"driveway find" 1967 200D
 

Hello all, I would like to share my find!
I have been driving by this house for the last two years+, ogling this very neglected 200D and finally got the nerve to approach the guy and ask if he wanted to sell it. Turns out he bought it at auction in 2002 and had since driven it less than 200 miles, and the previous owner before him put a lot of work into it. So other than the interior baking in the sun it handled the neglect pretty well. I got it home, cleaned it up, changed the fluids, and after "jumping" the glowplug relay to the battery (the preglow switch is broken, I'm upgrading to the push button pencil plugs at the moment) it started up IMMEDIATELY -- not even a split second of hesitation. Here's the video of it running, if you are interested! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zROIfOaBD1g&feature=youtu.be Lots of little projects to keep me busy over the winter, starting with replacing shift bushings- if anyone has any words of wisdom I would love to hear them, I searched around for a detailed replacement guide but other than the shifter removal info in the FSM I'm going in blind, wish me luck!

There are vids at youtube university for shifter bushings at least for 123/126 cars. Some are easy to get to and were sufficient to stop the rattle and make shifting feel normal at least on my cars.

What year is the bug? Many here probably had at least one in their lives. Mine was a 70 and sold because we had just bought an MGB and no one needed 2 cars. I should have considered thata the other car was British and kept the bug for when I needed something that ran.

Thanks for the info, I will check that out!
The Bug is a 1976, I bought it from the original owners, who took care of it pretty well although they repainted it red from the original baby blue for some reason...
Hilarious comment about the British cars, someone wanted to sell me a mid 90s land rover but I declined for that same reason... German cars give you fair warning before they break down, can't say the same about the British cars!

Kent Bergsma sells a tool to replace the shifter bushing but you do not really need it. Just be sure to soak the new bushings in boiling water and they will soften enough that you can press them in with a pair of pliers (I think I put a shim in the pliers to prevent damage to the new bushing).

nice find! Extra points for saving it from the masher. I had a 62 190c that color...great car.

Lots of charm!

Nice find. I would guess that your brake system will need a complete rebuild. MB requires annual flushes to prevent total rust out from the inside. You may need a full replacement from the Master cylinder to the pistons or calipers to the flex hoses etc. Been there done that, this year in fact. Brakes and steering/suspension repairs are the most important because they are safety items. A diesel flush is also in order.

Very nice!
If you ever want to get rid of it, PM me ;)

Glad you talked to them!

I've bought two of my w123s by leaving notes on the windshields.

Thanks I wouldn't have thought about soaking them to soften them up

Ugh yeah I'm all too certain you are correct - I have a stuck caliper I'm replacing as soon as I get the part but I'm sure that's just the beginning.
Then all the issues I dealt with on my 240D will for sure need addressing eventually (suspension, motor mounts, clutch slave/master cylinder)
But at least I have the time to do it at my leisure, there was a time the 240D was my only car, that changes the dynamic for sure!

Thanks, who knows what would have happened to the car - when I went to pick it up the PO told me he used the money to buy his tombstone...