car: 1987 300E

Whats been done: OVP relay, fuel pump relay, inspected vacuum lines

Symptoms: Car doesn't start now that the OVP has been replaced w/ a known working relay. Car attempts to start, almost catches, and then doesn't. Every so often it does the growl and a puff of white smoke comes from what I assume to be the fuel distributor.

I pulled the airbox apart to see if that was a pos problem, and the brass piece to suck in air is kinda dirty.

I can only assume its a fuel delivery issue and not an electrical, but I don't know what to do next. It seems that the distributor is a little on the expensive side, and thats kinda not something I want to shell out for if there is something else that can be done.

Is there anything else I have missed as far as what to check for the car? I can't seem to gather anything from other posts on the issue.

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87 300E
202k on the clock