Well back about 2 years ago (wow time flys) I had the issue of my 87 300D cracking teh #14 head. Bought all the stuff to fix it, made a trip to nashville and secured a good replacment head etc, and then the storms hit and the car sat over at the local repair shop.

Wife ran into the guy from the shop and I guess it's almost ready to pick up! I had all but written off the car at this point.

But as it stands, I know the car needed quite a bit before the head issue. Dash was cracked, paint faded, tires worn you know basic stuff. What years of cars can I utilize parts from exactly? It's going to need headlight surrounds and stuff to start. Body is a solid rust/dent free example with on around 225k on it, and a TON of work was performed on it before me. (there is a thread on here talking about all the repairs this car had with PO) So I think I'll go ahead and keep the car as a secondary run around car.

That's awesome to hear that it is about on the road! I myself just finished a head replacement on my 87 300d for a cracked head as well. As far as cars you can pull parts off of, I am sure there are other far more knowledgeable people on here than I. With that being said, you can pull engine-related parts off of a w124 with the same engine (I think just 86/87), and also many engine parts are interchangeable off of a 300sdl as well (with the om603 engine). For body parts, most of the w124 chassis cars should have parts (like your dashboard, etc)...this page gives you a list of the various model designations for the w124 chassis: click here

You just have to check past threads because some parts are not interchangeable between gasser cars and diesels (such as the klima relay for the a/c system). Sometimes I see good deals on headlight surrounds on ebay, so you will have to check around. Good luck!

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97 S500 (90,000 miles) - wife's car
87 300D (298,000 miles and a replacement #14 head)
94 Suburban K2500 - need something to haul firewood
83 300SD (343,000 miles) (sold)