I've got a '76 242DL
and manual steering has been tearing up my arms, it's time to put in some new parts. What all can be replaced to make handling better and easier?

The car wanders, very hard to steer, not aligned and is extremely loose.

 

Replace the power steering gear, steering arms, and tie rod ends.

I would not drive the car without having the front end checked by a pro.

 

Well you said you have manual steering so replacing the power steering gear isn't an option. But I would check the tie rods, and steering arms. Are your tires wearing unevenly? if so get it aligned at any tire shop. That should help a lot. You might want to check all your steering linkage also to see if maybe it just needa a good lube up or if something is broken in it.

 

Good catch, funny. I missed the part about manual steering.