Dubmutant I owe you an apology. I am sorry for my assumption your comment was serious. Next time put a smiley face after it..


Ohhh and the fuel line is I belive 1/2 or maybe 5/16. And i used some smaller hose clamps 2 on each end just to make sure. Has held for about 2 years.

Fuel line - cheap fix - $5 for hose & clamps
Electrical - if it is a ground (as you said) that one is a FREE fix - just takes time
Vacuum - also a cheap fix if its just a leak. A little time with a $40 mighty-vac and maybe a few more bucks in parts
Pool noodles are a cheap fix for the seats if its just a cushion/padding issue

The rest of the bad is all optional stuff - especially for a winter beater. You've already done most of the expensive essential stuff. Giving up now when you have so much in it already - and buying another used car that may or may not have its own set of repair issues/costs - would be a mistake IMO.

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

the one thing that bothers me is if I get in an accident/fender bender it is all GONE/TOTALLED - I don't even thing an independent appraisal is worth it now that there is the fender/bumper rust issue.
Thanks guys Im picking up a pipe cutter from a friend and heading to PepBoys this afternoon. Lost fuel is more expensive than the fix it seems to me.

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1984 300D

All true...

However, if it gets totalled you can usually buy the hulk back for next to nothing (the insurance company doesn't want it) and you can slavage most of the good parts. Between that and the settlement you'll usually come out OK - you won't get all your $ back, but with a used car, you never get what you put into one back out of it - unless someone gave it to you in the first place, and sometimes not even then...

__________________
1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

Consider finding a southern car with a rust-free body but bad engine, trans., etc. and transplanting your drivetrain into it. The southeast is full of rust-free MB's and many can be bought for next to nothing if they have major mechanical problems (or percieved problems). You could do the transplant in a weekend and use you current rusty car for parts. You win both ways!

Make that a pretty long weekend. I swapped the engine in mine and it took somewhere in the neighborhood of 24 hours work - and I'm a fairly fast wrench. Of course it wasn't a straight pick & replace - I had to take a lot of stuff off my original engine and transplant it to the donor.

But yeah, kingdoc's suggestion is a good one, and very do-able...

__________________
1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

and effort to get another benz chassis when I pretty much already rebuilt the existing one seems a little counter productive.
Looks like I'm driving it till it dies or rots out underneath me or i get rid of it for a newer TDI or Honda
It has been a fun idea to redo it, but reality has set in. The writing is on the wall for this one.
I'll be lurking until the day she dies.

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1984 300D