Kurt,

Please contact me ASAP.

Jonathan
404 805 1357

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Blue Ridge Mercedes
Jonathan Hodgman
http://www.blueridgemb.com/
Enthusiast Service, Restoration & Tuning.
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Located in the Atlanta area
Specializing in all pre and post merger AMG's including Hammers and DOHC M117 engines.
Mercedes Repair Atlanta

I'm dealing with a dying center bearing support now, so most 300SEL stuff is on the back burner.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

It has been a while since I visited this thread but thought I would update anyone who is interested. I installed the 1st gear valve body and seperator plate I had sitting on the work bench. It started in first gear all right but wouldn't shift until 4500 rpm no matter what I did with the throttle cable adjustment.

I did a little more research and found a Mercedes transmission shop near Burbank called Sun Valley Mercedes. After speaking with Mark on the phone, I discovered that by simply swapping to the correct P/N valve body, stock 1st gear starts were easily achievable. Since the trans had about 225,000 miles on it and probably had about one shift left, I decided to let Mark do a rebuild and swap valve bodies while he was at it.

Mark did an outstanding job on the transmission. He had it back to me in three days, it cost $1250 plus $250 for installation and while he was in there he replaced the rear main seal which was leaking. Mark warranties his trannies for 2years unlimited mileage. He was very knowledgeable and great to do business with.

Since I got the car back it has been a real pleasure to drive. 1st gear start has dramatically improved off-the-line acceleration and the shifts in all gears are smooth including downshifts. I wish I had found Mark before I got off on the valve body mod tangent. Oh well, I learned something. Now that I have a new tranny, its finally time to start looking at the twin turbo install. I'll post back as I get closer.

Motorhead

RBYCC,

I was looking at these photos again and noticed your rear lip spoiler. Did you get that on eBay as you said for the grill? How are you doing? It has been a while since we chatted.

Motorhead