Hello! I just picked up a 1970 220d with a straight body. I drove it a bit to see how it performed, and the motor locked up at 500 miles. It already had significant blow by, and I really want to put a fresh motor in to have a long term reliable car.

The motor has been swapped 10 years ago. The manual 4 speed rebuilt 5 years ago. My understanding is the later 220d motors were sleeved, the early models not.

I have yet to determine what I have. I've been looking for a reference site to interpret the rest of the numbers on the block.

I'm also having trouble locating rings for a 615.

I understand the 616 is a bored out version, but something about one having a different stroke.

I'm wondering if I can:

1. Find rings/bearings for this motor.
2. Bore it out and sleeve it to a 616
3. I'm looking at an 82 617 turbo. I understand I'll have to fab an oil filter setup, cut my fender to fit the turbo, setup a vacuum shutoff for the IP, and deal with glow plugs. My buddy showed me a boshe kit for fast plugs that comes with a relay and timer. I usually through the timer away and put in a push button.

Options 1 and 2 look like the best. The 617 has 250k on it and is $450. I've also found one on eBay with 40k for $1200. And I've found a 300td complete car for $1200 with 250k. Third option sounds promising if I can part the car after for a return, but unsure if that's feasible.

What would you guys do? I really like the 115's, and plan on keeping it for a daily for a long time. With the 617 swap I've heard I should switch the rear end, but need to learn more about that.

Thanks.