Back story: a co-worker dreamed of a M-B 240D/4-speed stick. He found one that needed a lot of love. Having owned one of these, I talked him through a lot of repairs and upgrades. He spent a LOT of money on things like rebuilt injection and vacuum pumps, full steering rebuild, new motor mounts, etc etc.
Then it got hit in the RR quarter. Wrinkled the panel in a way bondo won't fix. It doesn't appear to be structural, but to fix it right will take a lot of skill and time. Went through the insurance, and it turned out the car had a laundered salvage title. That makes things ugly.
He bought it back from the insurance company anyhow, because (many of us know this feeling) he wanted it to go to the right person, rather than to the junkyard.
He offered it to me, but I'm really not the right person. I've already got two cars, and I don't need this one as a third.
So here's a Benz that's mechanically almost perfect... and looks like crap. On one hand, you could jerry-rig a new RR taillight into this thing and drive for about forever. OTOH, you could put a lot of work into it - the rust-free chassis might make it all worthwhile.
Or do you take the entire drivetrain out and use it to re-power something else, but what other vehicle needs a 67hp setup? I'm not sure selling it as a drivetrain donor is what he has in mind as far as "going to the right person" means.
Is there someone here who qualifies? You could get it for less money than the new injection and vacuum pumps cost alone. Have a slow, smokey, fuel efficient drive home from Vegas and do this thing justice.
