Hi there, gentlemen. I really appreciate y'all. I've come here a lot as an unregistered guest to learn about this new experience for me of owning a W126 and the car's running great because of that. I wonder if you might be able to help me further by giving me some advice about the possibility of getting a 300D as a parts car.

So I was walking into Costco about a week ago with my five-year-old son when a man asked me what year/model MB I was driving. To make a short story long, he said he had a 300D that he had intended to make a biodiesel project out of but had never gotten around to it. His wife is tired of looking at it so he's letting it go for, what seems to me (a MB and diesel rookie), a good price.

Here's the skinny on the car:

1. It's an '83 300D with 250k miles on the odometer, which he's letting go for $600.
2. It's sat uncovered for about two and a half years, but the sucker started right up when he put a battery in it, although I'm sure y'all aren't surprised by that. I forgot to pull the dipstick to check the oil's consistency.
3. He drove it around his yard today, I'm sad to say, with no tranny fluid in it.
4. The turbo hasn't had the breather hose on it for probably this entire time, and he idled it today for a good while without it.
5. Thin smoke/vapor steadily comes out of the valve cover breather, which had only the small elbow attached.
6. There hasn't been brake fluid in the system for a few years.
7. There's some rust developing in the floor.
8. There are squirrel fixins on the front passenger floor - some acorn scraps. I'm pretty sure he's had the car stored with the windows closed, though.
9. There was some dry-rotted foam on top of the injector pump. I don't have that on my car so I don't know what that is.
10. There was fuel around the injectors, of course, but no squirts.

I can't remember what else I made note of. So, the question is, how useful would this car be as a parts car for the 300SD? If I wasn't in school I'd be more interested in fixing it up, but I don't think I can devote that kind of time or money to it for at least two or three more years, unless maybe you say that it's not too involved/expensive. What can I do with this thing? Is it a profitable investment?

I'll post a pic in the morning. It's not bad to look at if you ignore the dirt.

Thanks, fellas.
Caleb