So this is a case of three cars going together to make one good driver:

My dad's 240D is his favorite car, he even will drive it in the Atlanta heat without working AC. It has the engine out of a 77 240D auto that we bought a couple of years ago that was relatively low miles (140K) and runs pretty freaking good.

We bought that car for the engine, suspension, and interior because the body was screwed from a rear end collision. I ended up driving that car to GA Tech for a few weeks while my Sportline was out of commission as my auxiliary fans had failed and the fan clutch was just not enough to keep the car from overheating. That was in ways frightening as it has so little power and the automatic transmission but I was able to not only drive it on the interstate, I learned how to pass cars on the interstate and drive in the left lane with the rate of traffic (so around 80mph). I once got that car up to 95mph after building speed going up and down several hills. My dad drove that car and loved it so much (especially the sunroof) after I was done with it but after a few months, we started having issues with the fuel filters getting clogged after only a few miles of driving. We decided that it was time to swap the engine into his 83 body, which had a bad engine after being overheated after 330K miles.

The 83 had a manual transmission that had been rebuilt and a rebuilt injection pump in the past 50K miles, but we only ended up using the transmission (the injection pump is being stored for future use or to be sold).
It also had most of the suspension rebuilt but the shocks had 200K on them. We swapped the shocks from the 77 body to the 83 as they were pretty recently replaced. The 83 also got new tie rods and such put in. We also obviously swapped the engine, which took two months because it was apparently monsoon season here in GA and I had to figure out how to get the stripped hex bolts off of the flywheel for the automatic transmission on the 77 engine (by 83, they were using 12 point bolts thankfully). New clutch kit and master and slave cylinder were installed, which were incredibly easy to bleed contrary to the multiple threads I read on here saying it was fairly difficult to do.

I learned how to drive manual on that and my dad has been ecstatic about driving it but has missed the sunroof from the 77 and wants AC. The 83 has also been needing new windshield seals and lots of rust repair so my brother started looking for a good body to swap everything into that would cost less than the rust repair and repaint costs and sunroof installation cost on the 83. We looked at two cars without engines but one had some rust issues and an absolutely trashed interior. This one was a two hour drive away but was certainly worth it.

It is a 1983 300D with 102K miles. The engine was pulled out of it to be put into a Jeep. The guy who put it into the Jeep said he was a forum member, he was having some injection issues with the engine (which he said he discovered was not even the original engine in this 300D) but his installation in that Jeep was very nicely done. This body wasn't perfect, the trunk and the hood need to be repainted, needs a new passenger taillight, needs a wash, and needs a few of the trim pieces inside and out to be reattached but was overall very clean. What really surprised me was that I could not find rust. There was a hint of surface rust on one jacking tube and on the battery tray, but that was all I could find. All of the other jacking tubes were spotless, the drains were spotless (and not filled with crap either), the rockers and floor pans were spotless. The tank cap and filler neck were spotless. The interior was very good overall, only issues being one of the pieces of wood trim had the glue fail, the rear armrest was no longer fully attached, and the dash had a few cracks. The sunroof (electric) works, the tach works, the odometer works, the automatic CC works, and all but one of the electric windows works.

The plan is to get the 240D drivetrain swapped in as well as many of the suspension bits as many parts are bad due to age instead of miles. We'll probably swap in the manual climate control and possibly the manual windows. I'll open up the sunroof and get it lubed up properly. We'll install AC. Here are the two pictures I got:

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

Can't believe nobody replied yet. Best of luck with the project.

We have hit a couple of snags but nothing major. Broke a shift linkage coupling on the way out and the transmission mount is shot but that's not much to worry about, like $40 or so. Got a call from a guy who wants the transmission for his 83 300D with 500K on the original transmission.

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

Nice find. Please post some pictures once you're finished.

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2012 B Class

1981 300D - Now with greazzer

Pretty looking car I like that color. Be a nice car when you get her all put together.
Still some nice W123`s out there that need some love.

Think I`ll start an organization, SPCMBZ, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to old Mercedes Benz,


Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I have made the drive from Columbus to Atlanta many times without A/C. You've gotta love your car!

Go Wreck!

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85 300D

Our 300d-turbo is one of them.

Got hit in the rear before we acquired it & has the wrinkles on both sides, and the sagging rear, to show it.

Neat project you have going there - and the Jeep install of a Mercedes engine sounds neat as well.

I'd like to put one in a Ford F-150 or Chevy Suburban or the like ...