In my old age I've begun to look at situations differently. Yes, the car is reparable. The question is just how much time, money AND effort is it going to take?

Plan #1

1. Sell car to scrap yard (approximately two hours to arrange for tow truck driver to come pick up the car and give him a check).

2. Source a 300SD that has not been wrecked (approximately one to two weeks of checking out ads on cars.com, eBay and auto trader.

Plan#2

1. Locate sheet metal in good condition, then arrange to either pick it up or have it shipped.

2. Either find a competent body shop or try to do the body work yourself. although body work may look simple, it isn't. There are far too many cars running around right now that were the victims of POOR, BAD and INCOMPETENT body work. If it were me, I'd just as soon start over with a clean sheet of paper.

Why is this the situation, you may ask? Because the insurance companies don't want to pay to get your car repaired properly, that's why. You have to threaten to sue them and in some cases actually go through the hot mess of hiring a lawyer and suing them. This process is known to DRAG out for years......

the one in one hundred rule is this; only 1 in 100 body shops will actually repair a car properly. the ones I've come across who do the job correctly DO NOT TAKE INSURANCE. You pay out of pocket or they don't do the work.

This car is in very good shape overall, no real rust, no signs of it ever being wrecked. It doesn’t leak water into the cabin or trunk and the engine is strong.

I started my career as an auto mechanic in the late 70’s before switching to electronics. These days, I keep food mixing and packaging equipment running.

I’m thinking the only hammering needing done is the inner fender and radiator support. I’m also thinking getting a brand new driver another nice car might not be the best if my early driving history is anything to go by. I got a passenger rear door for a ‘72 Renault 12 wagon as a high school graduation gift. 😁

Michael

Sorry to hear of this .

I'd try hard to repair this car .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

If it were mine and I decided to keep it, I would carefully vet out a full service body shop versed in German cars. If you can't find one locally, you might be able to find a world class body shop in a bigger city. You need to ask a lot of intelligent questions like "Can you show me photographs of other MBs cars you restored"??

All I know is body work is a complex, complicated art/science. If you want the car to look and drive like BRAND NEW there is only one logical choice. Don't these vintage Mercedes automobiles deserve it? If it were a junker Chevrolet, ford or Chrysler then it wouldn't matter but because it IS a Mercedes Benz, it seems it deserves a great restoration.

Remember, in body work, there is the PRICE and then there is the COST.

I typed up a report last night but the internet ate it...

We got the hood open.

The radiator pushed the fan into the water pump enough to damage it's bearings so we will need pump, clutch and fan. The AC condenser is trashed but then the AC never worked so that's not on the top of the list. The horns may or may not have survived. The engine runs but due to no coolant and the trashed water pump, we only ran it for half a minute. It no longer starts in park but does start in neutral. The oil cooler and oil lines are fine as is everything on the drivers side from the fog light on.

The lower inner fender tore off of the frame rail near the lower inner corner of the headlight for about 3". We pulled the upper radiator support forward to get the fan out and this caused the torn section to mostly roll back into place. I'm confident I can repair this area. The part that gives me pause is the outer front corner of the inner fender. It's pushed back and down. If I don't get it right, the outer fender won't fit nor line up with the hood and the hood might not latch as it should. I may pay someone to do this part if I can find someone willing to work on a non insurance repair.

Row52 reports no parts within 500 miles but I do have feelers out in the classified section with a couple of responses.

Pictures soon.

Michael

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Usta haves '69 250/8, '76 280C, 1971 250C 114.023, 1976 450SEL 116.033
Current have, 1983 300SD 126.120

Depending on what you've done, I'd fix it. Most $1500 cars will need tons of mechanical stuff fixed. If yours is already sorted, replace the sheet metal. Do some bodywork & prep and get a Macco paint job to make the panels match.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Two 126s showing in Portland on Row 52.

“ Two 126s showing in Portland on Row 52.”

I’ve tried several variations in search terms and get nothing within 500 miles of Des Moines Washington. Clearly I’m missing an important clue since Portland is a 150 miles soundtrack of me.

Michael

Enter the span of years your model was made, make , model , zipcode, and search distance in the row52.com website.

A 1981 W126 300SD is showing in the Portland South yard in Row 33 since 8/16/21.
Hood and fenders could also be harvested from a GEN 1 W126 280, 380 or 500 sedan.
None of those are listed on Row 52 right now.

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78 W116 300SD 'Desert Rose' new as of 01/26/2014
79 W116 300SD 'Stormcloud' RIP 04/11/2022

Year: 1981-91, Make: Mercedes-Benz, Model: 300
All Yards, Zip: no entry, Distance: click the X, that should result in the word "Radius"
Click "SEARCH"

Well dang. Not sure what I was doing wrong but with help from Alex300SD and Frank, I've think I've got the hang of it.

Now to figure out whether it's cheaper to have a forum member ship their parts or for me to drive down to Portland. My drive choices are Uhaul, wait a week for my buddy with the F350 Super Duty or a little trailer on the back of the Maxima. Any one of which would be a fine adventure. I don't trust my truck over 30-40 miles, it tends to explode every so often. Way too much adventure.

Michael

__________________
Usta haves '69 250/8, '76 280C, 1971 250C 114.023, 1976 450SEL 116.033
Current have, 1983 300SD 126.120

Good to hear you're fixing it .

Why not just rent a $19.95 basic truck and a coil of rope to hold everything in the bed ? .

I'm always ready for another road trip .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I'll probably go for the van, it's the same price as the pickup and has a larger load area plus it's wicked hard for any treasures to fly out of the bed. Looks like it'd be around $180 for a round trip which I assume is much less expensive than shipping for items as big as a hood and fender. Plus as you say, it's a road trip. At 60, I'm not quite as into road trips as I once was but Alex is just 16. It could be epic for him.

Just called, they have the car but can't tell me what if any parts are missing. That does put a damper on the mission.

Michael

__________________
Usta haves '69 250/8, '76 280C, 1971 250C 114.023, 1976 450SEL 116.033
Current have, 1983 300SD 126.120

DO IT ! he'll only be 16 once, who cares about the rest of the travel reason .

I have many great memories of traveling with my then young son in old cars, trucks or Motocyles, just the other day he was telling me he had so much fun then .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

As usual, life got in the way. The current plan is to head south Monday morning and get what we can. It’s been in the lot for almost 3 weeks so might be a bit picked over but you never know.

In the mean time, I got bored this morning so I swapped out the $29 Chinese radio that quit working after 8 months for the Becker Mexico for the ‘76 450SEL. Looks much better and actually works. At least the radio works. The tape section is kaput.