lol, I would love to know about the unfortunate circumstance alluded to in the auction where dropping the vehicle off for service resulted in no engine!

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maybe they misfiled it and lost it?

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1985 300d champagne/palomino ~133k
1979 300d dead parts car ~???

It sure seems like a big project to me, but here is a link on relocating the oil filter that might help you.

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1972 280SE 4.5

for my 2 cents, you have to love these inexpensive cars, I have one that I been working on for the last 10 years and has never fully been on the road. True, it's more of a hobby, but they're a lot of work. Personally, I would try staying away from the turbo, at least initially. I think with a stick shift you would have sound car without having to redesign the whole filter and I don't think the turbo would fit as-is without some re-work. Spend the time and money on the half -shafts, break lines, tie-rods and gummed-out fuel tank, vac lines, etc. that you're almost sure to need, not including redoing the seats. The clutch pedal is different b/w W123 and W115. I live in ATL if you want to talk of line, I do like the car, best of luck

Sal
76 300D
85 300D

Yea that is my thought, just to wait until I'm in college or so to even worry about the turbo engine. And from what I can see, the seats are in good shape except for the padding (leather looks real nice, and it's the first I have seen that car with that color interior, and probably my new favorite). I might as well hold off the manual swap for a while also just to see if I can obtain one of the fabled 5-speed transmissions (I have seen a W115 240D with a 5 speed, on craigslist I believe, but I don't know if it's real or not) and put that in so I don't have to do almost the same thing twice. Now hopefully I can find all these other parts without much hassle. Whenever I go to switch over the transmissions and engines, hopefully there will be enough demand for the engine that I can just get rid of it.

thanks. Now hopefully that will be some help for me, but as is mentioned in there is I wouldn't know where to put it.

Now that is a good question. I don't know how you lose something of that size and weight.

Customer: What happened? I only asked you to change the engine oil!

Al the Mechanic: Ooooh, sorry, I thought you said "Change the engine, Al." Gotta get this hearing aid checked out. I can't tell you how many times that's happened.

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mjk

'84 300SD 119KMi (Liesl der Diesel)
'84 300D 326KMi when the oil left (former parts car)
'82 300SD 253KMi (new parts car)

w123fanman - My advise to you is to save your money and look for a running car. Your enthusiasm is great and obviously your willing to work but based on your age and lack of experience you will be heavily dependant on others to assist you. If you don't have a Dad or mentor who is mechanically competent and as interested in the project as yourself then you will become very frustrated.

Even with a current runner you'll need a ton of money and time to keep any 25-35 year old vehicle operating. Any old MB will need all the rubber componets replaced along with brakes, vacuum issues, interior work, body work, etc. Spend a few years doing all the required maintainance on an old MB and you will gain a lot of knowledge, mechanical experience, and tools. Then you will be ready to jump into an engine repower, especially a non-stock repower.

Everyone has to start at the begining with any aquired skill set. Take baby steps and before you know it with your enthusiasm and work ethic you will be the guru helping everyone else!

Well biggest reason why I want this one is the lack of rust, but yea it is true it will be expensive to put in an engine and then keep it running. I'm just going to wait until I have the money for the car and probably a couple thousand more before I buy one.

There are lots of old running MB diesels without rust. The one your looking at isn't a "one of a kind". Shop hard and be patient and you will find what your looking for.

Good luck!

Like this one - http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=291821

Sixto
87 300D

that one is okay, but the bubbling in the paint worries me. Also the interior isn't in the greatest of shape, but still not a bad price but again I would have issues with going to pick it up, and there is no guarantee it will run properly. That just looks like more work than the one that has been discussed (went for $660, not a bad price at all)

If you look at my signature you can see the setup that I ended up with in my 240D/300D hybrid. I stopped short of trying to relocate the oil filter and the coveted 5 speed. My plan was to use a OM617.95x and a Amsoil oil and bypass twin filter with the plate had it been available.

I ended up with a OM617.910 with a Rajay turbo since it doesn't clear the frame rail which would be good reasoning to find a 1985 engine or turbo setup to the best of my knowledge. The 4 speed with the heaver 37lb flywheel requires the later 4 speed alloy transmission case and not the old iron one. You would want to swap out the differential as well because the engine winds itself out too quickly.

This sort of project will cost a lot of money and persistence on you or your mechanic's part. Being 15 and very ambitious is a good thing but I honestly wouldn't recommend it. I would wait, save your money for college because that will drain you anyhow. I would say to get a cheaper W115 for the time being so you don't go stir crazy in the meantime and save up for your dream project. You can try acquiring all of the pieces you need in the meantime for your project.

Whenever I can get my car shipped here you're welcome to look at it since I too live in Atlanta, it would probably save a lot of R&D time if you do want to go that route.

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1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k

So where is the car currently? I would like to see at least pics or a video of you driving it (perhaps an acceleration test or something), seeing as no matter the intentions, a meet up between a 15 year old and a stranger on the internet doesn't go down well with many parents. I would love to see the car though. I really do think after much research it would just cost to much and until I have a stable job (my dad is offering me a managerial position at one of his businesses once I turn 18, and the pay, while not being the best, is still nice and if I stay in Atlanta for college, I could work there during college and not be the typical college bum surviving off ramen noodles), so I actually think instead of getting a w115 I get a w123 turbo then one day expand my collection with a W115 which I may or may not try the coveted engine and transmission swap. But honestly I'm not even sure if getting an old Mercedes diesel is a great idea, so I will just have to see about that.

But I do have questions about your car: Have you had it tested on a Dyno to test the added HP of the Rayjay turbo? The biggest reason why I would want to do such modifications to a W115 is just to be able to get up to speed quicker than a stock one would, and seeing as the turbo OM617 probably won't even fit with the suggestions people give on here, I guess I would need a turbo kit. And one last thing: Did you modify anything else about the engine bay once you added the turbo to cool the engine since there is the risk of over heating the engine, causing what could be major problems?

diametricalbenz where you planning on going to Rusty's get together in Sept? Maybe not a bad place to meet. Just wondering because I too would enjoy taking a look and hearing your 240 Hybrid. Also I can not use the heavier flywheel with the iron trans? I have an iron trans from a w115 280 and was thinking of the 300D flywheel, so stay with the 240 flywheel?

Thanks,

Sal
76 300D
85 300D

The car is in Los Angeles right now. I can have my buddy do a test with it with a iPhone app but it won't be accurate. I will try to get it to Winmutt's meet in September or sometime sooner if I can find the money to actually ship the cars.

I haven't put it on a dyno, it's not really a high priority right now. The turbo spools reasonably fast but it also has too high of gearing with the 3.69 so it runs out of revs very quickly in any gear which is the reason I want to find a 3.07 to drop into it. You would probably want the 85 style triple-K turbo with the higher mount and that presumably would clear the frame rail. It does have a 300D turbo oil cooler and a brand new triple core copper radiator to deal with the heat which does build up rather quickly. It doesn't have piston oil squirters but it was either deal with the faster wear or don't do it at all at the time.

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1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k