just a thought.

i have contemplated these types of swaps many times and always caught myself before doing any.

if i did one, despite the fun of a sneaky car, i wouldn t leave a d emblem on a car with a gas engine just cause someone might one day put the diesel in the tank and you would have a problem.

glad you all are having a lot of fun.

oh yeah, the sbc is about 4" wider than the sb ford, so i would expect clearance problems at the inner fenders.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Hey Toby,
Wow, You put a lot of work into that 190! looks like it's a blast to drive!
Could you give me some info as to how your axle shafts were constructed and where you purchased the parts for your links? I really need to stiffen up this area since I'm going to be adding 450HP.

P.S. The springs worked out great! Thanks!

Adam

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Current Stable:
01 ML55 AMG
92 500E (a few mods)
87 300E (lots of mods)
00 Chevy 3500HD Diesel Box Truck
68 18' Donzi Marine
06 GT i-Drive7 1.0 Mountain Bike (with GPS!)

PREVIOUSLY OWNED:83 300SD, 87 420SEL, 88 420SEL, 90 420SEL, 86 560SEL, 86 190E 2.3-16V AMG, 94 E320

I believe the axle shafts are spicer joints with a driveshaft between them, and I think Toby took an existing half-axle to a driveshaft company and said, "remake this half-axle, by cannabalizing it, and replacing the CV joints with Spicer-joints and the solid axle between them with a driveshaft.

The rear-suspension links I believe were parts sourced from Tru-choice and Toby put them together.

:-) neil

Hey Neil,
Thanks for the info! I cannot seem to find Tru-Choice. Do they have a website? Also, Spicer is just a brand name for U-joint,, Right?
Thanks Again!
Adam

not to threadjack, but I figured this would be the most appropriate thread for my w201/V8 conversion questions....

I've been looking at either getting a hold of a 5.0 m119, or a 5.6 m117 for the swap. The car is a '91 2.6 BTW....basically, I'm just curious which one would be more feasible. From what I can tell, the '117 has a few advantages over the 119

-cheaper
-more readily available from recycling yards, ebay, etc
-uses old injection system (CIS-E right?)

but then the 119 has some advantages too

-more power (probably the biggest thing)
-more efficient intake/airbox

I'm a mechanical engineering major so I think that I have a pretty good grasp on a lot of the technical stuff, but I would like to stay away from anything that will require a ton of fabrication. People have mentioned that the steering box had to be swapped out in favor of a rack/pinion system.....although I could do that if necissary, it would be preferrable not to. Does anyone know anything about an MB V8 swap into the w201, and how much fabrication and general banging around would be involved?

Also, does anyone have any idea what a good manual transmission would be for either of these engines? (5 or 6 spd only....not a fan of 4-spd)

Thanks for any help that anyone can offer!!

Thanks for the pitch....but, the diff is from a 92' T'Bird and is a 8.8", has a 3.55 gear and a torsen worm gear limited slip. Each axle in the car is fabbed from Spicer parts and is the same as a driveshaft in a one ton truck. Also has a one piece shaft, not the MB two piece. There are NO CV joints to tend with!! I used the OE subframe and adapted in the diff to use the five link arms and rear hubs. They now have 12" X 1.25" NASCAR rear rotors and Wilwood calipers on it and retained the MB emergency brake! This car will stop now with those rears and the 13"X1.25" fronts and Panoz calipers.

So Neil, what have you been up to...no hear from anymore or are you waiting for the new Jax track to be open?? I am ready to go there and run it!!

TobiasMB
190/5.8

Replaced the sloppy oe arms with swaged aluminum from a company in Olathe KS called Rod End Supply. The heims are 1/2" for the links side and 5/8" into the aluminum bars. Drilled out the subframe to 1/2" and on the adjustable holes, welded in a steel plate to make them solid with a 1/2" hole. The OE steel lower arm is still there but may make my own (adjustable).

For the rear axles I removed the stub axles from the hub assy. Put the stubs into a lathe and cut off the CV section. Then welded in a piece of driveshaft tubing about one inch long. Next welded in a Spicer Ujoint for a driveshaft and connected a 1350 U joint onto it. Then made shafts from a driveshaft sliding spline...male and female placing the male section outboard with another short section of shaft about 10" long.
The female side is attached to the diff joint with another 1350 joint. These joints are w/o a lube fitting so much stronger.
Just measure four times and cut/weld once!!

TobiasMB
190/5.8