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Dont laugh, barn find, prestine body, sitting 3 yrs. Help 82 380 Sec

4K views 28 replies 17 participants last post by  cyberdyne 
#1 ·
Ok. im not a total newb. But i just wanted to star the documentation of my coupe. I found a 1982 380 SEC perfect body chrome updated wheels, all i had to do was take it out of storage and clean out the room it was in. (plus 500 bucks) I think it was worth it . It came with a complete set of OEM mercedes wheels and new tires. plus the chrome mercedes rims on car. Anyways previous owner said it just died while he was driving and didnt have time to diagnose before he was deployed in AF. I washed off the two inches of brown dirt to reveal an impecable body. All electronics work, engine cranks freely but does not fire. I purchased oil and fuel filters, new plugs, new oil. I plan to do all that before my appt with import mech. Ive heard its probably the fuel dist. hoping its just gunked up. Just want your opinion on whether or not I made a decent purchase. The car is all white, chrome merc wheels. 500 bucks sounded like a decent deal, even though I knew it would prob be a money pit. Id just like to get it running so I could trade it off or sell it for a tad more then I put in it. Am i dreaming? I will keep yall updated as I progress .


Hopefull Benz in Texas:thumbsup:
 
#2 ·
Welcome, please read the 'Welcome to the Forum' tutorial sticky on top of the W126 forum page. It will show you how to 'seach', and why / how the completion of your personal profile with a location / car mods makes it easier for members to offer advice.
 
#6 ·
HAHAHAHA

380=replace timing chain right away ------thats all i have to say---for 500$ about average
your thread is worthless without pictures of your "find"
 
#7 ·
Ok guys here are some photos. It washed off nicely, however did spot signs of rust on drivers rear wheel well. I have been looking for a Chilton type manual but to no avail yet. Tuesday I have an appointment with a mech, but was trying to eliminate the "easy" things. I had heard timing chain may be an issue from the previous owner. He sounded clueless but for all i know he may have know it needs a whole long block but wanted me to buy it! lol Hopefully thats not the case. I changed plugs last night, tonight I plan on replacing fuel filter and hoses from pump. I did notice that the pump is pumping fuel when i crank ignition. I saved all plugs and noticed that all were bone dry except one. I began to open top lines on fuel dist. but decided to stop before I messed something up. 2 out of 3 i opened had dry seals. Thanks in advance to the guys that help !
 

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#10 · (Edited)
I had heard timing chain may be an issue from the previous owner. He sounded clueless but for all i know he may have know it needs a whole long block but wanted me to buy it!!
I know who you bought the car from. And from what I heard from him in the past.... he was almost positive it needed the timing chain. And I'm sure he knows for the most part what else the car needs, so I would advise talking to him to find out about any other problems.

Edit: figured I'd post this, since it's another pic of the car, and wasn't sure if you have it

 
#8 ·
who ate all the humble pie?
 
#9 ·
Handy find! Looks like someone has done some mild customizing already.. Once you go through and change all the fluids etc I'd jumper the fuel pump relay (your mech should know where this is and be familar w/ the job...it's Simple) and see if she'll start.

If you plan on keeping the car plan on feeding a chain in every 40-50K if the single row is still in place.

Best of luck!

Jonathan
 
#13 ·
Thanks for that post and picture! Yeah when I talked to him he mentioned chain. But he also kept saying he was just going to get a longblock from some silverstar place online. But he also said he wasnt sure it didnt need something less, just that he didnt have time to find out. I assumed that he was going the longblock route just to bypass future issues. Is Andy a member?
 
#15 ·
Nice, Now we got some hardcore proof Maybe A newspaper with todays date next to the car :rolleyes: Good to have you and welcome to the forum, Great find!:D
 
#18 ·
You could always part it out if worse comes to worse. And how would he be positive it needed a timing chain? And it 'just' stopped running, but no time to fix. Your $500 car might be a bit more expensive than that, but lets hope not...

Welcome to the forum. I'd shoot some starter fluid down the intake and see if it fires or not, and then some gas stabilizer in the tank with some other additives to help dilute the gunk in the lines. Some might advise against it because you might loosen something that you shouldn't, but I have never run into that problem.

.
 
#19 ·
Also, if the timing chain has either failed or allowed pistons to hit valves, when you crank it, it should sound 'funny'. It'll likely have a lopey or uneven rhythm to how it cranks. Instead of reet-teet-teet-teet-teet-teet, it'll be reet-teet-teetteetteet-teet-teet-teetteetteetteet... Or something like that.

I had a timing belt fail in a Dodge 3.5L engine and after I pulled over...it snapped at 85+ MPH, it definitely didn't sound right. That car didn't have an interference engine, so it was merely some of the valves were open, so an uneven force was being provided by the engine as it cranked. With bent valves, you'll have the same thing.

It really pays off to know if the engine is an interference one or not. I knew the Dodge's wasn't, so I merely replaced the timing belt in a rest area. I entertained fellow travelers for about 6 hours, having never done this job in the past.
 
#24 ·
totally off topic but i hate that US DOT Speedo, up to 85, that is terrible.

Wow, Glad my 85 380 doesn't have that. That's pretty bad, what is the Max speed that is shown?
 
#25 ·
Thanks for all the input guys! I found Andy's post about the car. It was titled Sad sad day. Anyway it said he pulled the vavle covers off and on one side that there was some pretty bad damage. But when I crank the engine it sounds normal. In the same post he said he had bought a 500sel engine. Im not sure what the deal is. I am taking it to the shop this week so I will let yall know what the real deal is. If its too much for me to take on I may be intrested in selling it. I do have a car hauler so I could deliver for the right price.
 
#26 ·
.



How many miles ?


You can check the timing chain by removing the oil filler cap and inserting your finger and 'G Spot-ing' it to feel if it's a single or double row chain.





[ Ahh I spent some wonderful Saturday afternoons in the back rows of the Regent/Avon/Savoy/etc theatres Shrimp ]

.
 
#27 ·
Yeah, today I removed the valve cover on the pas. side and everything looked A-ok! And I do have dual timing chains and they seemed tight. I didnt remove the drivers side as the fuel lines would take more time than i had. One thing i did notice was that there was considerable wear on the braided hose that went from fuel pump to the filter. Huge leak! Im wondering if that caused a vacuum or something to prevent the engine from running. But there is still the issue of leaking oil. Previous owner stated in a post that when it died he noticed there was no oil! But when I checked, there was dark worn oil on dipstick. He also said after it died he tried to crank but notta! I put in new battery and it cranks fine. No odd noises. Tomorrow she goes to the Doc to get a good check up. So im crossing my fingers!
 
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