The CHZ-WGN: 1983 Mercedes Benz 300TD-T

Nice wagon, and E39!  I approve of both...

In reply to golfduke :

Thank you sir! I'm pretty happy with the two right now. I think I'll be happier though if the E39 had an LS 

I’m on board with this thread so far, I always did think these were handsome Mercs, the wagons most especially!  Cheers to your good taste, I can’t wait to see it come along!

There are only a few cars that could suck me back into Mercedes ownership, and this is one. Take good care of it. 

Thanks guys, it's definitely a charming vehicle. 

Nice epic novel of a start here, with great imagery!  They definitely don't have that kind of mountain content in Georgia.  Congrats on graduating, by the way--no time is quite like the first time.

I had two E39s, a 1999 (528) and a 2001 (530 m-sport).  They are still the best overall cars to drive ever, until they're not.  I think they are the only car ever to be rated by a magazine as literally the best car ever in their time.  With an LS and some electronic fortitude, they can still possibly meet this mark.  My last e39 annoyed me so much, however, that I literally cut it to pieces and brought it to the dump a bit at a time, like some serial type.  Avoid revs over 5000, and longevity may remain a thing, for a bit longer.  My 530 met its end racing a VW Golf R up a road I used to live on . . .

Great w123 content by the way!  An old diesel, when it works, is just always going to be kind of fun.

In reply to rustomatic :

Thank you! Definitely happy to be out and on to the next. 

The e39 continually amazes me with how nice it goes down the road for a 17 year old car with 190k miles.  I hit Rev limiter all too often and maybe secretly hope it let's go? It's just too fun to slide around in the rain. If I can keep it together for a few more months,  I'll probably sell the running drivetrain to fund the ls swap. It might be the perfect daily driver after that.  E39 M5 with Chevy reliability and cost of ownership. I'm hoping I can start a build thread for that car sooner than later,  but I need the merc up to my daily driving standards. 

Alright. The content I know we are most excited to see. 
After a few fancy meals in Charleston I was chomping at the bit to try on the euro bumpers.

So nice!!! But I will admit, I didn't realize that I was gonna have to spend another $400 on parts from the motherland to fit these bad boys up. They were missing the rubber bits in the front that go in between the bumper and the body, those brackets, some brackets for the rear, etc. so I ordered them up from the stealership but haven't put them on yet. It still looks great. Of course I had to try out the roof rack. 

Next on the list, fix the broken odometer and instrument cluster lights. I tried to adjust the instrument cluster lights the first time I drove in the dark and they went off completely. It's a fairly simple fix, you just have to take apart the rheostat and clean the corrosion out. The odometer stops working because the gear wears the shaft smooth and doesn't have enough friction to turn it. Another fairly easy fix, you just score the shaft up with a razor blade right where the gear sits. Hardest part is finagling all the number wheels back in on the right odometer count. Only pic I have is it all working. Might need some LEDs

My girlfriend so kindly offered to get me some parts as a graduation present of sorts. So I got a new grill insert since the old one was mega cracked. And some new tail lights. There is a hole in the passenger lens. 

So I have 2 reasons for the clear corners: 

A: they were about 1/3rd the price of ambers

B: I lost the big ugly reverse lights that were mounted to the bumper when I put the euro bumpers on. I am going to modify the bulb holder and install a switchback led in the clear section that can serve as the turn signal and the reverse light. Neat. 
 

I then proceeded to remove the tint from all the windows, and I detailed the rear seats and floor boards. 

I love clear bright windows on older cars. 

 

This brings us to the final post of past progress. 
It is HOT in Georgia now. The car was undriveable without AC. The previous owner said he had gotten the AC repaired at Mercedes in 1997 and it just stopped working last year. So I popped off the low side cap, and I saw it bubbling! It was just leaking out of the schrader valve! So I installed the r134a fittings and new valves so I could connect my manifold gauges, and pulled a vacuum on the system. It held steady at 29in for 2 hours. 

So at this point I had to decide what Freon to put in it. I converted my old silver 300D to r134a and the old r4 compressor just cannot handle the extra pressure. It worked horribly and bogged the engine down drastically. So I did some research and *thought about*giving something I had seen on some forums a shot. R290, also known as propane. It's used in many refrigeration systems in Europe. Apparently when combined with isobutane the operating pressures are very similar to r12. I am not saying I actually did or didn't use this. 

pretty awesome.

i installed an EGR delete I had made in high school and I also adjusted the steering gearbox to get rid of as much play as possible. 

lookin pretty

and now we're all caught up. It is sitting now because I am working on an LS swap in a van. I need to rebuild the injectors and time the injection pump to see if I can get it running perfect before I start on the manual swap. 
Thanks for following along! 

Excellent read for a rainy Thursday afternoon here in Magnolia, Tx. Always thought this body style was very handsome and a wagon to boot. In your MB 'stash' is there a nicer dash pad awaiting installation? following along..........

In reply to 759NRNG (Forum Partidario) :

I kick myself every time I look at the dash because I sold the crack free dash out of my first car after the crash. Crack free blue dashes are unicorns, I'm gonna keep my eyes out buy we will see.

Those european bumpers look sooooo much better on that car, nice work.    You'll be fine with the isobutane since you know it's in there, only go boom if you do something profoundly dumb. Small refrigerated units and vending equipment use it commonly now but are all sealed systems with no access ports.  Leave some stickers on it if you hand it off to someone else down the road.   Loving this thread as it's like a time warp;  I mentioned in an earlier comment that my dad had several of these cars when I was around your age.  

In reply to 11GTCS :

Thanks! They really clean up the car so much. Glad youre enjoying!

+2 on the the euro bumpers......hey, the rear taillights without the amber portion is that a prob come inspection time or.......are there no insp's in Ga.? oh and the amberless is way more distinguished.....

In reply to 759NRNG (Forum Partidario) :

No inspections other than vin! And since its a diesel they care even less. 

Just realized I've never expalined the title of the thread... CHZ WGN. 

The previous owner lived on a farm in North Eastern Washington for 30+ years growing produce and livestock. He told me he used to specialize in very high quality goat cheese. He would get orders from many high end restaurants in downtown Seattle, load up the back of the wagon with ice chests full of goat cheese, and drive through the mountains to Seattle. Really put that self leveling suspension to work. I decided this past life was worthy of recognizing with the vanity plate CHZ WGN. The previous owner loves the plate and hes happy to see the car being taken care of. 

Found this old logo under the seat in the car. 

Was able to get the plate after GA reopened June 1st. 

Decided to work on the wagon over the long weekend. Crossed off some major maintenance items. 

Started with a Diesel Purge to clean the fuel system before I put on any new parts. Installed the weird new banana return hose when I was done. 

I took the valve cover off and checked the valve lash specs, still in spec for the adjustment I did on the trip. Then the injectors came out and I was able to do a *cold* compression test. The number isn't the greatest, but all the cylinders were within 40 psi so I'm happy. I have a feeling if it was done on a warm engine it would be within factory spec. 

New coolant temp sensor and "new" glow plugs from my other engine. They only had 20k miles on them since I replaced them. 

The injectors from my old engine I had also rebuilt with monark nozzles and had only around 20k miles of service. I pop tested all of them to ensure spray pattern and calibration. They all popped at 1950 psi and sprayed perfectly. Installed those with new heat shields. The engine now starts and idles MUCH smoother. I found one of the old injectors to be very leaky and have a very poor spray pattern, so that probably contributed to the horrible cold idle. Unfortunately, the car is still extremely slow to rev. Usually the injection pumps wear out and go lean. Most people remedy this by adjusting the ALDA (device that compensates fuel for atmospheric pressure or boost), but I am trying to do everything I can before touching it. Next is a fuel tank strainer cleaning, fuel line replacement, and then rebuilding the main high pressure lift pump. 

Also got to install my new grill insert. 

I would investiage a dieselmeken pump from Rodney at Benzforce in TX if you are going to need to do that work anyhow.  You can really wake up the engine with the increased fueling.

In reply to ccrelan (Forum Supporter) :

I have looked at them already. Rodney seems like a really nice guy. Back when I had my first w123 there was no way to get a dieselmeken US pump, its very tempting now. I can't justify that cost when there is so much else to do though. The rebuild parts for the lift pump were only ~$25, i wouldn't dare open the actual injection pump. 

Managed to get a few things done now that the van project is done.  

When I did the injectors, the wrench slipped and I accidentally hulk smashed my main vacuum hose and I broke off the nipples. 

I have a new found love for getting oem parts though,  so i got one from over the great blue.  

Much better.  

Then I installed my big huge condenser fan. Hopefully this helps with ac at idle. 

I ended up moving it all the way to the right so the hood latch wouldn't hit.  

I went to replace the fuel lines on the fuel expansion tank, but i uncovered a plastic tank that was cracked in many spots, leaking, and nipples halfway broken off. Not good. 

Apparently the early wagons came with steel tanks,  so I've ordered one on fleabay. 

Well a lot has happened since the last post. 

I ordered the fancy steel fuel expansion tank, upon arrival I noticed some peeling undercoating. I poked and revealed rust. Very upset that this was $120, I asked for a refund. He refunded me and I was left with a free holey expansion tank. 

I quickly and angrily cut out all the rust, booger welded on some patch plates, and used jb steelstik on all the joints. Not pretty, but i don't wanna ever look at it again anyway. 

I also installed the rubber bits around the front bumper and the brackets that hold it straight..

I then proceeded to enjoy the car for a few days. Was digging the new taillights. 

It started running pretty hot in the hot GA summer. It mildly overheated in the Chic Fil A drive thru actually. So i figured I should install that new radiator I had been saving. 

And here's where it gets depressing. I took her apart to fix the horrible air cleaner rattle, and replace the turbo drain and air filter housing drain. While I was in there, I removed the battery for extra room and found my worst nightmare. 

Someone aluminum taped over a massive gaping rust hole under the battery tray. The top hole is actually inside the cabin. Not good. 

Depressed and defeated, I cleaned it up, soaked in rust neutralizer, painted it, and put aluminum tape back on it. I'll deal with it when the engine and dash come out. 

My mom snapped this cool pic though of my dad and I gazing into the rust hole with the GRM banner in the back ground. 

Uhhhh..... fixed?

mgfoster said:

Uhhhh..... fixed?

Almost.  Just hit it with a little flat black to make the repair permanent  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Nailed it!

On the bright side, it looks like that sway bar is still very solidly mounted. 

That is the sway bar right?