I have completed my 300SDL car project (for now) and wanted to thank everybody on the forum for all of the help along the way.

You can go back and read my posts for the last nine months if you want the details but in summary I have always wanted to get a 300SDL but had pretty much given up on finding one that could be restored to showroom condition without spending an arm and a leg until this one came along last December. It was a handyman's dream...a car in perfect cosmetic condition but with some mechanical issues at a very low price. Basket case cars can be very tricky but with the help of postings from the forum I was able to determine that it had a cracked head. I was able to calculate that I could get it up to showroom condition for a total cost that was less than the book value of the car.

The only work I had to farm out was the machine shop work at Metric Motors and the 4 wheel alignment at the dealer. Here is a summary of all of the stuff I was able to do to it with help from the forum:

Motor
New "22" head with new valves and prechambers fitted at Metric Motors. I added new tappets and glow plugs and cleaned out the gunk from the intake manifold. The bottom end of the motor was very clean and even had the crosshatch marks on the cylinders. The car had always had regular oil changes and the cam was perfect. I added a new vacuum pump while I was in there.

Accessories
I put a new voltage regulator in the alternator and rebuilt the P/S pump with a new seal kit. The water pump and idler pully assembly had been changed recently.

Suspension
I put a new subframe and differential mounts in the rear along with 19mm spring shims in the rear. I put new track rod mounts, drag link and tie rods in the front. Everything else including the shocks had been recently done. after a 4 wheel alignment at the dealer (which is the only thing I didn't do to the car myself). It drives like a dream! My only compromise is that the total toe in the rear is -0.14 degrees when the specified range is +0.25 to 0.75 degrees at a ride height of 26 1/2 inches with a full tank and an empty trunk. Does anyone know how much more I have to shim it?

Climate control
I had to get a new climate control unit along with a new compressor, drier and condenser and charged it with R12

Brakes
I had to get a new master cylinder, front rotors and pads.

Transmission
The tranny had a very bad leak that turned out to be a bad O ringwhere the dipstick connects with the transmission. It shifted bad because needed to get a new vacuum control valve and a vacuum modulator. Special thanks to Brian Carlton on that one.

Anyway, here I am with a car that is in better condition than showroom (I say that because it has a "22" head and a new vacuum pump) and I need to thank everyone out there for all of the helpful postings.

__________________
Tom Hughes
St. Louis
84 300SD
92 300D
86 300SDL