I just bought a 1985 300SD with the 5 cylinder turbo deisel (cali emissions) & I love it. Just wanted to say that this web board kicks a@@ and the info on this site is incredible.
My SD has just under 300,000 miles on it and I believe was not really maintained in the last few years. It had low trans fluid, oil and the tires were low. Basically the car sat for a while after the owner died and it was sold to me. After being thrown into German engineering and reading the posts on this site, here is what I know:

-Rotella oil might be the best for me
-Vacuum runs almost everything
-If i lock my doors, my cruise control works
-i can get 27-30 mpg, maybe
-i won't win the Indy 500
-my air filter is $80 locally

Here are things i don't know
1. After doing my oil change, its still black like the night. How do I 'clean' the bad oil out?

2. My fan for the climate control works only if I jiggle the ignition key, and even then only about 50% of the time.

3. what is the best manual to get for all the other things. I got the deisel service manual out of the library but want a good one that covers everything.

4. Wher can I get metric vacuum hoses.

Happy in California
Thanks again
rick