looking at a 81300D non-turbo.Should I wait for a turbo?

[FXRocket]

I found a decent deal on a 81 300d that seems to look decent for $1500 asking price. AC will need serice, I am guessing that is expensive... My question is should I hold out for a newer version with a turbo or is it that big a deal on these old cars?

[blkchambers]

Turbo diesels are slow enough, non-turbos are nearly intolerable.
Hold out!

[UT_Tech]

The turbos will get better mileage but the non-turbos are nearly indestructable. The AC system is not hard to fix. You can get a retrofit kit to replace the AC servo if it's bad.

I would go for it but I'll admit to a bias. I put 400K mi on a 240D before it died.

[zak]

My 300D euro non turbo 4 spd flys.
You just floor it all the time!

[UT_Tech]

Lucky dog.... I wish I had a 4-speed. They're hard as heck to find. Hmmmmm, I wonder if the bellhousng/clutch/trans from a 4-speed 240D 616 engine would fit the 617 engine of a 300D?

[zak]

I think not

[zak]

But you can use the auto trans like a stick and change gears manually. I do that on my 124 wagon. This allows you to change gears at higher RPM's , so the car drives faster/sportier. The engine likes the higher revving too.

[FXRocket]

Well, the 1981 300D I checked on looks "ok" at 10 feet, but for 230k miles I guess ya gota look past some things. The drivers floor has a crack near the rocker panel but the interior does not look bad at all, original radio ta boot. Hubcaps are in place.

I guess the concern is should I hold out and spend the $1500 on a car with 1/2 the miles showing?

[Red Rover]

Throwing in my 2 cents, the 81 is the way to go ... you get the near indestructible non-turbo and the "newer" climate control system found on the turbos. I have to say if you're looking for get up and go you really shouldn't be looking at an older diesel. These are luxury autos made at the time to get better mpg's than anything Detriot could dream of with style and grace. All that and still cheaper per gallon than gas.
If you can find a car for less than $2K that you can put at minimum of 100K miles you should snag it! For the price I think you would be hard pressed to find something better in an MB ... much less than a 10 year old Escort that will leave you walking the rest of the way to work and will have to pay the tow truck driver $50 to get rid of ..... just my opinion.
Just get it looked over by a knowledgeable mechanic first and you should be fine ... and very happy.

[J2U]

I've had both turbo and non-turbo's and much prefer the turbo. I drove turbo's 200,000 miles before finding a low mileage 85 and finding out what I had been missing. Properly tuned and reasonably fresh, these cars performance are hard to distinguish from gas powered models. As we all know, any MB is a joy to drive but the turbo's got my vote.

[Maxbumpo]

Lucky dog.... I wish I had a 4-speed. They're hard as heck to find. Hmmmmm, I wonder if the bellhousng/clutch/trans from a 4-speed 240D 616 engine would fit the 617 engine of a 300D?

Yes, this is a fairly common swap, almost 'plug and play'. Only real trick is to get the 240D flywheel balanced to the 300D engine, which means taken the 300D driven plate and the flywheel to a good automotive machine shop, and having them do it. Before removing the driven plate, mark plate and crankshaft to you know the orientation to install the flywheel.

After that, next hurdle is getting the driveshaft length correct (may again need help of machine shop) and then getting the rear cross support for the transmission (good dealer can decipher which part number will fit and get it for you for $60 or so (price was $40 about 4 years ago)).

[UT_Tech]

Really? A common swap? I wish I knew about this years ago. I found an excellent driveshaft rebuilder in Phoenix. They rebuilt a 240D and a 300TD driveshaft for me. They do "custom" work for hotrods and I never thought through that meant modifying for length. Getting the flywheel balanced is no problem.

I'm not sure what you mean by the driven plate. Wouldn't the 240D flywheel bolt directly to the 300D crankshaft flange? Then everything "aft" of the flywheel would be from 240D except the modified driveshaft?

[UT_Tech]

I think everyone but me has figured this out. This is an interesting link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercedes-Diesel-Manual-Transmission-conversion-package_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33733QQihZ013QQ itemZ230111792119QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V