I have a 1979 300sd I purchased, and within 300 miles of purchasing the car the turbo failed and took the motor with it (says my mechanic after looking at it). Should have shipped it home I suppose, but you cant change the past. Anyways the body is in exceptionally good shape, I love the car. I'd like to bring the car back to life. I am nervous about getting a motor from a junk yard for obvious reason. Metric Motors seems to be the best reman source but that Is expensive... after getting a turbo too and labor, I'd be looking at 10 grand. Other option in having the current engine rebuilt.

I was hoping to get some opinions on rebuilds. I've heard both good and bad stories with rebuilding...

Got any more details on what exactly happened? Why did a failed turbo take out the engine? What was the sequence of events that led up to the problems? What did the mechanic do to diagnose it?
I'd be inclined to swap in an engine from another car.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

well I was on i10 going around 70, suddenly the engine lost power i look down at the gauges and oil pressure is dropping, temperature is rising, and loud knocking. It was 8 lanes where i was at so my first reaction was pulling over to safety as opposed to shutting of the engine. i was able to get out of peoples way quickly but engine had shut itself off immediately after. this all happened within about 30 seconds or so. when i got out i noticed the back bumper was covereeddddd in black soot (not a normal amount), but i would not have noticed the smoke because it was raining so much. opened the hood and there was oil all over. no obvious source from the loose oil. did not even consider trying to start it.

I'd need to speak with the mechanic again to see EXACTLY what he did, but it seemed to me he checked all of the oil lines and added oil, then started it up. seems the source of the oil leak was the turbo. dont quote me on that. He comes highly recommended from a friend with a w116 who has had his serviced with this guy for years. He said the turbo is inoperable and the bottom end has a spun bearing. His recommendation was finding a motor with the turbo intact. Only trouble with bring in another car is the labor to remove the motor.

I am committed to getting the car back on the road, but before I just start throwing money at this car, I wanted to get some opinions and make sure i've looked into all my options.

thanks for your time!

Make a list of what is required to make the car what you want. It will be expensive if you have to pay labor. It is certainly doable if you consider it a hobby. I have played with 70s era Datsuns. We would kill to find ZCar bodies in the shape of these cars.

There are plenty of $500 parts cars with perfectly good drive trains. No decent car should be scrapped for want of an engine &/or tranny. Again, if you price labor into the equation, you can buy someone elses project/car cheaper than fixing yours.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Sounds like maybe the turbo oil feed line failed. If you are planning to pay someone to remove a motor from another car, then remove the replace the motor in your car, you're probably looking at some pretty serious coin. If on the other hand, you're planning to do this yourself, you should be able to do it for well under $1000.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I do consider it a hobbie, but I have absolutely no experience with these. My last build was a v6 mr2... I've never worked on Mercs or diesels. More importantly is time. I own a web development business and we are busy. people talk about the lack of jobs out there but can't seem to find enough help. I am in the midst of moving into a larger office, etc. no time to tinker. I don't mind spending money, but I want to do my homework first.

Spend your time finding a good used engine. For instance, I bought my daughter's car for $1500. It had about 20k miles on a new or rebuilt engine. Metric Motors would be far more expensive.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13