Hello everyone,


I wanted to introduce myself, I just bought a 1983 240D Manual transmission here locally. This is my first MB and the reason I bought it was I would like to learn how to work on cars/engines. I thought this car would be a good fit. I have a technical background in engineering and so can appreciate the engineering that went into the car and hopefully have the background to work on it.


The car has 270k miles and the interior is quite beat up. It is driveable and I'm hoping to drive it while working on it. I would like to get it back into good shape, both mechanically and cosmetically.

Thanks

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Car starts right up and hits 80 mph on the freeway. Has some problems but that's why I bought it to be able to fix it up.

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You will love this car. Looks like you have the manual a/c too which is a huge plus.

If you do road trips you need to keep spare fuel filters - they can be hard to find when you’re in the middle of nowhere - not available in every small-town parts house.

Also read up about the axle boots, drive-shaft flex discs and the driveshaft center support bearing. These are easy and relatively cheap to take care of yourself at home ahead of time but could be a real hassle out on the road.

My ex #2 moved from our home in DFW to the mountains outside of Pagosa Springs to be with her high-school sweetheart after we divorced. I made many a trip out there in my 240d to go see my daughter. It ever let me down.

Once I was running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere and saw a guy working a field on his tractor and he fixed me up with some diesel.

Another time I lost the alternator near Amarillo but the beauty of these cars is you need no electricity (provided you don’t shut down the car). Made it home with no lights, no radio - just as dusk was turning to dark.

Nice looking car! Where in Utah are you? I grew up in Sandy, and my folks are still there.
You've come to the right place by the way, tons of knowledge here on this forum. They really helped me when I was new to the W123.

80mph?!!!! Was that before changing the oil, checking other fluids/filters, etc.? Adjusting the valves? That seems REALLY fast for one of these. I have an 83 240D auto and I'm pretty sure if I pushed it to 80mph, it'd sound like it was about to blow up.....LOL.
Congrats on your find! Great color! You won't believe how much that single stage paint shines and glosses when polished. I think I see you also have the aluminum "steelies". Aluminum wheels that look like steel rims. The silver dashes connote "Al". Those are gettin pretty rare (valuable). Hang on to them and don't change em out for "Bundts", which is a wider rim/tire and creates a lot more drag. The PO of mine had the Bundts on there when I got the car. Fortunately, I also got the aluminum rims, too. Put the skinnier aluminum wheel/tires on and felt like I gained 10 horsepower! Speaking of horsepower, I think I spied the original sticker, under the hood, driver's side core support.
As previously stated, you will LOVE this car. Lots of luck and happy tinkering/cruising. You're def in the "right place". All the knowledge/support you could ever need, and more, is right here. This forum is THE BEST! Cheers!

I already love this car, it's a good fit for me. I like the way it drives. Is this the manual A/C you are referring to? I appreciate the road trip advice, one of the things I liked about the car is that they are known to be extremely reliable, it's good to hear you echo that.

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1983 240D Manual Transmission
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Wow it's great to meet someone on here that's from Utah. I live in Salt Lake. So far I'm finding the Forum very helpful.

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1983 240D Manual Transmission
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At least that's what the speedometer was showing, I got it up to 83 after I took the rear and passenger seat out haha. It wasn't very loud, at least in my experience with cars but maybe I'm missing something.

One of the things I liked most about the car is the signal red color. I'll have to search the forum on how to polish it up.
I hadn't heard of steelies before reading your response but I think I do have them. The rims are either really dirty or someone painted over the silver dashes but I was able to get them showing on one rim. I'll have to work on the others. Looks like 3 are KPZ and 1 is Lemmerz. Spare is KPZ as well. I'm not sure if these would have come with the car as painted or as bare metal?
Here is what I think you are referring to as the original sticker, shows 67 HP.

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1983 240D Manual Transmission
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Welcome and that looks like a fun project car. Yes, that is the manual climate control which is a great system in my opinion. The single-stage paint is more or less like leather in that it dries out over the years, requiring some nurturing for it to come back.

Here is a good write-up on this paint:

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/25304-secret-removing-oxidation-restoring-show-car-finish-antique-single-stage-paints.html

I have had great results with this process:



Similar paint to yours, give it some love and it will really shine.

I'm pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering so we have a couple of things in common! What field of engineering are you in? And welcome!

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The engines approach bulletproof but the rest of the car is like every other car: stuff breaks. Metal fatigue is an inescapable reality. Not saying this to be an ass, perhaps to prepare you a little bit. But it does sound like a good find. I’ll second the part about being careful with 80 mph for a while.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

some stuff 338 S. redwood rd 801 706 6871

Had one of this year. Best performance,adjust the throttle air blade( inside manifold),
to 80% open at full throttle. Adjust while ENGINE OFF.

Wow thanks for the advice on the paint, I think it has seen it's share of being parked outside so I'm sure even a little work will go a long way. Thanks for the link, that is a lot of helpful information. Hopefully I can get my paint job looking as good as yours at some point.


I'm an electrical engineer, so different field but we still are both engineers and have that in common.

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1983 240D Manual Transmission
123.123 - 616.912

Hi cmac,


I appreciate your honesty and for preparing me, knowing that stuff breaks doesn't change my mind about the car though. I'm interested in maintenance as well as fixing the car so I'm up for that. I'll be browsing the forum for any maintenance that should have been done on the car in the past. I'll just assume it wasn't done. I will take it slow and little by little though, I only have so much time to be working on it.

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1983 240D Manual Transmission
123.123 - 616.912

Looks like you're local, I'll shoot you a text to see what you have.

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1983 240D Manual Transmission
123.123 - 616.912