Mercedes 300TD Wagon Overlander

[300td_overland]

Dang! Totally forgot about this beast.

Stoked you are feeling better. I hope to see this beast in the dirt sooner then later.

I was actually just talking about your Tent Yesterday but had forgotten who posted it. Have you used it yet?

I’ve taken a few naps in it at the shop and it’s comfy! Quality of it is very nice, the stuff needed to build up my rack shows up this week so I should be able to get it mounted either this coming up weekend or next.

 

[300td_overland]

Snuck out of the house and thew a quick spacer lift onto the Mercedes, not exactly how I want to do the lift long term but my impatience got to me looking at these tires in it. Roof bars to mount the roof top tent also showed up this week but I’ll have to get to that install in another week or 2

My spacers showed up yesterday to change the lug pattern from 5x112 to 5x4.5 so I can run a typical jeep pattern 15” wheel

The front hub bore on the Mercedes is 66mm, however, my adapters choke down to the smaller hub bore of the 5x4.5 section of the wheel so I need to chuck them on a lathe and open the bore up the rest of the way.

The rears went on no problem and I got a rough cut out of the rear fenders done before I had to pack it up for the day. Still have a lot of cleaning up the metal to do, and the inner fender actually goes all the way through to the inside of the wagon so I’ll have to create some patches to seal it back up which is no big deal

Here’s some photos of the rear slapped together though! Little stink but action as well as a before and after so you can see the height gained from the spacer lift

 

[300td_overland]

Got everything at the shop finished up early today and had some time to work on the Benz before heading home. Got the wheel adapters machined out and the fronts fit on today. Rough cut on the fender and finally got to see what she looks like and dammit I nailed the stance if I do say so myself.

Here’s some porn

 

[300td_overland]

Popped the tent on today getting ready to pull it home so I can do all the wiring and interior




It’s fun to see it really starting to come to life can’t wait to get it out on the trails! Hoping to take it on a Merus Adventure trip in Palo during Canyon for her first maiden voyage but may need to do some testing out here at the local OHV trails first to make sure we don’t run into any major issues before a trip that far out of town

 

[300td_overland]

Had to throw on a forum sticker of course

 

[300td_overland]

Brought the Benz home today. Still been down with a back injury I have 2 bulging disks in my l4 and l5 with a tear in the l5.

So I went ahead and brought her home that paired with new born around the house I figured the only way I’m gonna get anything done on her is if she’s at home where she belongs!

So time to start ripping through the wiring and getting all the gremlins sorted so she’s trustworthy to start making some longer trips!

Progress will probably be slow here for a little while but should atleast be rolling.

 

[300td_overland]

Started ripping the old nasty interior out.

Good news is no major rust found so far I’m pretty sure this wagon lived most its life in New Mexico so thankfully it’s not too bad.

I was contemplating refreshing the original Mercedes seats but I think if I’m going this far I may as well throw a simple cage in and go with PRP daily drivers up front and a 3 person bench for the rear.

Dash and hvac system come out next then it’s onto creating a new simpler wiring harness.