Well, the 116 SD's PWN me Something about them, I'm a car guy from waaay back. Owned some weird *****. English Ford anyone, Renault, Saab, VW's... you get the picture. VW's came close but not like this.

Anyway...

I just drove about 600 miles in my 2nd 300. Flew down to check it out, ALMOST came home without it but settled on a price I could live with. 70-80 mph on I75 for 500 miles. SWEET! Probably got around 25mpg even with a few "Italian tune-ups"

The good:

Less than 100,000 miles.
OUTSTANDING interior.
Tach and clock work.
It's an early '80 with no EGR.
No sunroof. (Holes don't belong in the tops of driven cars. It took some experience before I actually believed that...)
Has the original keys, owners manual, first-aid kit, Becker radio in the trunk, some cool vintage MB dealer promo stuff. May have the tool kit, I haven't really poked around all the stuff in the trunk, there are some extra taillights, belts etc. back there.
When I test drove it she was blowing cold AC. Has a red ACC servo if that means anything. My other SD has an all black one.
The power locks DID work. (More on that )
The cruise control sort of works. It'll accelerate but doesn't seem to "lock" I didn't really fool with it much...
Garnish molding gleams.
Steering is good and tight.
The light lenses are in super clear shape.
Rubbers are in fine shape.
No "whitening" at the corners of the glass.

The bad:

The temp gauge doesn't work. (I kept a close eye on coolant/hoses during the trip.) Pull that stunt with a 603

It decided that it didn't want to shut off about 100 miles into the trip It runs rough like it "wants" to stop but it doesn't.

The power door locks quit working.

The ACC decided that I needed defrost/heat ONLY after I fiddled with the buttons I drove halfway up the state of Fla. like that until I had a heat stroke and pulled the blower fuse before losing consciousness... regained consciousness and continued trip...

She has some cancer I have a welder and have done heavy body work. (Replaced quarter panels on a '70 Chevelle once. Swore it would have to be something REALLY SPECIAL before doing anything like that again...)

No dash lights.

Has some bad negative camber in the front.

Can't adjust the drivers seat and the d-ring is broken The height adjustment works fine. Go figure...

So, I'm thinking a vacuum line came loose somewhere and wreaked havoc on my system. I checked all the stuff near the MC and around the engine bay and didn't see anything. Any advice on where to start?

I'll post some pics later.

If you're still reading this, thanks for listening

Overall, I think (HOPE) I have a solid foundation for a nice resto project.