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Project Old Gal "Mercedes Content!"


Benner

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Been itching to do a little work on cars since I don't wrench anymore for work. Think I found a good one.

 

Father-in-law has a 1979 Mercedes 300D. 3L Diesel good for 77hp 115lb-ft. 0-60 in"Dont worry about it". Just a decent "Piss Off The Traffic Behind You", cruiser Rust free Georgia car. Odometer stopped working shortly after he bought it in 03 at 104k. He drove it as a weekend car estimated 20k till 2009 when the ignition locked up where it was as then stored in a garage then storage locker for the last 9 years.

 

Goal is to get the old gal back to health and make it a decent weekend cruiser. Paint and 99% of the car are original down to 1979 vacuum hoses. Have to get the ignition freed and cleaned up/replaced, and get it back to good running and driving quality. Already been R134 converted but unsure if it's still functional. First thing I had to do was get the front windows up as soon as I got it to where I'm working on it "parents house" I don't have a garage for my box,cart, and tools.

 

9 years of dust

http://i.imgur.com/8mjb1Uvl.jpg

 

Seats and interior are in great shape. Couple small sections where the leather is seperating

http://i.imgur.com/yx0IgHRl.jpg

 

Getting her to the shop "Driveway"

http://i.imgur.com/xrmgqXAl.jpg

 

I got the windows up by removing the door panels and using a power probe to command them up at the motor wiring. While I was in the I did a quick inspection and tug of the lock actuator vacuum lines and they appear intact and flexible but I'll most end up replacing them and the majority of the hundreds of vacuum lines in this thing.

 

Quickly washed up

http://i.imgur.com/ouYmPtwl.jpg

Edited by Mitch
to fix the motherfucking giant pics goddamnit
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WOW! That's a time capsule right there. Brings back memories of when I was a kid and our neighbor had a white one like that.

 

 

I vote restore it to like new, don't slam it or anything just keep the history of it. Does it smell like 1979 in there :)

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WOW! That's a time capsule right there. Brings back memories of when I was a kid and our neighbor had a white one like that.

 

 

I vote restore it to like new, don't slam it or anything just keep the history of it. Does it smell like 1979 in there :)

 

Exactly what I'm doing. It's still my father-in-law's car. He's going to do a dual title with my wife that way if anything happens to him its automatically his.

 

And yes it smells like 1979. Still has the owners manual in the glove box that looks new.

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Exactly what I'm doing. It's still my father-in-law's car. He's going to do a dual title with my wife that way if anything happens to him its automatically his.

 

I’ve read this like 5 times, and I keep coming to the conclusion that your wife is a man.

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those old "D"s are indestructible. plus you can convert them to run on bio. Acceleration measured in comparison to glaciers, but they will last just as long and rack up 100s of thousands of miles no sweat. I think I remember reading somewhere that the engine is expected to go 250-400K miles before needing any major overhaul if properly maintained.

 

good luck getting it back on the road.

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Made a decent amount of progress today for only having about 3 hours to mess with the Benz. First task was freeing up the ignition to be able to turn the key. If it wouldn't free up I'd have to remove the dash and really didn't want to go there.

 

I ended up using an Orbital sander without paper on it to vibrate the shit out of the column lock. Worked perfectly to get the key to turn. Took about 20 seconds to remove the tumbler after I was able to get it to turn.

FuQXtzJl.jpg

 

After removal I found the tumbler was not the issue causing the key to stick and not turn. the column release pin was the issues. I contacted my father-in-law and told him i could either delete the pin or spend $150 to replace it. he was cool with deletion. My next step was to clean the column lock/ignition assembly and make sure it operated properly other than the lock pin sticking. After cleaning it up I drilled the side of the assembly approxiametely 1/2 inch fromt the end. then threaded the hole, inserted a screw and cut it flush.

 

you can somewhat see the screw i threaded in and cut. it holds the lock pin in but still allows the tumber to fully rotate and still do it's job.

E5jtzkel.jpg

 

After I reinstalled the lock assembly it was time to see if I could get this old girl to fire up. Battery is dead to the world however everything other than the starting/charging and accessories are vacuum/mechanically operated so I used jumper cables. engine turned over however very slowly

 

Alright she needs a little more juice to crank good. Added a jump pack in line. Turned the key let the glow plugs and hit the key. Fired right up.

 

However she scared the hell out of me about 30 seconds after i took the video.. Started running away. Key off and out and she wouldn't shut off then went WOT. luckily i had the air cleaner cap off and was able to snuff it out by putting my hand over it and capping the air flow.

 

Looked into it and the engine shut off is fully vacuum operated so next task is to figure out if the shut off valve on the ignition is faulty, enough vacuum leaks to affect it or if the vacuum valve on the injection pump is bad. That's all for next time though.

 

All in all I'm really pleased with the progress today.

Edited by Mitch
because there were big motherfucking pics here, too
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Last time I had one run away , the crankase was full of diesel from a leaking fuel pump.

 

I'm not sure it technically ran away. I'm pretty sure the throttle was stuck open. However I operated it back and forth afterward before I thought of that. I just don't remember if it was open or closed when I started messing with it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Been really busy lately so haven't really had much time to work on it lately. I did get to work on it for approximately 3 hours in the last 2 weeks. Made very good progress for the time involved. Wasn't able to get the trunk open so disconnected the vacuum lines running down the passenger side that control the door locks. Applied vacuum via hand pump and all the door locks popped and after messing with the lock I was finally able to get into the trunk. Took the tumbler out and cleaned it up and removed all the 40 year old grease that was hard as a rock and relubed it with new grease. Also verified the vacuum reservoir under the rear deck was good.

 

Next up was to figure out where my major leaks were. There is a t-fitting approx. 6 inches in front of the booster that had been JB welded that was leaking like a mother. Removed and fixed that. Afterward I was able to verify the vacuum pump was in good working order. Pulled 15 inches at idle and held vacuum when manually out under vacuum.

 

Afterward reconnected my fittings with new line and am now able to shut the vehicle off with the key.

 

Verified as well all the window regulators work however the driver door switch is reversed so I'll fix that next time.

 

Also let the engine run at idle for 20 minutes which allowed me to find out the coolant temp does not register on the guage.

 

Next up is figuring out the coolant temp and getting the car on stands to start assessing issues underneath the vehicle. I'm hoping next time I get to work on it I'll be able to test drive in the parking lot to see what else is needed before she's ready for a road test.

 

Overall I'm very pleased to with the quality of the car for being 40 years old. It's definitely making me appreciate German engineering and quality

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  • 3 weeks later...
How's your Merc project coming. I found a rust free extremely clean 80 240D for a grand that I might pick up to toy with.

 

Going slow bust good progress. I get maybe 2 to 4 hours a week on it. Have the majority of the vacuum system taken care of. I did a very short drive around the parking lot to get a feel for where i am at with it. Brakes are shit. More than likely going to have to replace a few parts. Bleeders broke free on the calipers so i may just rebuild rather than replace.

 

Currently not running since the last time i worked on it. Changed out the fuel filters and improperly primed it. Pretty sure i got air in the injection pump so now i have to do a full prime of the pump and injectors.

 

Been really amazed at the quality of parts that when into these cars. I wouln't mind picking one up for myself and slamming it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Made some good progress today, was able to test drive through a parking lot (no current tag). Definitely a turd but a fun car. It will need calipers as 3 are seized. Also need to puck up a radiator. This one is split at the top so it leaks when full.

 

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