84 mercedes 300sd?

whats the deal with these?

could this car be a good candidate to do a french fry conversion and drive around while making the people behind me think there is a rolling fast food joint on the road? what kinda fuel mileage could one expect out of it?

even as a drivetrain donor eventually to put into something old later on?

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/1657485736.html

i've been itching to mess with a diesel lately and i could pay for this one with scrapping my steel pile.

300 SD = super dog.

I have driven many of these back in the day. called them super dog cause they were so darn slow. I do suspect they are virtually indestrutable however.

I think that's the 300D turbo diesel lump, isn't it? IIRC that's not really considered indestructible in Germany if you make good use of the performance. But yes, you should be able to run it on fast food.

None of the old generation Mercedes Diesel engines is going to set the world on fire but if treated right they'll go on just about forever.

A guy I know who owns a German car repair shop LOVES M-B's that have been converted to run on veggie oil... he's got a wife and 5 kids to support...

Does that answer your question?

300 super diesel has the dubious distinction of being the slowest car 0-20mph I have ever experienced. They are actually pretty good at highway speeds as long as you remember to spool the turbo up 10 or 15 seconds before you want to pass someone.

If they are anything like a 240D, acceleration to 60 is like watching paint dry. You know it'll happen sooner or later but you can help check before getting there.

Ian F wrote: A guy I know who owns a German car repair shop LOVES M-B's that have been converted to run on veggie oil... he's got a wife and 5 kids to support... Does that answer your question?

If done properly there's no problem. Gotta watch switch-over temps and filtration. These are actually considered to be the best cadidates for the conversion because of their forgiving nature.

DrBoost wrote: If done properly there's no problem.

See? That's the problem. For every one that wil ldo it right, there are a dozen that won't. Most of the people running veggie oil a) don't want to or don't know how to do it properly, and b) aren't willing to spend the time and $$$ to do it properly. Dave has a stack of busted injection pumps from guys who didn't want to do it properly (despite being told many times...). It becomes a rather expensive experiment if you get it wrong.

I did a good bit of research about running my TDI on veggie oil (an older ALH version, which is a marginally good candidate). Despite driving some 35K+ a year, the fuel cost savings just isn't worth the hassle. It would take everything I dislike about owning diesels and multiplies them.

Oh yeah... my g/f's parents have a 300SD and I've driven it once... 0-60 times are measured with a calendar... although once up to speed it hums along nicely.

Ian F wrote: Despite driving some 35K+ a year, the fuel cost savings just isn't worth the hassle. It would take everything I dislike about owning diesels and multiplies them.

I guess I'm just a cheap ba$tard. my Ram was getting about 100 mpg (per diesel gallon that is). WVO was costing me abut $.20 per gallon. Once you have a system down you might spend 30 minutes collecting and transferring 50 gallons. Use a centrifuge and your time setting up the filtering is about 10 minutes per 50 gallons.
Sure, it's not all fun and games but when you fill up your (diesel) tank 4 times a year it makes up for lots of hassle to me.

Ian F wrote: Oh yeah... my g/f's parents have a 300SD and I've driven it once... 0-60 times are measured with a calendar... although once up to speed it hums along nicely.

I've never driven a 300 (yet) but I've ridden with a friend in his 240 with a 4 speed. He almost bet pinks with a kid on a Big Wheel.......he would have lost.

I loved my 300td. the mileage was around 25 i think, i never measured it exactly as the odometer was broken. They aren't really that slow, fast enough to merge on the highway at a decent speed.

Heck, even my W115 300D non-turbo didn't feel all that slow...

Bill