Saw a 1983 300D (non turbo) with a factory 4 speed manual, white exterior, blue cloth interior, A/C and some other stuff. In generally poor condition, very little rust though, but cracked dash, poor paint condition, broken Euro headlamps (cracked lenses and taped with Scotch tape or something) but otherwise looking ok.

Looks like some unskilled jerk tried to put a stereo system in that does not fit. A bit of butchering in the rear deck and bare speakers protruding from the front speaker holes in the dash corners.

Cloth upholstery was in pretty good condition. I have an appointment to look at it further in the morning, but may not make the trip (30 miles from my house) as it was going to take a little more to get it up to snuff than I want to invest in terms of time. Still recovering from my March skiing event...

If someone is interested I will give a good once over and report back. I believe the car can be had for a thousand or less, and it has something like 140,000 miles showing on the odometer.

Need an excuse to get on the road to see it in the morning. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Hey Jim, definately let me know, I've been looking for a decent 123 euro car.

turbodiesel,

Well, the car has 136,000 miles and in some areas it seems the mileage is accurate. But overall the car is in the downward death spiral and I do not think it is worth the effort to revive. I will try to list the good and bad sides below.

The clutch actuation is fine, and the car shifts smoothly but the linkage is, well, floppy. May be missing some rubber bushings or something. But the rear seal leaks on the clutch and it is very (I mean very) chattery. Repairing the rear seal is a task that should include rebuilding the engine since getting to the seal is so involved. It has minor to medium blowby, not bad, but definitely a puffing of smokey stuff with it idling with the oil fill cap off. I would say it passed the oil filling cap off test for blow-by.

Overall the car is a mess structurally. Sunroof (manual, along with manual windows) is severely misaligned (overflush by about 3/8 inch at front edge and underflush at rear edge) as are the headlights and front blinkers. Passenger side blinker is missing the tabs that fit in the slots on the outboard side of the headlamp assembly. No battery tray, lots of evidence of poor quality painting 9 (overspray, bondo poorly blended here and there), misaligned fenders, no washer fluid bottle and the rack for holding it is bent, no a/c function (it is the fully manual system), no vacuum locks although it shut off fine, Euro lights are not hooked up to vacuum aiming switch, lots of interior plastic trim for seats, etc. missing, a chunk of dash console next to the stereo is damaged, glove box door is askew, and so on.

The engine idles smoothly and the car runs pretty good, except for the extreme clutch chatter. It blows some blue stuff when you first stomp on the pedal, but it seemed to be a result of valve seal leakage collecting during prolonged idling.

I told the guy I was not interested and he got a little glum. He bought the car from his boss who claims he just put a clutch in and had the a/c fixed. He just about gave the car to me as he does not want it anymore, but I do not have the time or skills to revive this sample. So, if you want it for a few hundred dollars, I think you can have it.

I passed, but only because I am not inclined to fix something this far gone. Sad to see a car that started out as such a great machine die in so few miles. I told the guy it was beat and he asked if I thought he would ever sell it. I told him I did not think so. Way too many Saturdays required to fix that thing. But if someone is looking for a project car that will be nearly free until you get into fixing it, I can get you the phone number. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

What a shame about that poor car how someone could let it go like that. What is scary to me is the rust, and the mis aligned body panels and sunroof. Sounds like it got hit pretty hard once or twice and was not fixed right.

Thanks for looking Jim, but I think I'm going to pass on this one.

If I didn't live in the Great White North (more eastern actually) I'd be down there to pick this sick baby up .

I would think all of the 300d owners who were itching for a standard trans. would be on this ASAP! It sounds like it would be a great donor car considering the price.

Aivars