Casey's 1982 300CD

[Casey]

Okay, so it isn't a W116, but I'm starting a thread for it!  Just bought this today!

[TJ 450]

It looks quite reasonable for sure, but is the large dent confined to the door, or is it a bit more serious?

I imagine that would be fairly valuable, as I certainly haven't seen any 300CDs here... Would this apply in the 'States?

Very nice find.

Tim

[1980sdga]

Nice score!  I know where there is a similar coupe in an area I travel. It's sitting in the weeds beside an 80's BMW but it's a gasser. I may ask about it the next time I'm near there.

You sure don't see a lot of coupes in the states.

[Casey]

It looks quite reasonable for sure, but is the large dent confined to the door, or is it a bit more serious?

Looks confined to the door, which still works perfectly fine.  A lot of what looks terrible right now is the remnants of badly-applied wax.  I'll be cleaning it up and taking more pictures in better light soon.

I imagine that would be fairly valuable, as I certainly haven't seen any 300CDs here... Would this apply in the 'States?

From what I've heard, they were US-only, unless you purchased direct special order from MB in Germany.  Only 8007 were ever made with turbo (1981-1985), and even less of the non-turbo predecessors (1977-1981) were ever made - 7502 of them.  There were about 80,000 gasser coupes made but those were sold worldwide.

Very nice find.

What's nice, is when I press the pedal down.  This thing has more power than any other Mercedes diesel I've ever seen, by a pretty significant margin.  I'd sure like to know why.  Makes me wonder if something is stuffed with my 300CD's turbo or something.

[nathan]

Cool. i also read the cd's were US only to bring down mercs overal range fuel consumption to comply with federal rules of the time. i used to really want one of these 123 coupes. moreso than a 107! prices here in oz have dropped badly, and a good one can be bought for around 6 grand for a 230ce or 280ce. keep us posted on progress

[Casey]

Cool. i also read the cd's were US only to bring down mercs overal range fuel consumption to comply with federal rules of the time. i used to really want one of these 123 coupes. moreso than a 107! prices here in oz have dropped badly, and a good one can be bought for around 6 grand for a 230ce or 280ce. keep us posted on progress

Yeah, I like W114 and W123 coupes both more than R107's.

I paid 2 grand, but it's not a good one.   There's a smattering of rust, not a single rubber seal that's anything but solidified to the hardness of rock, delamination of the rear window, rear passenger and front driver window not working, sunroof not working, paint looks pretty poor, oil and gook all over the engine (and trunk!), cracked dash, and a lot of other little things added up.  It'll probably never be as nice as my W116, but that's fine.  It can handle most of my daily abuse and especially winter driving, and the W116 can spend some quality time in the garage and get some more involved attention, and come out to play on the weekends.   I should be able to find a fair bit of W123 parts in junk yards, and with the low investment cost I can feel comfortable trying my hand at some more intense DIY restoration/modification stuff.

[Big_Richard]

within the next week or so i shall take derivery of my new turdbo diesel daily driver.

I fear for my licence, as the last time i drove a new turbo diesel it felt like a 6.9 but was only 2.0 litres. 

they certainly aren't just motors for smokey, slow rattly old trucks anymore   

[Casey]

I told you it was fast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uJFXGacxBk

[Big_Richard]

I see it has the standard feature dead tacometer amp 

[Big_Richard]

You might want to consider putting your seat belt on when driving on public roads in youtube videos, ie "Realizing and overcoming emotional dependency"

Over here that would result in cops bashing the door down. 

[Casey]

I see it has the standard feature dead tacometer amp 

Damn, I didn't even notice that until now!

[Casey]

Went to the local junkyard and found a few parts I need from a sedan.  Then went by the auto parts store and loaded up on car wash, rubbing compound, clay, detailing, and wax products.  Came home and unloaded the massive amounts of trash, cigarette butts and wrappers, change (over $10!), and leaky and/or exploded bottles of cheapass oil, antifreeze, and other crap out of the trunk and interior of the vehicle.  Fortunately I found new trunk interior bits at the junkyard.  Not in the greatest shape but they're a lot better than the oil-laden destroyed ones the car came with.  Shame i can see the ground through both sides of the trunk with the plastic bits removed, but we'll get to that later.  Also found a lot of rust on the rear passenger floorboard and inner side of the car.  On the bright side, I found both brand new fuel filters, MB W123 service manuals, a receipt for the Michelins, and some other parts in the trunk.  Gave it a good two washings.  Removed all the side trim and badges from the trunk lid, and set to work with the rubbing compound.  The trunk is going to need a thorough degreasing due to leaked oil that was saturating everything.

Holy crap, does this stuff work!  Immediately it started becoming clear that there was actually fire engine red paint hiding under all the oxidation and buildup that washing wouldn't remove.  Spent a few hours getting the whole car done, by halogen light in the garage.  It looked like a whole different car.  So then I was curious, and took the clay to a test patch.  Didn't look any better, but felt a lot smoother, and the clay became colored a bit.  Then took a different compound to this section, and it started looking really good.  Proceeded to use some detailing spray cleaner stuff, then I could see my reflection pretty well.  Took a bit of carnuba wax to it, and then I could read the words of the bottle in the reflection - it's so clear and smooth.  Feeling of the rest of the vehicle is very rough in comparison to the fully finished patch.  So tomorrow I will be completing the job and taking pictures!

It's going to need all new rubber seals as soon as I can afford them, but that's okay - it looks nice enough that I think it'll be worth the investment.  The rust and body damage is a bit of a bummer, but I dig this car.

[Casey]

You might want to consider putting your seat belt on when driving on public roads in youtube videos, ie "Realizing and overcoming emotional dependency"

I always wear my seat belt when I see a copper watching me.    It varies state-by-state here, but in Maryland, you have a lot of rights and have to consent to anything the police might want to do.  And they're paid on a quota system, so they don't like to bother with anything that's too much hassle.  Friend of mine most often drives over 100 - says that the cops don't bother with him because it's too much trouble to try to catch him - they'd rather go for the guy doing 10-15 over, that is, when they're good and well ready.  To support the quota system, we have stretches of state highways with signs that tell you that headlight use is required during all hours of the day, for no reason at all, except, as the sign advertises, to "avoid the fine".  Around the end of each month when they need to fill up their quota, I'll pass 10 police cars parked along the side waiting to snatch some poor sod without his lights on.

Now in California, on the other hand, the police are basically a money-mongering legalized gang.  The fine for no seat belt is squared for each offense, and if you don't pay, you get a 20-year sentence.

[Casey]

So the old pictures made the car look a lot better than it did in person.  With the latest photos, the opposite is true.  After a full day of working on paint restoration, aside from the dents and rust spots, it looks like a brand new car.  Freaking amazing.



I'll try taking some pictures once it's not so sunny out, that might help.

[Casey]

More recent pictures after the sun was less bright: