Vintage Cars: 1976 230 L, gas plugs, smell of gas

Question
Hi Ron -

My sister recently purchased a 76 230L.  The weather has been cold lately (20's and 30's) but the car starts up right away and after being warmed runs great.  Today however, she drove it and turned the engine off while parked for ten minutes.  Then when she tried to start it  again it struggled to fire up.  She can get it started (with some effort) but when she puts it into gear it will die.  OR - if she can get it to stay in gear, when she drives it, it will sputter or "miss" then die when she comes to a stop.  There is no smell of gas.

Plugs are new, hoses seem to be good.  Minor oil leak.

Any possible scenerios?

Thanks so much, I look forward to your thoughts.

Monica

Answer
the 76 230sl is a great car.
You failed to tell me how many miles, if this was a sudden onset, if the engine is turning over normally or slowly, any smoke on start up  or service history but
hot start issues can be related to a lot of factors
- carb float issues
- poor compression
- valves out of adjustment
- fuel delivery
- timing
- points/condensor
- battery - new - old
- plugs - color at the tips - will tell us alot

I would start with a tune up  - plugs ,dwell, timing ,  valve lash
make sure carb floats are solid and not leaking.

if this has been done , let me know the recent service history and we can go from there

Happy motoring
Ron