Hello, my name is Dave Larson and I just bought a 78 300SD in Denver. I am flying to Denver Friday night 10/12 to drive the car back to Detroit where I live. There are a couple of mechanical things which concern me and I hope you all can help.

My brother (a fairly decent mechanic, but with no MB Diesel experience) has been driving the car and informing me of potential "issues": (note that this appears to be a Euro model)

1. Heat doesn't work, have pushed water through the core and it is clear. The valve which is controlled by the climate control appears not to be functioning. Is there an easy fix? Can that valve be disassembled and cleaned? If not, I plan to bypass that valve, installing a mechanical hot water valve in the line just to get me home.

2. At one of the injector-to-head junctions there is a fuel seepage. Nothing big, but can this be easily repaired before the cross-country trip? What parts and special tools are needed? I would have to get those overnighted to my brother in Denver unless the Stu Ritter MB shop has them. Speaking of Stu Ritter, anybody have any input on that outfit?

3. Motor mounts appear to have collapsed (like they had in my 944 Porsche). I plan to replace, but will it be OK to drive in it's current state? This should be a low-load, low-impact trip.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions. I look forward to talking with you all, for some time I have been a member of Rennlist ( a Porsche / BMW discussion group / website) and I am a serious racing guy. I have a 1.9L 67 VW Bug I drag race, ran a 10.90 et at 122 mph this past weekend. 1 drag race VW, 1 slotcar 944 Porsche, 1 Mercedes. Have had many Porsches and Volkswagens, this is my first Mercedes.

Have a great day! Dave Larson