Yesterday I picked up an air box at the PnP from a '85 300SD with all of the necessary hoses and brackets. The only hang up that I see is modifying or replacing the hose that goes from the turbo inlet to the box. You can't really cut it because there won't be a flat surface left for a clamp to grasp. Is there a stiff, yet flexible hose that custom shops use that I could purchase and do the necessary modifications on? Thanks

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'81 300SD

Is it the same diameter at both ends? Samco has silicone hose in all shapes and sizes if you can deal with the glaring colors. It won’t have the valve cover line nipple though.

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon
02 C320 wagon

Before you go any further with this I suggest pricing the filter element .

Once you do I'm confident you'll abandon this project .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

You're joking, right? I found them online for $35, which is fine for a part I'm going replace once a year, if that. The cleaner from the yard came with a pretty fresh looking Mahle filter in it.

I've lined everything up and it looks like the best route is to cut the elbow on the can that goes to the turbo inlet, and run a 2 1/2" hose straight from the bottom of the can to the turbo. I might also be able to use the stock hose by turning it sideways and fabricating an extension from the PCV hose to the nipple on the stock 2 1/2" hose.

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'81 300SD

Nope, I'm not .

Good luck with it, sounds like you're on the way to success .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I had installed an '85 fender mounted air box in 'Rena 2.0', which I saved before she went to the crusher.
See the attached photo.

There is a flexible ribbed rubber hose that goes from the bottom of the air box to the turbo inlet.
I believe its part number is 603 094 07 82. It should fit without modification.

I can easily retrieve the used hose, and would be willling to lend it to you so you could test fit it, if you wish.
I work close by in Oakland.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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78 W116 300SD 'Desert Rose' new as of 01/26/2014
79 W116 300SD 'Stormcloud' RIP 04/11/2022

I think that’s an ‘85 CA W123 turbo hose.

[edit] Scratch that. A couple of online parts stores say ‘85 CA W123 and W126 use the same turbo intake hose.

The valve cover to air cleaner line plumbing looks different in Rena 2.0 than what I remember as OE. Did you do some custom work?

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon
02 C320

I may be mistaken on the part number, I'll check it when I pull it out of storage tomorrow.

LOL. No, not really "custom" work. The valve cover to air cleaner line plumbing shown in the photo was just cobbled together and meant to be a temporary situation.

I was trying to avoid letting coalesced oil vapor droplets drain directly into the turbo inlet air duct (stock for the 85 CA setup ...and my W116 300SDs).
I was going to install a Mishimoto oil catch can and drain the coalesced oil into the sump to keep oil out of the turbo intake...just like
'Rena 2.0's stock setup had been doing before the change to the fender mounted air box.

The oil catch can was never installed, because I bought 'Stormcloud' and that meant 'Rena 2.0' had to depart post haste.

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78 W116 300SD 'Desert Rose' new as of 01/26/2014
79 W116 300SD 'Stormcloud' RIP 04/11/2022

Thanks Alec. Do you remember if the outlet from the air cleaner pointed up about 60*, or was it pointed straight out from the bottom of the cleaner? I ask because on my setup I see no way of a hose going down from an unmodified cleaner to the turbo without kinking. I'm wondering if you were using a W123 cleaner, mine says W126 on it.

Here's a pic of what the stock setup looks like in my car. The air cleaner outlet sticks the factory hose almost straight into the air, but the turbo on the federal setup is far below it.

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'81 300SD

We have the same exact air box.
I pulled mine out of storage to take these photos.
The hose part number is 603 094 07 82.

Your hose is just installed backwards.
Just filp it and you are golden.

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78 W116 300SD 'Desert Rose' new as of 01/26/2014
79 W116 300SD 'Stormcloud' RIP 04/11/2022

I modified my in/ex manifold from a ca to a non egr fed. I couldnt use the original ribbed hose so i went to homedepot and got a 2" rubber elbow. I had to cut a little bit of the metal elbow underneath the filter housing. Works great!

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'85 300D Cal 280,000 miles
'14 GLK 350 60000 miles

Did you tap the PCV nipple into the rubber elbow and epoxy it into place?

Are you sure that it was 2" and not 2 1/2"? Thanks

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'81 300SD

The part # matches what I have, but it's still not a good fit. The hose will fit over both openings, but won't sit flush on the air cleaner, in fact the hose started to crack. Were you using a brand new hose? Assuming that I'm working with a 35 year old hose, I could see how it might have shrunk and become less supple.

In the pic you can see how the hose comes up short.

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'81 300SD

The box's outlet can be easily clocked/rotated. Is it possible to reclock the outlet for a better location to connect the hose?


.

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

Are you suggesting to bend the outlet tube on the box, or rotate the entire box? If I were to rotate the box, then the intake hole wouldn't line up. The problem is that the outlet tube is too high. I think that hacksawing this thing is inevitable.

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'81 300SD