The Sleeper Part Deux - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

greazzer · #1 01-23-2013, 04:52 PM

VSTECH and I celebrated our sixth week together this past Saturday and on Sunday it was over. I finally got the Sleeper Part Deux finished and VSTECH rejoiced it was finally out of his driveway. We had a celebratory lunch and we parted ways. LOL. It is paint code 684, Pastel Beige. I will get some pictures shortly. It is super nice! Interior is near mint. The drive train swap took a few more weeks than anticipated and a few more problems discovered. Right now, I will keep my promise to VSTECH and repair the driveshaft immediately. This is a five speed Getrag 717.400 but the driveshaft appears to be a 240D with about 1-2 inches hacked off and jammed into the center joint. There is no nut, no rubber boot, and somewhat unsafe in my opinion. VSTECH was kind enough to give me another 240D driveshaft, the smaller end, and that will be properly shortened. I hope to get this out this week. I was super behind on orders, injector services, et cet, but now caught up. Between flu like symptoms, traveling here and there, and the car project, we finally got 'er done ! The drive shaft is a high priority since this is a ticking time bomb. Another surprise was my leaking head gasket. So, my suspicions lead me to believe there will be another drive train swap in a year or two. Because of time and ease, we just flipped the old rust bucket clunker over on its side to get the trans cross member out since the rusty fasteners just spun. That was done about 3 weeks ago. I should have brought my correct five speed trans member and avoided the frustration, but it was interesting flipping the car over. Overall, the drive train swap occurred as somewhat expected and the car itself runs very, very nicely.
I re-installed the manual steering box. Most of the maintenance was already performed on the drive train before the swap (See my prior post “The Sleeper” The New Project-- The Sleeper), so I will be shifting my attention to some mod’s: Euro Bumpers, aluminum rims, either 5.5 or 6.0, mud flaps, re-locating the oil filter canister, EWP, and water injection and putting my WVO system back into the car. I got rid of the “exhaust system” and installed a new header pipe and a non-leaking exhaust system. Sounds 100%+ better. Looking to re-finish the wood with a different look. I picked up the interior shifter plate without the power window switches so I will be hitting the yards shortly to pick up manual window regulators. The car I got now, the Sleeper Part Deux was JayBob’s old car and the most important thing I can say at this point is the following: Thank you John!

greazzer · #2 01-24-2013, 09:27 AM

Here is a side shot. The quality of the picture is not so hot, especially with the sun behind me. As such, it really doesn't show off the color of the paint which has grown on me. Until now, I have never seen a Pastel Beige MB.

Hitting Maaco today to get a quote to paint the hood. After that, taking a long Saturday to buff and polish the old girl.

t walgamuth · #3 01-24-2013, 09:43 AM

i believe they used the DS from the 280e the tranny came from.

Simpler=Better · #4 01-24-2013, 04:16 PM

Lookin' good.

Walkenvol · #5 01-25-2013, 07:52 AM

Congrats on the nice looking car! I admire your persistence. You get a whole lot more done in 6 weeks than I do.

Phillytwotank · #6 01-25-2013, 09:32 AM

wow! you're trying to claim the title of most super custom tricked out w123 2013. Can't wait to see it all put together.

greazzer · #7 01-25-2013, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walkenvol

Congrats on the nice looking car! I admire your persistence. You get a whole lot more done in 6 weeks than I do.

Thank you Sir ! I am very, very happy with the new car body. Once I get the hood painted and about 6 dings removed, then I just got a rust spot where the antenna rubber grommit permited water to rot out about a hand sized area in the lower quarter panel. Other than that, I am just mod'g or updating this or that and back to burning WVO. The really nice thing is not being overly concerned with the health of the engine since my goal is to burn WVO for 2 years or more, then installing a new engine, maybe a turbo.

I love the tinted windows. Shoud help in the S.C. heat !!!!

Stretch · #8 01-25-2013, 10:55 AM

Wow great stuff - when you get to do the drive train swap and the shortening etc I'd appreciate some pictures of the prop shaft when it is cut in two!

LutzTD was selling the correct gearbox mount recently (I wonder where he got that!)...

greazzer · #9 01-25-2013, 11:16 AM

No problems. I can tell you right now that the general measurement for the front drive shaft section needed for the 5 speed (Getrag 717.400) is 19 3/4". However, the piece I have from the 240D is going out this weekend to be shortened and I prepared a note for EXACT measuremnets, e.g., down to the mm to be precise. Also, I ended up with the wrong trans cross member when I bought Tom's old car. I do have the CORRECT one from my other five speed set-up, however. I will take pictures of all 4 items, e.g., DS & TCM to compare and contrast. Because of the somewhat simplicity of the TCM, I am thinking one could be made cheaply out of stamped metal.

greazzer · #10 01-26-2013, 12:53 PM

I ventured outside for about 30 minutes and its Coldddd .... So, I did very little. Also, I realized I was somewhat hi-jacking Diesel911's thread, so I will post my results on the NSS and jumper I made.

1. The jumper I made works great. Simple plug in and it "jumps" the NSS. Right now, I am looking for the 2 prong deal for the back up lights. I can now get rid of the wires that run through the firewall and out to the trans tunnel. It was very simple , plug-and-play. Here's a picture of it.

2. I decided to NOT sell my real tail light chrome strips and I just installed them. They look 100% better than the dull black rubber deals.

3. I got rid of the 2-point arm rest - door pull and added the 3 pointer. I really like this a lot better than the stock OEM deal.

4. No pictures of the driver side (L) firewall drain tube. I found a really nice one, no cracks so that hole is now plugged up.

Overall, a productive 30 mintues. I put the battery back in and discovered I was missing Fuse #2. Now, my clock works and my dome lights work. Let's see if the battery drains out over night. I doubt I am headed back outside. Too cold and I think my wife is re-getting the flue and I am not far behind her.

Thanks to DeliveryValve and Diesel911 for thier info on the NSS. That was my most productive part of the day !

greazzer · #11 01-27-2013, 03:20 PM

Army,

Here are some pictures of the drive shafts.

The top one is the correct length for the 5 speed. It is about 18". The middle one is from a 300D auto trans. The bottom one is from a 240D and it's about 19 1/2". The middle one was modified where it has grease fittings.

I am not sure if there are any other variations of the drive shaft, but these probably represent the 3 most likely flavors.

I will ask the drive shaft place to give me exact measurements, down to the mm. When I get it back, I will try to measure the absolute lenght of the entire DS.

Stretch · #12 01-28-2013, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greazzer

Army,

Here are some pictures of the drive shafts.

The top one is the correct length for the 5 speed. It is about 18". The middle one is from a 300D auto trans. The bottom one is from a 240D and it's about 19 1/2". The middle one was modified where it has grease fittings.

I am not sure if there are any other variations of the drive shaft, but these probably represent the 3 most likely flavors.

I will ask the drive shaft place to give me exact measurements, down to the mm. When I get it back, I will try to measure the absolute lenght of the entire DS.

You are an absolute star - thank you very much..

If you need measurements of my prop shaft I can dig it out quite easily.

I'm particularly interested to learn about what's inside one of these prop shafts - apparently there's another shaft and a rubber bit too. (Prop shaft wall thickness?)

There's also prop shaft information in these threads =>

driveshaft length table

Gearbox comparison & drive shaft lenghts & colour codes - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum

(Just in case you haven't seen them yet)

t walgamuth · #13 01-28-2013, 06:26 AM

Those tables should become a permanent reference here. I suggest you contact Roy about that.

greazzer · #14 01-28-2013, 07:01 AM

Hey Army,

Unless I am reading the table cocked-eyed, those numbers cannot be correct. For example, I know for a fact that the five speed front piece is about 18" and the 240D is about 19 1/2. I also know that the 240D piece that was cut had about 1 1/2 inches cut off which would make sense. The auto from the 300D was the smallest. Also, the 300 with the 5 speed and the 300D auto had the thinner type of tube, e.g., straight piece of tubing vs. the one shaped like a coke bottle on one end. I am thinking that the rear section is constant or the same for all flavors, so its just the front piece. When I get the entire DS back from the shop, I will take some more pictures to do a final compare and contrast and with exact mm numbers. Also, I will ask the guy what is the construction of these things. Looks like just a steel tube.

Walkenvol · #15 01-28-2013, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greazzer

Hey Army,

I am thinking that the rear section is constant or the same for all flavors, so its just the front piece.

My recent experience converting an auto to manual lead me to think the center support bearing was the constant. The rear shaft changed only if the differential was a different length ( which was the case in the cars we were swapping). The front shaft changed based on the length of the tranny.