I am looking at a 1987 300D Turbo with 190k on the clock. The man said that it had a blown head gasket. It will run, but it will overheat so he doesn't let it run long. He can see the coolant "come out". Would the head be warped? If it was, how much wuld I be looking at to have it machined or replaced(used)? I would be able to do everything myself except for the machining. Would the car be worth about $600-$700? It sat for several months, then 5-6 months ago his dad started it quickly to move it, since then it has not been started.
But is what I really want to know is if the head would be destroyed beyond repair, or if I could just replace the gasket. The car has no rust and the interior is in fair to good condition. Only has minor other flaws.
Thank You
David

Blown head gasket? Ha! I'll bet it's a cracked head. Too common on these engines. Even if it's not, you don't want to put an original head back on a 603.96x if you have it off. Get the latest part number head available (it's actually the same head as the 3.5l 603.97x).

You can do the math on what it's worth. Figure on around $2200 for a bare head with guides from FastLane plus a gasket set, machine shop work to move the parts from the old head to the new head, any parts that can't be transferred (mine needed two exhaust valves at ~$10 each), reshaping the 603.96x prechambers to fit the new head (cheaper than a set of 603.97x prechambers), plus labor if you're not doing it yourself.

Then there's while you're in there things like new glow plugs, having the intake manifold, mixing pipe and cross-over pipe hot tanked if they're caked with sludge, new timing chain and tensioner, new water pump, etc. that you can't really charge to the condition of the car, but will have to pay for if you decide to do them.

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

sixto is spot on. The head is not fixable as these were flawed from the factory and reputable salvage yards will NOT sell a used 1986-1987 head. A neglected 300D is a money pit. But W124's generally get more than $600-700 even in the condition you describe.

Thanks,

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Brian Toscano