w126 500 engines

[nathan]

Hi all,
my quest goes on for a 500 for the Gwagen.
today i checked one out which was an '81, early 500.  the car was crap but the engine and tranny were better than the previous 1988(?) model i looked at...
i note theres a hell of a lot of difference in engine outputs over its decade of existence.
can anyone tell the differences better than wiki or some other vague sites do.
the engine in the 1981 500 was 117963 22 001081...it must have been one o fthe first ones out and was supposedly from the UK..i note some 500 put out as little as 165kW which would tend to make me put a higher offer on a really tired 1988 500 which should have closer to 190kW in stock form.  regardless, the engines would be getting complete rebuilds.
if it helps, this 500 had only one air intake compared to the twin on the 1988?
thanks
nathan

[TJ 450]

Being a 1988 model, I would have expected the other one to be a 560, particularly seeing as it had the twin snorkel air cleaner. I believe the cutoff point for the 500 was 1986... although the 500's were never officially available here.

Tim

P.S. Maybe the 500 wasn't discontinued in certain markets?

[WGB]

The 500 was continued in the UK market and they never had the 4 door 126 560 as far as I am aware.

When the 126 first arrived the very early models were much quicker than the later models following the 1982 "Energy Concept" changes designed to lower fuel consumption.

The Euro 380 and 500 motors had extensive modifications to make the torque arrive at lower revs. I know the Euro 380 motor underwent a bore decrease from 92 mm to 88mm while the stroke was increased from 71.8 to 78.9 to keep the same swept volume while at the same time compression was increased from 9.0 :1 to 9.4:1.

The other major change that was noted by owners at the time (Very negatively) was a change in diff ratio to much taller ratios which made the car feel much more sluggish.

I would imagine a post 1986 500 Euro motor would be about the same performance as an Oz 560 .

Bill

[WGB]

P.S. Turned the page and read the bit about the 500 motor - Bore and stroke was left unchanged, Compression increased from 9.0:1 to 9.2:1 but power and torque reduced with a major increase in low end torque to handle a taller diff ratio.

Bill

[Big_Richard]

WGB, you seem to know a hell of a lot about 126's

Any chance of adding one to car collection ?

[WGB]

I've already owned one - nearly new in the late 80's.

Stick with the - 116 better for a DIY and a 116 ages better - less electronics and copper radiators.

Bill