Advertised as running and driving on Craigslist for $475. Really couldn't pass it up at the price, just for the amusement (it's bound to be worth double that in parts at a minimum). Got it home (barely), it runs pig rich, won't start unless your foot is on the gas and even then it sounds like it's popping back into the air cleaner before it decides to fire on all cylinders. Doesn't like to idle, when it does it sort of "surges". Before we drove it home we found a pair of gloves wedged under the air cleaner. Hopefully they weren't there to keep vacuum pressure up!



Cursory research has suggested it's likely a trigger point / vacuum issue, and that points generally can be cleaned. I'm 100% green to Mercedes-Benzes but I'm keen to try to nurse this one to driveability.

The other main reason I bought it is for this road rally they do every June, the Big Apple to Big Easy, which is five days of mostly twisty mountain driving from New York to New Orleans in a car you must purchase for under $500: http://www.baberally.com I do the t-shirts for the event, it's not a contest of speed but rather a sort of mechanical endurance challenge; generally folks try to find the most fascinating derelict beater they can get their hands on and try to keep it running. There have been a handful of diesel Benzes on it already.



Bodywise it's straight but a bit rusty. It spent most of its life in Naples, FL, and while not as rotted as the usual junk here in Wisconsin, there's minor perforation in almost every panel. My plan is to get it driveable as cheaply as possible and keep it around as a stylish in-town beater until something ridiculously expensive breaks. If it survives until next June, we'll see if it can take a 4500 mile drive in the space of a week.

Anyhow, what do you think? What things should I take a look at to sort out the fuel problem?

More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/72995406@N00/sets/72157608696709967/