Yeah, I imagine 450 hp will do the trick at any speed too, but can't vouch for it since I have never had that kind of power under a 190E 2.3-16 hood. When you start working the chassis keep us informed. All our 16 vavles are stock, including the self leveling rear suspension. Works pretty good if you keep after the spheres. Once they go solid the struts get beat to death and the connection to the bottom of the strut, an aluminum part with a female thread with a steel stud screwed into it to hold it to the hydraulic cylinder to the mounting block, gives up the ghost resulting in banging and a rock hard, non-functional rear end. And those rear struts are not cheap.

Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Yeah.
Iīm all to faimilar with the rear shocks of the SLS.
What we do on such occasions is that we first of all replace the lower heimjoints as these more often than not are part of the problem.Incl the OEM through bolts and nuts.

Then we dismantle and take the SLS shock apart,strip it clean and take it to the lathe.
As the lower assy of it is out of cast aluminium,and the threads of it indeed gets ripped out if the shperes go awol,we also weld in new material when need be before we center it all in the lathe,drill a new hole and run a tap through it.
Labour intense,not especially difficult,but..seing the cost of replacement struts..whatīs the alternative.
Further,the seals of the struts can be had at an industrial warehouse as they are of industry "standard" dimensions.
Something that might come in handy to be in the know of...as those seals very well can develop a leak...and the cost is nickles..

I have often thought of replacing the aluminum chunk at the bottom with a steel part just machined from a 3" round hunk of stock. How much can that affect the handling? It might add all of a pound or two to the moving mass. Seems like another design flaw to me. Either that or fashion a special sleeve nut and just drill out the threads. I don't think I saved the ones I have replaced as the first ones were really beaten to death, and after that it just seemed like keeping track of the spheres would solve the problem. We sometimes have issues with the position sensing valve too, but cleaning and lubricating seems to keep that in order. Next time one of those struts fails, I will be digging this thread out again. Thanks, Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

My guess is that it wonīt affect handling in any appreciable way at all-as long as itīs a streeter.That difference in weight..bah..
On the other hand,why reinvent the wheel?
Better option IMO would be to drill the OEM part out and fab an insert of greater outer dimensions.
Drill and tap it in place.
Thought that comes to mind would be EITHER steel or 7075T6.

Problem really isnīt the diameter of said part,but the depth.
IE,UNF would most def be an alternative.(Or metric fine)

I thought about an insert, but the item seems to be an aluminum casting, and the dimensional allowance for drilling the hole out and shoving in or threading in an insert seemed pretty limited. I could be wrong though as I don't have one to look at right now. I was also concerned about putting an insert in there that was not aluminum for galvanic corrosion concerns - I drive these cars in snow too, and here we salt the roads. The present design seems to seal the threaded area adequately from road grime and road salt, or, the subsequent damage seems to thoroughly eliminate any such evidence. But a high strength aluminum alloy from the aircraft industry would solve that concern. Might have to plug the end to avoid the corrosion issue, because steel and aluminum don't get along well with salty water around. Next time one fails, I will come up with a fix, as these things are not cheap. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Spent time investigating a home signal setup.



Then,seing where i aim power wise,it was time for the cylinder head.
Flow bias is such that the intake doesnīt really need any help(flows inxs of 350CFM@14mm) while the exhaust sort od "dies" after 6mm..
So..said n done..


Raw port,needs work,but base form is set at least.



Comparsion pic.



Port coming up on being completed.

Started work out on a 2.5 head as itīs of bigger dimensions to start with.

That looks like quite an increase in flow area besides just cleaning it up. Instead of being a box with rounded corners it is like a pair of spectacles or a figure "8" laying on its side.

Is the signal pick-up a module that replaces the SLS pump, and the car has a more conventional shock set up now?

Looks great - how do you know what the available wall thickness is to limit the thinning to a point where the structural integrity is ok? When we did my older son's car (my 16 valve back in 1986) we ran into problems with porosity in the casting near the valve guides and had to make a special guide to fit into the head where one opened a hole when it was knocked out. Doing the kind of work you are doing would make me a bit nervous. But it looks like it came out beautiful.

Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Yup.
SLS got tossed long ago.Have run a cupkit since ages.

Material,wall,thickness..just pure experience.Core shift on these heads ainīt nothing to write home about,and after having taken the die grinder to a number of heads by now...yeah well...

Porting is based on the "klasse1" heads.Just more "turbo biased".

Youīre correct in that especially the exhaust side is opened up.
If you read the flow chart of these heads it soon becomes evident that the intake side is strangled by the OEM intake,and as such the intake side of the head flows like thereīs no tomorrow.(Inxs of 350cfm for a more or less stock 2.5 on 28mm holes at 14mm of lift and 28" of water).
Exhaust side tho..is another matter.
There,the restriction built in at the flange from a flow perspective.
Something evident by that exhaust flow goes up to 200+cfm at 6mm of lift...and then nothing more really happens til 14mm where the flow maxes out at 236.
Ergo,this tells us that there is a defined restriction,and that restriction is cast into the head at the flange.
Hence why the massive alteration is on the exhaust side.

Youīre however correct in that itīs possible to "hit water" when porting these heads.
Between the adjacent ports thereīs a waterchannel on both sides that needs to be adhered to when porting them.
What iīve done here tho is to be considered safe from that respect,and i foresee that we indeed will need the flow.

Ordered cams,and those will make max power happen at 9300 i NA form,and as with any turbo gun max rev will increase with a set of given cams on the boost.

Racing,

Any progress on that engine? Been about a week or so and the descriptions of what you are doing, along with the photos, make me curious. My son is checking his valve clearances this weekend - another 1,000 miles or so and he is curious to see if the clearances have settled down.

Have a great weekend. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Nothing more than the odd bits and pieces iīm afraid.
Been knee deep in work on cust cars.

Made myself a oilfilter adapter..checked placement of the 140amp alternator,but thatīs about it since last.

Spent the weekend sorting another 16vlv turbo out with success for a customer,and then we had an accident at the shop where Jörgen of VEMS set his custom V8 Audi 80 on fire...
Battery in the trunk..and a 22mm wrench jumping about..and it hit the battery postive and came to a rest between that and chassis ground..could have gotten nasty if it werenīt for the fire extinguishers around..
All well that ends well though..

Sounds like an event you won't forget - which distinguishes it from all those things you have done in your life and can't remember. Which is the most basic difference between things you do that are worthwhile and things that are not. Essentially, if you can't remember it you should have done something else that was unforgettable. Not that I would advocate lighting nice cars on fire, but I bet there are no more loose wrenches in your buddies trunk unless the battery terminals are truly covered.

Good luck with the engine make over. My son's car seems to be be stabilizing as far as valve clearance go. Nothing closed too much this time - more likely a case of feel vs. actual measurement changes. That's a relief. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Valve clearances shouldnīt jump around to much as thing settle as you note.

Have started working on my new diffusor intake for the new engine,and whatīs more is that i hope to go pick the new car up the nest couple of day if i can find the time for it.

Picked up whatīs to be the new "race" chassis.
Turned out to be quite the deal.

A 91 vintage,astralsilber, 2.5-15 slush box car in what would be called good condition.
Didnīt run mainly due to that the camchain had jumped,but after rectifying that..she runs like a champ.








Then iīve continued work on the new plenum...

Racing,

Nice looking example. We didn't get them over here after 1987 so a 1991 almost sounds wrong. And I was convinced only the NA models came with slush boxes- I guess the basic inconsistency of the concept was not only peculiarly attractive to Americans. But it looks really clean, no rust and no body damage. Is this still a common condition for these cars over there? Finding an example here with a dash and interior in good shape is tough. The interior door panels warp and begin to peel away from the door around the window sills, while the rear seats, which were all black leather, split at the seams. It has been a long time since I have seen one with an interior in good shape.

All of ours are structurally pretty sound, with the original one I bought new having had the floorboards and all four fenders replaced a few year ago. But none of the interiors are in any shape that would qualify as "good." All serviceable but some uglier than others.

Good luck and I hope the new engine is coming together. I am curious about how you analyze the flow passages - do you guys do computational fluid dynamics calculations or follow established design rules to size diffusors and nozzles and the flow transitions?

Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

We normaly use a state of the art flow bench.
Swirl/tumble being measured coupled with flow at various valve lifts.

Next upgrade to the chassis apart from various aluminium/plastic bushings,upper shock bracketry aso is;





For a project this size..i of course have a couple of sponsors.
One of them being the local mercedes parts retailer.
So...ergo sum...of COURSE it has to say "AMG on the stoppers for a project this size..