clutch problem 240D

[clanreed]

I have a 1977 Mercedes 240D manual transmission car that my son has been driving for the past year. He was out driving went around a corner and there was no clutch. The car was towed home.

I am unsure of the mileage on the clutch. As far as I know, it did not slip or have any precursors that would have led us to believe the clutch was going bad. I pulled the slave cylinder and the diaphragm was bad, so I replaced it with a new slave cylinder. I also replaced the clutch master cylinder because it was leaking. I used the original push rod on the new master cylinder. Then I spent a very long, long time bleeding the clutch. Finally after bleeding the clutch with a pressure bleeder from the top of the reservoir I was able to get good pressure on the clutch and the peddle returns on its own.

Here is where I am at now:
*If the car is not running, I can move it into any gear without using the clutch peddle
*If I start the car not in gear, I cannot move it into any gear even with the clutch peddle depressed--lots of grinding.
*If I start the car in gear, in lunges forward as though I have popped the clutch.

I am a learn as I go mechanic, but a new clutch may be out of my skill set if that is the problem. The value and condition of the car make a $1000 clutch job probably not a good investment. I just want to make sure I have tried everything before I give up on the car. If anyone has any ideas of something I may be missing or something to try let me know.

Thanks,
Shannon