FS: 1981 300CD Turbo Diesel w/ 4 speed Manual Transmission
 

So its time, I have really enjoyed this car and bringing it back to life.

1981 Mercedes Benz 300CD

• 197k Miles
• Manganese Brown
• Palomino Tex Interior
• 3.0 L Turbo Diesel
• 4 speed Manual Transmission
• Driveshaft professionally shortened and balanced
• 3.07 Differential
• European H4 Headlights (euro "city" light wired and has vacuum leveling feature)
• New OEM exhaust (center and rear mufflers)
• New front/rear windshields (OE along with OE gaskets)
• Electric RH Mirror retrofitted
• Tachometer Gauge & Amp

I came into possession of a '83 300TD from which I transplanted the engine, differential and tachometer gauge/amp. Engine was thoroughly gone over… good compression, new monark injector nozzles (and injectors were pop-tested/balanced), seals/gaskets replaced, IP timed, fuel pump rebuilt, camshaft timed (offset key), boost pressure adjusted, valves adjusted, glow plugs replaced.

Transmission stuff came from a '82 240D and again everything was cleaned and serviced. Flywheel surfaced/match balanced and the driveshaft (original) was shortened/balanced. As mentioned the engine/driveline is in great working condition and has been maintained very well. Brake were done recently (pads and rotors). Cars rides and drives beautifully.

Exterior, paint is somewhat faded and the clear, especially on the top left fender is peeling. Floors/Rockers/Roof/Rear Quarters are solid and any rust was professionally repaired. There is some rust at the bottom front of the fenders and bottoms of doors, that's it.

Interior, is in good shape, dash has some small cracks near the speaker grills, seats good (only wear from plastic trim when seat is folded), small hole in headliner, everything else is great. All windows (side and rear quarter) operate as does the sunroof. All vacuum locks and seat fold release work. What else… I've done so much since I got it that its hard to remember.

If you have any questions please ask, car is located in CT. I'm asking $3500 and I'm negotiable.

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Updated w/ pics

I added some new pictures, reinstalled some missing trim and I lowered the price. It's honestly a great car and I'd hate to see it go. It's definitely worth a look.

This thing is the ultimate driving combo, low slung coupe, turbo 617, and 4-speed. I can't believe no one has bought this car yet!

looks nice! Id be all over this if I didn't already have 3 of these MBs. :D

whats the situation on A/C? Has it been removed?

Also, I suggest a driving video for you sale threads. I had a 4-speed 300D that I converted and put about 40k on. It was a blast to drive, but it seems to me that especially with mercedes, people are wary of custom stuff and things the factory never made.

A video of how it drives would put those types of fears to rest.

Good luck!

Thanks for the kind words… personally I really enjoy the car. It's unique in that its a coupe (I don't see any around and I get a lot of compliments) and the MT makes driving it a pleasure.

I can make a video, but it'll be hard to drive and film… and I don't know whether it'll really convey the "driving experience". This MT swap is pretty well documented on the forums.

As far as the A/C, it was removed (compressor, dryer, condenser and lines to the heater-box/evaporator) and wasn't reinstalled when I did the engine swap. Personally I haven't missed the A/C and otherwise the HVAC is 100% functional.

I encourage any serious buyers to come look at the car and take it for a test drive. Then determine whether its right for them.

That's gotta go for 5 - 6k on ebay. An MT CD? Way too cheap. Ragged AT CDs are going for 3 - 7.

Yeah, maybe your right. Last I looked on ebay there were a few for sale, asking about what you said, but if you looked at the completed listing they went unsold…

Where was this two months ago, glws, I'm very jealous.

I bought mine on ebay. 82 300CD AT in not near as nice a condition as yours for $3600 about two months ago. If yours wasn't so far away I'd be adding it to the collection since I'll be reselling this CD after I sort the smoke issue.

True, I had someone from Ohio call, very nice guy, interested in the car, was willing to fly out or have it shipped back.

Someone wants a video? "Here, let me have a second slice of that pumpkin pie. I'm not sure what I think of it yet." :D. Kidding. :)

He's got a point, especially where you used the 240D flywheel... I could see some folks having questions about how that feels.

Thats my point right there. To me its a non-issue, as it seems with anyone who has completed this conversion, but it also seems like people get scared off from the idea that a 240 flywheel was used if they aren't familiar with the swap, or haven't driven a conversion.
People say "oh, but you used a 240 flywheel" in an uh oh type of way, as if that were a problem.

I even towed a utility trailer back and forth across the country a few times on my conversion using a 240 flywheel. its a total non issue provided it was balanced properly (which is important of any flywheel anyway). We are still talking a whopping 28lb chunk of cast iron, only 10lbs lighter than the 300D NA flywheel.

For comparison, a stock chevy V8 and V6 flywheel from the late 80s early 90s is 29lbs.

It really is a non-issue and a video won’t show the "feel" of the car. But I don't want to sound negative, so I'll try and get a video of it. The reality is if you want a manual transmission in your W123 (in the US), 9 times out of 10 you'll use the 240D flywheel and transmission because that is all that is available and it works.

While I was in Europe I scored a 617 flywheel (selling separately), but I never got around to installing it in the coupe. I was happy with the performance of the 616 flywheel, so I didn't see the need to drop the tranny again. The engine idles as good as it did prior to the transmission swap with a little lateral shimmy. Granted not as smooth as a MB/BMW inline 6, but typical of a W123 diesel in good mechanical condition. It accelerates smoothly/quickly and I have no issues with it stalling.

If they are long distance and serious enough to ask for a vid, I can't blame 'em. A vid wouldn't have helped in my case, I got the car from a seriously shady flipper (thousands of cars sold and perfect feedback.....most people like me probably did feedback before digging in and finding all the cover up).

So now I have 5K+, all parts not counting my labor, and it still doesn't run right and I have to strip off his 'new' paint job since there are bubbles between the layers. I'll either rebuild the head or hopefully get a used one, and get out of it for half what I put in.

That's kinda an off-subject rant but I'd rather yours had come up, a clean enthusiast car that needs minor items up front beats a flipper car with major issues hidden every time.

Here's my attempt at providing a clip of me driving the car:

http://youtu.be/tTnCWkfN6QA