report on 82 300cd stick conversion

[t walgamuth]

We had the stick tranny installed last spring. It is hooked to a pretty fresh 617 turbo motor, using a 240 fw clutch and four speed tranny. I was a bit hesitant to use the 307 gear but decided to give it a try. It is working fine.

We have put about four thousand miles on it, maybe 12 fill ups. Our lowest mpg was 17+ our highest nearly 27. My daughter has it at Ball State. She lives pretty close to campus so only drives it in the evening over to the Architecture building and walks the rest of the time. And she drives it home to Lafayette on secondary roads from time to time, so no tank is purely highway or town.

It appears to be getting about the same as a 240d stick. I think it would hit about 27 on a long trip, maybe a bit more and probably would not go below 20 in town except in winter.

So I would say it is a pretty happy combination.

Tom W

[JimmyL]

How do yall like the driving experience now with this car configured as such?

I've been thinking of using a 3.07, how is acceleration?

[t walgamuth]

It drives nicely. First and second gear feel very close together ratio wise....it feels really odd because of that.

Acceleration is in a word, Doggy.

I am not sure the boost and or enrichment is acting as it should though. But the car runs like a top and my daughter has not complained so I have not addressed it in any way.

It is being used as basic transportation. Although it looks really nice now and the paint and body looks very good, the leather is so old that the large parts of the seat are developing some pretty significant cracks. One of these days I am going to have to either find some palimino tex cd seats or get some work done on these replacing individual panels.

Also there is a vac issue that my indie has been unable to figure out. I may have to take it to a benz specialist in Indianapolis for that.

I think a 346 rear with a five speed would be perfect, but this is a big improvment over the automatic and taking off is not too bad, but the acceleration is leisurely.

Tom W

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I think a 346 rear with a five speed would be perfect, but this is a big improvment over the automatic and taking off is not too bad, but the acceleration is leisurely.

If only there was a 3.3x or 3.2x ratio to work with. The jump from 3.69-3.46 made a big (good) difference in acceleration and MPG, but going to 3.07 is too big a jump for me.

[t walgamuth]

Originally Posted by ForcedInduction

If only there was a 3.3x or 3.2x ratio to work with. The jump from 3.69-3.46 made a big (good) difference in acceleration and MPG, but going to 3.07 is too big a jump for me.

I have the 327 ring and pinion that came in my 190 16v diff available if you wanted that ratio.

I would make you a deal on it.

Tom W

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I think a 346 rear with a five speed would be perfect, but this is a big improvment over the automatic and taking off is not too bad, but the acceleration is leisurely.

Tom W

This is a rather interesting point.

Many folks like the manual because they believe that it's faster than the automatic. However, personally, I think that this is factually incorrect. The automatic benefits by some extreme slippage with the torque converter...........allowing the engine to instantly jump to 2000 rpm off the line and climb from there. The manual has no such benefit.

If you look at the hardware on Lance's vehicle, you'd think that it would smoke just about any other 617 out there. But, it's only in the mid 13's. This is in a lighter 240 body, with a Vnt, and a 3.46 axle ratio. A good running stock automatic with a 2.88 or a 3.07 will beat it

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

Many folks like the manual because they believe that it's faster than the automatic. However, personally, I think that this is factually incorrect.

You are 100% correct.

NA vs NA the stick is definitely faster. But turbo vs turbo the automatic will catch up between the manual's shifts.

My primary reasons for going manual are simplicity, better control and to be different. If pure acceleration was my goal I would have used an automatic with the higher stall speed 85 torque converter.

[diametricalbenz]

I am having my 240D converted to 3.0L and manual as well. It's a painfully slow process. I sure hope it meets my expectations when it's done!