Dude as you have already noted, you have come to the right place to turn your dream into a reality and make your old man smile whether he's still with us or not. Look forward to updates.

__________________
'89 260e (212K Mi.), '92 400e (208K Mi.), '92 400e (not a misprint) (146K Mi.), '95 C220, '81 240D--Sold

Hey Parshoot. My dad is still very much with us. Though my family lives in Europe, and I'm in the US, so I don't get to see them much unfortunately.

The US mail system works for you, THAT is what Id be using.
MB OEM parts can be had from ebay too. If you have doubts message the seller before buying.
The LED spotlights are often sold on ebay in pairs or threes at amazing prices. Once you use one ...

__________________
1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

Looks like you made a good buy to me!

@Skid Row Joe
Let's hope so. Only time will tell, but I gotta do some wrenching on ol' Betsie before I can daily drive her to work. I'm hoping to have her mechanically sound enough to start driving to work in May. Gives me about 2 months or so to get it slightly up to par.

Vacuüm problems and the finicky climate control are things that can be fixed while the car is safe and drive-able, so those things are quite low on the priority list for now.

Speaking of Betsie:
I sent CVJ in Denver an email, to see what the price would be for a rear axle (possibly two). I'd hate to go with Chinese knock-off's that the car parts store are selling for 120 a piece, but it's starting to look like I don't have much choice in the matter.

I checked UPS shipping from vstech's address to my address, and I'd be looking at over 200 dollars in shipping from UPS or Fed-Ex.

Then TnBob gave me an idea (thanks!) and I checked USPS. They can do it standard post with 3 weeks delivery time for 78 dollars. But I guessed as to what the weight and size would be.

I figure an axle is about 20 pounds, so I calculated a 45 pound package that is 30 inches in length, and 10 inches high and wide...

Darn it, why is shipping to Alaska so expensive...

You made a durn good buy on what sounds & looks like a solid W123 to me.

I'd put all due concern and trouble shooting into it making it a totally dependable car for you to use.

The experts on fixing & trouble shooting them here will guide you with kid gloves. You're in good hands!

I just know a good car when I see it!

Just to key in here on climate control. The climate control selector bar/thermostat dial switch on my '83 300SD malfunctioned and needed to be replaced after 12-or so years of use from the car being new. A new genuine MB one for my SD at the time was $115.00 @ the Mercedes-Benz dealer here in Dallas, Texas. So, yes, they do wear out and need replacing after a time. This was 20 years ago, so, take that pricing with a grain of time!

There are 'vacuum-experts' here on DD (diesel-discussion) so, that'll be doable too for you.

@Skid Roe Joe

Thanks for the info. Honestly, the climate control is the least of my worries right now. When I had the selector on "cold", it did stop pumping out heat after like 10 minutes. I think the switch still works (it 'clicks' at maximum cold and hot too), but that the climate unit is not sensing the temperature correctly.

So, reading what Diesel911 said on the previous page, I just walked out and check the oil cooler hoses a bit better.
And, one of them is definitely showing signs of the power steering belt cutting into it. I guess I have a collapsed engine mount on the drivers side.

I'm hoping that will be fixable without an engine hoist? I have a jack, I do not have an engine hoist...

It seems that every time I make a list of parts to get and the order in which to repair things, something else pops up.

At first it was: replace all fluids and drive. Then it became: replace boot on rear axle, replace fluids and drive.
Then it became: replace rear axles, replace flex discs, replace fluids and drive.

And now my list is:
- replace engine mount
- replace oil cooler lines
-replace diesel return lines
- replace flex discs
- replace at least the drivers side axle. Passenger still looks good
- replace all fluids

I wonder how long my list will be come tomorrow...

Well, at least engine mounts don't seem to be the most expensive parts. I guess this is where I'll start then.

I found a nice how-to right here:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mercedes+W123+Motor+Mount+Replacement/20760

First off, engine mount and oil cooler hoses. Which apparently is quite a terrible job.
I guess I might as well take that time to do an oil change then too.

Wow, the more I look at the car, the more I realize that getting it safely 350 miles up to Fairbanks was more luck then anything...

EDIT:
It seems that to replace oil cooler lines, you need to loosen up the engine mounts, so I guess I'll do two in one. Or three in one.

Is it realistic to change the oil cooler lines and the engine mounts in a saturday?...I think that would be kinda doable'ish?....

Yes, although you need to be prepared with all the right tools and assuming nothing goes wrong. I would blast the motor mounts hex bolts and oil cooler line connections with PB Blaster the day before and before starting. You may want to see if you can break free each oil cooler line on each end and the bottom bolts for the motor mounts first just to see if you're going to have a fight on your hands.

You will need an adequate wrench with clearance (or crows foot) to remove the oil cooler lines by the oil filter housing. One of the brackets is a PITA to get back in place. The upper oil cooler line is pretty easy, the lower one is a royal nightmare if you don't know exactly what you are doing. For the lower one, installation is opposite of removal. I'm planning to do this job soon and am going to have someone video the removal of the lower line, although I think I remember it from doing it two years ago on another car.

The motor mounts are pretty straightforward. Again, you need the right tools. IIRC, I needed a swivel joint with two extensions. The first time I did motor mounts I used a hex key which did work but turned out to be very painful (contortions) and took a long-time. I would recommend a hex wrench extension you can verify has clearance.

Dkr.

Hi DRK. Thanks for the advice. I saw in a how-to that you need like an open-ended box wrench to loosen up the lines.
Do you know if that kind of wrench has a special name to it? I tried finding a place to get one, but I don't really know what to search for...

I bought mine from Mercedes source. He just took a normal wrench and cut it in half and put some fuel line around the cut end. I've heard of some people using crows feet. The problem is getting a wrench that has clearance. I'm sure Mercedes has some special tool for the job but it would probably cost more than paying the dealer to do the job.

Dkr.

Hi DRK,

I saw that tool for sale on Mercedes source. What is the size of it? Judging by what it looks like it would be easy to make your own?...

I can't pay the dealer to do the job, as the nearest Mercedes dealer is 350 miles away...

Yeah, considering your situation with shipping it would probably be easier to just buy a cheap box wrench and cut it yourself (or pay someone to cut it for you).

I'm not sure on the size. I think he mentions it on one of his videos.

Dkr.

Dieselgiant says it is 1 1/16" closed box wrench.

This is the tutorial I used last time I did the job:

How to Replace Your Oil Cooler Lines

Dkr.