Yes, those are the best options.. but the last one is by far the better in my opinion.
Check out the threads of people who start having troubles with their auto trans... were not the greatest in the world when made... had lots of changes and tweaking done to them...and you can hardly figure on finding someone who really knows how to rebuild them ( at less than $2500 ) .... which by itself was $500 more than I paid for my wagon in the first place...
A non turbo 617 has more room in the engine compartment... and more power than a 240... and a good manual trans serviced properly will probably outlast the rest of the car...

Hey there BG.
Only thing I don't like about your car is the four door.To bad you didn't have a sporty little CD to put that whole package into.It's a great car anyways,I'd just love to hear it with the 2.5 straights on it.Looks like the bod.is in great shape,too.(Sorry man,I don't mean to insult.)

CD's are hardly sporty. They are still a 3500lb square slab of steel. I think the SL's were the one's supposed to be sporty......
I think for you you would enjoy your NA 300CD with a standard tranny and associated hardware installed.

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Here is a sound clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Air67o1bmE

It cost me less than $100 for the whole exhaust system.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

i have a dodge with cummins and six manual tranny. i admit that when the turbo comes on it gets a little tricky from time to time but most of the time i granny around and shift way below that rpm.

i would love a stick behind a turbo motor.

in a benz i would recommend a 346 rear end though, like they put in the stick na cars. first gear is just too tall with the 307, imho.

i had a 240 that i put a na 300 engine in with the 307 gears (i put in too). if you lived someplace with no hills and never drove anywhere with hills the 307 would be fine, but here , well i live on a big hill, it was a pain.

great economy though. it would beat a 240 on fuel economy, getting 30 consistantly on the highway running 75.

the best setup would be the 346 gear, turbo motor and a five speed. good luck finding one though.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

That is an important concept...sometimes we talk about stuff and don't mention that other items can really influence the " livability" of a machine... and the third member ratio could be a huge factor in tuning your combo to be really fun or a real downer day to day...

I'm still trying to figure out how people are so offended at the idea of a manual transmission on a turbo charged car..

Having driven a number of turbocharged cars, trucks, and vans over the years, I find that at least in my case, manual transmissions are more efficient.
Given skill with the shifting, and willingness to learn how to shift that particular vehicle, you can typically shift with little to now slipping of the clutch, and often have no problem at all in getting the vehicle in motion in a quick manner.

As to automatics, the only reason I have one now is that the SD only comes that way, and I am enjoying wrenching on the car.
That being said, the auto tranny is an amazingly wasteful way to shift, especially if not equipped with locking torque converters, nor high enough gears to allow you to travel at highway speeds without winding the engine into the stratosphere.

Back on the part about turbo diesel vehicles with a manual tranny. Has anyone ever noticed the engine tranny pairings offered in the Ford, Dodge, and GM diesel trucks? Some come with an auto tranny, but if you want to get the most engine power to the road, with the least power train loss, hmm, manual transmissions start showing up.

A little further back, I was happy to drive a manual transmission equipped little mini van in South Korea. Definitely not a power house of an engine under it, but boy could it scoot! If I remember correctly, it was a 5 speed.

The automatic is definitely a convenience, especially if your knee doesn't like working a stiff clutch regularly, but I see no reason to limit myself to them, when there are so many more interesting cars to be driving.

As a closing thought, has anyone else really noticed the rated mileage difference between two otherwise identical cars, one with a MT, the other with an AT? Then think about the fact that the dealer is happily going to gouge you for an extra $1500 or so for the AT 'option' that is nearly the standard here in the US. I wonder how much of that is just the industry brainwashing the consumers here.

Well, that's just my two and a half cents worth.

Happy wrenching, whatever you choose to do to your cars!

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-Josh
Testing the cheap Mercedes axiom, one bolt at a time...

Man you guys have got my mind running absolutely ragged with ideas for my newest 123 coupe.300 cd.It's another '79 non-turbo car,w/138.000 miles on it,Silver,with Black leather interior.No rust,loaded w/options,recently serviced by a big MBZ dealer,and a phone book of receipts to go with it.Just picked it up for a song.Car is impecable,in and out.Needs nothing at all.However,first on the list is Euro lighting(anyone have any to sell me?),and either the four,or five spd.standard conversion(need all parts for that job,too).So far,that's the whole list though.Car just came up from Austin,Texas.Always been garaged,from original owner.Will post pics of this cream-puff,as soon as I get the right type downloaded.Tried to post pics of my other cars also,but site won't take them,for some reason.They are jpegs,but I guess,too big.I dunno,new to this whole puter gig.To purists,you'll be very happy to know,this car will remain all 100% original type equiptment,MBZ.No Chevy,or any other makers parts on this car.It's just to nice to mess with,and I've got the others for fast fun,already.Besides,I don't have the heart to tear up another cherry car. 77 hp.is it?,well maybe a few things,but all MBZ.Who's got AMG parts for this car,they'll sell me?..anything you've got,and can part with.I'll buy,no questions asked.Thanks y'all.

[QUOTE=truckinik;1390289] Needs nothing at all. However, [QUOTE/]

Yep, you are one of us....


[QUOTE/] Car just came up from Austin,Texas. cream-puff [QUOTE/}

Randy let a creampuff in Austin escape and be taken up into the NE ?
I can hear him crying right now.

Lotta cars listed,he may not have even known about it.Austin,is a little on the big side,for cities.I found it while browsing ebay.That's also where I found my 88 560SEC,AMG,Euro car.That's only got 4500km on it,and has been in a museum like environment its whole life.Got it for a laughable price,but importing a Euro car,from Alberta,Canada,is not an easy task,and still cutting the red tape.Yes 4500km not a typo,and it didn't roll over or swap out or anything like that.The guy was on the verge of losing everything,so he sold off his collection.He'd sold an 89 Lamborghini Countach,for $22,000.oo USD with only 2300 miles on it.The day before I bought the 560 from him.If I'd known earlier I'd have bought the two of them.I've already got a Countach like that though,so not really too mad about it.And to let you guys in on a secret you might not know,,the cars are junk.They're fast,if you can get them to run,and no matter what you can't stop them from leaking fluids at random,and stuff like that.Mine will be for sale soon.This is the third one I've had,and they're all the same.MBZ,cheaper to keep,work on,and market.My last Countach took almost a year on the Counatch site,and in Dupont,as well as a few other places I advertised it.Nobody wants them for some reason.

Just an update, the swap has finally been completed. "Arthur" rolled out of the garage on his own power this past sunday. I've driven over 200 trouble free miles so far. IMO, the 617.952 engine with a manual behind it is just awesome. I am thrilled

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2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel - 4x4, auto, 3.54 gears, long bed
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'92 300D 2.5 Turbodiesel - sold
'83 300D Turbodiesel - 4 speed manual/2.88 diff - sold
'87 300D Turbodiesel - sold
'82 300D Turbodiesel - sold