Put a Chevy V-8, Into anything, with ease. - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Roncallo · #31 12-20-2007, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Black, Brown or white?

Bear....I mean.

Tom W

OK wise guy it will be a dark Guinness Beer. Pleas don't ask me how to spell Guinness. If I got it right its because I lucked out.

John Roncallo

LUVMBDiesels · #32 12-20-2007, 10:08 AM

A buddy of mine put a 350 chevy into a 240Z He did it himself over a few weekends. Got it right, tight, and outta sight!

Made that little sports car really fly and he was king of the 240Zs until somebody put a Buick 3.8 turbo motor in one... That was FAST!

hey_allen · #33 01-07-2008, 12:03 AM

The 240Z converted car sitting in my garage is what made me think of possibly stuffing a little more modern chevy engine under the SEC with a blown engine that I have.

That being said, when you look at the few write ups that people have shown about doing these swaps in MB cars, it's a LOT more difficult than the Datsun swap!

Just for a look at the differences, the Datsun already had forward steering rack and pinion, and with the difference in engine length between the inline 6 cyl and the V8, you actually have to worry more about hitting the steering rack with the harmonic balancer than you have to worry about the oil pan.
On the MB's, you have to worry about hitting the sump on the K member, hitting the steering gear box, having the steering gear arm hit the block and oil pan, and then I'm sure there are other things that I'm forgetting already.

I'm still open to the idea, but as it sits currently, I'm more likely to try to rebuild the euro 500 engine that's in it than to try to stuff a GM LS engine under it.

300E_GT · #34 01-28-2008, 11:26 PM

still off the topic a bit but this is damn well done pity no good engine shots. Was Aussie Street Machine mag 'car of the year' back then..
http://www.rodshop.com.au/project55.htm

t walgamuth · #35 01-28-2008, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hey_allen

The 240Z converted car sitting in my garage is what made me think of possibly stuffing a little more modern chevy engine under the SEC with a blown engine that I have.

That being said, when you look at the few write ups that people have shown about doing these swaps in MB cars, it's a LOT more difficult than the Datsun swap!

Just for a look at the differences, the Datsun already had forward steering rack and pinion, and with the difference in engine length between the inline 6 cyl and the V8, you actually have to worry more about hitting the steering rack with the harmonic balancer than you have to worry about the oil pan.
On the MB's, you have to worry about hitting the sump on the K member, hitting the steering gear box, having the steering gear arm hit the block and oil pan, and then I'm sure there are other things that I'm forgetting already.

I'm still open to the idea, but as it sits currently, I'm more likely to try to rebuild the euro 500 engine that's in it than to try to stuff a GM LS engine under it.

With the cheap v8 prices these days I would suspect you could get a very nice 500sel or 560sel cheaply and rob the motor for a lot less than rebuilding your motor.

Tom W

hey_allen · #36 01-29-2008, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

With the cheap v8 prices these days I would suspect you could get a very nice 500sel or 560sel cheaply and rob the motor for a lot less than rebuilding your motor.

Tom W

Yeah, I came to that conclusion as well. I'm working on getting a shipping quote on an engine and tranny to drop in it, hopefully in the next month or so.

Now my SD's engine is throwing fits as well, so it looks like I'm going to be getting practice on MB engine swaps with a diesel to get my feet wet!

t walgamuth · #37 01-29-2008, 07:28 AM

The diesels require patience in unhooking all the hoses and such. be careful with the large diameter fuel and vac hoses as they get brittle. Its not a bad idea to get new ones but they are kindof pricey.

But really changing a motor in a benz is a pleasure in many ways because of the quality of the fasteners and wire connections you can often reuse them even at 20 years plus age, just be careful and don't get too much in a hurry with them....a lot of things which at first effort appear stuck can be worked loose with care and reused.

Good luck

Tom W

HawkHunter · #38 03-02-2008, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by truckinik

I know the guy's price is insane. I didn't say a word about it. All I said was that the job was done correctly. Unlike the hack who built the Chevy powered SEC, in the post about things you don't want to see in a Mercedes. This one is built the way it should be built. The only six things about this car that suck are;

1.) The automatic Transmission

2.) The mere 325HP....What the hell are you going to do with 325HP..?

(Should be more like 450+H.P., or don't even bother at all.)

3.) The obvious, ridiculous price on the thing.

4.) The lack of fuel injection.

5.) The lack of the Dana 60, possi rear end it should have in it.

6.) The lack of a nice stainless steel, 2.5" dual exhaust system with two chamber mufflers, so as not to quiet it down too much..

So after all of this is done, the way I said, the whole job would only put someone in the hole for about $12k depending on how much H.P. You actually decide you'd like to have. There's no way in the world it could possibly cost $30k to build the car the way it is though.

With carb. auto trans, stock rear end, and probably a half assed exhaust system, and a $3,000.00 325 HP Crate engine (If it was even a new crate engine to begin with.) being a little generous, the car probably realistically cost him $6, to $7k total, to build, including buying it in the first place.

Trucky '07

No offence but i have a few problems with your dream setup there...

There's nothing wrong with an Automatic... more consistant ETs at the 1/4 mile track and who the heck wants to shift/clutch in rush hour traffic?

325 hp... probably has a 9.5:1 compression ratio.. thank god.. have you seen the price of fuel these days? let alone premium?

My properly tuned edelbrock 600cfm carb gets 22mpg instead of the 18.2 mpg my TPI gave me on my camaro and 1.2 second better 1/4 miles (from 18s)... IF i make a change to the engine, i dont have to reprogram my ECM... and besdies that... carbs have been working for oh what? 100 years?

What's wrong with the Ford 9"? I bet you probably even have one laying around in your back yard... I do... and they are way cheaper and stronger stock than dana 60's

and it's good to keep a car quite like that... although i agree, a complete true dual exaust to allow the thing to breath would help it... no point in a noisy car... it gives you a headache on longer trips (trust me i know - i put a gear drive in my stroked 383 camaro)... you have to nearly crank my compitition stereo to the max to drown out the engine

anyways... i think it's better to just keep the original equipment under the hood and get it rebuilt by and engine rebuilder... I dont know how much that would cost - but since i dont own a CNC machine... or CNC machine lathe... or a fabricating shop... im going to bet it's cheaper to rebuild my motor than completely fabricate all the parts, buy the motor, buy the transmission, buy the rear end and put all that into my mb.

With the motor, transmission and axle costing around $14,000 (right from the 2008 GM performance catalog), I could see this easily costing $20,000+ for a good car with paint and interior similar to that one... how far do you want to go?

cheers, and again - no offence
Trev

retroguybilly · #39 04-03-2008, 06:30 AM

I really don't like the Chevy small block V8. It has always been a wonder to me how GM got such good service out of the engine when they had obviously taken every nickle of "unnecessary" cost out of it. For example, I don't like ball-stud rocker arms. And these engines come poorly balanced from the factory. Cast pistons, rods and crank. I have rebuilt several, and they simply don't compare in quality to, say, a Chrysler small block. Now THERE is a nicely-designed engine, where the engineers managed to keep some quality pieces in it, and hang the extra cost. At least when Chrysler uses, for example, a cast crank, they really do a nice job on it. I wouldn't trust cast GM parts as far as I can throw them. GM is into penny-pinching and high profit margins. That's their thing.

I would never put a Chevy small-block in anything. Too much like trailer trash.

t walgamuth · #40 04-03-2008, 08:00 AM

GM has always tread the line of minimum quality with the mouse. I remember in the fifites they would pop rocker studs with regularity and round off cam lobes.

fifty years later they are still rounding off cam lobes from time to time.

The quest for cheapness resulted in a very light weigh engine and the basic design flowed air well so it makes a lot of power for not much money and hence its continuing popularity.

The sheer ubiquitness of it makes rebuilding and or modifying one easy peasy because parts are easy to find and cheap.

But I don't want any more of them. Bearing knocking POS as far as I am concerned.

Tom W

truckinik · #41 04-05-2008, 02:28 PM

Yeah, well, you have to have power to break things...that's why Chrysler, and Ford small blocks last so long...LOL

Trucky

Glowplug · #42 04-05-2008, 04:01 PM

It's always funny to hear guys bad mouth SBC v-8's .

For being such a poorly/cheaply made motor they sure do last alot longer and win alot more competitions i.e. Drag racing, Offroad, Nascar etc.. than the other big 3 manufacturers.

I was a ford guy when i was younger, thats all my family ever bought. I swore up and down they were the best vehicles out there . But then i got my first chevrolet and saw the simplicity of it K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple stupid), not to mention the fact that most chevy parts are completely interchangeable and extremely cheap and abundant.

ALL cars break down, and they all have there problems.

The fastest cars with the fewest problems i see at the track are Chevrolets .

Now i like my 300D, its my first benz . But i cant tell you how many people get into the car and say "I thought it would be nicer than this" refering to the cheap and sparce interior . All car companies are out to make as much money as possible with as little as possible .

Theres also a TON of guys with Mustangs sporting chevy v-8's . Now the Dodge guys they love there stuff, but even they'll admit the only Dodge motor even worth mentioning is the Hemi, which is actually a rip off of an airplane engine from the 40's dodge didn't invent the Hemi, they were just the first to stick it in a car .

Haven't you ever heard the saying "Chevys run crappy longer than most cars run at all"

I also have a V-8 S-10 blazer with a 383 stroker and forged internals out in the garage

t walgamuth · #43 04-06-2008, 10:48 PM

Chrysler may have been the first american company to put a hemi in a car but others did it first overseas. One example that comes to mind is the bmw which I am not sure about the cars but were building hemi engines on their bikes a long time before ww2, IIRC.

Tom W

Glowplug · #44 04-11-2008, 11:36 PM

Hmm, i didnt know BMW was doing it back then. Nor did i know they were on motorcycles . Very cool .

BF_JC230 · #45 05-08-2008, 03:27 PM

Here is my Fordcedes...Many of you know it - some of you may not...

It was bought by me at 15 with the intent to have my dad teach me about an engine conversion (M-B wanted too much for me to repair the 4 cylinder) and the Ford V6 was free with the whole car...It was also to be a learning tool on restoration, welding and painting for me...I never knew it would turn into a test bed for machining, supercharging, carbon-fiber moldind, body kit carving, fiber glass wrapping and electronics learning tool...

I think last time I totalled it all up I have 11,000 into it - that is EVERYTHING from sandpaper, paint, 4 sets of rims to a new 3.0 engine and the initial purchase of 500.

I think my dad taught me well! I love him very much and am always thankful for the time we shared (and share) with this car and projects - and his never ending help!

Here are some shots...
Jake

(PS - it has been getting 24mpg this summer)