1981 Mercedes Benz W126 300SD Overview

This is a walkthrough of my cherished project car which I have owned and restored for 3 years now. It is a 1981 Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse (W126) 300SD Turbodiesel which I have nicknamed ‘Project Panzer’. This has been my daily driver until my wife and I were gifted with an SUV. I still drive this about 3-4 times a week on highways and in the city especially on Fridays when the SUV falls under the color-coding scheme. It’s just a great car to drive and I feel good doing so. I instantly fell in love with Project Panzer and so I wanted to restore it to its full glory and top running condition first for two reasons – I intended to keep this car for the long haul as my daily driver and I wanted to make sure that my girlfriend (now my wife) could drive this safely on her own without me worrying about her running into car troubles or inconveniences. So I became very meticulous with the restoration and I wanted the car to function perfectly. The restoration process was very slow because of several factors – my funds, availability of the highest quality parts (Original Mercedes, Lemfoerder, Bilstein were my top priority), and availability of the mechanic. My main mechanic who took care of most of the work was none other than the legendary expert on old school Benzes – Mang Danny Fabic of Ate Transmission Repair in TS Cruz, Las Pinas city. He is also very meticulous, especially when it comes to parts. He always insists on using original Mercedes parts or the next closest brands, and...