I went Ebay shopping again. I bought this 1978 mercedes benz with a 2.8 liter fuel injected inline hemi motor. It has dual overhead cams (double roller chain driven) all aluminion engine K-jetronic CIS fuel injection and is rated at 185 hp. Since it was imported from germany it has no emission and is legal in states. Nice ride for the dough $300 has about 92,000 miles.

280 CE
what do you all think about old benz inlines I hear they run forever however this one has not seen the road in over 15 years guy I bought it fromput fuel pump in it but doesn look like he flush ssytem beore trying to get it to run.

Well,I have a relative that's been running the same MB diesel for the last 20 years. I would guess the gas engine is just as good.Personally, I think you got a huge bargain in parts alone, but I would seriously go over it carefully to see if its worth fixing up.

I own a '79 Benz coupe that is the spittin' image of yours, but mine is a diesel. The 280 gas engine is a screamer. Just keep the oil changed, filters clean and valves adjusted and you will love it. If the timing chain has never been changed, it would be a good idea to do it. That is about the only weak link on that engine. I have had my Benz for over 10 years and it is my daily driver. It has been relatively trouble free.
Also, being a Euro model like yours there are lots of cool features on it that the US models don't have. Enjoy...

Thanks for the comments. Yes the 300CD is the same chassis as the 280CE. I new the MB diesels will run 500,000 miles and more if taken care of. I have purchased the special wrench needed to adjust the valves and plan to do that also got new injectors. both real cheap on ebay. I have to take closer look at body as most panels have rust and floorboards need patching. If engine works out I will just drive it as is with no changes to body (other than bondo and sheetmetal pop riveted in)and wait for a rust free W123 body to swap the motor and trans into. Hopefully another coupe as I really did the style. Meanwhile I am still driving my 1980 chevy 250 inline pickup truck everyday without problems.

I dont know a whole lot about the old gasser in question, but i do recall wrenching on a few.

Good motors really. They make good power, and are designed fairly tight. Unlike a older gm or ford inliner that likes running a little "loose", the Mb gasser needs a little more attention paid to keep everything in spec. Keep your valves and timing chain and the like tight, and the motor will live and perform decent for a good many miles.

Just a update, found out car had not run for over 15 years, I put new fuel pump, fuel filter, and cleaned fuel distributor,new injectorss, bypassed tank with bad gas, and car fired up. smoked like a dickens but clear up. My pickup onthe the other hand lost a clutch and I am now doing a automatic conversion on it.