '85 300SD.

It looks beautiful in that car, and he's had it less than a year, the palomino interior is mint,

and the car still has the original 1985 1Nxx xxx California blue plates on it,


His car has only 180k and just two prior owners, the original one being a physician, and the second, a succcessful Chinese restaurant owner in San Francisco from who he bought it (I lived in SF, in the North Inner Richmond district, back then, in the early '80s, and noticed that ALL successful Chinese restaurant owners then, went out and bought themselves new 300SD cars - and this was waaaay BEFORE the SVO/WVO craze!!)

Neither had been to the East Oakland Pick n Pull, and the Mercedes Benz offerings were not great. (But it was Volvo paradise, the dead Berkeley cars go there, and Cadillac too, those GM cars from 5-20 years ago looked like junk, with their fwd and sideways engines LOL)

There was an '82 300SD in there, a '90 300 CE, a '76 signal red 280, and a couple of forlorn W123s, but not much else.

This didn't stop MURDOC from getting what he could, a good Becker radio, a mint W126 spare wheel with Original spare, 3 red hubcaps off the '76, and a few other wisely picked parts he could use.

I didn't want to come out empty handed, so I got the driver's side floor mat off the CE, to use in the Subaru Outback (fits perfectly; WHY do the New car dealers, like this one , ALWAYS, steal the floor mats out of their used cars before they sell their used cars? That always happens.) It will be perfect for the snow, around here.

I also found a bunch of box Volvos and levered out 3 of those little plastic clips they have on the windshield. If any of you ever owned Volvos, they are fantastic little touches. you can slip a letter or piece of paper on there just below your line of sight. I wonder how you can fit them into a Subaru and a Mercedes.


We went to the 4 Caminos Mexican restaurant, afterwards, and had a great meal and conversation there.

I had not been to East Oakland for years, and now it's almost totally Mexican, around there, not even that many blacks, any more, around E. 14th from High Street at 41st Avenue to 66th and the Oakland Raiders coliseum and the airport.

Times change. Back in December 1963, E 14th at 41st/high street was the Chevrolet dealer FH DAILEY motors, that rolled a brand new 1964 Chevelle onto the street, which became the first car I ever owned.

The whole neighborhood has changed, even the Volvo dealer, Continental Motors, is long gone, and it looks like "Little Michoacan" (Mexico) there now.

A great trip, 304 miles round trip for some fun, and good exercise for the car on the highway.

I was able to get a loaf of that fantastic coconut bread at the Shien Kee bakery on the Asian Pacific East mall In El Cerrito near Berkeley, to bring here and share with the people who love it, rounding off the trip.

Who won that Superbowl anyway??

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

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

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Is there a decent PNP with MBZs around Modesto/Turlock, CA? I will be there in a couple of months and would like to find some parts.

__________________

'98 E300 DT
'87 190D 2.5 turbo RIP
'92 S500 Sold
'03 3.2TL-S A-Spec

heh.. I have three med kits and two covers.. both black. I just need the sticker and maybe try and clean the plastic up with some silicone spray.

I really need those door panels.. my interior looks so stupid with everything black and palomino door cars and palomino headliner(well the headliner is fine.. I just need a new one.)

www.picknpull.com
then click on the yellow pick-n-pull, over on the left click on locations.

I haven`t been to the ones that area, It`s a crap shoot what is there.

Charlie

__________________
there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Well, I was thinking about you the moment I saw it. Oh well, glad you have one. I can paint it to match if one of mine shatters, or I guess somebody else could also.
I have a beige one reserved for Dave.......

__________________
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

I actually have a '60s-vintage Euro Bosch rear foglight (red lens in a chrome housing) that I might mount on the rear of my Fintail someday, and she's already got the illegal Euro- headlights, but can someyone explain why the trunk triangles are illegal ? My Euro-delivered but US-spec '81 240D has the trunk triangle. If it was illegal, you'd think it would have been removed before delivery.

Happy Motoring, Mark

__________________
DrDKW

Last year, I discovered the Virginia Beach Pick'n Pull, and added it to my regular to-do list when I'm down there, as there isn't one near me here in Northern Virginia. Great prices but the downside is they only keep a car for 30 days! Anyway last fall, they had a wrecked '82 240D that I got a bunch of stuff off of, and would've grabbed alot more if I had known it was going to be crushed the next day.
I noticed the wrecked 240D had plastic front fender liners but didn't grab them before the car was gone.
Were those inner fender liners an option, or only found on late-production W123 cars? My '82 (late '81 production date) 240D doesn't have them.

Happy Motoring, Mark

__________________
DrDKW

^^^^^^It probably was meant to be removed, but by a fortunate oversight at the European delivery center in Stuttgart, it wasn't.

Either that, or the savvy buyer insisted it was his personal property when the car was new, and brought it home with him on the plane as carry on baggage and installed it after it was properly licensed in the USA and escaped the law that way.

The DOT, in its infinite wisdom, did not see fit to approve them, though they were standard equipment in the Mercedes bound for the restg of the world, ( and required in Germany )

All US spec Mercedes Benz automobiles, accordingly, did not get them....


The prohibition against them was NOT a top priority in DOT/EPA certification, however, and therefore many of the Euro spec Mercedes Benz cars got through with them in place.


It was worse with the Euro headlights and bumpers. Most of them were removed and replaced with American spec bumpers when brought in by the gray market route.

The euro headlights are better in every way - looks, and perfromance.

However the horrible sealed beam headlight lobby in the USA forced the DOT to trash them in favor of their own inferior product.

Only the fortunate or savvy, end buyers of gray market cars got to keep their euro headlights, and some had the gray market certifiers SAVE and not destroy their euro headlights, and reinstalled them after the car got certified.

Others were just lucky, to have their gray market cars
certified with the Euro headlights in them, and such cars did actually exist.

By historical irony the sealed beam headlights are utterly irrelevant today and not used in new cars at all any more.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

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

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

The sealed beam headlamp became the standard in '68, mainly because so many non sealed-beam hadlamps leaked, and became rusty/tarnished/fogged and the resulting dismal performance.

Unfortunately, the DOT approved the sealed-beam, not the performance of the sealed-beam, and starting in '68 no headlamps were allowed that had a lense in front of the bulb, ...

There were no fedarally approved cars with DOT lamps on them. Many gray-market importers would slip them out the back door instead of distroying them, or otherwise allow the cars' owners to get them, but most of these came from those few of us willing to risk the ticket after purchasing them from shady importers (illegal) or importing them ourselves. Same with euro bumpers. There were also many cars that were "federalized" by the owner, which was done by bringing a used car back into the US, posting a bond for the car's federalization, then presenting receipts/photos/documentation to "prove" the car was brought into compliance with DOT/NHTSA and emissions standards required for its year & model. Many of these self-converted imports were faked, and the Euro stuff left on or re-installed after photos. Only one friend of mine got the dreaded "present car for deportation" letter, long story, nice SLC.

Later on, the Lincoln FN-9 Continental got approval for a set of plastic-lense non-sealed-beam headlamps with the lense bonded to the reflector and a US 9000-series bulb, which started a wave of cheaply-made aerodynamic headlamps that looked more like the Euros, the end of the cursed sealed-beam was near. Less and less did our European headlamps get noticed and recognized, other cars' lamps looked more like Euros!

The current headlamps are still not "Euro" headlamps, but very close. H-4 bulbs are not for example legal in the US, but there is now a 9000series bulb that is identical, ... and the lights that run them aren't TUV approved / E-code lights, ... but the pattern of many are similar, still usually inferior to the European lights in quality, and have lenses bonded to the reflector and not replaceable separately, but we're getting close.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff