So, I bought a Mercedes...

[91LTDProject]

Yes sir, a 1976 300D, with a few modifications. I've been looking for one for a while, and found this on the local VW forum. Guy pretty much built exactly what I had wanted to do myself. Needs a little bit of bodywork, but its in pretty good shape all things considering. 5 cylinder 3.0L diesel thats pretty much indestructable, manual air-ride setup (no electronics in this car, thats the way its staying), 3 speed auto (going to be on the hunt for a 4spd conversion).

My only real plans are to strip the body and take care of all the rust, I'l probably pay to have this done as my bodywork skills are severely lacking, pull the engine out and give it a once-over, replace whats needed, try and find the parts for a 4spd conversion (pretty rare), paint it (something flat or satin), re-assemble and enjoy for years. I take delivery in June as the owner is using it in his wedding party at the end of May (selling it because of the wedding, hes not too happy). Hope to bring it to Scottfest this year....

On to the pictures









And a little video demonstrating the air-ride...

[CheeseSteakJim]

That car is fucking awesome. I'd keep it green and white though... flat black/satin are quickly becoming overdone.

[91LTDProject]

I love the green, but its a 10 foot paintjob. I was thinking if I can find flat green or something, I'm not a big fan of shiny paint. I'm also looking at painting it an OEM Mercedes color, Benz had alot of really cool, funky colors back in the 70's. I do know that the rood is staying a beige/cream color, and the hubcaps will be painted to match the roof...

Heres the cars factory color...



And heres how it looked after he first started modifying it...

[gadget73]

I like the green. I personally do not like non-shiny paint though, it just reminds me of driving the Towncar pre-paint when it wan't shiny because the paint was just horribly shitty.

Friend of mine had one of those cars, may have even been the same year. He told me the trans died in it somewhere around the 400k point, and it was replaced. Last he knew it was pushing 500k and still running before he moved away from home. It was his dad's car that he drove for years until he decided he wanted something different.

[sly]

I couldn't drive that car... too many dips around here. I really do need the clearance my 88 MGM has... and I still scrape from time to time (due to speed and bounce and low hanging cats)

[91LTDProject]

I couldn't drive that car... too many dips around here. I really do need the clearance my 88 MGM has... and I still scrape from time to time (due to speed and bounce and low hanging cats)

Thats the beauty of air-ride. All I do is push a button and it has as much ground clearance as some smaller 4x4's, hit the button the other way and it drops back to the ground. Check out the video to see what I'm talking about...

[gadget73]

Just watched the vid. The air ride controls are pretty slick. I like the fact that nothing looks like it was added. A lot of those setups I see involve some obviously tacked-on control panel for the compressor and vent solenoids. Hiding the controls in the ashtray and re-purposing another factory switch looks quite clean.

[hemihotrod402]

Regarding an Oem color, I think it would look killer in New Palm Green, which was an OEM color n 1976, Paint Code 361. It's shiny yes, but it's a lime green that would look great with the beige roof.

[sly]

ah... just watched the vid... that's slick. It would still be a "weekend car" for sure. No way I would drive something that nice as a DD.

[Andypot1985]

nice car, i love its stance

[P72Ford]

My neighbor had an '81 240 D (different body style), with the manual transmission. It was maroon over tan leather, with 3000 original miles. Obviously pristine, and showroom clean. It was a really neat car, and had all sorts of neat badges in the grille. I was young, and don't really remember what the hell they were; I believe there was some sort of swedish medallion amongst other things.

Unfortunately it burned to the ground in his garage back in 2001. It was such a clean car, that it was a really nothing short of a trevesty that it was destroyed.

The Benzo you bought certainly is unique. I'd love to see it at SF!

[mrltd]

Very cool. Hope it isn't too expensive to maintain, I junked my W120 because it was just too expensive to resurrect.

I do love German engineering, so impressive, so simple.

[91LTDProject]

Been shopping around for parts on the web, have not found anything too insane yet, and alot of aftermarket parts are readily available. OEM stuff though, prices through the roof. It also comes with a parts car, which is good for odds and ends.

As for maintenance, the previous owner used this as his daily driver for two years, and as his toy car for the last year, putting over 80,000km on it in that time. He took it on alot of roadtrips to the states as well as in Canada, and he said this was by far the most reliable car he has ever owned and that it never once left him stranded. Heres a list of the stuff he has replaced in the last three years...

-The alternator died due to the extra strain from the compressor and a modest stereo. Stock alternator is around 45-50 amps I believe.
-Water pump was reasonable
-Injectors were very cheap
-Front wheel bearing was cheap
-Rear wheel bearing was a bit more pricey due to the labour involved, had a shop do it for me
-2 cheap motor mounts
-speedo cable was cheap and easy to replace

For a 30 year old car, thats not bad over a three year period, I've replaced more on my 13 year old Jetta. I'm not too worried about the mechanical side of things, he told me this is the easiest car he has ever worked on, and from what I saw, he's right. Restoring the body kinda scares me, as its not something I can do myself, properly anyways, so I'm going to be looking around for a reputable body shop to take it too...

[Rodentkiller]

MBZ's are bullet-proof reliable but when thay breakdown the parts are stupidly expencive, some MBZ's you must use the OEM parts or things will go badly for you.

[91LTDProject]

Think I just found my paint colour....

http://www.tcpglobal.com/kustomshop/HRF214.aspx