New Diesel! Question about the car

[mrwvo]

Hey guys and gals. Im sooo excited, picked up a 81 300sd this weekend, great body condition. However had a couple of questions about the engine.

I already have ordered new maintenance parts for it (air filter, oil filter, tranny filter, power steering filter, both fuel filters, MB coolant, and so on) and plan to change that all out before driving it anymore.

My concerns are as follows:

When at idle, sounds normal but when I get about 2-3k rpm, it makes a "fisst fisst fisst" sound, a sound that sounds like air escaping when under pressure. And there is a small amount of exhaust that is seen under the hood when that happens. Does that sound like a loose exhaust manifold, or something more serious? And if the noise does not bother me, can I just leave it without harm being done to the car?

When I start it up first thing in the morning, it takes a little bit to get it going, shakes around, and have to give it some gas (diesel) to keep it going for the first 15-30 seconds - then it smoothes out and no problems at idle. I have a banged up 79sd that can start without giving any gas, does not shake, and needs no help to keep it at idle at first - so I was concerned about this car.

The air filter in the car looks very very old. So I take that into consideration. But the pan, the vent hose that goes to the pan, and the filter seem to be very oily. Is that possibly because it has not been properly maintained and cleaned or should there be limited amount of oil in the air filter housing?

The car has a little bit over 250 thousand miles on it, should I be concerned about things like the timing chain?

The interior "woodgrain" is cracking and falling apart. Does anyone know where to get woodgrain colored stick on pieces for these cars, or generic pieces that I could cut to shape?

The car seems to pick right up and go. Takes off much quicker than my 79SD. It does shift somewhat hard when going from drive to reverse to park and so on, but I hope that feels a little better after changing the ATF fluid. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Oh btw, anyone in the phoenix area looking for a 79SD? Great engine, great interior, but the drivers side rear fender was hit pretty hard and put a nasty dent in the fender. Has been my daily driver for 6 months.

Thanks all!!!