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My Project W116

Started by socalsean, 13 February 2013, 02:02 PM

socalsean

Hello everyone. I just bought a 300SD last night. I've never owned one before and this forum seems like a good place for knowledge and help. I've been a Volvo 240 guy forever but the thought of not having to smog a car was too good to pass up! I had the California BAR inspection on my turbo swapped 240 wagon and never want to go through that again.

I'm not a purist, and many of you may cringe when you see what I will do to this car, but I think the journey will be fun for all.

The car is getting steam cleaned right now and I will have photos of it by the weekend. The engine and transmission have been sold to my father to power his '51 Willys. I still haven't decided whether a 2JZ, 1UZ, or a LM7 will find it's way under the hood. I have access to all three and they all seem to have their pluses and minuses.

Anyone in norcal have a gas tank and lines?  8)

John Hubertz

My question is why would someone want a Mercedes turbodiesel engine in a 1951 Willys?  Is it a jeep or a car?
John Hubertz
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
(Hunter S. Thompson) 

1977 450SEL (Max Headroom)
[img width=68 height=73][url="http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/fullhappyfish/max.jpg"]http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/fullhappyfish/max.jpg[/url][/img]

socalsean

Quote from: John Hubertz on 13 February 2013, 06:29 PM
My question is why would someone want a Mercedes turbodiesel engine in a 1951 Willys?  Is it a jeep or a car?

Its kinda like a 2 door Chevy Blazer type of body. I think it has a flat head 6. My dad wanted to put a TDI in it but I think this will be a cheaper and simpler option.

Squiggle Dog

I actually had the same idea back when I had a $400 1980 300SD and a $200 1953 Willys Jeep station wagon. The Willys only had about 30 horsepower, anyway. I loved the power and fuel economy of the turbo diesel engine but hated the difficulty of trying to repair the non-functioning windows and climate control.

I ended up selling the Mercedes for $600 on eBay because I couldn't figure it out and sold the Willys really cheap because it was too much work for me.

Later on, I got a free 1979 300SD that was half parted out along with a free 1977 450SE. I figured that for free I could slap something together and make a profit. The 300SD ended up being my daily driver and I loved it, finally figuring out how to work on it and simplify the complicated things. I ended up selling that one to fund a Euro 1967 W111 230S with sunroof project that I was going to put a 300SD engine into, but the seller ended up wanting way too much money for it, so I passed and bought a 1968 W110 200D to drive around in instead. That car rusted out on me after 2 years, so I bought my current daily driver; a 1980 300SD.

Oh, and I used to have a 1951 Willys truck. It used to have the small 4 cylinder engine, but someone crammed an AMC 258 inline 6 engine in there. I mean CRAMMED... it didn't have a fan on the engine since the pulley was butted up against the radiator, and the firewall had a hole in it for the engine to fit in the cab, which was only held on by one bolt and would shift around on sharp turns.

I was helping someone push their car and it pushed the radiator into the pulley so it wouldn't hold coolant. I used to drive that thing 5 miles to work with no coolant in it. If it stalled from overheating, I'd coast for a while, park, then start it up again and continue on my way. I would agree that I was a bit too broke in those days to be owning a vehicle.
Stop paying for animal cruelty and slaughter. Go vegan! [url="https://challenge22.com/"]https://challenge22.com/[/url]

1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

oversize

Quote from: socalsean on 13 February 2013, 02:02 PM
Hello everyone. I just bought a 300SD last night. I've never owned one before and this forum seems like a good place for knowledge and help. I've been a Volvo 240 guy forever but the thought of not having to smog a car was too good to pass up! I had the California BAR inspection on my turbo swapped 240 wagon and never want to go through that again.

I'm not a purist, and many of you may cringe when you see what I will do to this car, but I think the journey will be fun for all.

The car is getting steam cleaned right now and I will have photos of it by the weekend. The engine and transmission have been sold to my father to power his '51 Willys. I still haven't decided whether a 2JZ, 1UZ, or a LM7 will find it's way under the hood. I have access to all three and they all seem to have their pluses and minuses.

Anyone in norcal have a gas tank and lines?  8)

One of the members here intended to put an LS engine into his W116 but unfortunately he disappeared....  It'd be an interesting project
1979 6.9 #5541 (Red Bull)
1978 6.9 #4248 (Skye)
1979 6.9 #3686 (Moby Dick)
1978 6.9 #1776 (Dora)
1977 450SEL #7010 white -P
1975 450SEL #8414 gold -P

Casey

Quote from: John Hubertz on 13 February 2013, 06:29 PM
My question is why would someone want a Mercedes turbodiesel engine in a 1951 Willys?  Is it a jeep or a car?

Because the OM617 is pretty much the best damn engine ever made, and is a great option to put in any vehicle. ;)

Casey

#6
Quote from: socalsean on 13 February 2013, 02:02 PM
The engine and transmission have been sold to my father to power his '51 Willys. I still haven't decided whether a 2JZ, 1UZ, or a LM7 will find it's way under the hood. I have access to all three and they all seem to have their pluses and minuses.

I have to wonder why you didn't just buy a 450SE(L) or 6.9...  6.9's that have had their suspension systems replaced with traditional spring setups aren't worth much and sell cheap, would still be a much nicer car than the end result you're going to create IMHO, but to each their own...  450SE(L)'s on the other hand are significantly cheaper than equivalent-condition 300SD's.

Why don't you use a newer Mercedes V8 or V12 instead?  You could even use an AMG model.  I always thought it would be neat if somebody put an AMG 7.3 liter into a W116...

socalsean

Quote from: Casey on 14 February 2013, 09:04 AM
Quote from: socalsean on 13 February 2013, 02:02 PM
The engine and transmission have been sold to my father to power his '51 Willys. I still haven't decided whether a 2JZ, 1UZ, or a LM7 will find it's way under the hood. I have access to all three and they all seem to have their pluses and minuses.

I have to wonder why you didn't just buy a 450SE(L) or 6.9...  6.9's that have had their suspension systems replaced with traditional spring setups aren't worth much and sell cheap, would still be a much nicer car than the end result you're going to create IMHO, but to each their own...  450SE(L)'s on the other hand are significantly cheaper than equivalent-condition 300SD's.

Why don't you use a newer Mercedes V8 or V12 instead?  You could even use an AMG model.  I always thought it would be neat if somebody put an AMG 7.3 liter into a W116...

I bought the car because it cost me $150. I just wanted a diesel titled car so i could put what ever engine I want in it.

There's more aftermarket support for the engines that I'm deciding upon plus they are way more cost effective than a newer MB engine. If money was no object things would be different.

Casey

Quote from: socalsean on 15 February 2013, 03:26 PM
I bought the car because it cost me $150.

Wow, what's the story behind that??

oversize

Wiring a new MB engine and trans is a nightmare....  Troy Trepanier put a G55 engine into a 1955 Buick and the wiring harness would make a even a hardened career mechanic run the other way
1979 6.9 #5541 (Red Bull)
1978 6.9 #4248 (Skye)
1979 6.9 #3686 (Moby Dick)
1978 6.9 #1776 (Dora)
1977 450SEL #7010 white -P
1975 450SEL #8414 gold -P

socalsean

Quote from: Casey on 15 February 2013, 03:44 PM
Quote from: socalsean on 15 February 2013, 03:26 PM
I bought the car because it cost me $150.

Wow, what's the story behind that??

It has a nasty knock and the owner needed money to fix his Camry. I'm trying to track down the knock. It runs and drives great and has awesome oil pressure and doesn't burn any oil, plus the transmission was rebuilt about a year ago. I'm not familiar with these engines and while my room mate is a diesel tech he was trained to work on newer large frame trucks.

ZCarFan

Quote from: Casey on 14 February 2013, 09:04 AM
Quote from: socalsean on 13 February 2013, 02:02 PM
The engine and transmission have been sold to my father to power his '51 Willys. I still haven't decided whether a 2JZ, 1UZ, or a LM7 will find it's way under the hood. I have access to all three and they all seem to have their pluses and minuses.

I have to wonder why you didn't just buy a 450SE(L) or 6.9...  6.9's that have had their suspension systems replaced with traditional spring setups aren't worth much and sell cheap, would still be a much nicer car than the end result you're going to create IMHO, but to each their own...  450SE(L)'s on the other hand are significantly cheaper than equivalent-condition 300SD's.

Why don't you use a newer Mercedes V8 or V12 instead?  You could even use an AMG model.  I always thought it would be neat if somebody put an AMG 7.3 liter into a W116...

I'm not sure about the reasoning behind working with the great, but complicated Toyota motors, but the reasoning behind LS swaps is better fuel efficiency, lower parts cost and more power than a M-100.  Better packaging too.  You could go all-out and use a vortec 8100 swap for about the price of rebuilding the bottom end of a M-100.

socalsean

Quote from: ZCarFan on 15 February 2013, 07:20 PM
Quote from: Casey on 14 February 2013, 09:04 AM
Quote from: socalsean on 13 February 2013, 02:02 PM
The engine and transmission have been sold to my father to power his '51 Willys. I still haven't decided whether a 2JZ, 1UZ, or a LM7 will find it's way under the hood. I have access to all three and they all seem to have their pluses and minuses.

I have to wonder why you didn't just buy a 450SE(L) or 6.9...  6.9's that have had their suspension systems replaced with traditional spring setups aren't worth much and sell cheap, would still be a much nicer car than the end result you're going to create IMHO, but to each their own...  450SE(L)'s on the other hand are significantly cheaper than equivalent-condition 300SD's.

Why don't you use a newer Mercedes V8 or V12 instead?  You could even use an AMG model.  I always thought it would be neat if somebody put an AMG 7.3 liter into a W116...

I'm not sure about the reasoning behind working with the great, but complicated Toyota motors, but the reasoning behind LS swaps is better fuel efficiency, lower parts cost and more power than a M-100.  Better packaging too.  You could go all-out and use a vortec 8100 swap for about the price of rebuilding the bottom end of a M-100.

I don't think the Toyota engines are too complicated. I've messed with a few in the past and never had any issues with them.

With that being said, I'm picking up a 2JZ-GE tomorrow. I decided, for budget reasons, that the LM7 swap would cost 4x more than the 2J. I really don't want to put a rack and pinion steering set up in it....for now (seems like a lot of V8 swaps need the steering box removed for clearance). I figure that if I'm not stoked on the 2J then I can always take it out later and put something else in.

The plan is to drop the 2J in N/A at first to get it running and then toss a turbo on it by summer. 400 whp is my goal.

Casey

You could just sell the complete car at a significant markup...then pay less for a 450 or 280, which retain much less value...if you're going to devalue it anyways.

socalsean

Quote from: Casey on 16 February 2013, 10:26 PM
You could just sell the complete car at a significant markup...then pay less for a 450 or 280, which retain much less value...if you're going to devalue it anyways.

Devalue? I guess that term is subject to debate. I'm taking a car that was destined for Pick 'N Pull and saving it so no matter what I do to it I'm keeping it alive and on the road.

I wanted a diesel car so I don't ever have to smog it. If you don't live in California then maybe you'll never appreciate never having to smog a car. The smog laws out here are ridiculous. My dad has to even smog his 1999 E350 Diesel van.

None the less, I picked up the new engine today. Can't wait to start building the motor mounts!