what are peoples opinions on gaining performance? 350se

[sel11t]

Hi all,

I am considering spending some of my hard earned on my 350 SE and was wondering about the options that are availiable in the performance area,

Firstly, my mechanic said that because of the fuel injection, it could be too much trouble to work on the standard motor and to get a 350 chev or something of the like, personally i have faith in the standard motor's abilities, and cannot be bothered by the stress of an engine swap.

Being surrounded on this website by so many experts on this type of car, from expierience, what would you do being in my shoes? does anyone have an idea of where i should start? other than saving ..

any guidance is greatly appreciated.

[TJ 450]

Before considering anything else, I would make sure that the engine is operating as it should. Things like valve timing, ignition timing and air fuel mixture should be to specification.

Other than that, I would consider an injection system upgrade if you want to extract more power, then beyond that you could do anything. Forced induction might be worth considering with the 350 if you could lower the CR with custom pistons... I suspect it has the potential to leave a 450 for dead considering the short stroke.

I wouldn't even consider a Chev conversion though, but that's my opinion.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

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[gf]

A chevy is a chevy, an mb is an mb. keep it original and work with what you got i say. its like jag owners who stick a commodore engine to ease maintenance- its just not the same- you dont want to ssanyong your pride and joy. theres a history and heratige to each mercedes. Id try to avoid the chevy swap if you can.

[mirafioriman]

Simple way, fit a 450 engine. It will fit straight in, look original and increase your car's performance. Probably be cheaper than modifying the 350 too

[WGB]

Or buy a 6.9

Bill

[Mforcer]

If you want performance, what about stripping weight from the car? Get rid of all the insulation and carpets etc.

[Casey]

If you want performance, what about stripping weight from the car? Get rid of all the insulation and carpets etc.

I seriously doubt carpets+insulation is going to make much of a dent in a 4,000lb vehicle.

[Mforcer]

Without the insulation, the car would at least sound to be going faster

I believe if you strip enough weight (including bumpers etc) you end up with a power to weight ratio higher than the 6.9. I remember reading about a rally car modified this way.

I often think about performance for my car and always come to the conclusion that they are comfortable cruisers and believe you should buy a performance car if you want performance.

[pompy]

I agree, cheapest and easiest and 'purest' way to increase performance would be to drop a 450 in there. With the shorter 350 diff you'll be able to burn rubber  ... if you so desire 

[sel11t]

the 450 does sound like the best option, what needs to be changed for the conversion? im guessing the rego will need to be changed as well. Does anyone have any expierience with the swap? thanks for all the helpful replies!

[Mforcer]

Why not just buy a 450 and sell the 350? If you are going to the effort and cost of a conversion, I would go for a 500 as has been done by another on this forum. Their car still looked original unless you really knew what to look for.