This is my off week from GA Tech, I start back next week. My brother Thomas and I are getting degrees in mechanical engineering and my friend Zach is getting his certification to become a mechanic so we are doing what we do best: fix cars.
YESTERDAY:
Yesterday (Sunday) we started by heading to the parts yard and grabbing some bolts for the updated fan and clutch for my Sportline (larger fan from the E320) because the old fan clutch uses studs, not bolts. We also grabbed some massively thick 4 gauge ground and alternator cables from an Acura and a Saab as well as braided ground straps from some Saturn SLs. These are for my brother's 300SD because 1) the battery grounds on the W116 and W123 suck and 2) we bought a 150 amp alternator for his car to run an electric fan and eventually a sound system upgrade. Came out to $9.24.
Last night we took the old pulley off the alternator and found that the key for the alternator shaft was different between the new alternator and the old one. The new one did not come with a key so we are searching for a key so that can be installed.
TODAY:
Today, Monday, we got the fan installed on the 300SD. It's a Volvo fan and fits in there very well. No bracket to mount it, it is mounted with the original holes that held the original shroud. We have a Mercedes fan from a W203 that is more powerful but it would have required a custom controller and we didn't want to deal with that.
It fits very nicely and moves a lot of air. We are going to have to have a shop modify on of the extra bungs on the engine or braze in a fitting on the radiator so we can fit the BMW temperature sensor to run it. It is much quieter than the clutch fan was and the total cost of this conversion will come out to be about as much as a new fan clutch (the one on there was going bad, Behr one is $250 now). It was $9.24 for the cables, around $35 for the fan and fan relay, and $170 for the alternator and shouldn't be too much for the work at the machine shop. Other benefit of this conversion is better regulation of AC temps and less weight on the water pump bearing. The water pump can be changed in the future without removing the fan
Thomas and Zach also changed the old rotting transmission cooler lines on the 300SD.
I went to work on the Sportline, first removing the bumper and draining the radiator. I then removed the charcoal canister and had my brother go out and buy new hose and clamps for it, it had been leaking and the smell was terrible. I then removed the radiator, old fan and fan clutch, fan pulley, idler pulley, power steering pump pulley, and water pump pulley so I could replace the tensioner. I had changed the tensioner adjustment lever last time I worked on the car because the threads were stripped but the tensioner was also bad and I didn't have one to replace it. But as I pulled the tensioner out, I noticed that the tensioner adjustment lever I had installed last time had stripped threads. I tried to tap and die the threads but my cheapie Harbor Freight tap and die set just damaged the threads more (I do not recommend their set). Fortunately the adjustment lever on my 190E parts car was good so I used it. I got the tensioner back in and all of the pulleys back on and routed to belt but realized I must have put the adjustment lever on backwards so I stopped working on that for the night. I was glad I ordered a new idler pulley because I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money but when I pulley the old idler pulley off I saw that the seal on the bearing had gone and the grease had gone everywhere.
Meanwhile, Thomas and Zach rigged up a cooling system, battery, and fuel tank to test a OM617 that they found at the parts yard last month. It was from a 85 300SD that apparently had around 320,000 miles but the engine looked to be in really good shape and the turbo had zero play in it. My brother bought it and the transmission for around $300 and then gifted the engine to my friend because he has always wanted to OM617 swap a truck and he has done a ton of work on our cars for us. The engine was still mated to the transmission and they were still attached to the engine hoist and set down on an old tire. Thomas used jumper cables to send power to the glow plugs and Zach jumped the starter and starter solenoid. It took some cranking but the engine came to life and smoked like hell for a few minutes then the smoke cleared. I'll put a video up as soon as Zach sends it to me but it idled and ran very well, especially considering it had been sitting for at least a few months.
TOMORROW:
Tomorrow (Tuesday), I plan to have the Sportline running. We are going to have to change the engine mounts on it which will entail pulling the engine from my 190E parts car because the engine mounts on it are still in good shape. I have to also replace the spark plug wires, flush coolant, and change the oil.
Pulling the engine from the parts car also serves another purpose. I am selling the transmission from it to a guy I met on Craiglist. He was selling his pristine 300E 2.6 because the transmission was bad but seemed to really want to keep the car so I showed up at his house, gave the car a good look over then told him I wasn't going to buy his car and asked him if he would be interested in buying a replacement transmission. He enthusiastically said yes so I got his email and emailed him a list of the parts he needs for the transmission plus what other parts I saw on the car that needed replacing. He is a veteran of the film industry and my minor is in music technology which is in high demand in the film industry so he has been a great person to connect to.
We hope to find a key for the alternator for the 300SD, I believe that they key in the alternator on my parts car is the correct size so we'll try that first before trying to find and buy one locally.
The other thing we are doing tomorrow is pulling the electric motor and transaxle from a Nissan Leaf. A student at Tech bought a wrecked leaf for its battery pack for his electric converted truck and is selling off the other bits on eBay. He put the motor and transaxle up on the GA Tech classifieds for $150 because he didn't want to have to deal with shipping it and wanted another Tech student to make use of it. It is a watercooled 110 HP, 80kw three phase AC motor. We are not sure what we are going to use it in yet but there will be a plug-in hybrid project as some point in the future unless we decide to sell it. Current idea is a plug in hybrid using a small VW diesel or similarly efficient small engine as the generator, Chevy Volt style.
Other stuff we gotta do this week is installing ROLLGUYS' Sanden kit on Thomas' 300SD, just have to get hoses made and the system evacuated. Both the 300SD and Sportline need new shifter bushings so those are going in and the valve cover gasket on the 300SD is going to be replaced and the engine bay cleaned up. I also have to take the Sportline in to an exhaust shop to have the catalytic converter and some of the exhaust bits replaced.