Another tire to kick
 

This time its a 1980 300td wagon.

This one:
http://images.craigslist.org/0115000...bbd9009637.jpg

190k everything works except cold air conditioning. One small rust bubble forming on drivers side door, otherwise, he claims no rust. No third row seat, and hole 1-2" long hole in the driver's seat bottom. He called it a great driver, but moved his wife out of the expensive diesel wagon into a minivan.

$1500 obo. The price is what's bringing me out there. I'll bring my camera along and report on my findings tomorrow afternoon.

Words of encouragement? This SLS business has me nervous, but thanks to the search function I think I know what to look for. Can't beat the price, either.

Sweet - it's karma Tyler!

you know I love the color!

Lift the hatch and make sure the strut still holds it up. Then feel for any moisture under the rearmost part of the floor of the back....The rear window washer had leaked in ours and water was just sitting there....

Probably everything else is as you would expect from Ol' Turbo

Good luck!!!! can't wait to see more pics, especially if you buy it!

That will also be a Non-Turbo motor in that car, as its a 1980.....so don't expect it to move anywhere like "O'l Turbo" does....

The color is sweeeeeet
 

We may need to start a "China Blue" club.

It could be the angle of the pic, but the rear looks a bit saggy. If it is, don't be afraid. When you check it out, start it up and remove the cap on the SLS reservoir to see if fluid is recirculating. That will tell you if the pump is working. Look for SLS and fuel line leaks near the subframe.

$1500 for a wagon is a good deal. Maybe you could call it "Ol' Normally Aspirated" or "Ol' Norm" for short:D

I'll just have to see when I get there. He claims the SLS has the car sitting well, so it could be the hill he's got it parked on.

The nice thing about it is I have a very nice early model W123 300d sitting in my friends salvage yard with a blue leather interior in excellent shape. I believe the front doors are interchangeable from a sedan to wagon, (correct?) so I can eliminate the rust in a hurry. Having a paint shop connection helps as well.

I like the Ol' Norm idea or perhaps Ol' Blue, but let's not get premature.:D

The self leveling should level it no matter what the car is sitting on.....

I believe the wagon and the sedan are the same from the b-pillar forward. You should have no problems with the front doors.:cool:

The hill has it sitting at an upward angle, which might be playing tricks. Work with me here.....:D

What a trip!
It started with me inputting the wrong address to the GPS. My supposed half mile trip on a dirt road turned into a 10 mile backtrack to the guy's house.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01565.jpg

The cows seemed interested.

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01567.jpg

After all that mess, I finally made it to the place, with the China Blue 300td waiting for me.

As you can tell from the pictures, there was a bit more rust than he described. The door spot was small, yes, but he failed to mention the begginings of rust from the pitting of rocks below the headlights, very small spot on the front fender, and small spot near the drivers side rear wheel well.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01576.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01568.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01571.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01572.jpg

I took the car on a 20 minute drive, maintaining a speed on 65-75 the entire time. NO ISSUES. The car turns great, stops normally, and most of the electical gizmos work, with the exception of the passenger window and power antenna. The car had minimal blowby, and a blew lukewarm air. The owner claims the AC worked until last fall, and the system appears to be functioning normally from what I could tell.

Oh, and yes Zeke, the rear hatch holds itself up.

The car was more powerful than I imagined, only seeming wimpy up at higher speeds. It certainly gets off from 0-40 fast enough.

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01578.jpg

The front seats were worn and collapsed, but REAL LEATHER, meaning the parts car seats would match perfectly. All the original books were in the glove box, with regular maintainance documented for a good chunk of her life.

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01577.jpg


The owner was a real nice guy, and the van he bought was a late 90's VW euro.

The final negotiated amount..... $900.00

I think I'll pass on this one.:D

Really??? for $900???

You could flip that car on ebay for $3000.
"Perfect for WVO, AC just needs a charge. LOADED with leather seats!!!"

Seems like a good deal for $900 ... and it looks like the rear is fine in your pics.:)

I'm going to kick some tires myself this coming Tuesday evening. I met the original owner of a 1985 300CD yesterday and he asked if I wanted to buy it as it's his 3rd car and it doesn't get out much anymore. I looked it over at the gas station where I introduced myself, but I want to check it more thoroughly and let my wife drive it since it would be her daily driver. From what I saw so far it looks minty.:cool:

I would not recommend an 80 if you plan on using it for any highway travels. Other than that *steal*

Mrs. Zeke agrees with Winmutt....station wagon is too heavy for NA

but she loves the color and body style

;):cool:

Well it's in the garage now... Hence forth it will be known as "Ol' Norm".

The 45 minute drive home was uneventful. It was HOT today... 100+ with lots of humidity, so I didn't do much cleaning. Probably Sunday will involve cleaning and a photo shoot.

Mon-Tues I will pick up 2 lightly used front seats and some kick panels. An appointment with the AC shop will quickly follow.

You stole that TD, congratulations. What ever happened to the 300SD you were looking at before?

They kept nickel and diming me up, getting close to 3k for the whole car. No thanks.


This, clearly, was a far better deal. The only thing the SD had over this one was functional AC, but a more than $1,500 price difference.

THIEF! THIEF! STOP! THIEF!

I knew you were pulling everybody's leg when you said "I think I'll pass..."

You dog, you stole that one... GOOD JOB! :)

If that parts donor you spoke of has a good turbo motor, I think a heart transplant is in order for 'Ol Norm'... ;)

Why would I swap a perfectly good motor? I think it can live with the little less horsepower; Ol Turbo does all the road trips anyway.

The car in my pal's yard, by the way, is a 1980 sedan. It has some serious rust and poor compression.

Dang Tyler!!! What a nice find and a terrific deal! Man, you and Dan! :P
And let me please be courteous to the numb-nuts all deriding the performance of the NA OM617: have you driven one? My 1980 NA wagon was an awesome highway car, easily cruising up to about 80-85 or so. Sure, the turbo is quicker, but it isn't enough of a deal killer to be significant. And actually has much better 0-40 umph.
Rear end of the wagon appeared to be sitting up nicely. I loved my '80 wagon. Oh, do you have ACCII or ACCIII? 1980 was a transition year and some had the evil servo and some didn't. My '80 had a vin of WDB12319012020102, so the ACCIII introduction was sometime prior to that. {for some reason I can remember that vin # but not what I had for lunch. :inquisiti}
Can't wait to see the pics after cleaning. Good job!
And since we have officially met and all, if you start the TDT thing I will have to personally make a trip up to the henner-lands and deal with the situation......:cool:
Nice car!
:D

No need for insults - I for one wasn't "deriding" anything, and yes I HAVE driven a NA. I drove a 79 300CD before I bought my 84, and both had about the same mileage (200k) on the drivetrain.

While the performance of the NA wasn't terrible, the turbo is definitely more spritely. Same holds true for diesel trucks - I've owned two 86 F250s - one NA and my current one with a turbo. The turbo definitely has the advantage for acceleration and hill climbing.

I find it hard to believe the "0-40 umph" is better with the NA than with the turbo - especially given that the turbo's 0-60 time is 4 seconds better than the NA's (15 vs 19+ or around 20%).

Admittedly there is a bit of turbo lag for the first couple of seconds that has to be factored in, but it seems to me that if the NA were able to beat the turbo's 0-40 time, even by the smallest of margins, it would be nearly impossible for the turbo to then overcome that lead to such a degree that by the time they both reached 60 mph the turbo could pull a full 4 seconds ahead...

I'm sure that the NA is adequate in a highway cruiser. At steady-state highway speeds the turbo wouldn't be that much of an advantage. Until you start to pull a big hill or need to accelerate for passing. Those are the kind of situations where I notice the benefits of a turbo most.

I certainly agree that the lack of a turbo wouldn't be a deal killer though - especially for a wagon in that shape for $900...

Nice find! That thing should clean up very well.

Congratulations Tyler, welcome to the wagon club.:D Make sure to add yourself here and post some pics:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/groups/wagons-only-group.html

Give Ol' Norm's dash an extra squirt of 303 for me.:cool:

Jimmy, he doesn't have a turbo so you have no worries ... wait a minute ... he has a 300TDNA.:D:D

You're not going to believe this.

Briefly cleaned the very, very, very dusty engine bay today. I barely scratched the surface with the car wash power washer, but I inadvertently did something amazing.

Current weather conditions in Wichita are sunny skies, 100 degree temperature with 36% humidity. I was sweltering to say the least, so in my heated stupor I turned the AC on and..... IT BLEW COLD AIR.:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::D:D:D:D:D

I was much cooler with the windows up 5 minutes later. If I had to guess, I would say it is about degrees warmer than my R12 equipped 300D.

When I got home, I popped the hood to look at the cooling fin (is that the right name?) for the air conditioner....(horribly filthy), but I must have knocked enough off to get the AC blowing again. :confused:

I'm off to throughly clean it now.... We'll see what happens.

I think that's the best A/C "repair" story ever. Nothing like a cheap fix is there?

Congrats, Tyler. It's a beauty.

Awesome wagon. The reason the NA's might seem faster than the turbos 0-40 maybe the more 55 mph oriented rear end gearing. And a working Climate Control servo too? For how long? :D

want to sell it to me lol

So... Do I have the evil Servo?

Vin # 12319012017409

The additionally cleaning did little to improve the performance, but I'm just happy its working. It takes about 1 minute or so of driving before it starts to really blow cold. I'm hoping a recharge will do the trick.

I drove Norm quite a bit today; he's quite capable, though no Ol' Turbo for sure. The front suspension is more haggard, but not at the point where it really needs work. The front end appears to have no issues. The engine seems louder, though I do lack both kick panels at the moment for additional sound proofing.

I might as well be sitting on a metal crate the seat is so worn. My soon to come replacements are sorely needed (literally my a$$ gets pretty sore). There is also a very unpleasant odor, reminiscent of when my grandmother locked one of her cats in the garage for 3 days, and it used the convertible as a litter box. :mad: I'm hoping when I yank the seats, the smell will go away, or I can eliminate it more easily.

My only other gripe is the stereo; it only works out of the right side speakers.

Shoot, why am I complaining? :rolleyes:

if it has ACC II you have the evil servo. Lets see some more pics after you clean it up.

And I can find that out how?

I've never worked with anything other than my two 1985's

Do you hav a vertical row of ACC switches on the console(off,auto low,auto hi, bi-level, def)? If so, you have a servo.

Looks like he has a servo. Check the engine pic.

^^yep, your right, I looked back at the pics and it does have a servo. I put in a rebuilt unit 4 or 5 years ago and its still fine, knock on wood.

WELL CRAP!!! THE HONEYMOON IS OVER!
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01594.jpg

Now I don't want this thing anymore. Anybody want to buy it from me?:D

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01587.jpg

So what does the "Evil Servo" do to earn such a title?

There is a solid state replacement that is costly but solves the problem. Anything that brings together vacuum, coolant, and electrical is bound to be troublesome. Throw in the usual Chrysler slam (they apparently are responsible for the design) and you get the picture. I don't know, I kind of like the control panel. Reminds me of something you might find in an early 70's missle silo. It does fill the dash space better. I just don't think the next generation acc controls look right in that big expanse of wood. Anyway, I'll just take that wagon off your hands. Meet you somewhere on Rock Road, just let me know....

it starts to leak coolant and costs about 400-450 for a replacement.

Don't sell it, it may not start leaking for a long time. Then maybe you can seal it up with JB weld or something when it does.

I guess sarcasm doesn't resonate well in text. Me no selly yet...:D

Here's the drivers seat... I think something crawled into that massive hole and died.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01583.jpg

Yep, I was thinking that as I was reading back over the thread this evening. Heck, it was 2:30 in the morning! :o:o


That is not the original drivers seat. An 80 model will have the 5 pleated seat while that one has the 6 pleats. Right?? For some reason it looks painted too.
There is nothing wrong with the Evil Servo if it works. They just usually don't work. I would unplug the aux coolant motor as it can take out the Servo amp I believe.
Dang that is such a nice wagon for the $$$. Very nice Tyler.
How is the rear cargo area? We need you to give us some more pics. We need to see these things......

You're a demanding little bugger.

Very nice rear cargo area.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01597.jpg

And the back seats should clean up nicely too.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01601.jpg

The flash is playing tricks on the seats, making them look worse, Jimmy. I think they're original. Didn't leather always have 6 pleats?

I have a working EVIL servo system. I bought a used servo from someone on MB shop for $125, got a replacement vacuum pod rubber from George Murphy, and now I have a completely working system. Blower speeds work, keeps correct temperature, etc. Took an hour to replace the servo, and maybe 15 minutes to replace the vacuum pod.

The time consuming thing to do would be to completely take out the system altogether and manualize it. A rheostat to control fan speeds, 12v switch to compressor, cable actuated water valve to open/close heated water to the heater core.

Meet me somewhere on the rock road, and we can find out which is faster, NA coupe or Wagon. :D

As a matter of fact, kids in rice burners do drive up and down Rock road looking to race.

In my father's generation they dragged Douglas.

You may be right about the leather and number of pleats. The back seating certainly appears to match.
Very nice looking rear cargo area. I just love the older style loop carpet compared to the fuzzy stuff my wagon has. Both the 240's have the loop carpet, as did the smoker. So much cooler.
You deal looks better with every pic Tyler.......:)

you know...
 

Jimmy --- you know, Tyler, just ought to sell this wagon to me. I've never been a member of the wagon club.............YET.

More Pictures and New siggy.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01606.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01607.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01613.jpg

Wow ... now you just need a 540K and you have the perfect stable.:D

Nice pics.:cool:

Nice stable of vintage mercedes. Pictures remind me of the hot,windy Kansas summers. Wichita is great but the lack of trees (except for College Hill) always bothered me.

Lookin good Tyler!

But it makes me wonder where that X5 is? Did you ever resxue it from the shop?

With your new wagon, you can ditch the Bimmer...The wagon is every bit as functional and tough a that SUV!!

That is as impressive a 3 car stable as you will run across. Very nice Tyler! :)
And uh, wagons are nice and all, but down right archaic compared to a nice X5. I'm just sayin'...........:cool:

;)