New to Me EUROBENZO 1986 300d - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

rjz5400 · #1 04-15-2015, 09:29 PM

Well here is my intro thread for my newest car.
I was missing the Mercedes Experience and when i replaced my wife's busted imports with a sweet wagon, I ended up wanting my own again.

This 300D came up in pretty good shape but the best part was the euro Spec on it. I have never owned a 300d and this one has it all. I emailed the guy and he had a deposit from a "serious buyer" who was out of town..... I don't know what happened with him but I got an email or two and jumped on the opportunity before it went back up for sale. Ill lets the pics do the talking but the best parts are the options of all manual everything some new parts and recent maintenance and the Hella Euro glass lights with vacuum adjust. The worst are the REpaint and the small areas of rust.

Description
1986 300d NA 617 M pump
AC (factory? )
4 speed Manual (not sure exactly which yet)
VGC Bunts 14"
MBZ wood shifter handle
Wood trim dash (Add on? )
Black interior Perfect dash!
Cloth in VGC (fabric name for repair?)
VGC euro Bumpers
Manual Sunroof
Taillights seem to be the US spec without "fog lights" and with amber and white sections
1.5 year old 1000CCA AGM battery Autocraft Gold, new ground
Fifth Brake Light (original or add on?)
ALSO came with
Aftermarket Cruise Control
Welded on trailer hitch
Weird little fake chrome plastic trim strips on door and mudguards
Haynes manual
two seat covers
Dash Cover
MBZ car cover in Bag
Original made in germany Perrelli spare
Road triangle
VGC First aid kit unused
lots of maintenance records
original books and owners manuals
3 spare primary filters three secondary filters (fuel)
Spare battery, 1-2 years old

The bad
small rust spots
some oil leaks
sag in the rear (one bump spring pads)
torn boots
overheating issue (runs at 115C )
Green COOLant
heater core, fan, and valves bypassed, no AC. fan makes plastic smell and NOisSE
Apparent WVO use in single tank, receipt for complete drain of fuel system....

My goals are to get it very clean, fix all the worst rubber and other small issues, and then go from there. Usual stuff, like Motor Mounts and Flex Disks. I also want to get into paint correction and make this medium respray job look great @ five foot.
Ill be starting an ongoing restoration and build thread also but this is the intro. feel free to chime in with any ideas, questions, knowledge, answers, or resources, as it seems like the euro differences aren't always findable. SA hvac or M pump ect.....

on to the pics

Ceristimo · #2 04-16-2015, 12:09 PM

Nice! Congratulations. Looks like a nice one. Manual roof. I remember that big chrome grip to open the roof from the W123 my dad used to have in the '80's. Apart from the wood trim, cruise control and upholstery yours looks almost identical to the one I grew up in. And a manual transmission! I'm jealous....

Just out of curiosity, what is this button for?

Mine doesn't have that. Is that idle-adjust?

DieselPaul · #3 04-16-2015, 12:16 PM

Yeah thats the idle adjust, the 240Ds have it.

Those are USA taillights, on a euro taillight the amber wraps all the way around. It has USA turn signals as well.

Unfortunately the cloth is hard to find, my dad has it in his his 85 300D and we've contacted my parts guy at the local dealer as well as the classic center and they cannot supply it.

If you scare any up send me a PM, I am looking for blue, but if someone has one they may have the other.

Ceristimo · #4 04-16-2015, 12:49 PM

But this is a 300D right? Where did that idle-adjust come from? Or was that a Euro thing?

dude99 · #5 04-16-2015, 01:03 PM

Quote:

But this is a 300D right? Where did that idle-adjust come from? Or was that a Euro thing?

The non-turbo w123 300D's all have them, NA inculede. So does the w116 300SD actually

Phillytwotank · #6 04-16-2015, 01:06 PM

Early 300D NAs also had the idle adjust

rjz5400 · #7 04-16-2015, 03:43 PM

yea the knob looks just like mine form my old 240d, it doesn't work (atm) but ill be looking right into it. And about the fabric, I did see someone who found a supplier for his/her color. If i come across it again ill be sure to post it here also.

I wonder how/why the indicators got swapped? it is indeed a euro car, maybe it was imported and the lenses swapped to US spec. I do have evidence it was here in the USA as early as 86 IIRC. I haven't had time to go through all the documents yet.

Ceristimo · #8 04-16-2015, 04:20 PM

@Dude99
Thanks for clearing that up! Learned something new today

rjz5400 · #9 04-22-2015, 09:08 PM

I found a thread about the adding of an extra bulb in the w123. I had planned to do this as i noticed the empty spot in the holder and pulled the parts from the junkyard the other day.

someone asked about it but here it is anyway.

Also any opinions about whether I should add a running light or a brake light? I already have the hat rack mounted third brake light so i am leaning toward running lights.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/287882-brake-light-upgrade-w123.html

Also update Washed the car tonight, had gotten pretty dirty with the pollen and springtime. no pics, too dark. but I plan on taking some more steps for paint correction and ill be sure to do before and after.

pj67coll · #10 04-22-2015, 09:25 PM

Very nice find. I'm sure that the 300 with a manual must be a pretty decent car to move around. I'd love to know how it compares to my 240D.

- Peter.

rjz5400 · #11 04-22-2015, 10:05 PM

i am really just learning the trans and NA 671. I want to clean the fuel system back to front as I suspect it isn't delivering as it should, I have heard the M-pump NA cars are quite fast with the manual and so far I am not feeling it.
Although it is faster than my auto euro 240...

On the long list are
Cleaning the tank
cleaning the strainer
new fuel filters
pop test/rebuild injectors
check timing chain stretch
adjust valves
ect...

BodhiBenz1987 · #12 04-22-2015, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DieselPaul

Yeah thats the idle adjust, the 240Ds have it.

Those are USA taillights, on a euro taillight the amber wraps all the way around. It has USA turn signals as well.

Unfortunately the cloth is hard to find, my dad has it in his his 85 300D and we've contacted my parts guy at the local dealer as well as the classic center and they cannot supply it.

If you scare any up send me a PM, I am looking for blue, but if someone has one they may have the other.

For the cloth, have you guys checked World Upholstery? World Upholstery & Trim, American Manufacturer of Car/Auto Upholstery, Carpet, Convertible Tops, Car Seats, Headliners & Door Panel Parts for Classic European Cars like Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Jaguar, Fiat, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo ... I'm not sure if they'll have that exactly, but they list "velour" under raw materials. I bought a nice big roll of MB tex for mine a few years back and lost it ... yeah, I lost a yard-long roll.

It's not cheap but it's good stuff.

Great car, by the way, rjz5400!

disqo · #13 04-23-2015, 09:52 PM

I actually looked at that car and was super torn about it. The interior was in the best condition I have ever seen. I almost bought the car just for the interior. I still thank about that crack free dash sometimes late at night. The car drove well, but the temperature needle started to climb pretty quickly on my short test drive. There was no antifreeze visible from the top of the radiator, so it may have just been low. I also noticed the heater core had been bypassed and I presumed it leaked. The manual windows were incredible and much easier to roll up and down than I expected. I did notice an aftermarket cruise control that I would have gotten rid of pretty quickly. The deal breaker for me was rust in the drivers hinge pocket. There was a pretty big hole. I really, really liked the car and thought it huge potential, but it was more project than I wanted right now.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

rjz5400 · #14 04-23-2015, 10:27 PM

yea i was wondering if I would find the raleigh owner who had the deposit but was going back and forth. Was that you?

anyway yea i bought it for the reasons you mentioned, all the problems were nothing i haven't dealt with before. plus as far as the motor goes i am not all that concerned with longevity on this NA as decent turbo motors are around for cheap cheap all the time and it would be a blast to have a turbo 4 speed euro car.
the dash, wheels, headlights, bumpers, and cloth int. were all I really needed to see. It has obviously been garaged and the leather dash cover and MBZ car cover have been used over the years for sure....

keep an eye out for updates as I plan to fix all those issues and so many more depending on how long I keep this car.

I already picked up fiberglass mat (buddies surfboard glassing shop) to fix the hinge pocket and I think I may just pull the thermostat out and see if the temp comes way down. It is very consistent at about 100C even after 30 mins @ 75mph or "spirited" around town driving. Slightly higher than I would like to see, especially if I get the CC operational and/or outside temps start getting into the 90-100F range.

rjz5400 · #15 04-26-2015, 11:10 AM

Ok got some good news, some not so good, and some possibly very disappointing news.
Also a couple of questions with some ID help requests.

Here is the good news, I replaced the fog light indicator bulb, success! and just so you can be sure it is euro I have it on with lights, on with just parking lights and off.

Next I swapped out my brake release for one i scored with much better lettering, easy swap,

Lastly I cleaned the lenses and rotated the bulbs to get better contact and here they both are working. (license plate bulbs)

I grabbed one pic of the bulb holders to show how i plan to add a second rear running light bulb. I wont finish this until later on.

I also discovered the thermostat was original, likely. I was stamped Germany and 3 84 I believe, no pic as I had coolant all on my arms.

The not so good includes these pics, pretty self explanatory.

broken nipple

oil filter gasket leak prob....

looks like rust? sludge or something, waiting on 46mm socket to arrive so I can pull the sender and check out the tank, also replace the fuel lines in the back....

Ok the bad news is while I was holding the vacuum nipple waiting for the jb weld to dry I spotted this

so I got under the car and found these

I also took these pics in case you guys/girls can tell from the linkage or case

this makes me think the trans is not an original euro 5cylinder flywheel. I interpret the paint markings as probably

BAS 82 M240

meaning B(ob's) A(uto) S(alvage) (19)82 M(ercedes) 240 (d) {trans and bell housing}

What do Y'all think? Would someone have swapped the FW when putting a JY trans in there? I wouldn't but who knows. Also maybe they mean something else like IDK.....

anyway here is the rear end if that helps understand the #s and ill go through the records to double check for info

LAstlY
ID questions, if you know what this is please chime in.

My compressor, Sanden? other?

and this grommet spacer thing