A month and a half ago, I spied a 59 190D ponton while driving through the country to a junkyard. The woman did not want to sell it but her husband did. He told me to come back later and look. I did. The car was stuffed with parts, a haven for hornets and four flat tires stuck in the mud. I told him I might want some parts but he wanted to sell the whole thing. He told me to come back in an hour. I went to the junkyard and picked some parts and came by again. The tires had been inflated and he had used the tractor to drag the wheels of the car out of their sunken wells. One tire was leaking badly as we talked. I started to open the hood but was chased away by hornets. we both moved away and he offered to sell me the car for $3,000 as it was. I told him flat out no. In fact, I told him when he considered the hassles of tire swap and hornets etc, I wouldn't want the car. Plus he couldn't find the title. I left.

He called me to come the next weekend. The car looked the same. we were down to 500. I said no, all things considered, since I could not open the hood or the inside due to the hornets. I was getting ready to leave when he and his wife got into an argument about the car. He wanted it out, she didn't want it junked. I told them I planned to rebuild it, if I could verify that the car was solid.

While we were there, grandma comes over and sees the car out in the open. I hear how grandpa bought the car as a serviceman in Germany and brought it over, etc etc.

Grandma wants to know if I'll buy it. I am uncertain- hornets and dirt. She wants to know my intentions-- they would be restoration, not scrapping. She says she'll sell it to me for 100.00 if I promise not to scrap it. The kids get mad, but then she has them get the title. SHE's the owner! I give her 100.00 from the ATM. She then tells the grandson to pull the rims and take them to the local gas station. She has tires for the car at her house that were never pulled out of the basement. The guy at the gas station decaps and recaps the tires on rims for 3.00 a piece, another 12.00.

I go home with a signed title and a 190D on the back of the two-wheeler. But I have to send her pics.

I cannot work on it for three weeks, no time.

I borrow a bee-keeper suit and unload the entire car, trunk and engine compartment. Then I cover the air openings and steam the entire car. Then I spray commercial insecticide once all upholstery and everything movable is out. I pull out 4 hornets' nests, two of which are empty, throw them all away in a field. Later I find another under the dash, fortunately empty.

Install battery, clean all glow plugs, fill tank and prime system, change engine oil and filter, plus all fuel filters. I get a can of WD40 to use as a primer.
I change the battery cables.I check the electrical connections from key switch to main resistor to salt shaker to glow plugs. Power all the way.

Turn the key, start it, it starts but does not stay running.
I check it, item by item, against my other 190D and find a missing throttle return spring. I lubricate to death the entire throttle system
I swap springs-- the car starts! It roars! I cut down the throttle a lot. it runs about 800 rpm, smoke a little at first, I stop it, change antifreeze. It is running ok! I put it in reverse, it crawls slowly. Must pop off one front drum to make it roll freely, so brake work next on the horizon.
I don't know how he did it, but the PO stuffed two interiors in there along with a number of ponton tools, manuals and old insurance certs. I'll take pics soon when I have time and show you some of the treasures.

Two weeks pass. I have emptied the trunk and found amazing tools especially:
several Bilstein jacks, some of which are made as telescoping screw jacks just like those used on the 1930s versions of the Citroen Traction Avant
Messko glass and chrome tire gauges in little boxes, but from a 170 series (1936-1954)
many Mercedes wrenches, pliers etc and tire special tools, plus boxes of fuses.
a 220D owner's manual in bad condition
a large quantity of laundered and folded socks stuffed into a paper MB heater tube
a large quantity of small parts and screws;
several period fuel and oil filters, unused, tho one is a bit rusty
two leather front seats in fair condition
I removed the radio to see if it needed cleaning. Boy did it! The bakelite is very good, even the speaker grille cloth is good. Upon removal, I used a vacuum hose and crevice tool to remove the dead hornets stuck between the various parts. Then I used a can of clean compressed air to further clean out dust, followed by QLD contact and circuitry cleaner, which seemed to vanish as soon as I sprayed it! After two such treatments no more dust was seen.
Once installed again back in the car, I carefully pressed the "on" button. The light came on, but no sound, not even crackling. I set it for half volume and started cleaning the dash. Suddenly it roared to life with a distorted version of " Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. A little adjustment and it started to sound like a normal mono radio from the 1950s!
I ran the car for 5 minutes, checking everything as I did. Then I tried the driver's side blower motor and it came on as well! More contact cleaner and it turned on consistently when the switch was turned. I will have to remove all dash controls as well and clean them individually.

The clock, which seems to work intermittently, is my next project. I have a wind-up version from another car but would like to repair this one, since I believe it needs little assistance, just lots of cleaning and lube.

More to come soon. I have to work this weekend, then I am picking up a 1949 170S on Tuesday before it is destroyed.

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I love hearing about project cars that are saved from the crusher.

__________________
daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

That is really awesome, I love the old 190D's! Kudos to you for saving it from the crusher. Should be a good build, good luck!

What a great story and what a great car. Good luck with it.

__________________
85 300D 75K Anthracite Grey 0-60 in 13 seconds **For Sale**
84 300D 333K Black (The Velveteen Rabbit) 0-60 in 14 seconds
00 Toyota Sienna 208K (Sold)
15 Subaru Outback 43K
11 Subaru Outback 67K
98 Ford Taurus 100K (Gertie - Was Grandma's - drove it to church and shopping - really) Daughter's car now.
30 Model A Ford 2 Door Sedan (Sold) 0-60 in . . . Never reached 60

good luck put up pics as you go on...

Nice...

__________________
1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

Wow! Where in Michigan was this?? Very interesting! Car is in amazing shape considering our weather!

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Great find.

Out of curiosity, what's the story with your SM?

__________________
1981 230E, 1984 300D.
-
www.ranwhenparked.net

Man I just love stories like this, and like the others, I love hearing about an old classic saved from the crusher. That really appears to be in good shape. How is the rust situation?
Keep us posted, and uh, nice return on your investment......

__________________
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

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Sweet addition to the stable..nice work.

the holy grail.

what is your usual commitment level with car projects?

__________________

+1

I absolutely LOVE sm's. Is that the one I recently saw on ebay???

__________________
Jake
1999 e300d PlantDrive WVO/SVO conversion
**note to self: oil changed at 268k kms**
1990 Toyota 4Runner FrankenDiesel swap

Very good negotiating skills. Better than mine--and I've bought probably a hundred cars and am a pretty fair dealmaker. You stayed tough on price. I have learned from your story. A great find.

when was it on the road last? I notice the front plate was a '76 bicentenial michigan plate.

Truely amazing. . .how did the undercarriage fair from the michigan weather/neglect?

__________________
". . .back before accountants designed cars"

-Current Stable-
'78 MB 450SL-C 107.024.12.020783 #3840 <Kayleen>
'85 FORD F250 6.9L Diesel <Allison>
'98 Lexus ES300 <Rachel>
Long Gone...
'74 Chevy G10...........................'99 GMC Yukon 4X4
'83 Chevy Suburban 6.2 diesel .....'99 SAAB 9-5
'90 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS............. '01 Chevy Tahoe
'98 Nissan Altima .......................'02 MB ML320
'88 Chevy Suburban V2500 4X4 6.2 diesel