– By Eric Fantin –
Another new arrival at the garage… a 1982 Mercedes 300 TD wagon. I am a big fan of the W123 Mercedes cars and found this wagon awhile ago. I have owned several sedans and one coupe, but the wagon was always on my bucket list. So here we are… a somewhat crusty, but structurally sound car, in need of TLC, both mechanically and cosmetically.
First a little background. The W123 was a very successful car for MB. Around 2.7 million were produced (the original E class in a way). Most were sedans or coupes. The wagon represents around 10% of the total numbers. Also available was a long wheelbase version of the sedan (Lang) and several coachbuilt versions in the form of ambulances or hearses.
The cars were available in a dizzying array of drive trains. You could choose from gasoline or diesel with manual or automatic transmissions. Engines ranged from a lowly 200 4 cylinder, the 280E twin cam six-gas, the 200D 4 cylinder, and the 300 5 cylinder TD-diesel.
The model in question here is the 300 TD Turbo Diesel. It proved to be a very popular model in the US. Available in sedan, coupe, and wagon form exclusively with an automatic and most options. The wagon version in this case is the first wagon made by MB in-house. Before that, it was always farmed out to outside coachbuilders and done in small numbers.
This car is a typical US-specs car. It is fully loaded with the rear self-leveling suspension. While tired, it still has a lot of life in it and was in running condition when I bought it. Weak areas included bad rear brakes and moderate blow-by from the valve cover. So far on the mechanical side I have replaced the rear brakes pads, hardware, and rotors. This stopped the horrendous grinding when driven!!
I replaced the fluids and filters (a much needed step!). At this point I started focusing on the rust which had attacked the front of the rocker panels. This is a typical area of concern when exposed to the dreaded salt. Although the car lived in the west for some part of its life, it came to MN and at one point was used in winter… so it is no longer a rust-free car.
I plan to either weld the part (available online) or make it myself. In order to have good access to the needed repairs, I removed the front clip, and, of course found more rust that will be addressed as l start the rebuilding process. The plan is to do the welding and some of the paint before the cold weather arrives (I hate welding inside. Always a fire hazard).
I’ll then proceed to reassemble the body and then focus on the mechanical bits again in the winter. This list includes the mandatory valve adjustment, a compression check, injectors, and glow plug check. After that I will check all the dreaded vacuum lines and the even more dreaded climate control unit.
The ultimate plan is to re-create the car in the livery of a service wagon either used by MB or at their dealership, with the help of decals. I will also cover some of the tired paint job as do not plan to repaint the whole car. I am not sure what will be the end result but I hope to make a decent driver with interesting take on the cosmetics.
Eric Fantin can be reached at straigh8@gmail.com