Drew's 1981 300SD
Drew's 1981 300SD
Well I figure it is about time to post a build thread of sorts.
Got the car when I was 15 and this was her.
When I first got her, I did all the usual stuff to get it up to snuff. Valve adjustment, filter, fluids, adjust boost to 12 psi, removed ALDA,straight pipe.
This kept me busy for a while. Then I started to get more ambitious. I removed the rear seat and swapped in two front seats from another SD to give four place power adjustable seating.
That kept me busy for a while longer.
Sometime between when I bought it and when the seats went in, I sent in an application to the Diesel Power Challenge. Totally forgot about it until I was reading that months issue and saw my car on the page. Talk about dumbfounded.
Then I bought a 1980 500SE.
That kept me busy for a while, but ended up being a basket case so I got rid of it.
Parts of it lived on though.
That didn't keep me busy for very long.
I've wanted a Power Stroke from day one, so I thought I would experiment a little. Parts needed were a spare hood and some exhaust pipe.
Since this didn't keep me busy for very long, I decided to tear into my pump. I removed the full load.
Gauges were installed too.
This was sweet, but I needed more. So I adjusted the torque control. That was sweet too, but after a while I needed more. So I adjusted it somemore and it slipped when adjusting so I had no idea how many turns it was. Idled like shit and wouldn't stay running below 40*. Swapped pumps. Took the full load out of the other pump as well as the ALDA. Adjusted the torque control just a smidge.
This kept me very busy.
Fast forward to this past summer. I was tired of a manual transmission. So I swapped in a 4 speed from an 83 240. Took about 3 days. Haven't looked back. Had to make my own driveshaft. Haven't had any balancing problems to date. No shops around here would touch it so I said eff it and did it myself. Got the speedo to work using a cluster from a 300D and its cable. Had to do some modification to the cluster and add LEDs cause the lights wouldn't switch over but it all works.
After this came the propane. Didn't really notice a difference with it except on the highway from 55mph on up, but then again I could have been imagining it.
Fast forward five years to how it sits now, the stock air filter housing is back on, the propane is off and so is the stack.
The other day I tried my luck at turning the DVs. Well that didn't work out too well and I ended up having to swap in another virgin pump. This time I just removed the ALDA. Didn't even bother with the torque control.
Thats about all I think. I've had some tint on it too, but had to take it off shortly after because of the wonderful Avon Police Department. Somewhere in there I redid the rear shelf and put some 6x9s in it with 4x6s up front. 600w amp pushing those speakers and a 1200w amp pushing two 12in subs in the trunk.
I'm sure I'm missing some stuff, but I'll add/update when I think of it.
Drew
The rims!! Its the second set ive ever seen other than mine!! Any idea what they are called?
I thought they were Centra's. Not sure though.
They were very comfortable. Wish I had an SDL then it would have been perfect. It was a little cramped, but not too bad.
Yeah the four bucket seat idea is fuckin sick! I'mma have to do it too. Hope you don't mind...
By all means feel free. Haha. I even had a spare center console I was going to graft in but never got around to it.
So the backs are power too? how does that work out? I will probly take the power seat frames out of my SD and put them in the D.
Man your 4 bucket seat Idea is KILLER!
(03-26-2011, 03:09 PM)garage I love the red and black paint, especially with the stack stickin outa the hood, looks gnarly!
Too bad that pic didnt get in the mag..
(03-26-2011, 03:09 PM)garage I love the red and black paint, especially with the stack stickin outa the hood, looks gnarly!
Too bad that pic didnt get in the mag..
Yeah, the motor for the power back rest is inside the seat so it still works without the bottom assembly. Had switches and everything hooked up too. Just never finished it.
I knew I forgot something. Thanks Cody.
(03-26-2011, 12:05 AM)DrewGerhan I thought they were Centra's. Not sure though.