Just found a interesting modification while mucking out the car- I'm pulling out the trunk mat, when, What the Hell Diamond plate spare tire cover! Well made, fits very nice and finished to a high standard with no sharp edges. Kinda Road Warriorish. I'm sure more to follow.

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2dieseljohn
1979 300sd (283,000+) Road Trips
1983 240D 4-speed (350,000+) Daily Driver
1967 E-TypeS1 in bits and pieces

Personally, I think you got a steal. Sure the car needs cleaning but from your pics, it seems to be in pretty good shape structure-wise. No major interior rips, no ultra-wierd engine mods and the body doesn't have large problems either.

(BTW, I would love to live "at the end of a dirt road".)

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

looks nice except a few hours of cleaning...
Sweet find. hope he had the old starter for you as well.

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83 300SD Dark Silver Dark brown inside

Nice find, John! You sure have a lot of work and cleaning ahead of you, but it looks like fun!
Not a bad deal at all, considering the price, especially if there's no rust. Can't wait to see more pictures!

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Nicolette
1977 240D

Heh that spare tire cover could do double duty for any number of thing!

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

I like the tire cover!

Looks like you've got your work cut out for you.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

not bad, hows the body?

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1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life
1991 190E 2.6(120k)
1983 300D(300k)
1977 300D(211k)

Well I just spent the day checking out the car. The good news is the body is rust free . No rust in any of the usual places. Not even under the battery tray. Their seems to be a slight leak into the trunk from the back window. When the PO said the car had been garaged her whole life I was thinking "Yeah,sure". Glad to know I was wrong.
The bad news is lots of scratches on the paint down to primer, I'm thinking pine tree branches. This car has not had a bath in years. The Inside is a mess and will take a lot of elbow grease to clean up. The wood is OK but seems to have been used as a note pad. She's missing some trim and the passenger rear door pull.
Most of my day was spent in the engine bay. The air intake is just weird. I'll have to get that set up correctly. The intake and exhaust manifold nuts were darn near only finger tight. The turbo seals were pretty much gone. So there was an amazing amount of oil everywhere. The nice part was with so much oil, all the nuts and bolts were easy to take off. After all that work I found the bracket that goes to the front of the starter is MIA. The parts needed list grows longer.

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2dieseljohn
1979 300sd (283,000+) Road Trips
1983 240D 4-speed (350,000+) Daily Driver
1967 E-TypeS1 in bits and pieces

that front starter bracket is optional LOL

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Wie lange wird Ihr Auto leben?

Nail polish remover will get that marker off of the wood. No, it won't harm the finish.

That car really looks like a mess...best of luck cleaning it up! I am doing the same as you at the moment with my neglected 77'.

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Current cars:
2000 ML55 AMG, 174k miles
2003 C240 T-Modell, 202k miles
1995 S320, 207k Miles

johnathan1- Thanks for the tip on removing the phone#s. I feel your pain.
Regards

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2dieseljohn
1979 300sd (283,000+) Road Trips
1983 240D 4-speed (350,000+) Daily Driver
1967 E-TypeS1 in bits and pieces