Hello Tom
Well, I turned 40 didn't I.
I'd got all the permission slips from wifey.
Gave my trusty 123 280E to a good home, and managed to give my Russian
Lada Niva jeep away too! (I seem to have given 4 vehicles away over
the last few years, all of which are still going strong. Gotta say a
friend o mine has already put his name down for this new gentleman's
carriage).
I was all set, and I'd asked a couple of Q's here (you responded as
always [thanks] ) and calmed me down from a star ship miles V8 I was
looking at thru rose tints on Ebay.
It had to be the S class Panzerwagen!

Anyway, a local guy had been reading my posts (here) and out of the
blue offered me his 2 owner (him since 1990) from new 1989 300SE.
I reckon the 6 cylinders is enough for me. I'm not a speed merchant
(or refinery owner). Its a straight car, with no air-con or other
tricks. It has got a sunroof, always a liability on an older car, but
there you go. Its about as simple as a big complicated car like this
can get.
Anyway, to cut a long story, I looked at it (and so did wifey!) and
bought it. Its nice, light met blue and its had pretty much everything
looked after by an aftermarket Merc place all its life. Got a good
service history and even the two cards that came with the car from the
factory with all the data on.
Anyway, I got the small bits and bobs of corrosion sorted on the
extremeties of the front wheel arch and a little appearing from behind
the plastic trims on the front doors. My mate who does the bodywork
reckons that the plastic trims they put on so many cars nowadays,
cause the corrosion over the years, since they tend to chatter a
little in the airflow as the car moves, so they kind of rub through
the paint and hey presto. Corrosion.
Niggles so far are that it failed to start on me once, but I blame the
immobiliser for that (got this fancy cat 1 immobiliser that cuts off
all sorts of things. Never trusted em, especially when you didn't fit
them)
There is a slight external coolant leak from somewhere I haven't
traced yet, but when you open the hood after a run, there is a
definite warm water smell towards the front, but nothing to see.
Its also got a slight intermittent falter at idle, which is why I
rushed here for advice.
I understand that the injectors could be cleaned, but I can get a full
new set on ebay at the mo for $20 each, so I was tempted. I mean,
these things have a spring (pintle?) valve inside them. Doesn't that
valve wear over 100k miles?.
Anyway, I'd read lots (here again) about the rubber seats and O ring
on the plastic seatings that age and can cause air leaks, so I was
going to change those if it was prudent (and they are cheap to buy).

I haven't checked anything else yet.
HT leads..  Are they carbon?. Why don't we use copper anymore, with
suppressed ends?. It was easier to check the connections. My Ro80 has
all copper with the original suppressed ends. With the lethal BOSCH CD
ignition system on it, it destroys the carbon leads in less than 1000
miles. I've seen it draw a 1 inch arc out the side of one in the dark
during engine cranking. Very impressive, but no good for smooth
running. My old boss was right I guess. There's no such thing as an
open circuit for HT!.
I guess I'm looking for less than 50k Ohms on a lead?

I'll look at the dizzy cap and the rotor arm.

Any tips for an easy way to check the intake manifold gasket?. Is
'easy start' good for that (similar to the leaky injector rubbers)?

So...   There we are. I've plunged,.. now to make it perfect.

Thanks again Tom

Cheers...   Rob.