603 in a w123 wagon - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

martureo · #31 11-01-2018, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benzguy300

Martureo did you finish this project ?

Nope, a kitchen renovation got in the way. Then the floor of my daily driver rusted out and needed to be replaced.

I'm still waiting on a custom driveshaft and a bunch of smaller stuff to get finished.

benzguy300 · #32 11-04-2018, 07:25 PM

Do you know how long the drive shaft needs to be ? I have a few laying around.

dweezil · #33 10-11-2021, 06:17 PM

How did this turn out?

The suspense is killing me.

martureo · #34 10-25-2021, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dweezil

How did this turn out?

The suspense is killing me.

Well, it still needs a driveshaft and a state inspection.

I've been distracted by a few other projects, but I want to get back to this ASAP.

indybenz · #35 06-21-2022, 04:29 AM

Updates!!!!????

indybenz · #36 06-21-2022, 05:27 AM

Updates!!!!????

martureo · #37 06-21-2022, 07:34 AM

Nothing new unfortunately. I've bought a house, remodeled a bathroom, had another kid and almost finished welding in a new floor to my daily driver.

The hope is that once my daily is back on the road (its been down since March 2020) that I'll be back on this with all my spare time.

indybenz · #38 06-22-2022, 07:10 PM

'Life gets in the way'. Well, good on you for prioritising house/kid/floor welding over engine swap. I'm not sure if my 605>W123 swap will ever be finished but I'm trying!

t walgamuth · #39 06-28-2022, 10:22 AM

This is an impressive project. With all your life forces you are very determined to get it this far.

martureo · #40 07-05-2022, 10:51 AM

In another thread someone asked about the following items. I'll try to keep updating these in the following week.

Engine mounts
Trans mounts
Crossmember and steering box clearance
Exhaust manifold and piping
Oil cooler lines
Trans cooler lines
Gear stick connections
Radiator and lines
Radiator and fan clearance
Oil pressure gauge
Speedo
SLS pump connections

From memory:

Transmission mount
I used the 722.317 from the donor car (1987 300TD) and as I didn't shift the engine too much I was able to take the transmission crossmember from the w123 and drill new mounting holes in the tunnel. From memory it was only a few inches off from where the original mounting location.

Crossmember and steering box clearance

The initial fitment of the engine had the steering box and engine taking up the same space. I ended up shifting the engine to the passenger's side by 2" (big spacer on the engine mount arm). I'm also using the w124 style motor mounts and w124 mount arms.

Exhaust manifold and piping

I'm using the stock 603 Federal manifold. The only issue that I ran into was that it was quite close to the battery. I was able to source a heat shield from a w123 300TD California to help keep the heat away. I haven't yet finished this project and the exhaust is one of the remaining items. As of now it's just a downpipe.

Oil cooler lines

The main concern I had was the placement of the oil cooler. I wanted to use the stock oil cooler for sake of simplicity and mounted it just forward of the driver's wheel (same place as on the donor vehicle). The lines I had were damaged in the crash of the donor and needed replacement anyway. I had the rubber cut off and AN bungs brazed on. Then I cut off the threads from the oil cooler and tapped them for AN fittings. AN braided hose can then be routed as I wish.

Trans cooler lines

I'm using a stock w124 603 radiator and can use the stock lines for the trans cooler.

Gear stick connections

As I'm using the 722.317, the shift connection is the same as the w123, no real changes were necessary.

Radiator and lines

I haven't finished the last few hoses as the project ground to a halt. I'm using the w124 OM603 radiator. The tabs on either side had to be cut off and new mounting holes created, but it just barely fits where the old radiator and oil cooler occupied.

Radiator and fan clearance

There's no room for the stock fan. I ended up going through several different designs for a fan and ended up with a two speed puller fan mounted to the radiator.

Oil pressure gauge

I planned on keeping the original cluster and found that the electronic oil pressure sensor has the same thread size as the mechanical style. It was as simple as removing the electronic sensor and installing the mechanical one.

Speedo

Same fitment as the w123 and w124. I did take the w124 tach and install the innards into the w123 cluster.

SLS pump connections

As the w124 603 has the lines routed on the driver's side and the w123 has them mounted on the passenger's side, this was fun. I used some line fittings and running the lines under the engine crossmember had them terminate at the driver's side near the pump and reservoir.

The tandempump was another issue. I had the original from the donor car and it worked just fine. However, the flow rate of the steering box section was much too low for the w123 steering box. I didn't know this and had custom set of steering box hoses made, but then talked with the guys at C&M hydraulics who said I needed a tandempump from a 6 cylinder w140. The old w123 fluid lines work with that pump, so no change there.

Matteo_300D · #41 08-18-2023, 02:11 PM

another year has passed. you making any progress?

martureo · #42 08-19-2023, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matteo_300D

another year has passed. you making any progress?

Not on this car. My daily has been getting a new floor pan for the past few years. I'm getting pretty close to getting it back on the road and the wagon will get attention immediately afterward.