My 1982 300SD Project Thread

[Mölyapina]

Originally Posted by jake12tech

Wow, that's the nicest SD I've seen in awhile. That paint is amazing after all these years! My 126 was Cabernet Red. Drive that baby till the wheels fall off! I plan on getting another W126 real soon.

Thanks! The paint does not look as nice in person, though overall it is more than decent. I have some cracking on the rear doors which I'm going to have to address.

Originally Posted by crazy4diesel

Dunno about you, but the missing black plug on the needle of the speedo would drive me nuts down the road.

Yeah, this speedo came with a chrome plug, and the other 'SD instruments have black plugs, so I was going to look for a black plug... wait a minute,I just had a thought... could I grab the other chrome ones from the W123 cluster? I bet I could...

That would look "classier". Thanks for jogging my mind a bit!

[JB3]

did you get your starter installed?

[Mölyapina]

[EDIT]Reading this through, I notice that it contains copious amounts of rambling. Be warned...[/EDIT]

The starter is going in tomorrow. It's for the spare engine -- after spending about two hours trying to pull the starter from the 'SD, I gave up and rang up MagicBus and got a great deal on a used starter! I'll bolt it on to my spare engine tomorrow so that I can pull compression numbers and put it up for sale... then it is back to the 'SD . I'm estimating ~3 hours of work to get it drivable -- very exciting!

Ironically, it was last Thanksgiving break that I was planning on getting a lot of work done on the 300D that the tranny for this 'SD came out of... however, my sister & I were hit the night after Thanksgiving by someone running a stop sign at about 20-25 MPH and I was not able to work on any car for the next several months due to back & neck injuries and a concussion.

I still remember the accident. I see a late-model Honda Civic coming up to the stop sign not yet braking (he is coming from a side street), but I assume he is just going to do his braking at the end. Only when I am too close to stop does it become clear that he is running the sign... I floor it, swerve into the oncoming lane (no one is coming), and blare the horn. I still experience the scene, the headlights cutting a path ahead of me, the engine running hard as I am flooring it to get away... a sense of relief when I think I have avoided him... and then a deadening bang... and it is over.

We are sitting in the lane we were traveling in, facing a Civic with a now-busted front bumper.

Ugh.

[Mölyapina]

So, the good news first: the only things left to do on the transmission end are the shifter linkage hook-up, driveshaft center nut tightening, and ground cable install! I got the flex disc/driveshaft thing bolted up today, the TC & FW bolted up, the dipstick installed, and a bunch of other misc. done. I'm very excited.

Bad news is this:



That's the passenger's-side rear outer. Thankfully I caught this before I drove on it. Here are the other three, going from passenger's-inner to driver's-outer:







I'm thinking of popping an Astoria on the busted one and waiting to do the others until Christmas break. Does that sound like a good plan? I'm thinking of going this way because I'm hoping I could replace the outer boot without removing the axle from the diff. Is this correct?

[JB3]

Originally Posted by Jooseppi Luna

So, the good news first: the only things left to do on the transmission end are the shifter linkage hook-up, driveshaft center nut tightening, and ground cable install! I got the flex disc/driveshaft thing bolted up today, the TC & FW bolted up, the dipstick installed, and a bunch of other misc. done. I'm very excited.

Bad news is this:

That's the passenger's-side rear outer. Thankfully I caught this before I drove on it. Here are the other three, going from passenger's-inner to driver's-outer:

I'm thinking of popping an Astoria on the busted one and waiting to do the others until Christmas break. Does that sound like a good plan? I'm thinking of going this way because I'm hoping I could replace the outer boot without removing the axle from the diff. Is this correct?

those axles should be fine a test drive, but you will definitely want the axle out and on a work bench to try the slipping over the can rebooting procedure. You aren't going to have the room to try it horizontal on the car, not without removing one side of the rear subframe and suspension that will be in your way.

Much easier to remove fully.

[Mölyapina]

OK, I'll plan on that then... it'll be a good excuse to get a peek inside the diff and get some measurements so that I can try to figure out if there's anything I could set up for some sort of LSD...

Oh, and I finished it! I went out around nine this morning and crawled around under the car outside in the rain through puddles with a small sheet of 3/4" ply as my only protection... of course, it soaked through and collected a small puddle by the end too. I feel like a wet dog. But it should run once I get some ATF in it.

[JB3]

excellent! Just some ATF and road test time? awesome

[Mölyapina]

Yeah! And now that I'm inside in clean, dry clothes, I can actually smile about it . I guess we'll see if the tranny actually works in the next few days.

[Mölyapina]

Stink! I just realized I forgot to finish bolting up the fluid pan...

[Mölyapina]

You can guess why I'm happy .



I'm pouring this in tomorrow. I also got a set of sparks for the Buick, but that is beside the point .

[funola]

Don't do what I did. I poured whatever the spec volume of ATF in after changing transmission filter and pan gasket to have fresh ATF all over the driveway. I thought I did a poor job installing the pan gasket so took it out/ install again very carefully (did that twice) only to have fluid leaking out all over again. Third time I cleaned everthing and poured while watching with a mirror till I started to see drips, crawled under to see where it was leaking from. It was from above the pan gasket!. Turned out it was leaking out the vent! Not sure what the exact procedure is but you put some in, start the engine, shut it off, put more in, stop engine, put more in etc. I was very pissed at myself that day.

[sixto]

This is my way: Assuming you started with the right amount in the tranny, fill with however much drained from the pan (not the TC) and a quart more. Start the engine and move the lever to R. If the tranny doesn't engage, go back to P, add a pint then try R again. Lather, rinse, repeat. If/when the tranny engages, check the level and fill in cup increments. After adding a cup, run the lever through all the gears pausing a couple of seconds at each lever position returning to P then check the level. When the level is about 1cm below the lower mark on the dipstick, check for leaks (again) and go for a 20 mile drive; not 20 minute drive, 20 mile drive. The level should be about right but you can top off to the level of your preference. Some folks like it at the top mark, some between marks, etc.

If you started on ramps, back off the ramps when the tranny engages in R. It might take some revving to overcome the slippage when the tranny first engages in R. Or use a jack to lower the car. There's no point checking fluid level when the car isn't level.

Sixto
87 300D

[Mölyapina]

Originally Posted by funola

Don't do what I did. I poured whatever the spec volume of ATF in after changing transmission filter and pan gasket to have fresh ATF all over the driveway. I thought I did a poor job installing the pan gasket so took it out/ install again very carefully (did that twice) only to have fluid leaking out all over again. Third time I cleaned everthing and poured while watching with a mirror till I started to see drips, crawled under to see where it was leaking from. It was from above the pan gasket!. Turned out it was leaking out the vent! Not sure what the exact procedure is but you put some in, start the engine, shut it off, put more in, stop engine, put more in etc. I was very pissed at myself that day.

Oh man, thanks for the warning... I may just pour in two quarts, let it settle, carefully pour in another quart, let it settle, etc. and frequently check for spills.

Originally Posted by sixto

This is my way: Assuming you started with the right amount in the tranny, fill with however much drained from the pan (not the TC) and a quart more. Start the engine and move the lever to R. If the tranny doesn't engage, go back to P, add a pint then try R again. Lather, rinse, repeat. If/when the tranny engages, check the level and fill in cup increments. After adding a cup, run the lever through all the gears pausing a couple of seconds at each lever position returning to P then check the level. When the level is about 1cm below the lower mark on the dipstick, check for leaks (again) and go for a 20 mile drive; not 20 minute drive, 20 mile drive. The level should be about right but you can top off to the level of your preference. Some folks like it at the top mark, some between marks, etc.

If you started on ramps, back off the ramps when the tranny engages in R. It might take some revving to overcome the slippage when the tranny first engages in R. Or use a jack to lower the car. There's no point checking fluid level when the car isn't level.

OK, sounds good. I don't remember what I drained from it, but the valve body has had lots of time to drain, so I will assume the max. I can't drive it yet (not registered), but when I do, I will go 20 miles. Don't need much of an excuse for that .

[Mölyapina]

I haven't done much with the car, but I willl try cold-starting it in a few days when we get >0° to see how it does . In the meanwhile, here is a picture:



The passenger's side fog light is out, but you don't notice that.

Here is the Buick. That's one of the things I like about the car -- someone will have to try awfully hard not to see the rear at night!

[Mölyapina]

OK, so I haven't posted anything about the car in a while, mainly because I haven't gotten it moving yet . Some stuff has happened, though.

My seats haven't gone anywhere.

I have gotten some stuff for the car, though. I went down to Worcester to visit MagicBus and trade him a bunch of W123 parts for these:



Aluminum fake steelies! I got those because I love the hubcaps used on the first-gen W126 (this is not my car, just an example):



Now I just need to find hubcaps. But that's more on the back burner at this point.