You got that right!! I used to race Cat's competitively, sailed with Randy Smyth, etc..., etc....

I just sold my last cat to a good friend of mine who lives only few miles away. Now he has to deal with all the maintenance and I get to go sailing whenever I want! Carbon spars, Kevlar sails, AirX spinnakers and Kevlar sheets are not cheap when they need replacing. Nor is any of the hardware.

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AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)

I guess you've realized that you really have to carefully consider some of the advice you get on a public forum. Some good info, so just too silly to mention!
First off, my silly opinion is that at least you are going to get to really enjoy this car eventually. Yes, you are going to be "into" it for more than some folks, but well, that happens. You will certainly have allot of peace of mind though on so many other items.
For example:
Glow plugs replaced {a headache on the OM606 due to breaking}
Evaporator {a very involved job, and expensive to have done}
Wiring harness {a must on every one of this vintage}
Engine low end in good shape {bad news, you got the opportunity to see it}
Good compression {see note above}
Exhaust {should be good to go for quite awhile}

So, while you will never sell it for what you have into it, that isn't the point in this case. You bought it to drive and enjoy, not worry about resale. So enjoy your very very sharp looking car. They aren't speed demons as you well know by now, but they are more than adequate and still have enough "klackin" to them to know you're driving a diesel.
And sounds like you found a really good mechanic for the future things you don't want to do yourself.
So, how 'bout a few more pics..........

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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 finally got the car back from Gene's today after two months in the shop. No more smoke, power restored. The real culprit was a junkyard injection pump which I assume the previous owner installed. How much of the other work was for naught? I don't know. At least I got a lot of lessons from Gene on troubleshooting the car/engine. He didn't even charge me the $570 it cost him to have the injection pump sent out and repaired/calibrated, except for $300 in labor for his helper. I may have spent a lot of money on jobs that didn't fix the problem, but at least I know I have a rock solid engine now. Pretty much everything except for the lower end and vacuum pump have been replaced. And like I said the honing pattern on the cylinder walls look almost new. I'm paranoid about the vacuum pump falling apart, but that doesn't seem like too difficult of a DIY job. All that's left to do to make this car look damn near brand new is fill in a few small paint chips (probably from the shop, I'm not going to complain), and replace a couple pieces of wood trim on the center console. As far as ride goes, I still need rear shocks and rotors/pads.

The worst part: I can't drive this car yet. I still haven't registered it, and its temporary registration expired two months ago. I found a police officer at my VFW to verify the VIN, but he's a busy cop and I'm a full time student with little spare time, and who knows how long it will take Florida to process it.

Thanks for all the advice. I realize now I could have done these repairs myself, but in reality it would have taken me several more months work on weekends and I value my time (thank god for the new GI Bill).

I didn't even know they made it, but Gene changed the oil with Lubro-Moly 10W-40 that apparently has graphite in it. He offered to give me some, does anyone else use it?

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Jay Kickliter
Chasing 'trons (my thoughts and tutorials on electronics and stuff)


1995 E300D-Black on Black

Congrats on getting your car running, a long and Annoying process but it pays off in the end. Florida is pretty Quick about processing titles etc, it's the responding state that takes the most time. but anything into or out of FL is pretty quick

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

I forgot to add, when I showed up at Gene's the car was washed an shining. Gene said: "The car is washed, that means that it's ready". I'm not particularly happy that it took so long it get it back, but I do recommend Gene, he's the most honest mechanic I've met.

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Jay Kickliter
Chasing 'trons (my thoughts and tutorials on electronics and stuff)


1995 E300D-Black on Black

Glad you got it all fixed and running AND coming back to leave the results- Too many don't

Soooo in this case white smoke was a fuel problem, correct?

Good luck to you!

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1987 300TD 147,000 miles- Palomino leather interior, 1995 facelift and body cladding, E350 wheels, Rebuilt suspension and sport springs, rebuilt turbo, New Monarch injection pump and injectors....and the list goes on and on...

Yes, is was a fuel problem. There may have been some oil leaking by the valve guides, but it was really the fuel pump causing the biggest problem. #'s 4&6 elements were bad. I couldn't understand what the problem was; need to clarify if they were too lean.

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Jay Kickliter
Chasing 'trons (my thoughts and tutorials on electronics and stuff)


1995 E300D-Black on Black

Here's some more photos. They are actually from the seller, but at least wasn't misrepresenting the cosmetic condition of the car.

Attached Thumbnails

         

__________________
Jay Kickliter
Chasing 'trons (my thoughts and tutorials on electronics and stuff)


1995 E300D-Black on Black